View your leadership role like that of a chess master

Leaders, like chess masters, need to know the lay of the board, who is available to assist and remember they may need to move not only forward but to the side and backward to achieve their goal, writes Leadership Vitae's Kristin Hendrix. "By realizing we have others available to us to achieve our desired outcomes, and looking at the entirety of the board, we can retain a sense of empowerment even in a challenging environment," Hendrix writes.

Put it into practice: At times, you may find yourself a pawn in someone else's game, which is why it's "critical to know all the players on the board and know them well," Hendrix notes. "If we're going to emulate any piece on the board, it should be one that allows us to take risks and pull back when we need to rethink our approach."

Millennials who have stepped, or are about to step, into leadership roles tell consultant Alaina Love that those who manage other people need to remember that the younger generations are learning from them, and they outlined some traits they hope to emulate. One of those rising leaders, change strategist Marc Cugnon, writes about key leadership characteristics he has recognized, such as learning about and appreciating workers' different lived experiences and getting them into roles that feed their souls.

Put it into practice: Learn to make your most important promises to yourself through work/life balance [and] ... "operate with high integrity," Cugnon writes. In addition, have compassion, show respect to all others and be inspiring.

Masking, a term that can mean "suppressing or hiding one's true self in social settings" and can be as common as faking confidence at a meeting, is especially prevalent among workers with atypical brain variations such as autism or dyslexia, Aisiri Amin writes. Employers and other workers should accept team members who are uncomfortable with small talk or loud rooms and accommodate them so they feel "seen and supported," suggests Rinkle Jain, a psychotherapist in Mumbai.

Put it into practice: Learn about and value differing employees' perspectives and skill sets and play to their strengths, Amin recommends. For instance, many people with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder "are great during crises. They remain calm and are able to function well to find a solution, which can benefit workplaces," Amin explains.

Missed connections and missed opportunities. Fifty-seven percent of you report not doing a good job of staying in touch with peers from your academic years. This could mean missed opportunities to build and strengthen your network.

Given the plethora of social media networking tools and the ubiquitous nature of communication channels, it's not terribly hard to reconnect with old friends and classmates. Many of those classmates are at similar places in their career. They could be great sources of customer referrals, employee referrals, job openings and other business opportunities. They're also great to connect with and have them be a sounding board and a friend.

Go look up someone you were friends with long ago. See what they're up to. Reconnect. At the very least you can reminisce about old times and possibly have a laugh or two.

-- Mike Figliuolo is managing director of thoughtLEADERS, which includes TITAN -- the firm's e-learning platform. Previously, he worked at McKinsey & Co., Capital One and Scotts Miracle-Gro. He is a West Point graduate and author of three leadership books: "One Piece of Paper," "Lead Inside the Box" and "The Elegant Pitch."

Companies will fail unless the CEO sees themselves as "the innovator in chief" and is willing to take risks to differentiate their products and services, says Ron Shaich, founder of Panera Bread and Au Bon Pain. "[U]nderstanding that you want to be deep in people's love and affection for you and make a difference for them, uniquely them, is ultimately how you find success in most businesses in which there are multiple alternatives," Shaich says.

A new study of rock crystals brought to Earth by Apollo 17 astronauts in 1972 reveals that the moon's surface is about 40 million years older than scientists previously thought. Researchers analyzed pieces of zircon crystals embedded in moon rock, which are believed to be the first solid materials crystallized after the moon's formation, and dated the crystals at 4.46 billion years old, according to the study in Geochemical Perspectives Letters.

My 40th high school reunion (yikes!) was this past weekend. I didn't go, though I probably would have if I didn't live nearly four hours away from my hometown. I don't keep up with many of my high school friends, even though Facebook has made reconnecting easier.

Mike Figliuolo's poll shows I am not alone in failing to stay connected with high school classmates. Most of us move on and don't keep in touch, even though we all declared that we would when we signed each other's yearbooks, right?

Do you keep up with old high school friends? Have they helped you in your career along the way? Tell me about it!

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