I was in Orlando this past week with some colleagues training a medical device sales force on “purposeful communication”. “Purposeful Communication” is communication that has a goal or desired outcome and when applied to sales presentations, the objective is to create a sales presentation that is well organized around a desired outcome with your target audience. Selling to a … [Read more...]
Happiness in the Workplace
In this current recession, one would think that anyone who has a job at this point would be happy to be gainfully employed. Research tells us that this in not the case. In fact, in a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, author Sue Shellenbarger speaks of a growing need and trend for “happiness coaching” in the workplace. Shellenbarger says, “Employee satisfaction has hit … [Read more...]
Tune Up Your Pitch
Have you ever been to a networking event where everyone needs to stand up and introduce themselves? I don’t know about you, but after about 3-4 people stand up and recite their elevator pitches, I can’t remember who does what. Very few of them capture my attention. Even less of them are memorable. They all sound alike because everyone is using the same approach, the same … [Read more...]
Are You in Career Quicksand?
Does this describe you? Desperately trying to keep your job or business from swallowing you up? Totally focused on completing all your daily tasks but never getting through your to do list? Working nights and weekends to catch up? Stressed? Exhausted? Do you find the more you struggle to keep on top of things, the more you sink into the abyss? I call this career … [Read more...]
You’ll Never Know Until You Ask
Is No really NO or is it an opportunity? Women are much more likely than men to take a “no” as a personal rejection and final answer. In fact, the fear of rejection will often keep us from asking for things we rightly deserve. Let’s look at the situation of a salary negotiation or performance review. Perhaps we were expecting a large raise and only received a small one. … [Read more...]
‘Tis the Season to Celebrate YOU!
Pretty soon we’re going to be flooded with blogs that talk about creating new goals for the new year and the importance of making new resolutions for 2010. ‘Tis the season, right? I am not even going there. You will hear enough from myriads of others about setting your intentions. Let’s focus instead of 2009. Let’s reflect back on the year and think about our successes this … [Read more...]
Womenomics 101
Recent research studies indicate a very strong correlation exists between corporate performance and gender balanced leadership; the more diverse the leadership team, the better financial performance of the organization. Focus on the diversity of corporate boards has been viewed as an important step to a more gender balanced leadership. The intent of initiatives to increase … [Read more...]
You’re Driven, But Where Are You Driving?
Most of the professional women I coach, whether entrepreneurs or corporate executives, are driven. I recognize certain characteristics that accompany this drive. Very often these type A personalities are totally focused on the work at hand and tend to be more reactive than proactive. Head down and nose to the grindstone. Does this sound familiar? If this is true for … [Read more...]
Work/Life Balance is Not Just for Women
With the advent of birth control in the 1960's, women had a choice for the first time. They could plan their family/career path strategically. Often women started their careers and then took time to have a family. Whether or not they returned to their previous careers, they did have choices. But with more and more mothers in the workforce who contributed to the income of the … [Read more...]
Are Professional Women’s Networks Passe?
What do you accomplish when you put a group of professional women together in a room? a valid question and now a controversial topic of discussion. Professional women's networks have recently come under fire for perpetuating the ideology that women need to be "fixed" in order to be successful in the workplace. These professional groups were for the most part originally … [Read more...]