Lowell Aplebaum

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Engage seasoned professionals can empower aspiring individuals and foster lasting impact through mentorship, internships, education and networking. To maintain success, it is not only essential for leaders to focus on the present but also to invest in the future by empowering the next generation. By sharing knowledge, providing guidance and offering opportunities, experienced professionals can play a vital role in helping young talent thrive. Below, 17 Newsweek Expert Forum members explore various ways in which successful business owners and leaders can reach out and give the next generation a leg up. By actively engaging with and supporting the next generation, business leaders can foster a culture of innovation, inclusivity and continuous growth while leaving a lasting positive impact on future generations of professionals.

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An exceptional customer experience is the key to keeping current customers coming back as well as enticing potential customers to purchase. Many entrepreneurs tend to consider their products or services the most important part of their business. As a result, a significant amount of time, effort and money goes into developing what people may need or want.  However, the utility or desirability of an offering is only a small part of what actually entices customers to buy. Rather, a top-notch customer experience can be the differentiating factor that convinces current customers to keep purchasing and potential customers to give a business a chance. Luckily, making changes to a business’s customer experience can be a simple process. To help entrepreneurs ensure they are properly taking care of their customer base, 17 Newsweek Expert Forum members share “low-hanging fruit” ways for businesses to effectively improve their customer experience.

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Seeking out and actively encouraging employees to share their opinions is critical to making the right business calls. Businesses of all sizes are constantly making decisions that have a considerable impact on the entire organization. The gravity of these decisions as well as the chances of conversations sparking disagreement and sowing team division may cause some leaders to limit discussions to a select few. Fortunately, safeguards can be put in place to add employees at all levels into the conversation, effectively limiting conflict, keeping discussions respectful and allowing individuals to offer insight without fear of negative consequences. To help businesses create space for various perspectives and set boundaries, 15 Newsweek Expert Forum members share approaches leaders can leverage to encourage vigorous, yet respectful debate in their organizations.

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Reaching out to peers for support is a great way to work through negative feelings. The last few years have brought many changes across personal and professional lives across the globe. While some of the changes have been positive, such as the prioritization of work-life balance, other changes like persistent uncertainty are causing many professionals to feel overwhelmed.  As experts, the members of Newsweek Expert Forum are familiar with the toll professional life can have on a person. Below 14 of them offer coping tactics that can help reduce overwhelm and get professionals back on track.

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By providing ongoing support, leadership can ensure that a manager has the tool and resources to succeed. Great managers are critical to the success of an organization. These managers sometimes step into the role already possessing innate traits and experiences that will help them succeed as leaders, but management as a skill should also be taught. If an organization builds systems to develop and shape the skills of their talent on an ongoing basis, leadership decreases the chances of creating and perpetuating bad management behaviors that negatively impact the culture and operations of the business.  To help leaders ensure managers are performing at their best, 13 Newsweek Expert Forum members share specific actions they can take to increase the effectiveness of their managers.

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Having a deep understanding of yourself and your own goals can help prevent feelings of inadequacy. From Instagram and Twitter to now even LinkedIn, having a presence online today means constantly reading about what everyone has going on. This includes the life updates that people typically post but social media has also increased people’s tendency to primarily share the highlights rather than the entire picture. While this is not a bad thing on its own, constantly viewing the success of your peers can amplify your own feelings of inadequacy around personal and professional failures. Simply deciding to take a step back is one approach to consider, but it can negatively impact your relationships with peers over time. Below, 14 Newsweek Expert Forum members share recommendations for how professionals can connect and maintain healthy relationships with peers without comparing themselves to others’ success and accomplishments.