KACHARAGADLA

Each morning from 8:30 to 9:05 AM at our company’s headquarters, in San Francisco, we serve free breakfast to every employee. And I’m not talking about stale muffins and dry bagels. Today I ate a sloppy joe, cheesy scrambled eggs, home fries, crispy bacon, and sausage links. Healthy, I know. Tomorrow, I’m definitely going to grab a yogurt and some fruit. And don’t forget all the vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options. After all, this is California. I know what you’re thinking. Free food is the cost of admission to the Silicon Valley tech scene. Our startup, Pivotal, calls the South of Market (SOMA) neighborhood home, alongside companies like Airbnb, Dropbox, Adobe, Slack, Salesforce, and Uber. So, of course, Pivotal serves free, catered meals. It’s just expected. While that’s true, even if no other startup around us served free, catered meals, we still would. To explain why, I first need to explain how Pivotal works. Our approach is rooted in extreme programming and  agile

In the 1800s, it was machine-powered looms that replaced human hand weavers. Today, digital technology is disrupting work for working people — blue- and white-collar alike — in every occupation. Advances in fields such as artificial intelligence and robotics are making it increasingly possible for machines to perform not only physical but also cognitive tasks, according to  a new report  on IT and the U.S. workforce, published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. But this story is probably not news to anyone anymore. Most of us are aware that as we enter this new Industrial Revolution, automation and digital devices are upending jobs, from cashiers to automotive assembly-line workers. Yet there is an upside, which we don’t hear as much about. While technology can jettison many existing jobs, it’s also constantly creating new jobs and new conveniences. Globally, career taxi drivers now compete for passengers with Lyft and Uber drivers, and new industries

A  study  by University of Michigan researchers I just read about in the  Squared Away   blog  from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College noted that “about 40% of Americans who were still working when they turned 62 had moved to a new occupation sometime after age 55.” But when older workers  change occupations  later in life, the study added, “they experience a decrease in hourly earnings.” Let me unpack that study, which was called  Occupational Transitions at Older Ages: What Moves are People Making?  Then, I’ll offer my five rules to follow if you want to keep working into your 60s or beyond — especially if you want to change careers to do it. Taking a Pay Cut After a Career Switch I wasn’t terribly surprised by the researchers’ pay cut finding. The truth is, based on the workers I’ve studied and interviewed for  my books  and articles, most workers who change careers take a step down in salary when they start over. But here’s the interesting part: Th

Technology can offer you many helping hands. For many, working for themselves online is a dream come true. Not only are they able to choose clients, manage responsibilities and work how, when and where they want, but the overall sense of empowerment that comes through being their own boss is a feeling that’s second to none. In the words of Sir Isaac Newton, however, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” So, while working from the comforts of a home office in pajamas might seem like an irresistible offer, taking to the internet to make a living has its downsides, too. Chalk it up to the frustrations of client management, being solely responsible for the success or demise of your digital business or struggling to focus while working alone from a personal computer, being self-employed is one of those things that’s easier said than done. Fortunately, there are a number of tools available to lend a helping hand. Nowadays, as far as keeping yourself as produc

To understand what benefits fantastic employees truly value, why not just ask 'em? Every entrepreneur knows how important employee engagement and retention are to the success of any growing company. You’ve probably read the data yourself about how much time and effort go into replacing a good employee; surveys describe a cost equating to  six to nine months  of that employee’s salary. You're probably aware that countless factors come into play in an employee’s decision to stay or move on -- including benefits and perks. In my experience growing my  content marketing agency , I found that benefits and perks themselves weren't the main reason employees choose to stay or leave to pursue other opportunities. Instead, what contributes significantly is the satisfaction they feel about their work, their long-term career-development opportunities and the support, respect and appreciation they receive from managers and co-workers. But the benefits offered matter, too. An

Millions of words have been written and published about what it takes to become a strong leader. We should talk about another aspect of leadership, which is the fact that it’s really hard to be a great leader because the corporate and institutional framework make it much easier to manage badly than to manage well. Every manager who isn’t the CEO of his or her own company has a higher-level manager to report to. That leader may not be keen on a strng leader’s desire to treat his or her employees like the adults they are. The higher-level leader may only care about production. It’s hard to be a strong leader because strong leaders have to speak their truth on a frequent basis, and that can be very challenging to do. We all know that it can be scary to tell the truth. Managers are no different from anybody else. They might hesitate to tell their boss when he or she is wrong, or to stand up for an employee. Yet strong managers do it all the time. It’s easy to look at a strong man