Archive for Female Executives
Are The “Shoulds” Getting You Down?
Posted by: | CommentsAs women, we are continuously striving for work/life balance because we believe it’s possible. All the subject matter experts (myself NOT included) tell us that we can achieve balance in our lives and we should make every effort to create this equilibrium for ourselves. It is doable.
We are all superwomen. As a result, we have an ongoing list of things we “should” do for our career and our family/personal life. We seem to punish ourselves with this list of “shoulds”. The “shoulds” contribute to our guilt on a daily basis and we often give more focus to what we “should” have done or “should ” do instead of everything we have accomplished. Read More→
The Rules Change With Success
Posted by: | CommentsThe training we receive in our formative years has a powerful influence on us as adults. The ways we learn to win as we are starting out tend to shape our view of how success is attained. The only problem with this is that as you become more successful, the rules for future success change. Unless you learn the keys to succeeding at higher levels, your progress is destined to come to a screeching halt. Read More→
Promote From Within
Posted by: | CommentsMany corporations create an HR policy that suggests it’s best to promote from within. Look at the existing talent and resources within your organization before your search to fill current or potential job openings takes you outside the company. It’s a good policy and it makes sound business sense on many levels.
Is it possible for us to mirror this policy for our own personal use?
Can we promote ourselves from within?
This new policy, if adopted, would require us to connect with our own innate talents before looking at external sources. Based on the fundamental premise that we ourselves have a broad range of experiences and strengths, this policy acknowledges and celebrates our uniqueness. Read More→
Dealing with sensitive issues in the workplace
Posted by: | CommentsA blog post about telling someone they need to look more professional at work got me thinking about the best way to handle sensitive issues in the workplace. Read More→
Walking the Line at Work. Choosing Appropriate Attire
Posted by: | CommentsI was on the fast track. It was just a little over a year since I was hired for an entry level position with a medical management company and I was promoted to executive status. I loved my job. I got to travel and meet and work with wonderful people. I was good a managing others and excelled at my job.
Corporate headquarters was on Madison Avenue in New York City. We had just completed another three day meeting when I was summoned into the office of our SVP of Marketing. “I need to speak with you”, she said. “You need to change the way you dress. It is inappropriate.”
“What?” I replied. I had a closet full of Calvin Klein and Armani suits. “What do you mean inappropriate?” I asked.
“You show too much cleavage and it’s not appropriate as an executive of this company.”
Well, others might have responded sheepishly that they would certainly address the issue. I just looked at her in disbelief. What was she saying? My attire was certainly NOT offensive. (Maybe in retrospect, it was to HER.) My suits were professional and attractive. I had enough self-confidence to dismiss this conversation as “her issue”. Was she jealous? Was she insinuating that I was successful because I was flaunting myself sexually? Not “MY issue”. I never changed one item of clothing to please her. I continued to dress to please myself. Read More→
Promote Women. It’s Profitable
Posted by: | CommentsI read a very interesting article recently in The Boston Globe called, “The Female Advantage. A New Reason for Businesses to Promote Women: It’s More Profitable.”
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/05/03/the_female_advantage
The premise of the article is that companies with more female leadership in place at the Board and executive level are more profitable. From the article,
Measured as a percent of revenues, profits at Fortune 500 firms that most aggressively promoted women were 34 percent higher by industry means, a 2001 Pepperdine University study showed.
The call for the advancement of women thus far has been primarily focused on gender diversity and fairness. Equal representation. Equal pay. Now there is a new perspective to consider. There is a sound business reason to promote women. It is a proven advantage that companies with more female leadership have greater profits.
Why does the correlation exist between higher profits and female leadership representation? There are several theories presented in the article.
