The unexpected death in June of Scholastic CEO M. Richard Robinson Jr. resulted in a succession drama as his 2018 will bequeathed control of the family company -- publisher of "Harry Potter" books and "The Magic School Bus" -- as well as his personal possessions to Iole Lucchese, the company's chief strategy officer and Robinson's former longtime romantic partner. Robinson's failure to publicly name a successor and the surprise nature of the will has led his family, some of whom are interviewed in this article, to review their legal options.

Brands and ad agencies are employing creative social strategies to stand out amid a highly competitive job market to entice job applicants who seek brand purpose and quality of life benefits, in addition to salary. Spin Master launched a meme campaign to boost its game division marketing team, while Chipotle is attracting Generation Z candidates with social apps, TikTok Resumes and a virtual job fair that yielded 24,000 applications.

Companies that prioritize career development are more likely to attract and retain the best talent, writes Brandon Hall Group's Claude Werder, who recommends six tactics. These include training managers to develop talent, identifying vertical and horizontal career paths and aligning career development to learning experiences and performance goals.

A survey of American adults conducted by Personal Capital found that the average person considers $516,433 in savings an appropriate amount for good financial health, while 20% of respondents said they would want to have saved more than $1 million to feel financially secure, CNBC reported. A Bankrate survey found that fewer than half of Americans have enough set aside in an emergency fund to cover at least three months of expenses -- the minimum recommended by personal finance experts.

Resistance -- whether it's yours or a co-worker's -- can prevent us from having necessary, difficult conversations about workplace tensions, writes Marlene Chism. Accepting your circumstances "may include setting boundaries, asking for what you want or gathering more information, but at least you're moving forward and out of resistance," Chism writes.

Last year, I got two tickets to the Rose Bowl. I asked my friend, Arci, to go with me. She accepted and was excited and mentioned it to our friend, Jen -- the third member of our little tribe.

Oops.

I only had two tickets. Jen’s feelings were a bit hurt and she said as much to Arci. (The three of us are always honest with each other, especially in situations like this.) Arci tried to give her the ticket instead, but Jen refused. She wasn’t sulking -- she just didn’t want to come between the plans I’d made with Arci. Arci let me know, and I did feel a bit bad, but we don’t do everything together, so I didn’t think it was a big deal.

I was wrong. It was.

The next couple weeks were awkward with the three of us. I asked Arci about it, and she said I needed to talk to Jen to clear the air. To me it was an overreaction to a nonimportant situation, but Arci was firm. “You love her and she loves you. But she was hurt. Just talk to her,” she said.

So I did. I laid out the situation (“I had two tickets. I’m so sorry I couldn’t get a third.”) and she cut me off.

“Kanoe, I’m the one who loves football -- not Arci! We take her to museums!”

I cracked UP. Immediately, the tension broke. She was right. Jen and I are avid sports fans, but our sweet friend Arci is the girly-girl of our tribe. She understands football but isn’t over the moon about it. She would have been fine missing the game. Jen would have had more fun.

Getting past conflict means having tough conversations, as we see in today’s HR Leader story by Marlene Chism. Some conversations are awkward and less friendly than mine was with Jen, but leadership requires it. Honesty wins trust and earns credibility.

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