Crowds in excess of three million swarmed Brazil’s Copacabana Beach last Sunday for a glimpse of Pope Francis.

But many experienced more than a fleeting peek of the pontiff.

There was a bonafide connection between the spiritual leader and the spectators that transformed a jam- packed event into a powerful experience.

Although I didn’t make it to Rio, I recently attended a major national convention where—amidst the expansive venue and more than 4,300 attendees—I too felt a connection!  While many factors clicked to create the zeal factor, three lead the charge, converting the grand-scale General Assembly of YMCAs into an exhilarating personal experience.

Practice these tactics and, like the Pope, you too can break through any crowd and connect.

For all practical purposes, your first day on a job should be an energizing experience.

But for many, it’s anything but remarkable. More like forgettable—thanks largely to some fundamentals that go astray.

With a crop of new grads and veteran job transfers ready to report for that first day at work, now is the time to ensure that your onboarding practices keep your new hire motivated and feeling excited about working for you.

These six tips can help you succeed.

By Linda Dulye, president & founder, Dulye & Co.
Published May 22, 2013 | Fox Business

Don’t let company size take you out of the competition for new grads.

Small companies can vie against corporate giants for top talent—and win! The catch is having a real game plan for being attractive and for attracting. These six steps can make you a pro in recruiting and hiring college graduates. Continue reading.

Call it being proactive. Or persistent. Effective follow up is an essential part of the professional development experience—especially when it comes to the job-search process. 

Take for example, Paul, a rising manager entering his second year at a major financial company, who turned a rejected resume into a new job offer through perseverance. Paul applied online for a new position at his company after a conversation and recommendation by the hiring manager. Within a few weeks, he received an email from a Human Resources representative (whom he did not know) indicating that his application had been rejected.

Rather than accepting the denial, Paul went into action and launched follow-up techniques that were so effective that four weeks later, he was offered the exact job that initially he was initially turned down for.

Here are five follow-up tips that can help give job candidates an extra edge on the job hunt.

With college commencements fast approaching, there’s an abundance of advice articles for new grads entering the workforce.

But what about the hiring manager? After all, it is a two-way street for that working relationship to actually work, well!

What do new grads most want in a workplace and a boss? Here are five success tips for making that perfect connection based on poll data from 2013 graduates of the Dulye Leadership Experience (DLE), a professional development / leadership program for college juniors and seniors that I’ve established with my alma mater, Syracuse University.

With Boston’s bombings, West, Texas' explosion and poison letters on Capitol Hill, our world has been rocked hard this week.

Indeed, a crisis can strike anytime, anyplace—and with it, communication demands skyrocket.

Here are 6 tips to help you communicate during the worst of times.

As a fiercly proud Syracuse University alumna, I am on Cloud 9 these days. Our men’s basketball team has applied the full Orange Crush mode to earn a slot in the NCAA Final Four Tournament this weekend in Atlanta.

Toppling the competition is the dream of sports teams — and companies — alike. Success hinges on many factors: individual talent, equipment and work practices, to name a few.

Paramount, however, is teamwork — the harmonious blending of personalities, experience and expertise into a collective, indominable force locked in focus on a common, shared goal.

In college basketball, head coaches are the leaders who own that job. In the workplace, it’s the responsibility of managers.

What is the recipe for coaching success that has catapulted my alma mater, along with Michigan, Louisville and Witchita State, into trophy contention?

Being a huge sports fanatic, Linda was recently asked about her opinion on Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera's retirement.  Like professional athletes, it can be difficult for small business owners to walk away from the mound, so to speak, especially if they dedicated much of their lives to the business. So, how do you know when it is the right time to call it quits? 

Enough with the debate over Yahoo!’s virtual work ban.

Quite frankly, any leader who sounds off about the need for more and BETTER communication and collaboration ranks top in my mind. Most leader agendas are void of either topic for regular review and discussion.

Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer took inventory of her company’s culture and work practices – and decided that change was needed. Big change. Guided by metrics and hard data, Mayer called for a new way of working.

What do the winners of last night’s Grammy Awards and managers in the workplace have in common?  They have a steady beat that gets – and keeps – the attention of others. The best managers have a steady beat in their communication and connections with employees and customers.
 
Here are four practices that will contribute to chart-topping performance—but only if they are part of a manager’s regular rhythm on the job.