INTHEBLACK December 2025 / January 2026 - Magazine - Page 47
Career Hacks
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“If we can shift that pride from the
work to the people, that’s really at
the heart of good leadership.”
Daniel Murray, speaker and author
Work smarter, not harder with our new
four-part Career Hacks series on the
INTHEBLACK podcast. Stand out and get
noticed by growing these workplace skills:
1. DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS
2. DELEGATION
Daniel Murray, speaker and author of
The Empathy Gap, believes that delegation
is a key challenge leaders face as they
have reached a certain level due to the
exceptional work they’ve done. They think,
“I have this pride in the work and now
I have to delegate it, and I’m worried that
it won’t go so well. I’m worried they won’t
do as good a job as I did.”
The solution, Murray proposes, is a shift
in focus.
“If we can shift that pride from the work
to the people, that’s really at the heart
of good leadership.”
When it comes to résumé writing,
Jasmine Ee, a senior consultant at
recruitment firm Hays, warns against
generic applications — especially those
that are solely AI-generated.
“You can tell that they are just crafted
a little bit too formally and without any
human input,” she says.
Ee emphasises the importance of
keywords in job applications.
“Some applicant tracking systems are
pre-programmed to filter out or catch
certain words or phrases,” she says. It is
therefore important that applicants “really
pay attention to the job ad or the position
description, and make sure that your CV
is very reflective of it”.
PODCAST
The first step in a difficult conversation
usually happens individually, says emotional
intelligence expert Amy Jacobson.
“We build this ‘ammunition pack’ of stats,
reports and examples of why we’re right,”
she notes, which means “we’re completely
in our own head and are likely to send the
other person into defence mode”.
Instead, Jacobson suggests that leaders
go into such a meeting curious, using the
conversational structure “Ask, ask, tell”
to guide these interactions. This pattern
encourages others to own their part in the
situation, she explains, and engages their
emotional intelligence.
3. RÉSUMÉ WRITING
4. HAPPINESS
Declan Edwards, founder of BU Happiness
College, questions the link between success
and happiness. “Don’t think of happiness
as the outcome of success,” he says.
“Think of success as a more likely outcome
of happiness.”
Edwards shares what he believes are
the top five skills that increase happiness:
expand your emotional intelligence, learn
to look inwards, train your brain to see
the good in yourself and others, know your
values and direct your life intentionally.
“If you do those five things, you’re
already going to be many, many steps
ahead when it comes to living a happy
and fulfilling life.”
LISTEN
to the full
podcast episode
THE ART OF MODERN LEADERSHIP intheblack.cpaaustralia.com.au 47
