Annie's Reading Room Today marks the beginning of our next book, Lead with a Story by Paul Smith. Experience is the best teacher, but a compelling story is a close second. That’s why the Ted talks and your favorite professors are so engaging. Corporations are also recognizing the importance of telling stories. For example, at Nike, all senior executives are dubbed “corporate storytellers.” and several companies teach storytelling skills to their leaders. The book begins with an important question: Why Tell Stories? 1. Storytelling is simple . Anyone can do it. You don’t need a degree in English or even an MBA. 2. Storytelling is timeless . Unlike fads in other areas of management such as total quality management, reengineering, Six Sigma, or 5S, storytelling has always worked for leadership, and it always will. 3. Stories are demographic-proof . Everybody – regardless of age, race, or gender – likes to listen to stories. 4. Stories are contagious

Annie's Reading Room (The final posting of "Getting to Yes!") What if they use dirty tricks? or Taming the hard bargainer When someone is being “tricky,” most people respond one of two ways: 1) put up with it and hope it appeases the other side or 2) respond in kind. Tricky bargaining tactics are in effect one-sided proposals about negotiating procedure, about the negotiating game that the parties are going to play. To counter them, you will want to engage in principles negotiation about the negotiating process itself. How do you negotiate about the rules of the game? There are three steps in the rules of the negotiation game when the other side seems to be explicitly using a tricky tactic: recognize the tactic, raise the issue explicitly, and question the tactic’s legitimacy and desirability. Then, negotiate over it. Separate the people from the problem . Don’t attack the negotiator personally for using the tactic you consider illegitimate

By Lindsey Plewa, Graduate Career Management Center Advisor I’ve conducted thousands of career advising appointments with MBA and MS students. I love working with graduate students on all aspects of a job search: resume critiques, mock interviews, cover letter reviews, LinkedIn profiles, networking strategies, etc. Though each student brings their unique story to the table, the job search challenges that everyone encounters are strikingly similar.   Below are a few of the “roadblocks” I’ve heard and some quick tips on how to start getting past them.    1. I’m applying online but rarely hear from the employer. There is only a 15% chance you’ll land an interview if this is your sole strategy. Focus your job search on people, not postings. Register for a free LinkedIn webinar to learn more about how to leverage the vast network of professionals on LinkedIn to ensure your resume gets to the right person: http://learn.linkedin.com/jobseeker/  2. I’m a career changer and fea