Corner Office in the New York Times. Subtitled “Conversations about leadership and management,” this weekly column by Adam Bryant in the Sunday Business section of the New York Times delves into the thinking of CEO’s in a wide variety of industries.
- Job seekers, there always is at least one question about how the CEO hires people. You will get great ideas about interview questions and the kind of traits a CEO is looking for.
- Promotion seekers, pay attention to those answers about what the CEO looks for in a senior leader. And read carefully the CEO’s answers to questions about their leadership style and how they developed it. If you aspire to be a senior leader, you will need to have your own leadership philosophy and practices, AND be able to tell the story of how it evolved. Storytelling is a key skill for all senior leaders, for people learn most effectively when they hear something in a story. Remember Aesop’s Fables and all the life and morality lessons we learned through those stories.
Sunday Routine, a weekly interview with a New York City notable, can be found in the Metropolitan section. The great thing about this column is the behind-the-scenes look it gives you into the lives of CEOs, politicians, non-profit leaders and other bold-face names. Things worth noting:
- All of them work on the weekend. So if you aspire to be a senior, successful person, realize that you will put in far more hours than the 40 or so you currently work.
- This column paints a rosy picture of people who perhaps are not the nicest people for which to work (I’ve heard some stories…). Here, they get the chance to humanize themselves, perhaps make themselves more likeable. It’s an object lesson in the power of PR if you use it wisely. Think about how you would want to show up in print – study this for a few tips.
The Boss, a weekly feature in the Business section of the New York Times, is an “as told to” interview with a CEO. In it, they tell the story of how they grew up and the path they took toward their current position. When you read enough of these, you’ll see that there are very few straight lines in a career.
Other useful New York Times columns for job seekers and promotion seekers are:
Career Couch, an occasional column in the Jobs section of the New York Times, discusses various strategies for job search, career management, and moving up the career ladder.
Preoccupations, a weekly “as told to” feature in the business section of the New York Times, tells the story of how someone made a professional dream happen. Reading enough of these will give you a great sense of what it takes to build a business, change careers, and progress professionally.
