Long plane rides often bring me fresh ideas, or at least give me time to think in fresh, new ways. Flying from Newark to San Francisco is perfect. Just about six hours with little distraction from my writing and musings. Sometimes! On this particular plane were a brother and a sister, two or so years apart, I guessed. They were attractive, well behaved children whose parents … [Read more...]
Why is the Pipeline in Peril?
Post by Jane K. Stimmler, contributing Women on Business writer We all know those dismal and annoying stats about women in business – we’re about half the workforce but only 3% of Fortune 500 CEOs, 15% of board of directors, and 13% of executive officers. It’s also true that women are making great strides and graduating with about half of the advance professional degrees, … [Read more...]
Mother’s Day and Great Gifts
In this column I talked about what a fiasco it was when I did not send flowers to my mother. It had become an iconic story in the family. On Saturday a gorgeous bouquet arrived in a fabulous vase. Of course it was from my daughters and their families. We are in the Pennsylvania, they in California so the gift and sentiment worked. However, I also received an amazing gift … [Read more...]
Learned Anything Recently?
Are you one of those people who “knows” you should keep up with reading a certain periodical but has a tall pile of unread copies on your bedside table or office floor? The benefit continuous learning brings is summed up in one old-fashioned phrase “You don’t know what you don’t know.” What we do know takes us only so far. New information opens up new methods, strategies, … [Read more...]
Complexity of Women Leaders
Women in power in this century are, for the most part, dismissing the old notions of the vast dichotomy between their skills and those of their male counterparts. This has been an on-going debate for decades and essentially, leads nowhere. We are all complex, multi-layered human beings and we need to embrace that concept, female and male. A graduate of the Total Leadership … [Read more...]
3 Lessons for CEO’s from Reality TV Show Undercover Boss
The top rated CBS reality show, Undercover Boss, offers some real and valuable lessons for the business world. If you’ve never watched, the reality show follows chief executives at companies, such as Waste Management, 7-Eleven and even Hooters, as they work “undercover” alongside their unknowing employees. And although I’m not a big fan of reality TV (to say the least), I am a … [Read more...]
Altruism at Work
During the 1940’s, Harvard sociologist Pitirim Sorokin argued that industrial societies needed to transform themselves by developing a more integrated, holistic, and systemic approach to the world – what he called creative altruism. He discussed the idea that there is a part of the brain that is programmed for altruism. He discussed this way before we had any of the … [Read more...]
So, you have 500+ connections in LinkendIn?
So, you have 500+ connections in LinkendIn? A few weeks ago, I posted an article about networking as a marketing tool for one’s products or services – or even oneself, in the pursuit of new career opportunities. That had to do with in-person networking. On-line networking is another valuable tool. Before I delve into it, let me credit Seth Bogin for the idea for this … [Read more...]
Your Results File Is Central To Your Results
Are you collaborative or competitive? It can be tempting to think of these as mutually exclusive traits, to describe oneself as one or the other and understand that description to apply generally to your approach to a variety of situations. In fact, success in many situations requires strategic, flexible application of both. Career advancement is one such category. No … [Read more...]
Microsoft releases technology for Connecting – How can it impact your business?
Microsoft has just released Outlook Social Connector, an add-in for Outlook that links your emails and contacts to your LinkedIn network. It’s available as a free download for Outlook 2003, Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2010. It allows you to view existing LinkedIn connection profiles, their profile picture, recent updates, and allows you to add new connections without ever leaving … [Read more...]