When I was working on the cover for my new book, “GUTSY: How Women Leaders Make Change”, I spent time with the designer looking at all the overt and subtle meanings of the word "GUTSY". Karrie, www.karrieross.com, asked me what the smallest visual I could think of to demonstrate what "GUTSY" means. I sat with closed eyes and saw a hand with elegant long fingers and well … [Read more...]
GUTSY WOMEN and MEMORIES
Tonight we start a new GUTSY WOMEN WEEKEND. We are doing them every other month and they are making a difference for women who are in leadership positions or are emerging leaders. So, what does that have to do with memories? Nothing….. and everything. You see most programs want to stay with present situations and move forward. We believe that we need to clear the past … [Read more...]
Strong Women in the Front Row
Telling a group of men to “show up and be accountable” is new territory for most women. We have been in back of or on the side of our men for eons. Not that we have to be loud and bossy to get our way. We just have to be clear. Margaret Thatcher, portrayed by Meryl Streep in the film The Iron Lady, was a woman of depth and conviction. Strong in an arena that few women … [Read more...]
Leadership Development: Throw the Ball and Catch It Too
Tom Brady’s wife, Gisele, will go down in history with a quote that goes well beyond football. Walking down the corridor to the safety of an elevator, she was taunted by fans about how the Super Bowl game ended and out came the now famous words about not being able to throw a ball and catch it at the same time. Maybe it was the shame of losing (someone had to), maybe it … [Read more...]
GUTSY GALS are Electricians
Sue was not feeling GUTSY; she was still in pain as she talked about an ugly spill that ended with a badly injured ankle. Several doctors told her she would have to be CAREFUL, very, very careful for, well…forever. Diana, sitting across the circle from Sue is a nurse. How could it be that she had the same ankle injury with that big, long medical name, a year ago? And she was … [Read more...]
Leadership Skills: You and $$$$$$$
One of the best leadership teachers in any era comes in the form of paper or metal. We love it, hate it, covet it, or disdain it. Our romance with money belongs in every leadership development program on the planet. Ever hear the expression “You can never be too thin or too rich”? First, too thin is called anorexia and you can die from that. Too rich, question is what … [Read more...]
Women, Leadership, Self-Care, and BLUE MONDAY
You wake up Monday morning, pour yourself a glass of orange juice, and get breakfast ready for your clan. Off to the office, you battle the traffic, thinking about how to tell your rebel employee that there have been complaints about his behavior. You dread the meeting and yet know it can’t wait. Pulling into the parking lot you feel a wave of frustration, seeing that … [Read more...]
You Never Know What Impacts
I was having an amazing conversation with my grown daughter who is a free spirit. She is a film maker and raw food chef who has a ton of friends and opinions about, well, just about everything. Here’s what was fascinating. When she was little, way before You Tube, she loved to listen to songs and stories by Marlo Thomas from the album “Free to Be You and Me”. She went … [Read more...]
What Do Women Want?
It’s really simple. What women want is to be heard! We do not need to have the problems solved for us. However, before we can make change happen we require dialogue, discussion, debate. In my book “GUTSY: How Women Leaders Make Change”, I did some digging to consider basic things that have been handed to us that have become part of who we are, part of our culture. I … [Read more...]
Women and Responsibility
Times, they are a changing, always. However, changing times seem to happen in the blink of an eye. I do believe we women leaders need to stop and take a deep look at what we are doing and the profound consequences of our actions. In days of yore, we were to be kept “barefoot and pregnant” and now we have “freedom of choice”. The big question is, what are we choosing and … [Read more...]