The 14 Most Popular Influencer Posts of 2014

We took a look at the most widely read Influencer posts of the year, and one thing quickly became clear: People crave advice on navigating the stresses and hidden pitfalls of working life.

With the unemployment rate at a six-year low and Americans changing jobs at the fastest rate in years, there's big demand for information that can help professionals make sense of the improving economy. Our readers need tips on how to thrive at work, and escape it. They want to know the qualities that separate successful people from very successful people. And, most of all, they're eager for guidance that can give them a subtle edge in the workplace.

About half the stories offer up commentary on what not to do in the office, so much so that this year's list reads like a primer on business etiquette. There are lessons on how to not to appear rude in email (never say "let's hop on a call!" to a stranger); how to sound better in meetings (stop re-phrasing what a colleague just said); and how to stay calm and composed even while battling deadlines (don't ask "what if?" questions of yourself).

The No. 1 post of the year, written by author Travis Bradberry, even set a record on LinkedIn in achieving more than 3 million views, a first since the Influencer program debuted in 2012. All these posts, though, can be considered LinkedIn blockbusters in their own right, with each generating more than half a million views and hundreds of comments.

Take a look at the stories, and then share your favorite post of the year in the comments.

The top Influencer posts of 2014, ranked by pageviews:

1. How Successful People Stay Calm (Travis Bradberry)
2. Google's HR Chief: The Biggest Mistakes I See on Resumes, and How to Correct Them (Laszlo Bock)
3. 10 Reasons You Have To Quit Your Job (James Altucher)
4. Ten Stupid Rules That Drive Great Employees Away (Liz Ryan)
5. Job Interview: Why Only 3 Questions Really Matter (Bernard Marr)
6. The 7 Things Successful People Never Say (Ilya Pozin)
7. 8 Qualities That Make Great Bosses Unforgettable (Jeff Haden)
8. The Small Things You Do That Make You Look Terrible in Meetings (Gretchen Rubin)
9. 10 Behaviors That Could Kill Your Career (Jack Welch)
10. 5 Reasons You May Not Want to Work for Google (J.T. O'Donnell)
11. The Difference Between Successful and Very Successful People (Greg McKeown)
12. How This 32-Year-Old Twitter Employee Has a 21-Year-Old Son (Dave Kerpen)
13. If You Do This, Your Emails Might Be Rude (Adam Grant)
14. Who Has 1 Billion Users and is About to Overtake Facebook? (Steve Tappin)

Note: To capture the full diversity of what was shared by our Influencers – big names in business who blog regularly on LinkedIn – we screened out multiple entries by individual writers.

For more great reads, check out our most memorable posts of 2014.