Running your business with soul
By · CommentsI recently met a life coach that I had admired for many years. She wanted to talk about ways we might be able to work together. I was honored and excited about the possibilities.
She is one of those people I could just listen to for hours. So wise, authentic and passionate.
She said one thing that has really stuck with me and is making me rethink how I run my business.
“Life is too magical and mystical to do something you don’t love.”
Wow. Imagine only taking on clients that you love. Imagine only working on projects that you love. How would that transform how your run your business?
If you made every decision based on what you love and what your soul is telling you is right, how would your business look?
Several times throughout our conversation, she said her heart was telling her to go in a certain direction. She just felt it was the right move. She runs her business with her heart and soul, allowing her intuition to guide her.
I’ve heard a lot of business coaches preach this idea, but I’ve never met anyone that actually runs their business with soul.
Do You Have a “Reputation?”
By · CommentsWhen I was growing up, we wanted to avoid being someone with a “reputation.” Today, we want a reputation, but we need it to be positive. However, maintaining one’s reputation is getting harder and harder. As social media and social networking sites continue to flourish, the power of the individual voice is growing greatly. We have to protect our reputations, and have someone (it’s probably you) that is fully in charge of managing our online reputation. It may seem insignificant now, but new things on the horizon will make this a part of any businessperson’s life.
According to an article in The New York Times Magazine, “The End of Forgetting,” by Jeffrey Rosen (Sunday, July 25, 2010), in the near future, people will be rated on reputation (trustworthy, good parent, good insurance risk, etc), similar to the credit report rating services of today.
There are services now that can aggregate information about people from the Internet and social networks. Not your private information like social security or credit card information, but information that is readily available: the movies you like, books you read, search terms you use, blog posts you write, videos you post/watch on YouTube, and people you follow. These reputation and trustworthy ratings could eventually be used to determine employability and other factors. And it can be incredibly positive or incredibly detrimental to your career.
Women and the Changing Global Economy
By · CommentsThe numbers have been coming in steadily over the past few years, and there is no way to deny anymore that women are taking greater control of the U.S. economy (and much of the global economy) and doing it quietly and quickly.
For example, back in 2008, U.S. News and World Report released data telling us that women controlled 60% of the wealth in the United States. That figure was estimated to be approximately $10-$12 trillion. At the same time, U.S. News and World Report projected that women will control $22 trillion of all wealth in the United states by 2020. That’s just a decade away!
Considering data released in 2009 by The Nielsen Company revealed almost all income growth in the United States over the past 15-20 years came from women, that U.S. News and World Report projection shouldn’t be very shocking. The Small Business Administration has reported in recent years that women-owned businesses are far outpacing all other businesses in terms of growth. The bottom-line is that women are making their presence in the economy better known.
What Does it Take to be a Thought Leader?
By · CommentsLast week I attended a panel discussion at Barclay’s in New York City on the topic of How to Be a Thought Leader. The panel included Nicki Gilmour, CEO of The Glass Hammer, Carol Hymowitz, Editorial Director of Forbes Woman, and Barbara Jones, of Editorial Director of Hyperion Books. The discussion focused on professional women and thought leadership.
According to Wikipedia,
A thought leader is a futurist or person who is recognized for innovative ideas and demonstrates the confidence to promote or share those ideas as actionable distilled insights.
The panel was in agreement that in order to be a thought leader, it’s not enough to be creative and innovative. One must also have the ability and confidence to promote their ideas.
Part of the discussion addressed how women are not really good at speaking up and promoting their ideas; how we often take the back seat to men in the workplace. What is the best way to communicate your ideas so that others will be inspired and motivated to support you?
Are You Ever “Out of Office?”
By · CommentsPost by Jane K. Stimmler, contributing Women on Business writer
Some of you probably remember when a vacation was truly “away from the office” time and an Out of Office email reply ensured it stayed that way. In some ways, those were the good old days. After all, don’t we all need uninterrupted time away from business?
With the advent of the PDA and other newer devices, the game has changed. We have the convenience of being able to text, email and talk to clients and colleagues 24/7, but the flip side is that it’s more difficult to take a week (or, heaven forbid, more!) off without the intrusions of work, no matter what company vacation policy says. Wherever you’re going – with just a few exceptions – you can be reached. So it becomes a choice – how available will I be on vacation?
I believe this is a decision that has to be made on an individual basis – based on your job culture and type of work, client/colleague expectations, family/other demands, and your own well-being. The well-being part cannot be minimized – it is extremely important to recharge mentally and physically. And figuring out what exactly that means to you is vital.
Women, Leadership and Are We There Yet?
By · Comments
Big question is “Where is there?” or even better “Where is here”? How do we know when change has really taken hold? How do we know when we, as women, have found what we want in terms of equality at work?
First, some thoughts about change and how it happens. In our culture we have become so addicted to instant everything that we expect change at the drop of a hat. It just ain’t so. Mostly, we as women know that.
Babies don’t form to be born in the blink of an eye. Not only does the process average nine months, it is replete with changes almost on a daily level. From morning sickness to stretch marks to “enough already” thoughts the process has its own internal clock to follow. So does planting corn or roses or lavender.
Why then do we think that major changes will happen over night? If we check off the small wins and keep a long view we will have less stress and more determination and maybe, just maybe we also need to check the direction of our destination.
In the Part I of this series we talked about the opportunity to support our need for flexible work cultures with a solid business case. We outlined the fact that the majority of our employees require flexibility at some point in their careers. Research increasingly points to flexibility as one of the most important career considerations of staff, emerging leaders and even our seasoned leaders. If we do not offer this flexibility in our organizations we will lose productivity in our top talent pool and we may lose this top talent completely to our competitors. In addition to flexibility as a requirement for top talent, consider the possibility that flexibility can actually improve your organizational results.
We also outlined four key business strategies that can be supported by flexibility in the organization. These are:
1-Employee Attraction and Retention
2-Improved Productivity
3- Improved Customer Service and Satisfaction
4- Effective Operational Management
This second posting will cover the first two strategies. Why are these strategies key to a business case for building a flexible work culture?…….or said another way…… How will flexible work cultures actually help to accomplish these business strategies?
Employee Attraction & Retention
Successful Marketing Strategies for The Job Seekers
By · CommentsI have several friends who recently found themselves in the market for a new job – and, fortunately, have successfully landed another job. Watching them through the process, I’ve concluded that finding a job in today’s job market can be like conquering a new frontier – and not just because the job market is flooded with stiff competition. The days of mailing in your resume and receiving a phone call to set up an interview are over. It’s actually very similar to the changes that have been happening in marketing your business. If you want someone to notice you, your business, or your product or service, you can’t do things the same old way. Today, searching for most everything from a new job to a new refrigerator begins – and sometimes ends – online.
Now you need much more than just an experience-filled resume, a cover letter and crossed fingers to land a great job. In order to get noticed, you need to think like a marketer. It requires looking at yourself as a brand that needs to literally grab attention.
Here are 3 quick tips I learned from my friends who went from under-employed to gainfully employed.
Is it Possible to be Too Cautious?
By · CommentsMany thought leaders believe that because women are more cautious, they make better decisions. I believe there is some validity in this especially if you look at the recent events on Wall Street. It’s only speculation of course, but there is a widely held opinion that if there was more diversity at the leadership and board level, this current economic crisis might have been averted. Who knows?
Can this cautious outlook sometimes work against us? It is possible, in my opinion, to be so cautious that you never move forward in your business or career. Being overly cautious can paralyze you.
Almost every major milestone in my own career has been due to me taking an enormous leap of faith and trying something new; something perhaps I was not totally prepared for but decided to embrace regardless. When a door opened, I ran through it and never worried how I would master what was required to be successful in this new opportunity. I’m not saying that every time I took a risk, it worked out well. There have been times that I have fallen flat on my face. When this happens, it’s important to dust yourself off, gather your wits about you, and start all over again. In other words, never let your failures prevent you from learning a lesson, picking yourself up, and seizing the next opportunity that comes along with the same passion and energy.
