• How to coach people like a carpenter
  Coaching your workers should be something you do on a daily basis, and integrate into all your leadership activities, writes Mary Jo Asmus. "Like a carpenter who knows exactly what tool to use for each situation, your coaching can become one of the tools you call upon when needed," Asmus writes. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Leadership (12/19)      

• Lessons on business and happiness from a Starbucks barista
  Business leaders may be able to learn from one especially cheerful Starbucks barista whom Ryan Estis says he ran into while traveling a couple of years ago. The barista explained that she was so friendly because happy customers enriched her life. "Instead of focusing on how to be successful, focus on how to be helpful," Estis says. PassionOnPurposeBlog.com (12/20)      

• How to turn holiday travel into a career opportunity
  While traveling during the holidays, don't shy away from conversations with strangers that could lead to new business connections or learning opportunities, Roxanne Hori writes. "Not everyone likes to talk on the plane, but if the person next to you seems open to a short conversation, be friendly and take advantage of it," she writes. Bloomberg Businessweek/Getting In blog (12/20)      

• U.S. consumer mood darkens
  U.S. consumer sentiment this month is at its lowest since summer, colored in part by the unresolved budget situation, according to a University of Michigan-Thomson Reuters survey. "Confidence is lost much more easily than it can be regained, and the pessimism created by not reaching a resolution before year-end will be difficult to reverse even if a settlement is reached soon after the start of 2013," said Richard Curtin, the survey's chief economist. The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) (12/22)      

Featured Content

• Why you shouldn't leap at most job offers
  Don't accept a job offer before doing some research into the workplace environment, the people you'll be working with and your potential new boss, experts says. "A bad boss is just one of many things that can make your job difficult. That's why you have to get a look inside," says Gustavo Pena of Ascendo Resources, a recruiting firm. The Wall Street Journal (12/23)      

Position Title Company Name Location Associate - Performance Improvement/HR Strategy & Optimization Huron Consulting Group Chicago, IL Entry Level Systems Engineer Job SAIC Columbia, MD Associate Brand Manager - Foodservice Kraft Foods Chicago, IL Associate Content Producer (Contract) (13382) Electronic Arts Los Angeles, CA Account Executive Ziff Davis Greater New York City Area, NY Customer service Representative/Bookkeeper Duval Art Couture Nationwide, United States Click here to view more job listings.

• How to take a S-M-A-R-T approach to New Year’s resolutions
  Adopting a S-M-A-R-T strategy can help you keep your New Year’s resolutions, according to fitness expert Josef Brandenburg. The acronym stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time bound goals. Bangor Daily News (Maine) (free registration) (12/20)      

Top five news stories selected by SmartBrief on Your Career readers in the past week.

• 5 career mistakes that cause the most regret (Harvard Business Review online)

• How to deal with a slacker colleague (The Fast Track)

• How to position yourself for bigger and better things at work (The Fast Track)

• Why some jobs feel meaningless (Harvard Business Review online)

• What Sherlock Holmes can teach us about mindfulness (The New York Times (tiered subscription model))

• Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.

• A doctor watches "Home Alone"
  In "Home Alone," 8-year-old Kevin deters would-be burglars by biffing them with paint cans, scorching them with a blowtorch, dropping an iron on their head and burning them with a super-heated door knob. That would be enough to leave them crippled, with multiple fractures, missing teeth and likely skull necrosis, opines Dr. Ryan St. Clair of the Weill Cornell Medical College. "Kevin has moved from 'defending his house' into sheer malice, in my opinion," St. Clair states. The Week (12/20)      

• SmartBrief will not publish Tuesday
  In observance of Christmas, SmartBrief will not publish Tuesday. Publication will resume Wednesday. Enjoy the holiday!      

Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home." --Edith Sitwell, British poet and critic       Have a favorite famous quote? Share it and we may publish it here!