"I used to take refuge in numbers and tasks. I used to run away from people. With numbers I felt more secure... I focused on leveraging my analytical skills... and look what happened: I discovered that I can and do enjoy working in a team."

We've reached that time of year when, as a general rule, people only think about holidays. This anticipation is usually loaded with positive expectations and as such, it brings us wellbeing and leaves us with a smile on our face - we often even focus more on work and are able to find the extra energy to ensure that when the time comes to go on holiday, we leave everything sorted and tidy. What you may not have known is that planning and anticipating holidays brings more wellbeing than the holiday itself.

Nowadays no one disputes the idea that managing always involves managing people - and that a substantial part of the challenges faced by managers is related to the difficulties of managing different personalities, ways of being, visions and values, managing to maximise and leverage the available talent. But managing talent is not an easy task.

Almost 28 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, there are still walls being built right under our noses and so many others with which we keep bumping into, bumping our heads. So we often move in the wrong direction, or else we sit, hands on our heads, powerless.

Constantly evolving technology and increasingly demanding labour markets are shortening the lifespan of the skills we acquire. As companies scramble for talent to fill key positions, workers question: will I be able to stay relevant in the age of automation? With this question in mind, LinkedIn conducted a market study to get a holistic view of the current challenges of talent development in organisations.

In the new normal, entrepreneurship will need a new generation of leaders who are able to adapt and have an ongoing learning mindset.

For decades, organisations have been trying to improve diversity in the workplace, albeit with little success. Despite the fact that studies and business cases show that it is desirable and beneficial to have women in top positions in organisations, in Portugal, as in the rest of the world, there is still a marked under-representation of women in decision-making and leadership positions in organisations.