Archive for Female Executives
Why Critical Mass is Important
Posted by: | CommentsPost by Jane K. Stimmler, contributing Women On Business writer
I was meeting with the top decision-makers at a client organization recently to plan out an important event for 2010. As we began to discuss the speakers they had invited to participate, and the ones they planned to recruit, I realized there wasn’t a single woman – or minority – among them. Though, in fairness, the organization is about three-quarters male, it still was baffling to me that they were oblivious to the fact that they had reeled off eight white males as speakers without a thought to diversity. My clients are really good people who are intelligent, open-minded, creative and curious. But not once did any of them consider the issue of balance in gender – or race, or anything else for that matter.
When I spoke up and pointed out the issue, there was a collective pause – and then, as they “got it,” a change in direction.
It made me think about the issue of balance in women’s representation.
I believe, in most cases, the reasons for lack of appropriate balance are not due to a Machiavellian plot, but to history “the way it’s traditionally been”, staying in a comfort zone “the people with whom I eat lunch or play golf”, and obliviousness to the issue “I’m just choosing people I know who fit the bill.” This line of reasoning ignores 50% of the population and 50% of the workforce – and the importance of including them in leadership and decision-making. It also doesn’t take advantage of women’s fresh perspectives and different experiences, nor does it take into account their value as consumers and constituents.
And, a token woman won’t be of much value, according to a study which reported that having three women on a corporate board seemed to change the paradigm by boosting women as a minority status and enhancing their contributions. Disturbingly, Catalyst’s 2009 Census shows that less than one-fifth of the 496 companies they polled have three or more women Executive Officers and almost one-third of these companies have NO women Executive Officers. So much for critical mass.
What can women do to improve the statistics?
It is important for women to build open and effective networks in order to become better known. Understanding the importance of making key contacts internally in your organizations as well as externally is vital. Women must also be unafraid to take more risks and learn to be more strategic in terms of career growth. Using mentoring effectively is another tool to help you get your name and talents known to the right people. And, finally, learn to navigate the politics of your organization or company and don’t shy away from leadership positions.
If we keep our eyes open to inequities in gender balance and we make our observations known, I’m convinced progress can be made in this area. However, it will take a critical mass of voices to change the status quo. So let’s all put this on our “to do” list for the new year!
What do you think? Please join the conversation!
Leadership Lessons: I’d Rather Be a Whale
Posted by: | CommentsPart of leadership, especially women, is to be a voice for separating the wheat from the chaff. It is time for all of us as women leaders to put a halt to the binding messages we are bombarded with about image. No, I don’t mean we should all state that overweight is better, I mean we need to begin to question what is being fed to us (sorry for the pun) about what is the standard for the acceptable and attractive woman. It is a legacy issue that if addressed now will have a vast impact on our daughters (and they are all our daughters regardless of who birthed them) of the future.
Nancy Pennebaker, a senior consultant with our organization, Creative Energy Options, Inc. (CEO) sent this to me for both the humor and the depth of the message. Our company motto, “we are all connected and no one wins unless we all do”, is embedded in the following short article. It shows that this issue of image is one that is a world issue.
Notice that the sign in the window of an exercise studio and the answer are from France, where the image of gorgeous models in clothes by Yves St. Laurent, Chanel et a.l became the standard of beauty.
This is a time for us to say what really matters and stand for changes, so that the future is not trapped in the girdles of the past.
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“This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?” A middle-aged woman, To Whom It May Concern, Mermaids don’t exist. The choice is perfectly clear to me: P.S. We are in an age |
Employee Brand Differentiation
Posted by: | CommentsDifferentiating oneself in the workforce today may hold the key for many employees who are keenly interested and highly motivated to survive downsizing. While it may take extra effort, the payoff can be exponentially greater both short and long range; for the employee and the company. With discipline, determination, and drive, employees can make their mark strategically, fashionably and with ingenuity.
Why Differentiate?
Much like a business, brand awareness, credibility, and association of product are important. Human capital in the workforce can benefit by applying her own brand to her professional self.
In an experience educating employees on professional branding, I shared my most closely guarded daily motivational strategy. “My day begins by going to work for Kashlak, Inc.” Chuckles and curious grins gleaned my way and silence fell upon the room of leadership.
Explaining my line of thinking further, the room quickly realized the value of having a professional brand. For the visionaries and innovators, enthusiasm and buzz elevated the room for the remainder of the session.
It was in that three syllable comment, Kashlak, Inc. that my brand was established amongst 85 clients. They “got it”! Innovation, risk, and commodity were just a few of the immediate perceptions.
As human resources professionals take on more than ever, risk mitigation, healthy human capital psyche, and strategic innovation are all consuming.
Asking employees to identify their brand is as simple as developing a brand for a business. What do you want to be known for? What are your best attributes? What is your greatest brag?
The Payoff.
Helping employees understand professional brand differentiation in the workplace will lead to an overall healthy psyche of employees as long as the brands are exercised on a regular basis. The three D’s are crucial during the first 30 days of this exercise and must be reinforced by the department head.
The benefits of differentiating include:
- No cost to the company as the exercise can be set up simply during a standard meeting.
- Increased self esteem, covetable skills, and increased productivity.
- A focus on natural strengths and talents.
- Individualization and self worth.
- Appreciation of strengths in others.
- Elevated internal resource identification by employee for special projects or expert advice.
- Retention of top talent.
- Leveraging talent strengths which are visible and respected in functioning teams.
- Many more!
Do not wait…Differentiate!!
Get Moving!!
Women and Men: Different Perspectives
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We really are different. Our brains are different, as well as the outlook on what is important. I believe we can help each other see new and critical points of view. I also believe we need to give each other space to be ourselves.
Often the best way to say “vive la difference” is through humor. Stephen Kapustin, a lawyer in Philadelphia is a graduate of our Total Leadership Connections program. He is a seeker of truth through humor, and has sent me so many funny articles to get my laughter valve open on many a dreary day.
The following has so many elements of deep truth. Women love to explore the emotions of a situation, while many men want to get to the solution quickly and move on. Let me know if your male business partners remind you of this guy. I must admit that my business partner, who is also my husband, would respond like the man in the column.
In fact, when I showed this to Herb, he looked at me and said “So, what’s funny about that?” What answer would you give to that question???
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Leadership and “Process till you Puke”!
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In every business, in every life, it is vital to process all information and even emotional content to make sure that you are making the best decisions you can make. Yet, there are extremes and when you get caught at one end point of the spectrum or the other, there is a tendency to either deny what is going on, or indulge in over-thinking the process.
One of our best consultants at Creative Energy Options, Inc. (CEO), Dianne Moore, who covers the Midwest for us, had an amazing “aha” moment about too much process time and what it does to us. An eloquent writer, she talks for so many of us, especially women who do tend to be the queens of analyzing and looking over and over again at what life holds, both at home and in the business world.
I’d love your comments on what you do when you get stuck in a place where you begin to over think what you are doing.
“The Pity Pot”
Let’s hear it for process! Yes, let’s give it some well-deserved, rousing applause….clap……..clap………..clap……..clap.
I am sick of process.
Process grinds you down, beats you up, gives you the run around, wrings you out, slaps you sideways, and pulls you under.
Process halts life, sidetracks dreams, curbs joy, and blocks creativity.
Process addles the brain, amplifies pain, and arrests gain.
Process destroys, dumbfounds, and demolishes. Process disconnects, disturbs, discourages and disengages.
Plain and simple….PROCESS SUCKS.
I am sick of the journey. I am fed-up with faith, have had it with hope and checked out of charity ten days ago. I feel like molasses and look like shit. I am bored with my whining, irritated by everyone, and sick to death of living in brain fog.
I am plagued by idiots, pained by idealists and just plain out of idioms (thank goodness).
I want a process-free life. Where is the potion, the pill, the process to be process-free? (Now that is just plain silly.)
It is time to give this pity pot A ROYAL FLUSH!
Healthcare and Women
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One of the most well-run and informative meetings I went to last year was the HBA conference in San Francisco. The Healthcare Businesswomen Association is a class act.
What impressed me was the juggling act done to show the strong side of women in a mostly male dominated industry, as well as the feminine side that we, as women, need to maintain for our own sanity.
The women who represented the major pharmaceutical and biotech companies were key players, with long resumes down to the newbies just starting out. There was a sense of “we’re all in it together”, a desire to mentor and an equal desire to learn from the “elders’.
At one point, I stood on the side watching the buffet lunch line take shape and loved the musical sounds of people connecting with each other. The male manager of the hotel happened to stop next to me and we had a brief conversation. I was curious, so I asked what was it like to be surrounded by 800 women? His answer was telling. He said there was something different than many past meetings he had witnessed. He was not sure he could name the difference. I urged him to give it a shot.
“Well, for one thing” he began tentatively, “these women seem to really like each other”. He stopped to analyze his statement. I prodded with “How can you tell?” and he continued, almost in a stream of consciousness, “not sure….I always see women as one upping each other…..looking at what they are wearing and talking about that or where they got the dress or shoes….these women…..they seem focused on wanting to make a difference ….I don’t mean to listen in, yet can’t help hearing them…..they are talking about not just healthcare in general…..they are really talking about how to make their work settings better for everyone…. I even stopped in yesterday morning and there was session about how to develop trust at work…. They were in small groups and they were really working the issue, not just giving it lip service….I thought about it last night, women are really making a difference in the workplace and somehow, I just saw the power of what they, you, all can bring to the table from a deeper perspective.”
He stopped, embarrassed and excused himself to check on the wait staff. I saw him later and he waved, still embarrassed by the amount of self disclosure. He made sure not to get too near, for I might ask another open-ended question that would get him going again.
I thought about this male perspective in a women’s conference. There were a few men in attendance, certainly no more than a dozen at most, and I hoped they had a similar experience. We have come a long way and we certainly are on the road for bringing trust into the work setting as well as compassion and a sense of camaraderie. As women, we excel at relationships and mentoring and we can be partners to help our male colleagues pay attention to and benefit from our natural abilities.
