Your 20s are the years that you will have learned the most about life in such a short amount of time. Your 20s are the years in which you completely immerse yourself in all things possible. Your 20s are the years where you learn to let go of negativity and capitalize on every positive aspect of life. As the end of the academic year creeps up on you, which means graduation is just around the corner. Woo-hoo! Congratulations to you and your completion of your hard-earned college degree. You deserve it! You’re young, fresh-minded and ready to showcase the talents and skills you’ve learned over the past four years to the world. But before you jump right into the workforce, here are some tips on how to keep up the momentum and continue to be successful after school.

1. Remove the following phrases from your vocabulary:

• “I can’t”
• “That’s impossible”
• “No one likes [insert unmentionable person being gossiped about]”
• “I didn’t do it”
• “I don’t know”

You’re an adult in the real world now. Using these phrases only limits your capability of being successful within your new position. These phrases give the impression that you are doubtful, gossip-y, and not quick to accept responsibility for your actions. It’s time to be confident, show off what you’re worth – taking full responsibility for your actions.

2. Create your own brand. When establishing how you want to market yourself you must be consistent in your actions by recognizing your core values. Begin to identify your values by writing them down. Once you’ve jotted down your personal values, cherish them and stay to true them. Exuding your moral characteristics speaks volumes when you walk into a room. This is what I like to call reputation management.

3. Be genuine during your interaction with others. You may have learned in school or at some point in your life to ask the question, “What’s in it for me?” Although you are looking to establish a career after school, you must also step back and ask the individuals you are interacting or networking with “What is it that I can do for you?” By asking this simply question you’ve already proved that you have the ability to be unselfish, even during this crucial time of self-establishment. Remain focused on your goals, be willing to make sacrifices and stay open minded and with that agenda, you will soar.

Are you looking for a way to energize your employees and inspire them to work harder? Most people in a managerial position answer with a resounding “Yes!” A great way to do this is to give your employees an incentive to work other than their paycheck. Turning sales goals into friendly competition between departments, or having an “Office Olympics” style training day breathes new life into organizations that may have taken a turn for the monotonous. While these games may seem childish on the surface, they bring some fun back into the workplace and lighten things up, while still encouraging hard work and dedication. Remember – fostering a good mood in the work place contributes to good business!

  Do you have a salary in mind that you feel you should be making but you are not sure how to go about getting it? Is there a voice in your head that keeps telling you that what you want is unreasonable? Do you find yourself not putting in for all of the hours that you have worked? In a research analysis performed by Ariane Hegewisch for a Huffington Post article found that women are actually working 59 days out of the year for free, while their male counterparts are being paid every single day out of the year.

It doesn’t take a study to prove that men are typically better at asking for what they want and women tend to ask for what they feel is reasonable. Here are some thoughts on how to get what you want.

1. Turn off the negative voice in your head. Stop telling yourself that what you are asking for is impossible.

2. Get clear on what it is that you want. Write down all of the things that you want from your job that will motivate you. Not all rewards have to do with compensation. Often flexibility or ability to work from home are high in the list. It’s impossible to get what you want if you can’t clearly express what it is that you are asking for.

3. When asking for a raise don’t just ask for what you think you can get – confidently ask for what you feel you deserve. Don’t do a comparison of what everyone else in the company is making or what the market analysis looks like. Present an argument based on the dollar value that you have brought into the company, the revenue you have generated or financial losses you have prevented.

4. Remember that if you never ask for something the answer will always be no. So take a shot at getting what you want and prepare a professional presentation to go after it.

5. Don’t begin the discussion by apologizing for asking for additional benefits or compensation. This puts you in a position of giving your power away by asking for forgiveness when you aren’t doing anything wrong.

“Each person holds so much power within themselves that needs to be let out. Sometimes they just need a little nudge, a little direction, a little support, a little coaching, and the greatest things can happen.” - Pete Carroll

The people you surround yourself with play a key role in your success, both personally and professionally. If you are surrounded by negative people, you will be less likely to share new ideas and think big. Having a positive support system, whether you’re an entry-level employee or a CEO, increases morale and productivity. Think about the kind of business you are running. Do your employees feel comfortable coming to you for help and sharing their thoughts and ideas? As important as it is for you to interact with positive people, it is also crucial for you to create a supportive environment for your employees. What goes around comes around, and if you treat everyone with respect and cultivate open communication that is the way you will be treated. If you notice employees not contributing to a healthy work environment, it may be time to reevaluate their role in the company. Above all, be positive!

“I’ve come to believe that each of us has a personal calling that’s as unique as a fingerprint – and that the best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to offer it to others in the form of service…” - Oprah Winfrey

Who are the women in your life who have made a difference? Name the ones who have had an influence and contributed to your success in some way. Who are the ones you counted on to pick you up off of the ground when you felt like your dreams would never become a reality and gave you courage and encouragement?

I don’t know a woman who can’t name someone. Think about all of the times you have been helped in your career by a woman and you never let her know the difference she made. Really – how often has that happened?  When I was growing up I admired my high school math teacher Mrs. Riley. I was a friend of her daughter Kim and so I knew her long before I got to be in her math class. For all of the years I knew her it was clear to me that this was one special woman. The list of what made her so amazing is far too long to put in a blog. The point is that for years I had this woman in my life who, because of the way she approached the world made a difference in mine. When I look at the history of my life as a microcosm of all history – she is significant.

The reality is – I never told her how much I valued her as a role model, how important her influence was and how much her words of encouragement informed many of the decisions I made in my career.  Women like her are often shoulder to shoulder with us all of the time and its often we don’t recognize how much we learned from them, how important they were in our lives until long after they have moved away or taken another job. That is the very reason it is so wonderful that we have International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month to remind us to pause for a moment and honor the giants in history who advocated for women’s rights. But it is equally important to pause and acknowledge the women who are here with us now, today and thank them for their generosity of spirit, their encouragement for serving as supports and role models, mentors and champions. Often they go unrecognized. It’s good that we have a day set aside to stop and take stock  - to consider for a moment all of the gifts they have given us and to let them know that for all of the times we thought about how much they meant to us but never said a word we acknowledge them now.

Now, I challenge you all to honor a woman in your life who has inspired you to be great. Not just within the month of March, but every day.

So many people talk about how they hate to write, then they’ll proceed to say they have "zero writing skills". Are you one of those people? Do you know someone who professes that they can’t even write a simple “thank you” note?

If you can read and spell- you can write. Stop telling yourself that you will never be able to write – you are holding your self back. Saying that you “can’t write” is another way of saying – “ I don’t want to take the time to learn how to write well” or at least that is what I hear every time someone makes this statement. Writing is a task that is infiltrated in almost every job position you will have. Having exceptional writing skills will take you further into your career than you may think.

If you feel that you have zero writing skills there is a way to turn that situation around. Here are some ideas:

• Take a creative writing class. Many libraries, schools, arts centers offer writing classes. My advice is to sign up for one so that you can learn some key tips to writing well.
• Get a writing tutor – I have more than one friend who has met privately with a writing coach to sharpen their skills. A few months of an hour a week can make a big difference in getting you on track. It’s a great investment in yourself.
• Read books on business writing and do the exercises in them.
• Sign up for a series of webinars on the basics of writing.
• Find a friend who loves to write and ask them how they became a good writer.
• Chances are anyone who loves to write will tell you that it isn’t as easy as it looks. I know people who take up to four hours to write a 250-word blog but they do it. Why? Because they are proud of the finished product. Once they are published they feel they have shared something of value with the world.

One of my college professors said that there are three things you must do well in this life to succeed: read, write and speak. In fact, the college I attended lowered the highest achievable grade from an A+ to a C-  whenever a piece of work contained an incomplete sentence. In college I thought that was unfair but now it’s clear they were just preparing us for the real world. It’s possible to reduce your chances of advancing in your career by staying stuck in the spot of having zero writing skills.

Have you ever quit a job? Chances are if you have been in the workforce for over 10 years the answer is yes. Many who have exited actually left a person and not the work.

My good friend Jess gave up on her job because she could no longer take the stress of working with her boss. It was impacting everything from her health to her family.

Many people are passive; they are quiet about their frustration, stress or disappointment. Some leave for a better opportunity. Many leave for any opportunity or for nothing at all. They just have to get away from a dysfunctional stressful situation. What makes a good person resign?

The number one thing I hear people who couldn’t take it any more talk about is that they feel they can’t trust someone of influence in the workplace.

Here are six examples of ways that people drive good employees away:

1. They omit important information. Thinking that information is power they won’t tell their co-worker or the people working for them all of the information they need when they are assigned a project. The employee finds out after spending too much time on something that the job could have been done better and faster if only they knew what the boss said to the person passing along the instructions when the project was assigned.

2. They don’t tell the truth and they repeatedly get caught in a lie. And no one does anything about it.

3. They speak negatively of people. When this happens the employee wonders what is being said about them when they are not in the room.

4.Building relationships is not important. They don’t even try to know something about the people they are working with. I know someone who was called by the wrong name. No matter how many times she corrected her boss it go brushed off with the comment “I’m awful with names.”

5. They hold off on giving positive feedback. They won’t say “good job” at the moment it happens or in front of anyone else. They wait until an annual review or they say it in passing weeks after the event it makes people feel like the praise wasn’t really genuine.

6. They use silence as a weapon. Are weapons appropriate? No. But silence is a powerful one. Early in my career I worked for someone who would stop speaking to his staff for weeks at a time when something didn’t go his way. It created a punishing environment that drove talented people away.

Part of developing good employees is to model respectful communication that fosters an atmosphere to make people feel valued. Otherwise – good people are driven away.

You’ve finally landed the interview for the position you’ve been interested in for some time. Woohoo! Now, the next step is to prepare for the part.  Interview preparation is imperative because this is your one and only shot to exude your characteristics and personality with the hiring team.  They’ll use this opportunity to see if you’ll make a good fit for their company. There’s no doubt that you will, but here are five things I advise that you should never say or do during the interview, unless you don’t want to land the job.

1. “What does your company do?” This question is disguised as a question that may spark the interest of the interviewers. But please remember that upon entering the interview, you should have already completed your research on the company. If not, this shows that you are lacking interest and wasting the interviewer’s time. Instead try asking this: “What does your company expect from its employees?”
2. DO NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT answer your phone during an interview. The interviewing time should be dedicated only to the company and those who are interviewing you. You should not be worried about keeping in contact with those calling you or texting you in that moment as they are not the ones doing the hiring for your new job. Answering your phone during an interview is rude and if you know in advance that you need to be available to your contacts then I advise you reschedule your interview.
3. “How am I doing?” Although this seems like a good question to ask, this is not the appropriate time to be asking your interviewers how well you impress them during the interview. This also signifies that you are unsure and you are constantly seeking reassurance for your actions, which may be questionable in a leadership position. Always be confident. You’ll know how well you did based on whether or not you’ve been offered the position at the end of your time with them.
4. DO NOT bring your lunch to an interview. You may laugh but you would be surprised how many people think this is okay to do. I was conducting an interview one time and the person decided to unpack their entire lunch while we were sitting down. I’d advise you schedule your interviews before or after lunch (preferably before). Eating lunch during an interview is inconsiderate and rude because more than likely the interviewer is taking time away from his or her own lunch schedule to meet with you.
5. “The money doesn’t matter to me.” As this may seem like an answer that would be admirable, I’d hate to say you’re wrong. The money does matter in a sense because if the salary doesn’t phase you, there are hundreds of other candidates who deserve the pay in order to make a living for themselves. You saying the money doesn’t matter to you shows the interviewer that you could care less about important factors in life.

You are sitting across the table from the person who has the power to hire you and they ask, “ Tell us why you were let go from your last job?” Yikes.

It’s the question that you bump into every time you have an interview and each time it’s asked you stumble around for the answer.

Don't fret. Here are some tips on how to prepare so that the next time you run into it you won’t feel like the interview is going sideways with no hope of recovery.

1. Be prepared for the question and work out the answer well in advance of an interview.

2. Make a list of all of the reasons you were unemployed for that time and be prepared to also identify the things you accomplished while you were out of the job market.

3. Even if you were let go from your last job, chances are you can still come up with a few positive things that happened at with your last employer. What projects did you work on that highlight the skills that will be helpful to your prospective employer?

4. Talk about what you learned from the experience you had with the employer who let you go. It’s admirable when a person can take a look back at a bad experience and describe how it gave them a better understanding of something or provided insight into something they needed to learn.

5. It’s never a good idea to put 100% of the blame on the previous employer. The person interviewing you wants to know that you are capable of getting through a difficult time and ended up with some significant expertise.