Why Teaching Financial Literacy to Seminarians Makes Sense

Financial literacy skills are a key to economic health, yet too few Americans have even a basic knowledge of how to manage their personal finances. This is especially true among African-Americans, Hispanics, women, millennials, and individuals without a high-school education.

According to a financial capability study by FINRA Investor Education Foundation, only 46% of Americans have emergency funds and only 39% have tackled retirement savings needs. The survey also reflects that African-Americans are more likely to use non-bank borrowing, such as payday lenders and pawn shops, than other ethnic groups. The study states that nearly half of all respondents with a high school education or less could not come up with $2,000 in 30 days in the event of an emergency.

Americans want to live a comfortable life at each stage of their lives, regardless of race, gender, age, or education level. But whether we are young, middle aged or seniors, we must learn financial knowledge and tools for economic success. A lack of financial understanding can be a serious roadblock to a healthy financial life and has a negative impact on our economy and our citizens, including those who are most vulnerable.

Americans often wait until it is too late or when a financial crisis occurs before they seek help for financial problems. This is especially true in underserved populations, who have limited access to financial education training and resources.

But there is good news. Higher education institutions committed to teaching financial literacy are making tremendous difference by including such education at the undergraduate and post-graduate education levels.

This fall I am teaching financial literacy to divinity students, pastors and ministers at the Howard University School of Divinity in Washington, D.C. The class is structured to increase the financial and stewardship knowledge of the participants by teaching them practical money management concepts and skills. The program is designed to train religious leaders who will be able not only to use their own financial resources wisely, but also to teach financial literacy in their communities and places of worship. They will also be better informed to make leadership decisions regarding the facilities and finances of their congregations.

Enhancing the financial literacy of religious leaders and instructing them with the “Each One, Teach One” curriculum training model to implement in their own faith communities is a powerful tool to reach African Americans and others who would not otherwise have access to this knowledge. This education model also has the strong potential to impact thousands of individuals in African-American communities and elsewhere.

Imagine if financial literacy courses were a mandatory requirement at all divinity schools across the nation, and if churches and places of worship made a promise to host financial literacy trainings for their communities each year.

In nearly 20 years of running an education nonprofit organization dedicated to financial education, I have discovered that people want to learn personal money management concepts and their applications. Financial knowledge and skills of these kind help individuals make smart decisions so that are able to maximize financial resources and achieve their personal and financial goals.

The financial topics that I teach at Howard University, which focus on practical issues relevant to faith-based groups, include:

•Personal Financial Planning for Ministers and Pastors
•Credit and Debt Management
•Maximizing Financial Blessings through Investing

Thus far, the feedback from divinity students who have taken the “Personal Financial Planning for Ministers and Pastors” course has been positive and participants are eager to share what they have learned with their congregations.

Innovative and comprehensive programs to teach divinity students financial literacy, so they can in turn instruct their church members about useful financial concepts that can be applied in everyday life, can be a real lifeline for African America communities and other groups.

I urge other divinity and theology schools to expand their offerings to include financial literacy instructions in their curriculum and offer subject specific seminars and workshops to enable ministers and pastors to empower their congregations to become fiscally healthy. This can also play a key role in the financial sustainability of the churches they serve. We don’t have a moment to lose if our goal is growing healthy and robust communities and providing tools for all our citizens to have a chance to improve their financial well being.

The 9th Annual Financial Literacy Leadership Conference will be held on October 17-18, 2016 at the Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center. Click here for more information and to register.

Access Your Potential is a new blog series focused on exploring the importance of developing technology skills and financial acumen in minority communities. Join the conversation by emailing PurposePlusProfit@huffingtonpost.com or by tweeting with #AccessYourPotential.

How Dressing Like A Boss Landed Me A Promotion In 6 Months

So you’ve heard the saying, “dress for the job you want, not the job you have” and if you’re like me, I’ve always wondered if that was still even relevant especially since most startup/digital attire is super casual.

When I started my first NYC job at a digital marketing agency in Times Square, I thought it was so cool that the CEO would show up to work in a t-shirt and jeans and the employees could sport their new white Vans. I mean damn, Daniel. But, my boyfriend, being the natural fashion guru that he is, gave me some friendly advice to up my outfit game.

At first, I didn’t take it too well; I thought he was telling me I had bad style and I sure as heck didn’t want to wear a pencil skirt to an office that had graffiti art on the wall. So of course I went to work wearing jeans and a t-shirt to work the next day.

However, I began to notice the style difference between the managers and the associates. It was crystal clear who the leaders were. Not that they were wearing suits and ties but they dressed like a professional ― collared shirt, tucked in obviously, loafers or heels, casual blazer ― and it separated them from the sea of newly graduated account managers. I began Pinteresting “casual work attire” at once and started marking photos of women with an outfit that said “I’m a boss babe.”

My first attempt was a bit stuffy and I even had one co-worker ask me if I had a job interview but as the weeks went on I tweaked my outfits in a way that made me feel polished and chic. My blazers sported a python trim and I’d rock a crisp, white shirt with studded heels.

Hanna Snyder at Hanna Photography

I started to become somewhat of a fashionista around the office. Girls would come over to my desk to share their latest buy or get advice on a new outfit they’ve been mulling over. Not only was I getting noticed among my peers but the higher ups knew exactly who I was. Granted the office isn’t huge but we do hold two floors and I was standing out.

Over the next few months, I continued to take pride in my appearance and started to notice quick, career results. My suggestions were taken more seriously, I was asked to manage higher-level accounts and I was even invited to several meetings with c-level executives.

I mean, I had just started a few months before with no experience in the industry! Yes, I was studying everything I could about digital advertising and backing it up with stellar performance but so were a lot of other people.

It was obvious that the way a person presents him or herself dictates the way they are treated. As totally superficial and sad that this idea is, it’s true. We are constantly being judged on our appearance whether it’s on purpose or not so it’s crucial that we present ourselves in the best way possible. My boyfriend was right, and boy do I hate telling him that.

This thought process was confirmed when one of my higher ups came up to me and said, “We would rather bring you to an important meeting over so-and-so because you have a professional appearance and look the part.” I didn’t even have to say a single word in one of those meetings but I looked the part. It was an awesome compliment.

Needless to say within six months of working like a mad woman and dressing the part, I gathered up enough courage to ask for a raise early. Without hesitation, my bosses approved the raise and gave me a promotion! I later found out that most employees didn’t get promoted until after their first year but I was creating excellent work and becoming a leader in our division. I highly attributed this to taking pride in my appearance. Not only did the compliments make me feel great but I believe it gave others the impression that I was organized, serious, and ready for more.

Hanna Snyder at Hanna Photography

Over the past few years, I have continued to advocate “dressing the part” to my friends and co-workers because of the enormous benefits that came from doing so. I have now received multiple promotions and raises well before the standard timeline and credit my growth to presenting myself as leader within the office.

The best part was it didn’t take a whole new wardrobe to look like a pro. I started out by selecting a few key pieces such as a blazer or silk pants that I rotated with more casual items already in my closet. Once I was able to, I began to replace old clothing with the best quality I could afford in a basic color scheme so that I could easily match my outfit each day. Now I can say that I am in love with my small but selected wardrobe and feel dressed up even if I am just stepping out for coffee. Not only has this increased my professional experience but it has increased my overall self-esteem and that alone has been well worth it.

— Zabrina Janda, Clarity and Transformation Coach, www.zabrinajanda.com

This Bill Could Make Travel Reviews More Trustworthy (Or Not)

The recent passage of the Consumer Review Fairness Act of 2016 in the House of Representatives raises a new question about the reliability of online reviews for travelers.

User-generated reviews on websites such as TripAdvisor.com and Yelp.com contain information from people who claim to have stayed at a hotel, dined at a restaurant or visited an attraction. About 9 in 10 travelers consult these reviews, but only half of them trust what they read, according to surveys.

You don’t have to look far for the reasons.

Some businesses try to rig their online profiles by submitting flattering reviews of themselves, paying guests to write puff pieces about their stays or trying to muzzle those who are unhappy with the service they received. And some companies are known to place negative reviews about their competitors.

“You might think you’re always reading accurate reviews,” says brand strategist Rachel Weingarten. “But at times, you’re pretty much going in blind.”

Related: Frequently asked questions about booking travel.

The proposed law, which would prohibit companies from imposing penalties or fees against reviewers, would effectively offer these reviewers more freedom to express themselves online, particularly when they have had negative experiences.

The House bill goes to the Senate for consideration and will then be presented to the president for signature into law.

The question is: Will the new law make the process any better?

“The Consumer Review Fairness Act will essentially make it illegal for companies to prohibit their consumers from leaving honest, negative reviews or criticisms about their goods or services online,” says Joe Sullivan, an attorney with the Atlanta law firm Taylor English. Sullivan consults with companies to determine how to respond to user-generated reviews.

“It ensures that consumers have the freedom to tell the truth,” says Eric Goldman, a professor at Santa Clara University School of Law, who testified in support of the law before the Senate Commerce Committee.

Online review sites also have supported the legislation. Laurent Crenshaw, Yelp’s director of public policy, says something needed to be done about the increasing number of “gag clauses” being slipped into contracts.

The most common example is a vacation home rental owner who stipulates in the fine print of a contract that he may keep a deposit if a guest leaves an unflattering review.

“These clauses can have a chilling effect on consumers and businesses alike,” Crenshaw says. “People nationwide expect to have their legitimate speech protected.”

Trying to silence a reviewer with tactics such as the gag clause is “an unscrupulous way of preventing critical reviews from being published,” says Adam Medros, a senior vice president of global product at TripAdvisor. “The result is an incomplete and thus less reliable collection of information for reviewers, and an uneven playing field for that business’s competitors. Curtailing the freedom of expression of Americans is simply wrong.”

But what constitutes freedom of expression?

“It is a fairly common misconception that the First Amendment grants the public an unfettered right to voice an opinion,” says Kathleen Kirby, a partner at the Washington law firm Wiley Rein, who has expertise in First Amendment issues.

In fact, she says, the First Amendment prohibits the government from dictating what citizens may say — but it does not prohibit private companies from trying to do so.

In other words, a business can still sue you over a negative review, even one that’s true. The most common tactic would be what’s called a strategic lawsuit against public participation, or SLAPP — essentially, a nuisance lawsuit designed to shut down a critic.

“These lawsuits are often used by businesses to threaten and intimidate consumers to remove reviews and other content online,” explains Michael Lai, a co-founder of SiteJabber.com, an online review site. “Consumers, not wanting to be sued and often not having the resources to fight a costly lawsuit, will often back down and remove their online reviews — even if they know they are on the right side of the law — for fear of legal retribution.”

The current bill would not halt that practice, although SLAPP legislation is also being considered by Congress.

Questions remain about other aspects of consumer review sites. I have interviewed dozens of travelers who write online reviews, and virtually all of them reported a positive experience. Their write-ups were published promptly and are still online months and even years later.

But not all of them. Danielle Rollins, a bookkeeper from Dallas, recently complained that her one-star hotel review on a popular travel site had been “held in purgatory” while another five-star review published instantly. “The one-star review posted — eventually,” she says. Although it’s unusual, others have reported that their reviews — negative or positive — never went live.

Rollins’s experience, and those of others like her, continue to raise suspicions about the reliability of online review sites. And it leaves you wondering if travelers need to be protected from more than just vindictive hotels, restaurants and vacation rental owners.

After you’ve left a comment here, let’s continue the discussion on my consumer advocacy site or on Twitter, Facebook and Google. I also have a newsletter and you’ll definitely want to order my new, amazingly helpful and subversive book called How to Be the World’s Smartest Traveler (and Save Time, Money, and Hassle).

America's Richest (And Poorest) States

The U.S. Census Bureau released on Wednesday new data from its 2015 nationwide population survey. According to the annual survey, the national median household income rose to $55,775 in 2015. No state reported income declines. While 39 states reported significant increases in household income, income levels in 11 states remained the same.

24/7 Wall St. ranked all 50 states according to the newly released median household income figures. Annual income levels range from $75,847 in Maryland to $40,593 in Mississippi.

High-income states typically share certain social and economic characteristics. For example, residents of states with the highest incomes also tend to have high education levels. In 17 of the states reporting higher than average household incomes, college attainment rates also exceed the national attainment rate of 30.1%.

Click here to see America's richest (and poorest) states. 

While it certainly does not make up the difference between a poverty wage and a six-figure salary, residents of low-income states enjoy cheaper goods and services than residents of high-income states. For example, goods and services cost 10.3% more in Maryland than they do across the nation. In Mississippi, meanwhile, goods and services cost 13.4% less than the national average.

Similarly, home values closely mirror household incomes. In 18 of the states with high household incomes median home values exceed the national median home value of $194,500. The opposite is the case in the nation’s poorest states.

To identify the richest and poorest states with the highest and lowest median household income, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed state data on income from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2015 American Community Survey (ACS). Median household income for all years is adjusted for inflation. Data on health insurance coverage, employment by industry, food stamp recipiency, poverty, and income inequality also came from the 2015 ACS. Income inequality is measured by the Gini coefficient, which is scaled from 0 to 1, with 0 representing perfect equality and 1 representing total inequality. We also reviewed annual average unemployment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for 2014 and 2015.

These are America’s richest and poorest states.

The Poorest States:

• 5. Kentucky
• Median household income: $45,215
• Population: 4,425,092 (25th lowest)
• 2015 Unemployment rate: 5.4% (20th highest)
• Poverty rate: 18.5% (5th highest)

Like most states, Kentucky’s median household income of $45,215 a year has increased since 2014, when the median income, adjusted for inflation, was $43,014 a year. Residents are still quite poor, however. Kentucky’s poverty rate of 18.5% is the fifth highest poverty rate of all states. While no guarantee, a college degree substantially improves the odds of finding a job with a good wage. In Kentucky, just 23.3% of adults have a bachelor's degree, considerably lower than the national college attainment rate of 30.6%.

• 4. Alabama
• Median household income: $44,765
• Population: 4,858,979 (24th highest)
• 2015 Unemployment rate: 6.1% (8th highest)
• Poverty rate: 18.5% (5th highest)

Alabama is one of the poorest states in the nation with a median household income of $44,765 a year. However, this figure is notably higher than in 2014, when the median income, adjusted for inflation, was $42,895.

Like in many of the poorest states, Alabama’s poverty rate of 18.5% is among the highest of all states. Other problems the state faces are a high jobless rate and a high proportion of households relying on food stamps. Last year, 6.1% of workers were unemployed, the eighth highest jobless rate of any state. With low incomes, home values are also low in Alabama. The median home is worth $134,100, or more than $60,000 below the national benchmark of $194,500.

• 3. West Virginia
• Median household income: $42,019
• Population: 1,844,128 (13th lowest)
• 2015 Unemployment rate: 6.7% (the highest)
• Poverty rate: 17.9% (7th highest)

The typical West Virginia household earns $42,019, compared to the national median income of $55,775. Individuals struggling to find work who live on little to no income contribute to low household incomes in West Virginia. Of workers in the state, 6.7% were unemployed in 2015, the highest annual unemployment rate of any state.

West Virginia’s population is one of the largest recipients of government assistance programs such as SNAP, which each year help millions of people cope with poverty. Of households in the state, 16.0% use food stamps, the ninth highest share.

• 2. Arkansas
• Median household income: $41,995
• Population: 2,978,204 (18th lowest)
• 2015 Unemployment rate: 5.2% (24th highest)
• Poverty rate: 19.1% (4th highest)

Goods and services in Arkansas cost less on average than almost anywhere else in the country. While the relative affordability certainly helps low income households, state residents are still quite poor. The typical household earns $41,995 a year, second lowest after Mississippi. Also, 19.1% of people live in poverty, the fourth highest poverty rate of any state. Homes tend to have relatively low values to match the low incomes. At just $120,700, the typical home in Arkansas is valued at more than $70,000 below the national benchmark of $194,500.

• 1. Mississippi
• Median household income: $40,593
• Population: 2,992,333 (19th lowest)
• 2015 Unemployment rate: 6.5% (4th highest)
• Poverty rate: 22.0% (the highest)

With 2015 median household income unchanged from 2014, Mississippi is once again the poorest state in the country.The typical Mississippi household earned $40,593 last year, well below the national median income of $55,775. Mississippi also has the highest poverty rate in the country, with 22.0% of residents living below the poverty line. A relatively large share of state households are very poor. Some 11.5% earn $10,000 or less annually, the highest extreme poverty rate of any state. Similarly, there are relatively few affluent households in the state. Only 2.1% of Mississippi households earn $200,000 or more a year, the lowest such share.

The Richest States:

• 5. Connecticut
• Median household income: $71,346
• Population: 3,590,886 (22nd lowest)
• 2015 Unemployment rate: 5.6% (18th highest)
• Poverty rate: 10.5% (6th lowest)

A typical Connecticut household earns $71,346 in a year, considerably higher than the national median income of $55,775. With such high incomes, residents are better able to afford more expensive homes. Connecticut’s median home value of $270,900 is among the highest nationwide. A portion of every state's population is extremely wealthy, and the share of such high earners is especially large in Connecticut. More than one in 10 households earn $200,000 or more a year. Connecticut's relatively high education attainment rate partially accounts for the high incomes in the area. More than 38.3% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree compared to 30.6% nationally.

• 4. New Jersey
• Median household income: $72,222
• Population: 8,958,013 (11th highest)
• 2015 Unemployment rate: 5.6% (18th highest)
• Poverty rate: 10.8% (8th lowest)

While New Jersey households report some of the highest incomes in the nation, living in the state is not cheap. Goods and services cost an average of 14.5% more in New Jersey than across the country. Housing is also very expensive in the state. The median home value of $322,600 in New Jersey is considerably higher than the national median home value of $194,500.

Few states have a higher proportion of high-income households than New Jersey, where 10.9% earn $200,000 or more a year. While certainly not a guarantee for such high wages, high college attainment among adults in New Jersey partially explains the high median income. More than 37.6% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, compared to 30.6% nationally.

• 3. Alaska
• Median household income: $73,355
• Population: 738,432 (3rd lowest)
• 2015 Unemployment rate: 6.5% (4th highest)
• Poverty rate: 10.3% (5th lowest)

A typical Alaska household earns $73,355 annually, nearly $18,000 more than the typical American household. While the price of oil has fallen considerably in recent years, Alaska still relies heavily on its traditionally high-paying oil industry. Of workers in the state, 5.6% work in the agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting, and mining sector -- which includes the oil industry -- the sixth highest such share of any state. State workers who are employed in the industry likely still earn relatively high wages.

Like the nation, the percentage of people without health insurance in Alaska dropped substantially in 2015. However, 14.9% of residents still do not have health insurance, the second highest rate in the nation.

• 2. Hawaii
• Median household income: $73,486
• Population: 1,431,603 (11th lowest)
• 2015 Unemployment rate: 3.6% (6th lowest)
• Poverty rate: 10.6% (7th lowest)

With its picturesque island scenery, Hawaii attracts some of the world’s wealthiest individuals. The state is also home to some of the more valuable real estate. Hawaii’s median household income trails only Maryland as the highest in the country, and the median home value of $566,900 is the highest of any state and several times greater than the national median home value of $194,500. Even the richest states do not necessarily have especially healthy job markets, but Hawaii’s unemployment rate of 3.6% in 2015 was one of the lowest in the country.

• 1. Maryland
• Median household income: $75,847
• Population: 6,006,401 (19th highest)
• 2015 Unemployment rate: 5.2% (24th highest)
• Poverty rate: 9.7% (2nd lowest)

Maryland leads the nation with a median annual household income of $75,847. The state’s poverty rate of less than 10% is also nearly the lowest of any state. The prosperity can be partially explained by high levels of education among state residents. More than 38% of adults have at least a college degree, many of whom are likely among the state’s high-income residents. The state also contains Washington D.C., home to some of the nation’s highest-paying government occupations. More than 10% of Maryland workers are employed in public administration, which represents only one portion of such government jobs.

Didn't see your state? Click here to see the full list.

Click here to see America's most segregated cities.

Click here to see the healthiest city in every state.

Click here to see America's most violent (and peaceful) states.

Lyft Sued For Millions For Allegedly Overcharging New Yorkers

A potential class-action lawsuit filed earlier this week in New York City claims Lyft has regularly overcharged riders for tolls there and seeks nearly $60 million in damages.

In court documents submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, attorneys Neal Bhushan and Kevin Caldwell argue the ride-hailing service made a habit of charging passengers the higher “cash” rate for tolls in the city instead of the lower “EZ Pass” rate, which the New York Taxi & Limousine Commission mandates should be charged.

And at an average of about $2.46 more per toll, multiplied by thousands of rides per day, it isn’t exactly small change. The complaint estimates that small discrepancy adds up to almost $60 million in overcharges over the past two years.

Of that, 20 percent of the overcharges would have been gone to Lyft itself, with drivers receiving the remaining 80 percent.

It’s unclear how frequently the overcharges occurred and whether Lyft intentionally engaged in the practice. Lyft declined to comment to The Huffington Post, and the attorneys who filed the suit said they weren’t able to speak in more detail at this time.

“I cannot speak to the specifics of the nature of the lawsuit without further discovery,” said Bhushan, of the Jacob Fuchsberg Law Firm, “but I do believe this is the first lawsuit brought on behalf of consumers in New York against a company like Uber or Lyft. Most of the cases brought against these companies have been on behalf of drivers.”

“A tech company like Lyft can’t just come into our city and overcharge riders,” Caldwell added. “Excessive fees ripping off passengers is simply unacceptable.” 

The suit comes during an interesting time for the company, and an increasingly tumultuous period for ride-hailing in general. While Lyft looks to play catch-up to rival Uber, it’s been rumored to be entertaining offers from potential buyers. Meanwhile, Uber has ceded its operation in China to rival Didi after taking on heavy losses there, a move that undercuts Lyft, which had a partnership with Didi.

Read the full complaint below:

Workplace Health Insurance Premiums Finally Stopped Skyrocketing. Now For The Bad News.

WASHINGTON ― Employers that provide health insurance, who cover nearly half of all Americans, saw modest premium increases this year, which is good news. But wait until you see the rest of the findings of a new survey.

The average annual cost of an employer-sponsored family plan rose just 3 percent to $18,142 this year, and the average annual cost for an individual plan stayed virtually the same at $6,435. Those figures, which combine the amounts that employees and employers pay, come from the survey published Wednesday by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust and from an article appearing in the journal Health Affairs.

In the messy, expensive U.S. health care system, such small increases constitute a positive development.

The National Business Group on Health previously reported that companies expect just small premium increases next year, too. And all this is happening during a period of lower-than-normal growth in overall health care spending.

But beneath those top-line figures are some not-so-positive developments, like a continuing trend toward workers facing higher and higher deductibles they must meet before their benefits kick in and having to pick up a larger share of the premium costs while employers kick in less and less.

The following charts from the Kaiser Family Foundation/HRET report show just how much more expensive and less generous Americans’ job-based health benefits have become over time.

A family plan cost workers about $1,500 in 1999, $4,000 in 2010 and $5,300 this year, while their employers’ percentage share of the total premium has been creeping downward.

Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research and Educational Trust

Even more striking is this graph, which shows how job-based health insurance costs have dramatically outpaced incomes and economic growth (as measured by inflation) over that same time period. And that continues despite relatively slow premium growth over the past five years.

Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research and Educational Trust

These next two graphs show that the value of health care coverage has declined even as premiums rose: A growing share of workers are enrolled in plans with high deductibles, and the deductibles themselves are increasing. As a result, employees are shouldering more of the costs of their health care over time.

Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research and Educational Trust

Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research and Educational Trust

This is happening because health care keeps getting more expensive ― a trend that began long before the Affordable Care Act was enacted. Higher costs are the main driver of rising premiums and larger deductibles.

But the employer insurance market isn’t struggling with other problems that plague the Obamacare market. Perhaps most importantly, the employer market covers a sustainable mix of healthy and sick customers, unlike the Affordable Care Act exchanges.

All the attention lately on Obamacare’s challenges makes it easy to forget that most Americans don’t get their health coverage that way. Despite a widespread public misconception, none of its issues affect health care costs and benefits for the vast majority of people.

Jobs are the biggest source of health benefits, and the more than 150 million people who are covered by employer-sponsored health plans dwarfs the 22 million who use an exchange or buy plans directly from insurers. Another 68 million are enrolled in Medicaid and 55 million use Medicare.

The Affordable Care Act left the employer market for health insurance mostly untouched. Even provisions of the 2010 law directed at employers ― such as the requirement that companies with at least 50 full-time workers offer health benefits ― have had minimal effect overall to date. The main reason: most employers, and nearly all large businesses, already provided health benefits that met the standards of the law ― and plan to continue doing so, as the new survey shows.

8 PR Faux Pas That Young Brands Must Avoid at all Costs

There's a difference between keeping on trend and trying too hard. Here are the common (and not always obvious) PR mistakes your brand may be committing.

A. Ignoring or Neglecting Your Online Presence

While it's easy to set up a Facebook page or Twitter handle, you should only do so if you plan to use them in you PR efforts. Anything from a poorly designed website to an abandoned Twitter handle to an unprofessional LinkedIn photo can detract from your company's image online. Take the time to clean up your digital properties, and keep it simple. - Jessica Baker, Aligned Signs

A. Not Avoiding Industry Jargon

Don't use industry jargon that might confuse your customers. Instead, write in a clear and concise fashion that communicates your value. Sell your story in a way that everyone can understand. - Michael Peggs, Marccx Media

A. Hiring a PR Agency

Hiring a PR agency too early will unnecessarily burn cash and be ineffective for the company. Start by setting goals and creating a bottoms-up plan for the company with PR metrics that are achievable. - Arry Yu, GiftStarter.com

A. Talking Down to Your Audience

It can be tempting to be at least a little arrogant. Not everyone can be a successful entrepreneur, after all. But the biggest faux pas you can commit is to talk down to your audience. Your goal is to foster a healthy connection with them. If you're condescending, refuse to admit fault or speak disrespectfully, you're going to drive people away from your brand in droves. - Steven Buchwald, The E2 Visa Lawyer

A. Not Setting Boundaries

Don't alienate clients or prospects with political, religious or even remotely edgy topics. One mistake can paint you as a "something" you may never be able to recover from. Avoid all political, religious and edgy topics and let your competitors deal with those traps. It may be difficult not to speak up about something you feel strongly about, but you will profit in the end by keeping mum. - Ben Walker, Transcription Outsourcing, LLC

A. Not Having Concise Messaging

A lot of brands try to be everything to everybody. The most successful brands have targeted and concise messaging to a specific consumer segment. Also, in terms of brand aligning, it's important to maintain your brand's integrity across all publications and social media outlets. - Lindsay Pomeroy, The Wine Smarties

A. Not Knowing (or Not Telling) Your Story

A lot of early-stage brands don't know the core story they should tell their customers. Sure, they have some sense of their product, the benefits and features, and maybe even an inkling of a purpose. But a truly compelling brand story contains a hero (your customer) with a problem, a guide (the brand), a way to overcome the problem (your product), and hopefully a remarkable outcome. - Mike Jones, Resound

A. Trying Too Hard to be "Hip"

Lots of popular brands have a clear social media presence. You may want to use certain "hip" or "cool" lingo into your brand but resist the urge. Everything won't be "on fleek" and your audience will know immediately if you're being genuine. You want to come across as honest, and if you aren't sure of a term, don't use it. Don't sacrifice your reputation for trends. - Ajmal Saleem, Suprex Learning

These answers are provided by members of FounderSociety, an invitation-only organization comprised of ambitious startup founders and business owners.

Lyft, Budweiser Announce New Program To Give Drinkers Free, Safe Rides Home

If you lift too many beers to your mouth, Lyft and a beer company might soon pay for you to get home safely.

Beginning Friday, the ride-hailing service in partnership with Budweiser will offer free (or at least substantially discounted) late-night rides to revelers in four states, distributing 5,000 $10 coupons every weekend for rides taken between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.

The anti-drunk driving campaign will run through the end of the year in Colorado, Florida, Illinois and New York, all of which are both key markets for Lyft and Budweiser, a Lyft spokesperson told The Huffington Post, and among the top states for drunk driving-related deaths.

Lyft and Budweiser will give the ride credits to customers of legal drinking age via the companies’ Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Despite the apparent shift in tactics to a more hands-on approach, Budweiser says their responsibility to curb drunk-driving remains unchanged.

“While the approaches have evolved, the mission remains the same,” Katja Zastrow, Anheuser-Busch vice president of corporate social responsibility, told HuffPost in an email. “This ongoing Lyft partnership is the next step in spreading Budweiser’s ‘Give a damn. Don’t drive drunk.’ message.”

Zastrow said Budweiser teamed up with Lyft after success with similar pilot programs at music festivals earlier this year.

It’s interesting timing for the campaign.

Earlier this summer, a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology found, counterintuitively, that Uber, a competing ride-hailing service, had very little impact on drunk driving rates.

A possible explanation: Those who drink responsibly were already finding safe ways to get home before ride-hailing apps exploded on the scene, either in a traditional cab or via public transportation. Meanwhile, people who decide to drive drunk ― already susceptible to making bad decisions due to their impaired judgment ― opt to endanger others rather than pay for a ride.

If that too-cheap-to-pay-for-a-ride theory holds water, we may see a drastic reduction in drunk driving rates in the four states targeted by Budweiser and Lyft.

“There have been conflicting reports on the impact that ride-sharing has had on drunk driving,” a Lyft spokesperson told HuffPost, “but we’re focused on our primary goal of this partnership, which is to reduce the 10,000 drunk driving-related deaths per year.

“Lyft can be a solution to the problem,” the spokesperson added, “and we are committed to making rides as accessible as possible to everyone who needs them.”

Ford Foundation's remarkable mea culpa will provide greater opportunities for people with disabilities

For 80 years, the Ford Foundation has sought to reduce poverty and injustice, strengthen democratic values, promote international cooperation and advance human achievement. Now stewards of a $12 billion endowment, when this remarkable organization's leader speaks, people listen. So it may well reverberate throughout the nonprofit world - and far beyond - now that Ford Foundation President Darren Walker has used the occasion of his annual letter to his constituents admitting that a new effort by the Ford Foundation to disrupt inequality had neglected people with disabilities.

Walker, who is African-American and gay said, "In the same way that I have asked my white friends to step outside their own privileged experience to consider the inequalities endured by people of color, I was being held accountable to do the same thing for a group of people I had not fully considered," Walker wrote. "Moreover, by recognizing my individual privilege and ignorance, I began to more clearly perceive the Ford Foundation's institutional privilege and ignorance, as well. It is clear to me now that this was a manifestation of the very inequality we were seeking to dismantle, and I am deeply embarrassed by it."

I have known Darren Walker for years and consider myself honored that he sought counsel from my organization and others in the disability community on this issue. He is an extraordinary man who has been a leader in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors for two decades. When TIME magazine names someone to its annual list of the "100 Most Influential People in the World" one could be expected to let that get to his head. Not Darren. His remarkable admission about the Ford Foundation's past ignorance and indifference to people with disabilities only underscores his humility and grace. He also knows when he's made a mistake and owns it.

The sad reality is people with disabilities have been marginalized for centuries. Even in this age of prosperity, people with disabilities remain underemployed and their skills underappreciated. Twenty-six years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, its full promise has yet to be fulfilled, as millions of Americans with disabilities still struggle to attain a quality of life equal to our non-disabled neighbors.

Personally, I have felt a special connection to the Ford Foundation since my longtime mentor, Mike Sviridoff, went to work for the Foundation in the 1970's under its legendary leader McGeorge "Mac" Bundy. Together, Mike and Mac worked tirelessly to nurture a variety of programs to address the problems of our cities, most notably poverty. Two years before President Lyndon B. Johnson declared the war on poverty, Mike led an antipoverty program in New Haven that was set up with a Ford Foundation grant. In its first 30 months, the program found employment for 1,500 people and became a national model.

Fast-forward half a century, the Ford Foundation continues to deliver proven results for poor and excluded communities around the world. But even more importantly, Darren Walker takes the unusual next step of putting Ford's own practices under a microscope, and leading by example. In his letter, Darren notes that "those who courageously--and correctly--raised this complicated set of issues pointed out that the Ford Foundation does not have a person with visible disabilities on our leadership team, takes no affirmative effort to hire people with disabilities, does not consider them in our strategy, or even provide those with physical disabilities with adequate access to our website, events, social media, or building. It should go without saying: All of this is at odds with our mission."

In a country where most foundations don't consider disability among their focus areas, for the leader of the nation's second-largest philanthropy to acknowledge this gross oversight and to appreciate the need to be inclusive of people with disabilities, is a game-changing move for the people my organization represents and for our nation as a whole. I hope his actions will spur other foundations, large and small alike, to examine if they, too, have ignored people with disabilities in their programs and employment. He concludes his letter with a hopeful tone:

"For my part, I am hopeful," he writes. "By demanding and expecting more of ourselves and our institutions, we can deliver more for others. In listening to each other, we will continue to learn. By listening more to each other, we can continue to forge a more just way forward, together."

Darren knows we'll all be watching. And we know he'll deliver. He always has.

We Buy A Staggering Amount Of Clothing, And Most Of It Ends Up In Landfills

This article is part of HuffPost’s “Reclaim” campaign, an ongoing project spotlighting the world’s waste crisis and how we can begin to solve it.

“Too much of a good thing can be wonderful,” Mae West, the Hollywood actress and style icon, once famously quipped.

At a casual glance, you might think her quote would accurately describe the fashion industry. The availability of an endless supply of cheap clothing has unleashed a whirlwind of color and beauty, giving people the chance to express themselves ― even on a tight budget ― and stamp their identity on the world.

But the dark truth about the fashion business is that too much of a good thing is creating environmental destruction and human misery on an unprecedented scale.

Let’s be clear: There is nothing beautiful in seeing a river polluted by toxic dyes or a garment worker surviving on a pittance while toiling in dangerous sweatshop conditions.

The merry-go-round of new apparel ranges the industry spews out at a dizzying rate is fueling an addiction to clothes and a perceived need to constantly be at the cutting edge of fashion. As a result, people around the world collectively consume more than 80 billion items of clothing each year, and those items are increasingly seen as disposable.  

We need to slow things down and become more aware of the negative impacts of our actions. That does not mean taking the fun out of buying clothes. It just means becoming less impulsive in our shopping habits and thinking twice before paying $4.99 for another cheap top to add to our already cluttered closets.

In order to help in this process, The Huffington Post is today launching the second stage of our “Reclaim” campaign, which aims to examine and fight the world’s waste crisis. For the past two months we have focused on food waste, creating more than 180 articles and more than 20 videos. We will now be putting our attention on fashion.

The facts speak for themselves. Fashion is considered to be one of the most polluting industries in the world, and the 1,135 people who died in the 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh are a constant reminder of the terrible conditions suffered by millions of garment workers around the globe.

Andrew Biraj / Reuters

People rescue garment workers trapped under rubble at the Rana Plaza building after it collapsed April 24, 2013.

Americans alone produced 15.1 million tons of textile waste in 2013, and around 85 percent of that ended up in landfills, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

On average each American throws away roughly 70 pounds of clothing and other textiles per year, equivalent in weight to more than 200 men’s T-shirts. 

The scale of waste is no great surprise when you consider that retailers tend these days to focus more on price than quality, which means many garments may survive only a few washes. More than this, the constant change of styles leads to heavy markdowns as retailers need to get rid of stock to create space for the newest styles.

Those clothes that don’t get thrown away often end up in cheap markets in the developing world. This ever-growing mountain of garments prompted five East African countries earlier this year to announce they are considering banning the import of secondhand clothes because their own domestic garment industries have no hope of competing against them.

While the scale of the industry’s problems are immense, the good news is that there are many solutions out there and many more in development.

We are seeing an immense amount of innovation, ranging from the development of less toxic materials, to new technologies that can transform old clothes into new garments, in a similar way to paper recycling.

Environmental organization Greenpeace is campaigning for the apparel industry to eradicate toxic chemicals, and there is increasing pressure for garment workers to be given a living wage to support themselves and their families.

There is also an emerging movement, supported by organizations such as Fashion Revolution, to find alternatives to buying new clothes. These range from going to thrift stores, swapping clothes with your friends or work colleagues, and renting clothes for a special occasion.

Though retail giants seem unable to break out of the fast fashion system they have created, a number of them are taking action to make their products more sustainable. Nearly three-quarters of Nike’s footwear now contain materials made from waste products from its own manufacturing process; H&M is investing in new recycling technology and offering in-store collection points, where customers can deposit old clothes.

But much more needs to be done. First and foremost, the big fashion companies need to be more transparent about the environmental and social impacts of the products they sell. It’s no wonder customers keep shopping to the max if they don’t feel any connection between what they buy and the environmental and social impacts, which disproportionately play out in developing countries, where regulations tend to be lax and the public’s gaze doesn’t often turn.

Even if a piece of clothing is made from organic cotton, the customer has no idea of whether the factory that produced it treats its workers fairly or whether the dyes used are polluting local rivers.

But while the fashion industry has a clear responsibility to take action, just as important is the need for every one of us to become more responsible about the amount of clothing we buy. That means taking a moment to breathe every time we get tempted by the latest fashion ― or enticed by a new markdown ― and asking ourselves a few very simple questions: Do I really need this, will it make me happy and will it make the world more or less beautiful?

Elon Musk: Tesla Autopilot Update Could Have Prevented Fatal Crash

SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON - Tesla Motors Co Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Sunday the automaker was updating its semi-autonomous driving system Autopilot with new limits on hands-off driving and other improvements that likely would have prevented a fatality in May.

Musk said the update, which will be available within a week or two through an “over-the-air” software update, would rely foremost on radar to give Tesla’s electric luxury cars a better sense of what is around them and when to brake.

New restrictions of Autopilot 8.0 are a nod to widespread concerns that the system lulled users into a false sense of security through its “hands-off” driving capability. The updated system now will temporarily prevent drivers from using the system if they do not respond to audible warnings to take back control of the car.

“We’re making much more effective use of radar,” Musk told journalists on a phone call. “It will be a dramatic improvement in the safety of the system done entirely through software.”

Tesla’s Autopilot, introduced in October, has been the focus of intense scrutiny since it was revealed in July that a Tesla Model S driver, Joshua Brown, was killed while using the technology in a May 7 collision with a truck in Florida.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been investigating Tesla’s Autopilot system since June because of the fatal accident. The agency had been briefed on the changes by Tesla and would review them, spokesman Bryan Thomas said. He declined to offer an update on the Tesla investigation.

Musk said it was “very likely” the improved Autopilot would have prevented the death of Brown, whose car sped into the trailer of a truck crossing a highway, but he cautioned that the update “doesn’t mean perfect safety.”

“PROBABILITY OF SAFETY”

“Perfect safety is really an impossible goal,” Musk said. “It’s about improving the probability of safety. There won’t ever be zero fatalities, there won’t ever be zero injuries.”

One of the main challenges of using cameras and radars for a braking system is how to prevent so-called false positives, in which a car might think an overhead highway sign, for example, was an obstacle to be avoided.

Using radar and fleet learning, rather than relying primarily on cameras, would solve that problem, Musk said.

“Anything metallic or dense, the radar system we’re confident will be able to detect that and initiate a braking event,” he said.

Silicon Valley-based Tesla is known for its innovation in luxury electric vehicles but some critics, including rival carmakers, have said it was hasty in rolling out Autopilot. Tesla stood by Autopilot after the fatality.

The revised system will sound warnings if drivers take their hands off the wheel for more than a minute at speeds above 45 miles per hour (72 kph) when there is no vehicle ahead, Musk said.

The warning will sound after the driver’s hands are off the wheel for more than three minutes when the Tesla is following another car at speeds above 45 mph. The dashboard also will flash a pulsing light.

If the driver ignores three audible warnings in an hour, the system will temporarily shut off until it is parked, Musk said.

Advanced Autopilot users, rather than new users, were most likely to ignore warnings to put their hands back on the wheel, Musk said.

Besides the fallout from the fatality, Musk has had to prepare for the Model 3 mass-market vehicle due late next year and completion of its Nevada battery factory, while trying to sell skeptical investors on the merits of a proposed acquisition of SolarCity <SCTY.O>.

On Sept. 1, SpaceX, where Musk serves as CEO, sustained what he later called “the most difficult and complex failure” in the commercial space company’s history when a Falcon 9 rocket exploded on its launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

“One of the worst weeks ever, really,” he told reporters.

Musk said he had wanted to improve Autopilot’s capabilities last year but was told it was impossible to do so without incurring more “false positives,” such as a car braking suddenly for a harmless tin can.

In July tweeted publicly that he was encouraged by talks with supplier Bosch [ROBG.UL] about improvements to radar.

“I wish we could have done it earlier,” he said on Sunday. “The perfect is the enemy of the good.”

(Writing By Alexandria Sage; Editing by Bill Trott)

11 Great Reasons Why Even the Smallest Businesses Need an Employee Handbook

The limited size of a small business can eliminate the bureaucracy that is typical of bigger companies. Regardless, a small company can adopt some big company tools without forfeiting atmosphere, culture, or flexibility. A good employee handbook is one of those tools.

Human resources professionals typically draft and update a company's employee handbook. An unbridled HR department in a large company might run with this responsibility to produce a handbook with more rules and details than anyone else in the company cares to read. A small company that does not have an HR department will simply not bother with a handbook. In both cases, these companies are forfeiting the following benefits that a well-drafted employee handbook can provide.

#1. Memorializing a Company's Culture

A company can emphasize the human side of its business by articulating the founder's culture and values in a handbook. For example, Valve Software, a 20-year old gaming and entertainment company, has a widely-circulated handbook subtitled "A fearless Adventure in Knowing What to Do When No One's There Telling You What to Do." Valve has adopted a flat management style, and it tells employees that its handbook discusses "the choices you're going to be making and how to think about them [and] how not to freak out now that you're here".

#2. Establishing what is Expected of Employees

The fashion retailer, Nordstrom, has the world's shortest employee handbook. It consists of a card with the single sentence "Use good judgment in all situations." Nordstrom has a lengthier online Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, but the intent is to communicate the company's expectations to its employees in a clear and concise manner that lower level managers might gloss over or omit from employee orientations.

#3. Communicating Company Policies to Employees

The law firm of Moses & Moses says:

A well-crafted Employee Handbook should provide consistent and clear expectations between employers and employees, including the rules governing your business and employee benefits. By providing an Employee Handbook, time is saved by the employer by not having to field numerous employment related questions and the employee will already know what to expect in a given situation before it even arises.

The Motley Fool has an interactive, online employee handbook that articulates policies, definitions, and resources that employees can use to answer their own questions. This handbook doubles down on the company's culture that encourages "Foolishness," including a vacation policy that tells employees to take what they need. Employees who feel left in the dark about policies can turn to a handbook for a clear and concise statement of policies that are important to both them and the company.

#4. Encouraging Employees to Feel Good About a Company

Employees who feel good about their employers will be more engaged and committed to their jobs. Zappos uses its employee handbook to emphasize the importance of its employees' feelings, thoughts, and opinions. The handbook projects an image of company employees who are excited about their jobs and the mission and values they are serving.

#5. Maintaining a Desired Company Image

Companies that expand beyond their initial startup moorings can lose the casual feel that contributed to their early success. The 10-year old internet startup, Disqus, maintains its startup atmosphere with a "culture book" that is separate and apart from an official handbook that includes labor law guidelines and other legalities. The culture book reflects the company's respect for individual personalities and portrays an office atmosphere that runs counter to a staid company environment.

#6. Recruiting New Talent

In 2009, Netflix released its "Netflix Culture: Freedom & Responsibility" internal presentation to a great fanfare of praise. This presentation described the company's philosophy for managing and motivating hourly and salaried employees. As this document expanded into public consciousness, it has been credited with attracting and retaining a talented and creative staff.

#7. Reassuring Employees that They Are Part of a Team

Many small companies take pride in a quirky collection of individuals that run their operations. A new employee who steps into a freewheeling environment may be hesitant to dive in headfirst. The digital ad company, Big Spaceship, uses its handbook to calm these fears and to encourage employees to participate in the culture that the company strives to maintain.

#8. Complying with Applicable Labor Laws

Government rules and regulations require companies to inform employees of their rights under applicable labor and other laws. Even those companies that use their handbooks as statements of corporate culture will generally publish a separate reference document that recites these rules and regulations.

#9. Defending Against Employee Complaints

Employee complaints under equal employment opportunity laws or human rights regulations are a fact of corporate life. A company's first line of defense against these claims will be an argument that it maintains written policies and procedures that it applies consistently to all employees. Employee handbooks are the easiest mechanism to establish that defense and to remind managers of their obligations to apply policies uniformly and fairly.

#10. Explaining Perks and Benefits

A company's perks and benefits are more than just descriptions of vacations and other policies. The legal marketplace consolidator, Upcounsel, Inc., has an online "careers" page that describes its coffee and meal benefits, shower and bathroom facilities, and office electronic game availability. Handbooks are perfect places to list company perks that add simple pleasures to a workday,

#11. Reducing Workplace Tension

Individuals are entitled to personal opinions on controversial topics, but those opinions should not be allowed to interfere with workplace team dynamics. ZGM, a Canadian marketing company, addresses this issue in its handbook with an employee handbook proscription against "politics, sects, packs, niches, hordes, groups, cliques, exclusion, and all things that build walls.

Conclusion

An employee handbook can be comprehensive or skeletal, but in every case, it is the equivalent of a business plan for employees. Companies succeed when their businesses follow a well-crafted plan. Likewise, employees will succeed when they follow the paths laid out in a good employee handbook. Even the smallest of companies can benefit from crafting and disbursing an employee handbook.

(Image Source)

How To Learn And Master Any Skill Twice As Fast, According To Science

Whether you're trying to be pro at Photoshop, or step up your tennis game, or master a dueling banjo song, you're probably dutifully following the age-old advice that practice makes perfect.

However, contrary to popular belief, doing the same thing over and over again might not be the most efficient way to learn foreign concepts.

Traditionally, we're taught using the "blocking" strategy. This instructs us to go over a single idea again and again (and again) until we've mastered it, before proceeding to the next concept. But several new neurological studies show that an up and coming learning method called "interleaving" improves our ability to retain and perform new skills over any traditional means by leaps and bounds.

What interleaving does is space out learning over a longer period of time, and it randomize the information we encounter when learning a new skill. So, for example, instead of learning one banjo chord at a time until you perfect it, you train in several at once and in shorter bursts.

Below are a some practical ways you can use interleaving to train your brain to pick up new skills quickly and effectively starting today:

Practice multiple parallel skills at once

Whether you're trying to improve your motor skills or cognitive learning abilities, the key to transforming how your brain processes new information is to break out of the habit of learning one facet of a skill at a time. The advantage of this method is that your brain doesn't get comfortable or store information in your short-term memory. Instead, interleaving causes your brain to intensely focus and problem solve every step of the way, resulting in information getting stored in your long-term memory instead.

For example, one study gave a collegiate baseball team extra batting practice and broke them up into three groups: a control group, a blocked group, and a random group. The blocked group faced a variety of pitches in a set order, and the other group encountered pitches randomly. After six weeks, researchers found that the random group improved 56.7%, while the blocked group only improved 24.8%. That's a massive difference! And similar results have been replicated in other sports and classroom learning studies.

Interleaving doesn't cut any corners, so your brain is always on guard. Think of the difference between blocking and interleaving like a boxer who practices one move over and over again versus a boxer who practices by sparring in the ring. In the ring, you have to be ready for anything. It makes you faster, sharper, and more versatile.

Plan your lessons in advance

Since randomization and spacing out lessons are crucial to the interleaving process, try planning when and what you want to cover in a lesson in advance. As block learning is such a linear technique, we might not normally think to do this, but a little pre-planning will make adopting a new skill set go by much faster.

Think of it like pre-planning a workout. If you go to the gym without having a plan in mind, you can lose time and momentum by trying to decide what to do next. But if you know you want to work on legs that day, you can create a plan that will help you achieve that goal without missing a beat. When it comes to interleaving, this will keep you from getting frazzled with the new learning process.

Go back to basics

When we progress with a new skill, it's easy to forget to practice older material. But going back over the basics is an integral part of the interlearning process. Doing so strengthens our brains and reinforces our long-term memory of a skill. It also has the added benefit of spacing out learning and giving our minds a break from taking on a new concept right away. This will result in higher and faster retention overall. Even pros like University of Georgia's football coach, Vince Dooley, subscribe to this methodology when it comes to training.

Keep track of your progress

If you find interleaving to not be as immediately gratifying as the blocking technique is, don't get discouraged, you're not alone. In one study, "80% of students claimed that the block style helped them learn better, despite testing better when using the an interleaved method."

In some ways, interleaving feels counterintuitive because the wide majority of us were taught to get comfortable with learning one concept at a time through school. But sticking with it and monitoring your results in a measurable way is the best way to stay motivated and see that the proof is in the proverbial pudding.

Break out of your comfort zone

Often, we're gravitated towards repeated tasks that we already have a basic grasp of and exist in our comfort zones. The whole process of interleaving feels pretty uncomfortable at first, especially when you're trying skills from new angles and failing a lot.

When you realize that practice does not mean perfection, and that every step new towards finding a skill is a step forward (even if it seems like a step backwards), you'll have the winning attitude to use interleaving to your advantage.

By following these steps, you'll be able to use interleaving to your advantage and learn any skill at lightning speed like a champ.

ITT Tech Closes: What It Means For Current And Past Students With Loans To Pay

John Baughman was pursuing a career in information technology in the Systems and Cybersecurity program at ITT Technical Institute in Boise, ID. With just six months left to go, Baughman was looking forward to graduating and getting a job.

But on September 6, 2016, after spending more than three years in the program, he was notified that ITT Educational Services was closing all of its ITT Technical Institutes. He and thousands of others across the country will be impacted.

See the full list of for-profit schools that have been shut down.

“It’s definitely a precarious situation to be in,” said Baughman. “I was enlisted in the U.S. Navy prior to attending ITT Tech so I was using the GI Bill. So financially I am not as impacted as other students without that opportunity. But I can never get back what I’ve used from the GI Bill so that is a loss.”

Moving forward, Baughman plans to enroll in a program at another school that accepts ITT Tech credits. However, the program is more intensive and may take more time than Baughman originally planned. The added length may also mean that the rest of his educational costs will not be covered.

“I think students need to act quickly,” said Baughman. “They need to find a new school if they want to mitigate the impact of this fiasco.”

ITT Tech shuts its doors for good

After more than 50 years of operation, ITT Tech will permanently shut down. The closure is the result of increased regulation and sanctions from the U.S. Department of Education.

ITT Tech offered students an alternative to the traditional college track. As a for-profit institution, the school provided specializing training in targeted fields. Last year alone, it had over 45,000 students and $850 million in revenue.

However, in recent years, questions arose about the institution’s credibility, recruitment and accounting methods.

In August, the U.S. Department of Education took action, instituting a ban on ITT Tech. It prevented them from enrolling new students who relied on federal aid to pay for their education with them.

ITT Educational Services, Inc. issued a press release on their website that blamed the government for the closure and the impact on students.

“We believe the government’s action was inappropriate and unconstitutional,” the statement said. “However, with the ITT Technical Institutes ceasing operations, it will now likely rest on other parties to understand these reprehensible actions and to take action to prevent this from happening again.”

Overall impact on ITT Tech students

The closure leaves 35,000 students without an educational path forward.

And with many students and graduates paying student loans from a now non-existent school, many are confused and concerned about how their debt will be handled.

Education Secretary John B. King wrote an open letter to ITT Tech students explaining the concerns the Department of Education had about ITT Tech. It also details its plans to help students and recent graduates moving forward.

“Ultimately, we made a difficult choice to pursue additional oversight in order to protect you, other students, and taxpayers from potentially worse educational and financial damage in the future if ITT was allowed to continue operating without increased oversight and assurances to better serve students,” wrote King.

How ITT Tech students can move forward

Current ITT students, recent graduates, and students who withdrew in the past 120 days will be offered two options by the U.S. Department of Education:

1. Credits transfer: For those who wish to continue their education, the U.S. Department of Education is connecting them with community colleges who will transfer over ITT Tech credits. However, if students opt for this option, they may not be eligible for a closed school discharge on their student loans.
2. Student loan forgiveness: Current or recent students may be eligible to have their federal—not private—student loans discharged as a result of the closure. All federal debt will be forgiven so students have the opportunity to pursue their education or career goals elsewhere. Information on qualifications and how to apply for loan forgiveness will be posted on the Federal Student Aid website when available.

For an ITT Tech alumnus who graduated several years ago, there may be ways to have loans forgiven, too. Many alumni have alleged that ITT Tech recruited them aggressively and misled them about costs and job opportunities.

ITT Tech alumni may be eligible for borrower defense to repayment claims. That’s when federal loans are discharged if the school committed fraud, misrepresented its services or violated applicable laws.

The U.S. Department of Education has also set up a telephone line to answer questions from ITT Tech students. A team is available at 800-4FEDAID, and a series of webinars is planned for the future to help students transition to next steps. 

ITT Tech Closes: What It Means for Current and Past Students With Loans to Pay originally appeared on Student Loan Hero

10 Ways Ridiculously Successful People Think Differently

Successful people come from all walks of life, yet they all have one thing in common: where others see impenetrable barriers, they see challenges to embrace and obstacles to overcome.

Their confidence in the face of hardship is driven by their ability to let go of the negativity that holds so many otherwise sensible people back.

Obstacles do not block the path; they are the path.

This perspective helps successful people to think differently to everyone else, which is important, because if you think like everyone else, no matter how smart or experienced you are, you'll hit the same ceiling. By thinking outside the box and going against the grain, successful people rise above their limitations.

We all know how important it is to approach problems with radical optimism and creativity, but this is easier said than done. In a study conducted at Adobe, 96% of employees identified creativity as essential to their success, both in terms of their income and the value they bring to the world. What's more, 78% wished they were capable of thinking differently, believing that they would progress through their careers more quickly if they did.

Too often we attribute creative and "different" thinking to natural, innate characteristics that belong only to the lucky. The truth is that you can study how ridiculously successful people think and incorporate their approach into your repertoire.

1. They're confident. If only we knew of all the great ideas that never came to fruition because people lacked the confidence to put them into action. Successful people confidently act on their ideas, because they know that a failed idea is not a reflection of their ability; instead, they see it as a wonderful learning opportunity.

2. They're composed. Ultra-successful people are composed, because they constantly monitor their emotions and understand them and they use this knowledge in the moment to react with self-control to challenging situations. When things go downhill, they are persistently calm and frustratingly content (frustrating to those who aren't, at least). They know that no matter how good or bad things get, everything changes with time. All they can do is to adapt and adjust to stay happy and in control. If you'd like an objective measure of how you do at this, consider taking an emotional intelligence test.

3. They're honest. Super-successful people trust that honesty and integrity, though painful at times, always work out for the best in the long run. They know that honesty allows for genuine connections with people and that lying always comes back to bite you in the end.

4. They seek out small victories. Successful people like to challenge themselves and to compete, even when their efforts yield only small victories. Small victories build new androgen receptors in the areas of the brain responsible for reward and motivation. This increase in androgen receptors enhances the influence of testosterone, which further increases their confidence and eagerness to tackle challenges. When you achieve a series of small victories, the boost in your confidence can last for months.

5. They're always learning. Super-successful people often know more than others do, because they're constantly trying to learn. They vow to constantly grow, and they fill every spare moment with self-education. They don't do this because it's "the right thing to do"; they do it because it's their passion. They're always looking for opportunities to improve and new things to learn about themselves and the world around them. Instead of succumbing to their fear of looking stupid, truly exceptional people just ask the questions on their mind, because they would rather learn something new than appear smart.

6. They expose themselves to a variety of people.There's no easier way to learn to think differently than spending time with someone whose strengths are your weaknesses or whose ideas are radically different from your own. This exposure sparks new ideas and makes you well rounded. This is why we see so many great companies with co-founders who stand in stark contrast to each other. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak from Apple were a prime example. Neither could have succeeded without the other.

7. They keep an open mind. Exposing yourself to a variety of people is useless if you spend that time disagreeing with them and comforting yourself with your own opinions. Successful people recognize that every perspective provides an opportunity for growth. You need to practice empathy by putting yourself in the other person's shoes so that you can understand how their perspective makes sense (at least, to them). A great way to keep an open mind is to try to glean at least one interesting or useful thing from every conversation you have.

8. They're fearless. Fear is nothing more than a lingering emotion that's fueled by your imagination. Danger is real. Danger is the uncomfortable rush of adrenaline you get when you almost step in front of a bus; fear is a choice. Exceptional people know this better than anyone does, so they flip fear on its head. Instead of letting fear take over, they're addicted to the euphoric feeling they get from conquering their fears.

9. They turn tedious tasks into games. Every job entails some degree of tedium. For most people, tedium leads to sloppy, rushed work. Only the most successful people find ways to make the tedious interesting. By turning tedious work into a game, they challenge themselves and produce high-quality work, making things interesting in the process.

10. They dream big but remain grounded. Successful people reach for the seemingly impossible, but they do so in a way that is actionable and realistic. While you may not know exactly how you're going to achieve your dream, you need to make progress no matter how small the steps. For example, Elon Musk's goal at SpacEx is to "Occupy Mars." While this is a big dream, Musk keeps it realistic by engaging in regular steps that, some day, may get him there. SpacEx just landed a rocket upright on a boat in the ocean for the first time ever. It's a far cry from colonizing Mars, but it's an essential step in the process.

Bringing It All Together

The above behaviors can make any of us more successful if we use them every day. Give them a try, and see where they take you.

What other habits set ultra-successful people apart from the rest? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below, as I learn just as much from you as you do from me.

Why Your Job Title Doesn't Matter And You Can Throw Away Your Degree

Ok so don’t throw away your degree.  It was probably a lot of work, pretty expensive and you likely had some fun times which you may (or may not) remember from buck-a-beer nights.

But a job title and a degree aren’t the end-all, be-all to your career.

There’s a lot more to a brilliant career. 

A few years into my career, I worked on a project where I helped relocate people from Fort McMurray to Calgary (8 hours away).  Ironically, through the project, it was decided that my job would also be moving. Troy (my boyfriend at the time) and I chatted about it. It was right at the 2-year mark of my time in Fort McMurray.  However, I still loved living in the city.   We were making great friends. We’d just bought our dream house. I wasn’t ready to leave. 

But I couldn’t stay in my current job AND stay in our community.

I needed to find a new job.  Within my current company. 

At the time, most of my work experience had been in HR.  And I really liked HR.  My degrees were in Accounting and Finance and I had zero interest working in either of those.  I wanted to stay in HR.  Unfortunately, there were only two options for me.  Recruiting or Advising.  And neither appealed to me. 

I was stuck.

What was I going to do?

I loved the company and didn’t want to leave.

I didn’t want to move.

I just wanted to work in HR.  

Why did things have to change? 

Completely lost, I sat down with my mentor. I explained my predicament and while I felt like my life was spinning out of control, he didn’t seem so concerned.

“Why don’t you look outside of HR?”

For a minute, I was confused.  Had he not just heard everything I said?  I wanted to stay in HR.  But I couldn’t stay in HR.  But I wanted to stay in it.

Spin. Spin. Spin.

The advice that followed changed the trajectory of my career and life.  And now I want to share it with you.

My mentor asked me what kind of work I liked doing.  And I wasn’t allowed to answer “HR”. 

Needless to say, I was stumped at first.  But then the genius came through.

He challenged me to think about what I enjoyed doing.  Not the subject, but the WORK itself.  What kind of WORK did I enjoy?

My career, he explained (and literally drew for me), wasn’t linear.  He was (and still is) a mining engineer.  You’d think something like “mine engineer” would be pretty specific and a straight line to the top. 

But he drew out a map of his career for me regardless. I saw that even as a mining engineer, he’d worked in a lot of different areas of the business.  Some that had nothing to do with mining. Some that certainly didn’t focus on engineering.  

And here he was loving his work.  In a very senior role.  At a young age.  Being a great leader.  And he was having fun doing it!

I had nothing to lose, so I took his advice.

Over the following few weeks, I started paying attention. I paid attention to what I enjoyed doing.  

(Side note:   I highly recommend you start writing down what you enjoy doing.  If you haven’t ever done it, start now.  I swear it’s extremely valuable!)

So back to my career crisis.  Here’s what my reflection came up with:

•   Presenting at meetings - enjoyed

•   Sitting at the computer analyzing spreadsheets - wanted to gouge eyes out

•   Explaining HR metrics to senior leadership - wanted to gouge their eyes out

•   Developing content and material for emails, presentations, stewardship reports – enjoyed

•   Facilitating awkward, messy conversations to find awesome outcomes – made me forget to eat, drink, and pee (I figured that was a fantastic sign!) 

I came back to our next mentorship session proud of my list. From there, he encouraged me to start looking at job postings through this new lens.  To start looking at job descriptions with the criteria I created, instead of only the jobs in the HR department, or that had HR in the title. 

Suddenly a world of job opportunities and possibilities opened up.

Soon after this critical mindset shift, I found an opening for a Learning Coordinator role.  I applied, and I got it.  And I got a sweet 20% raise and extra bonuses on top of it!

A year later, I had gained more insight into what I liked and didn’t like in my work. I didn’t like repetition.  I loved project work.  I didn’t like fire-fighting crises every day.

I was ready for another change.  Looking at job descriptions through this new lens, I wasn’t stuck on just HR or Learning jobs.  I changed completely and went to a job in the “Engineering” category (can you imagine going from HR to Engineering?!).   I was offered a job as a Continuous Improvement Specialist and it fit all my new criteria.  And I got another raise (YES!).

As you can see, opening my eyes to the careers I could do allowed me to:

•   Gain incredible experience in diverse fields

•   Rapidly increase my income

•   Learn a new skill set

•   Be continuously challenged

•   Never get bored

•   Network with people across the company and get sh*t done through great relationships

•   Blow people’s minds with how much I knew about other parts of our company and our business

•   Successfully avoid ever being an accountant (Amen!) 

Here’s what you need to know about your career:

•   Most careers are not linear anymore

•   The more experience you have in different departments, the more value you bring

•   If you have experience in multiple areas, you can qualify for leadership opportunities in all of them

•   Your career doesn’t have to focus on what you went to school for

•   Your career aspirations should not be about any title or department 

Here’s what your career SHOULD focus on:

•   What fires you up

•   What engages you

•   What you find interesting

•   What you love doing

•   What you are good at

•   What keeps you doing what you want. Here are some examples.

◦       Learning

◦       Focusing on efficiency

◦       Project-work

◦       Specializing

◦       Being challenged

◦       Working on the fly (fire-fighting, as I call it!)

So, if you are contemplating a change but you’re stuck, like I was, consider a mindset shift. Maybe you need to re-think your career like I did. 

Track what you love.  Take notes of the work you’ve really enjoyed doing. All the times you forget to eat lunch, or you don’t even want to get up to pee ― star those things.  And go find more opportunities to do those things!

This shift has made all the difference.  Each day, I focus on the type of work I enjoy doing.  I structure my business to do what I love doing. Heck, maybe you even need to go rogue and become an entrepreneur like me! 

Think about your career in terms of the TYPE of WORK you do, instead of the subject.  

And watch the options in front of your eyes expand  ― and your career to grow into what YOU want it to be!

Expand your horizon and watch the world of opportunities open up!

Time to go eat and pee (because yes, writing is on my list of loves!)

-Lisa

www.lisamichaud.com

 

PS. It’s my mission to help ambitious women and men like you from around the world OWN and LOVE your career. I believe you can have it all - you can have sucess on your terms!  If you know a friend who wants a fulfilling and meaningful career, share this post!  If you have a friend who’s looking for the next exciting opportunity, forward her this page.  She’ll thank you for it! 

@KimJamesPhotography

Artificial Intelligence, Real Engagement

Josh Sutton, Global Head, Data and Artificial Intelligence Practice, Publicis.Sapient

Artificial intelligence is one of the most transformative types of technology that we have ever seen. This is a strong statement and one that I do not make lightly. While Forrester Research believes that over 25% of the job tasks in the world will be impacted by AI as soon as 2019, I believe that AI will transform nearly every business across the globe within the next decade. To paraphrase Mark Benioff (Salesforce CEO) at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year, “As a society, we are entering uncharted territory.”

When we look back at this moment in time a decade from now, I believe that we will segment today’s companies into three categories:

1. Those that did not use AI tools

2. Those that used AI tools to reduce cost and increase efficiency

3. Those that used AI tools to better engage with their customers

I believe that we will see a clear difference in the performance of those companies that embrace the third category versus those that fall into the first or second. We are going through a major business transformation cycle and companies need to recognize that AI will play an important role in their business success.

One of the earliest signs of AI’s potential impact comes in the form of virtual assistants, often called chatbots. Nearly every company is exploring whether a virtual assistant could help their business and many companies have already launched their first prototypes. Very few companies have done this well, however, as most haven’t adhered to two critical rules that are fundamental to designing a successful customer interface:

1. Experience Matters: Virtual assistants are stand-ins for people – and, just as with sales and service people, if a customer doesn’t like talking to a virtual assistant, s/he is unlikely to do so again – at least not by choice. The companies that have deployed successful solutions – ones that are creating real business returns – consistently place maximum emphasis on experience design.

2. Context Matters: When customers share information with virtual assistants, they do so in the same way they would with sales or service people – and with the same expectations.  Specifically, customers expect that the information they share will remain secure and that it will be used to better understand their needs – and that they will receive more relevant and personalized products and services as a result.  If companies aren’t prepared to use the information their customers provide to improve the customer experience, they shouldn’t ask for the information in the first place.

The impact of AI technologies will go far beyond virtual assistants. These technologies are enabling a fundamental shift in how businesses operate. Just as the internet and mobile connectivity have enabled the world to have access to information at any time and any place, AI technologies will raise the bar for engagement with customers. People will expect meaningful, two-way dialogues. They will expect companies to use what they know about them already, and what they have given those companies permission to discover, to refine and complete their imprecise instructions. They will expect that the information they share will be device independent and that the conversations they begin on one will carry forward seamlessly in their service to the next. They will expect their attention to be drawn respectfully, appropriately, and always to their advantage. They will expect companies to anticipate their requests thoughtfully and without pressure.

As with the introduction of many new technologies, companies will tend naturally to focus AI efforts first on cost reduction and automation. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it should not be the only thing. As business models change and industry disruption continues, customer engagement will become progressively more important.  AI uniquely can provide the insights needed to strengthen such engagement and those brands embracing AI for that purpose will be the ones that form the most lasting customer relationships. It may be useful to remember that Amazon wasn't necessarily the best online bookstore, but with its original mission to make buying books the “fastest, easiest, and most enjoyable shopping experience possible," it gained people's trust. Similarly, companies shouldn’t underestimate the importance of creating the dominant experience as it relates to artificial intelligence and customer engagement.

The companies that succeed in the future will use AI tools to engage their customers. They will take a customer-centric, “outside-in” perspective to enable the design of digital solutions that drive customer loyalty, engagement, consumption and satisfaction. They will use AI for more than just cost savings; they will use AI to build long-term customer loyalty and revenue growth.

About the Author

Josh Sutton is the Global Head of Publicis.Sapient’s Data and Artificial Intelligence Practice. In this role, he is responsible for leveraging big data tools as well as correlation-based and causal-based AI platforms to help clients transform their businesses. He works closely with clients to ensure that we align the right tools and platforms with their business objectives.

Josh also serves as a member of the executive leadership team for Publicis.Sapient’s Business Transformation Services group. This group is focused on helping clients identify and capitalize on opportunities to transform their business.  Josh joined Sapient in 1995.

Josh serves on the board of directors for NPower, a New York based non-profit focused on mobilizing the tech community and providing individuals, nonprofits and schools the access and opportunity to build tech skills and achieve their potential.

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