Archive for Businesswomen Bloggers
Skinning the Cat
Posted by: | CommentsIn present day business, there’s more than one way to skin a cat. I’m not sure who the sicko was that coined the phrase, but I get the gist of it; not everyone needs/uses the same techniques to accomplish the same goal. Being a person who marches (and sometimes skips) to the beat of her own drummer, I totally get that concept. Not only do I want to do it my way, I want the flexibility to change my way if my way isn’t working the way I think it should be.
What’s interesting about the saying regarding our poor little feline friend is that like everything it has more than one interpretation:
- there are more ways than one to achieving the desired result,
- there are many ways to skin a catFISH, which was shortened to “cat,”
- performing a type of gymnastic exercise, involving passing the feet and legs between the arms while hanging by the hands from a horizontal bar (ouch) and
- actually skinning and turning a hide in-side-out to dry out well, a cat skin
The point is that there are rarely only two options to solving any one thing and even more interpretations. But many times I see people limiting their own potential by presenting only two choices such as, it’s either this…or it’s that! And I say now is always the right time to introduce “the other” and then again “another” as far as options are concerned.
Limiting your options, for obvious reasons, limit your results. So often you hear the term “think out of the box,” but that saying has gotten so over used that people have begun to think that their one or two options are really out of the box thinking. In reality, having only two options can be terribly limiting. What is truly an out of box experience is more like moving outside of a comfort zone, taking a few chances, maybe even moving beyond what most people might attempt.
Albert Einstein summed it up best when he said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” Chances are, when you’ve deduced the solution down to only two choices, you’ve used the same “head” that got you into the mess in the first place. I’m gonna say that me and old Albert had some things in common…and at this particular moment it might only be our heads…rather our hair; I got caught in the rain tonight and it’s a bit on the Einstein side right now. Anyway, besides our wild hair, I have a wild hair about problem-solving. It’s more aligned with the whole skinning the cat thing and turning things inside-out and backwards.
If you begin your problem-solving process from the desired result and work backwards, you’re more likely to uncover perspectives that you wouldn’t have seen using typical methods. It is similar to an old trick in radio we used to use called back-timing where you would program your music and segments from the top of the hour backwards so you hit the :00 of each hour with perfect timing! That’s also my wild hair approach to problem-resolution. It’s not about knowing what exactly the desired outcome is, but more like knowing what you want it to look and feel like then moving back from there. It’s not the theory of relatively, but it is all relative. Every problem has many solutions that will result with varying outcomes, and one thing we know for sure is that there is more than one way to skin a cat…or a fish…or a gymnastic move…or a problem!
Growing through the Red
Posted by: | CommentsIf we operate 100% of our career in the black, we never get the growth opportunities that only occur in the red. I know that may be contrary to Wall Street or even your street, but there is something to be said about the valleys as well as the peaks. If the only training ground we have is at peak level, we’ll never be prepared for even the slightest of valleys.
So why do so many people running projects run scared at the possibility of seeing red; or even seeing a little pink? Some won’t even utter the words “at risk” until it’s almost too late to do anything about it; even worse, they change the “requirements” to keep the project from going red. No one wants to run below par, but changing the rules doesn’t fix the problem. I’ve never understood that concept. If something is broken or if more information is required, what is it in our business society that keeps people from telling the whole truth and working through the issues? Is it fear? Is it pride? Is it stupidity? Maybe it is a combination of the three.
However, I’ll say it again, if you don’t have sufficient practice in the “reds,” you won’t have what it takes to climb to the highest “blacks.” To become a great leader means you have to be able to adapt and overcome to just about any situation—this goes for being a leader in your home to being a leader in your company to being a leader in your community. It’s good to have a healthy dose of nail-biting uncertainty every now and again, but when faced with a downhill slippery slope, there are three simple steps to reporting and righting the red.
- identify the issues (all of them—large or small)
- ask for the right help from every source (up or down the ladder)
- allow the people who have solutions solve the problems
It may sound oversimplified, but in 2003 DirecTV suffered four years of losses only to achieve a $4.9 billion gain in 2009. They weren’t afraid to ask the right questions and get the right help. Their strategy may have entailed a bit more than simply identifying, asking and allowing, but that was the basic premise of their turnaround. If it worked for DirecTV, it can work for you.
Part of the problem is that people try to make it more complicated than it has to be. Simple is good. Three easy steps are good. Identify, ask, allow. These steps work well in all of our business matters and relationships, especially when we’re in the red—and my favorite power shoes? They’re red, too!
Who’s the Boss of You?
Posted by: | CommentsDo you sometimes let conditions beyond your control dictate your day? Have you ever been a victim of someone else’s circumstance? I often catch myself in reactionary mode when I should be functioning in a more proactive role as an activist. I use the word activist because it might make you a little uncomfortable and possibly cause you to take notice…that, and I’m not sure if “proactionary” is even a word. To be an activist is to be proactive. Proactive has more subtle definitions: hands-on; down to business; positive. We’ve all attended Sales 101 courses that tell you to “be proactive,” but what on earth does that really mean in this context?
To define proactive, we need to start with a look at the characteristics of reactive in the form of common statements:
“____ has ruined my life”
“I’ll never ____”
“That’s just the way I am.”
“I have to ____”
“I can’t ____”
As a “reactionist,” you’ll probably find that you are easily offended, you blame others for what’s not right with your life, you complain too much and probably over react; then regret it. Reactionists are slaves to circumstance with nothing empowering as the result. Put simply, living your life in reactionary mode, does not allow you to be the boss of you.
Shifting into activist mode will help you become your own boss. An activist will say:
“Let’s find a way to ____”
“I choose to ____”
“I can do it.”
“There has to be a way to do this.”
“Let’s be part of the solution.”
They’re all just words…but we know that words are powerful both negatively and positively…and they can cause a paradigm shift in your mood, your workspace and in your organization. Other definitions behind proactive are: acting in advance to deal with an expected difficulty; anticipatory; in control of an expected occurrence or situation. All of these definitions negate the opportunity to be a victim of any circumstance. Using the theory that if you’re operating in anticipation of or if you’re prepared, pliable and nimble, you will be ahead of the curve and you cannot be the victim of any situation, no matter what.
That’s it; nothing more, nothing less. Motivational speakers are saying exactly that, but “be proactive” sounds much sexier than “be prepared.” People wouldn’t pay a nickel for a speaker hanging that banner. Being prepared is a good enough mantra for the Boy Scouts; it ought to be good enough for the rest of us. Be prepared, be proactive, be an activist for the situations in your career. Be the boss of you! Don’t let circumstance guide you, guide your circumstances for an outcome that is empowering in your life.
Women Leadership and Mad Men
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Some revolutions are bloody, and some are flash-in-the-pan moments.
The women’s movement began quietly with a book “The Feminine Mystique”, moved to bra burning, and gained traction with consciousness raising groups.
All of that seems like it was centuries ago.
We now head large organizations, are in key positions in government, and have a say in just about everything. Yet some of the pleaser and martyr behavior patterns that were handed from generation to generation are still dying a slow death.
Just watch “Mad Men” and remember how it was. You worked if you typed and delivered. No not ideas – merely the coffee to the men. While much has changed, there is more work to be done.
This is a year of both celebrating change and dialoguing about what still needs to change. CELEBRATION: in the next few months women will cross the threshold and become the majority workers in America. CELEBRATION: women professionals are in the majority in this country. CELEBRATION: women have become economically powerful in their own right.
What is the next phase of the revolution toward equality, and even beyond that, toward partnership?
Perhaps we need to regroup and create consciousness-raising groups that mirror the 60’s. Maybe this time it needs to include both men and women. While we need to celebrate the successes, we really need to ask the hard questions that remain unanswered for ourselves, our children, and even our grandchildren.
My daughters are grown, and I am now watching the dilemmas and concerns about what it means to raise children in a world that is going at warp-speed. What does it mean to run a business, run a household, and still have time for the kids?
I believe the dialogues of today are around the unfinished business of the past. The issues are around motherhood, and fatherhood. The issues at the deepest level are about the children. If we have them, then who raises them? What kind of support is needed to bring out the best in the next generation?
This is where the pleaser and martyr patterns of the past, so deep in the neuropsychology of most women, kick in. Women still appear to be the ones who make the plans for the youngsters, take off the time if they are sick, and worry about grades, friends and drugs. Sure, dads are included, yet it still seems that mothers are carrying the heaviest part of the load. That has not really changed.
I am not suggesting we demand that our men vacuum and make the oatmeal. That discussion belongs to each couple to sort out. I am thinking way bigger than that. I am wondering if we can look at the countries that have offered families more help, looking especially at Norway and Sweden.
What do we need to do to change, so the next generations grow to be the best they can be? When do we as women take the pleaser and martyr parts of our personalities and transform them into their positive opposites – the truth teller and the integrator? What are the questions that need to be asked to sort out the dilemma of what we can do, what our businesses can do, and what government can do?
I’d love to hear from you with ideas about creating life-enhancing programs that can deter so many of the social problems connected with the new world of work we have helped create, and the burdens of parenting at every level of our society.
Let’s start a 21st Century rendition of consciousness-raising, and keep the revolution for healthy and balanced evolution at the forefront of our lives.
The Religion of Sisterhood
Posted by: | CommentsToday is my best friend’s birthday. She’s my rock. She’s my mentor, teacher, cheerleader and confidant. She is the example of femininity that every girl should aspire to be. She’s my very own superhero! She’s taught me a whole new religion called sisterhood!
Sometimes we don’t realize how valuable the women in our lives are until it’s too late…but me, I was blessed when my parents gave birth to her 48 years ago (even though I wasn’t around then)…you get the point.
It’s not every day and it’s not often that we’re given a gift in the form of a lifelong friendship…and even more rare is when it’s your very own sister. Today, as I write about her, I am reminded that it’s who she is to the core that makes her so special. It’s not necessarily in what she says or what she does for me, although she says and does so much for so many, it’s in what she represents and the character in which she displays…even when no one is watching.
It’s no mistake that she shares a birthday with George Washington, the man who by all accounts, was respected by all that knew him. When faced with happiness or morality as his compass, he chose morality; convinced that happiness was a direct byproduct of living on moral high ground. I believe that about my sister. I hope she knows that about herself. They say old George was meticulous about keeping things in order and keeping the homestead on track…yep, that’s got Lori (my sister) written all over it. Another account tells of his compassion and concern for those he served and those who worked for him…her again. You see, its never in the deed but always in the actions. It’s not the DOING that is so valuable, it’s the WAY it’s done that divides the natural from the contrived. My sister is a natural.
Today, it’s all about her. And how fitting that she share this day with a guy, who on his death bed was concerned for the people taking care of him instead of worrying about himself. I am proud and forever grateful for my friend, my sister and my own living wonder for the many times she selflessly cared for the rest of us.
Make time today to tell an amazing woman in your life that you notice her and that you appreciate her and your life is richer because of her. And if you have a sister, tell her twice. To quote Isadora James, “A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life.” Happy Birthday Lori!
