Many companies are including options for working from home now—and hopefully more and more will embrace the opportunity to employ home-based employees. It just makes sense for so many people and companies. After all of these years working for myself and working in academia, I cannot imagine going back to an environment where I am punching the theoretical time clock by working in an office all day, every day.

Stress is one of the most pervasive afflictions in the corporate sector today. The harm it can inflict is compounded by the fact that it is amorphous by nature, thereby preventing us from measuring it or even being aware of the extent to which it affects us. While there are reams of advice on the topic, I will attempt to summarize a few approaches for managing stress from my real-life experiences as a senior-level executive.

Will I work again?
Am I too old to be hired?
Will any employer take the time to see—let alone value—what I have to bring to the table?

These questions are all too familiar to millions of older job seekers.

Sadly, ageism is alive and well. It's not just folks in their 50s who face it; it's happening to folks in their 40s, too. Age discrimination tends to occur more in industries where the work performed is physical in nature, such as construction or manufacturing, but it isn't as widespread in other industries as it once was.

Early in my first career (in television), I worked with someone who excelled at telling me (and probably many others) that my work was “not right.” Yet, when I asked what was wrong, the person couldn’t tell me.

“What’s wrong with it,” I asked.

“It’s not what I expected.”

“But it’s exactly what was outlined in the brief and the storyboard.”

“But it’s not right.”

“In what way?”

“It came out different.”

“Different how?”

“Not the same as I wanted.”

“What did you want?”

“Not this.”

“Well, then, what would you change to make it what you want?”

This year represented a year of change in consumer buying practices. Savvy shoppers chose online purchasing and fulfillment due to the perks provided by eCommerce, including quick shipping and easy-to-find sales promotions. Now that consumers have demonstrated a preference for a digital, omni-channel, behavior-based and predictive experiences. The implications for organizations are material and, in many cases, will involve a top to bottom IT and organizational transformation to remain relevant.

Great leaders don’t know everything…but they can find those who do.

People ask me for advice – regularly – about a ridiculous number of things. I wonder if they realize they’re asking me because I readily admit that I couldn’t possibly know about so many subjects. That doesn’t stop me from answering, however. I just don’t answer with solutions. Coming up with the solution is their job.

Conflict is something we all experience on a regular basis. Whether it is with the person that turned in front of you on the way to work, or it is the late meeting right before a holiday weekend that the CEO scheduled. If we deal with conflict so often, why aren’t we better at conflict management?