How To Cope With Career Regrets | Execs Don’t Want To Commit To Pay Boosts | Minnie Mouse’s Pantsuit

Plus: How Spotify Is Responding To Their Unfolding Crisis

Good morning, everyone. As we kick off the Year of the Tiger 🐅, wishing a Happy Lunar New Year to all who celebrate. This week in Forbes Careers:

--Bestselling author Dan Pink on why there’s real power in your regrets

--Worried your boss is monitoring you? A new law in New York says they must disclose it

--The best way to handle aggressive people at work

Regrets, we’ve all had a few. But rather than try to avoid it, or live up to the mantra of “no regrets,” we should try to reckon with this “most misunderstood” emotion, bestselling author Dan Pink writes in his new book out today, The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward.

I interviewed Pink for a new video series we’re planning, clips of which you can watch here. In it, we discussed how the findings of his book—which in typical Pink fashion, helps readers make sense of how social science research explains our world—apply to the regrets we have about our careers.

Pink shared with me that a common thread in the responses he received while conducting research for the book was that people regretted not being daring enough when it came to work. “A very common career regret is ‘I stayed in this lackluster job rather than start[ing] a business,’” Pink explained. Another frequent sentiment was people’s wish that they had spoken up more at work. “People want to have careers and workplaces where they feel safe enough to do something, to say what they think, to take a chance. I think [there’s] a big lesson for companies in that.”

The book also delves into how to learn from your regrets and move past them by creating a “failure resume” to understand mistakes you repeat or the power of sharing your regrets with others, especially if you’re a leader. You can read—and see—more from my conversation with Pink here. Tell me: What regrets do you have about your career? How might you learn from them?

Work Smarter

Forbes assistant managing editor Diane Brady interviews serial entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk about the best ways to scale up your brand.

About to ask for a raise? Persuade your boss for a promotion? Here’s how to prepare for a critical meeting with your manager.

For women who struggle with negotiating, get past these internal blocks that get in the way of your success.

The best ways to handle aggressive people in the workplace: Be Assertive, tap support and document everything.

Need inspiration? Here are the next 30 management thinkers to watch.

On Our Agenda

Minnie Mouse is going to wear a pantsuit: This March, in honor of Disneyland Paris’s 30th anniversary and Women’s History Month, Mickey's sidekick will get a change of attire. Here’s how the outfit became a signal of female empowerment.

Vaccine-or-bust: Still wondering how the Supreme Court’s rejection of the vaccine-or-test rule will affect your employer? A new survey from Gartner found that more than half of organizations (52%) say the SCOTUS ruling has no impact on their plans to track workers’ vaccine status, and nearly a quarter (23%) indicate it will make them more likely to require workers to wear masks. More than a third plan to proceed with their own mandates.

Big brother: A new law in New York, taking effect in May, will require employers to disclose electronic monitoring tools they use to hire new talent.

r/antiwork temporarily shuts down: Last week, Reddit’s popular “anti-work” subreddit, where users discussed bad bosses and swapped quitting stories, temporarily shut down following an awkward interview between one of its moderators and a Fox News host. 

Friday is jobs day: The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases employment numbers Feb. 4. The White House has warned that the omicron-fueled spike in Covid-19 cases could skew the numbers, potentially showing a greater number of unemployed people. 

Recommendations
From Beyond The Newsroom