4 things to keep in mind to plan effective meetings

Well-known CEOs such as Amazon's Jeff Bezos and Virgin Group's Richard Branson practice "immersive leadership," writes Andy MacMillan, CEO of User Testing, by finding ways to stay connected with employees, either in person, through email or working various jobs in the business. "A CEO who practices immersive leadership can set a tone that excites employees, connect dots that help them realize why their work matters, and help remove organizational obstacles getting in the way of their happiness," MacMillan writes.

Put it into practice: MacMillan sends a companywide email every Monday morning recognizing achievements and setting goals and has spent time with the sales team making calls and learning how they work. "I saw what was working well and what could be improved. I also gained a new appreciation for how passionate these folks are about their jobs."

Control and make the meetings you call more effective by making them shorter and more engaging and setting clear expectations for the meeting's agenda to increase effectiveness, writes organizational psychologist and author Steven Rogelberg. "You can be the example that you hope others will follow in promoting meeting effectiveness," Rogelberg notes.

Put it into practice: Get feedback from participants after meetings to sharpen your approach and improve effectiveness, Rogelberg recommends. "This all serves to create accountability for making meetings better."

When an employee departs your company, share the news with their team promptly, focus on the positive aspects they brought to the job (and if they broke a rule, be clear about what it was to quell the rumor mill) and outline plans moving forward, writes Jason Evanish, CEO of Get Lighthouse, Inc. "How you treat employees when they leave makes a strong statement to the rest of your team," Evanish notes.

Put it into practice: If the departing employee has been fired, tell the team the company is parting ways with them and be gracious, Evanish writes. "Your team likely knows, and they're watching how you treat people when they can't do anything for you anymore."

Learning new things. While 62% of you report only moving to a different industry or area of expertise two or less times, 38% have made multiple jumps over the course of your careers.

Learning new things can be scary and entering new industries or functions requires you to ascend a steep learning curve. Those jumps are not without risks either.

All that said, the benefits of making those jumps can be many. You'll learn new things and find different ways of looking at the world. You'll experience new cultures in those new departments or companies. You'll become a better problem solver because you'll understand more facets of a problem and be able to make more connections between domains of expertise.

If you're given the opportunity to make a jump and it feels like your current career trajectory is stalled, consider the new role. You'll learn a lot and it could reinvigorate your career.

-- 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."

Employee turnover is a fact of life for business, but leaders must accept that the old system of loyalty has become an "outdated vehicle" and implement a new system that offers "employees the skills and abilities required to land greater opportunities or deal with career disruptions," says consultant, author and former CHRO at LinkedIn Steve Cadigan. "If you know your people are going to leave faster, why not celebrate that trend and support it as a means to attract talent who will appreciate what you have done for them after they leave?"

A black and white photo taken by Hungarian photographer Csaba Daroczi of a Eurasian nuthatch flying over the hollow of a tree has won the top prize in the Close-up Photographer of the Year contest. Other honored photographs included two secret toadhead agamas fighting over territory in the Kalmyk semi-desert, a slime mold with a crown of ice and a lava moray eel curled into the shape of a heart.

Last Thursday, I featured a story about Wayne State University's annual Word Warriors list that hopes to repopularize words that have fallen out of use, such as "pawky" to describe those with a cynical sense of humor, or "twankle" to describe how one plinks away on a musical instrument.

I asked what words you liked, and the list is impressive.

Cath D. says her favorite word is "dreich," a Scottish word "describing weather, which is grey, dark, dank and wet.

Ted B. sent in a couple from his mother's German side of the family. "Snicklefritz" can perhaps best describe "a 6-year-old boy on a sugar high," while "snucklerputzi" could be used to talk about an "angelic little toddler."

Eric S., who writes a blog about words, says one of his favorites is "omphaloskepsis," meaning the act of contemplating one's navel.

Thanks to everyone who wrote in to tell me their favorite words. It's not too late! We can make this an ongoing thing to learn new words each week. Tell me yours.

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