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PayScale’s VIP Blog Roundup: How to Be a Superhero Manager

Topics: Career Advice

“I have to go to work tomorrow,” a friend of mine recently informed me. “And the worst part is, I’m still not Batman.” For most of us, work is a far cry from superheroics, unless you count being able to endure an interminable meeting without sighing a feat of strength. (And sometimes, it is.) But as the lead story in this week’s roundup shows us, being good at managing is a superpower – but one you can develop over time, with no origin story required. Read all about that, plus the assumptions you should stop making about LinkedIn, and the ways in which your brand will change over time, in this week’s post.

wonder woman

(Photo Credit: JD Hancock/Flickr)

TJ Glenn at The Fast Track: How to Be a Superhero Manager

Do You Know What You're Worth?

“How you approach management has a lot to do with identifying your particular abilities,” Glenn writes. “Perhaps you have the adamantine claws to slice through the barriers that prevent your teams making progress. Maybe your ability to project a vision of your strategy is a Bat-beacon your teams and team leads can turn to in the darkness of project uncertainty. You might simply be fearlessly inventive, coming up with business strategies and project possibilities to drive the company forward. Or perhaps your true gift is to bring others together into a league of business heroes and wring justice, or at least consensus, from the chaos.”

Whatever your particular gift, understanding it will help you use it for the common good. Lots more heroic advice, here.

Susan P. Joyce at Work Coach Cafe: 3 Bad Assumptions About LinkedIn

Are you avoiding LinkedIn? If so, it might be because you’re not quite sure what it’s for, or how to use it to your advantage. You might have a lot of assumptions about the most popular professional social network that are just plain wrong, starting with the idea the idea that LinkedIn is just for job search.

Well, isn’t it? No, according to Joyce.

“You have an online reputation. LinkedIn helps you manage it,” she writes. “Unless your job is being a spy or someone who must be invisible, LinkedIn is the foundation of your online reputation management — a key element for anyone who works today, whether that work is hedge fund manager or administrative assistant.”

Her tips will help use the reputation management aspect of LinkedIn, while attracting more recruiters to your profile and using the network as more than just an advertisement for your skills.

Dr. Marla Gottschalk at The Office Blend: The Evolving Brand of You

“Life (and work) are never static,” Gottschalk writes. “You are not either. That’s what we always forget to acknowledge. We are always changing — and how we evolve can be a huge surprise. The truth is that you are likely in the process of change as we speak.”

If you’ve been feeling stuck lately, or dissatisfied with your career, the problem might be that you’ve changed without noticing it. Whatever you do, don’t ignore those feelings. If your brand needs to shift, so be it.

Tell Us What You Think

What’s the best career advice you’ve read this week? We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or join the discussion on Twitter.

Jen Hubley Luckwaldt
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