Strategic thinking requires knowledge of the business and sector, asking the right questions, and effective communication to achieve buy-in from others. "It's also about recognizing what you don't know and having the curiosity to explore unknowns," writes career coach Raju Venkataraman.

Employers can create a work environment that nurtures talent and spurs them to perform to their highest capacity by following six steps, Mary Jo Martin writes. Provide resources to support employee well-being and mental health, implement transparent communication channels and prioritize career growth, Martin advises.

Leadership development programs are more successful when they focus on self-awareness and resilience, give leaders the opportunity to reflect on their purpose and are presented over a few days instead of weeks, write educators and researchers Ayse Yemiscigil, Dana Born and Horace Ling. "While it's often easier to measure immediate results, the most effective programs build on these initial changes with reminders and other ongoing interventions designed to establish long-term habits and continued engagement," they write.

The key to retaining the youngest members of your workforce -- which surveys show 70% of them plan to quit their jobs this year -- is to offer job flexibility and respect and validation for their contributions to your company, says S. Chris Edmonds, founder and CEO with The Purposeful Culture Group. "When employees are treated with respect and are validated at work, loyalty increases, proactive problem solving increases, productivity grows and cooperative teamwork increases," Edmonds says.

California on Tuesday ended its COVID-19 emergency declaration, while five other states -- Texas, Illinois, Rhode Island, Delaware and New Mexico -- still have theirs in place for the time being. Some local declarations also remain in force, such as that of Los Angeles County, which has nearly 10 million residents.

In-person work is far from dead, and in a recent survey by Workyard, traffic was the most common reason respondents gave for being late to their jobs. Workyard CEO Nic De Bonis noted that the easiest scapegoats are the ones we feel are out of our control. The advice section of this article includes the story of a guy who admitted to HR that he was late for work because he stayed up too long watching TikTok videos.

Believe it or not, despite the rise of digitally automated signatures, there is a huge demand for calligraphy services to help people find new and stylish ways to physically write their signatures. A number of calligraphers are generating some nice business on social media by presenting a new signature as an opportunity to change the way the world sees you. It's unclear if these fancy customized signatures are easier for hackers to manipulate, but they don't appear inherently dangerous, according to certified document examiner James Green.