Everybody started somewhere, from the world’s most powerful CEOs to your very own, humble WOBI blogger.

As a celebration to first pay checks everywhere (and all the stumbles and triumphs that come along with it), WOBI is offering you a chance to share your first job experience and win an all-expense paid trip to the World Business Forum in New York (check out the rules to apply here) through our My First Job contest.

It’s easy to apply! All you need to do is submit a picture, video, or text here about your first professional experience, and you’ll automatically be entered to win a trip to the World Business Forum New York, taking place October 2-3, 2012.

My first job was as a lifeguard at my summer swim club, Vienna Woods. What I wouldn’t do now to trade in my office attire for sunglasses, a tan, and a Diet Coke, sitting up on the lifeguard stand with a whistle around my neck.

We would like to start off the conversation with a collection of firsts from your friends here at WOBI. Enjoy!

I wake up in the morning to the sound of my iPhone alarm; with eyes barely open a New York Times pop-up app updates me on any urgent news, and while checking the weather and my e-mail I am alerted of the day’s birthdays by yet another very helpful app. I glance at Facebook to instantaneously see what my friends have been up to for the past 12 hours as I walk to the kitchen to make coffee. In the span of about two minutes I return to a conscious state and gain all of the information I need for the day, by doing nothing more than a couple of taps.

Digital technology has changed how, when, where and what sort of information we consume, effecting how we obtain knowledge. Free and global accessiblility to information is driving the democratization of knowledge. Various platforms such as the Khan Academy, Academic Earth, and Udacity have begun the conversation; however doesn’t it seem like someone is missing from the discussion? Where are the historic, endowed learning institutions that have been the foundation, source, and impetus of knowledge for the past centuries? Where is their contribution to the start of the academic revolution?

We have an instinctive sense that introverts are anything but powerful.  However a recently published book by former Wall Street lawyer and avowed introvert Susan Cain takes aims at this common misconception and claims that introverts have much to offer in terms of leadership and creativity that is frequently either undervalued or overlooked altogether.

Quiet:  The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking has become an instant best seller, igniting discussions about the values and characteristics that we as a society look for, appreciate and encourage, whether it be in our children, our team members or our leaders.  

I recently had the chance to talk to Susan about some of the ideas in her book and the potential impact they have on business.  Here are some of the highlights of our conversation

According to authors Dan Leidl and Joe Frontiera, partners at Meno Consulting, not everything is lost when teams fail. On the contrary, in their book Team Turnarounds, they put on the table what is necessary for teams to make a turn around and return to a path to success.

But how to reach goals in an environment with limited resources, where from one day to the next you can find yourself in a very precarious situation? In a context where it is essential to do more with less, many employees around the world as well as those who lead are looking for a strategy that will give them a 180° turn around on performance.

In the WOBI offices in New York, Lori Greene had the opportunity to interview Dan Leidl, one of the authors of Team Turnarounds and an expert in Sports Psychology, who explains to us how we can achieve this crucial turn around in teams thanks to the key role of leaders and with the help of invaluable lessons from sports.