By now you’ve gotten the message that networking is a crucial element of career success. If you’re going to make it you’ve got to connect. And you’ve read the rules – dress well, be sincere, be interested in the other person, follow-up to develop and build relationships, and so on. Does it still sound intimidating? So much so that you’re still holding back? Or maybe … [Read more...]
What are you worth? The cost of branding you.
“The cost of doing business” speaks for itself. You have to put money out to make money; feed the investment so that it grows becoming lucrative and prosperous. A fundamental basic that business leaders process regularly, right? Absolutely! Why then do many business professionals treat themselves and their own career marketing tools with substandard expectations? As a … [Read more...]
Women Leaders and Male Partnership
In any learning process, there is a tendency to go to extremes before finding middle ground. Take driving, for example. Most teens start by driving very, very slowly, learning when to accelerate and when to put the brakes on. Then there is a time when we all want to experiment with speed, until either fender hits fender, or a ticket is handed by an unsmiling policeman. Most … [Read more...]
Got Goals?
Have you set job-related goals? Are strategic goals included among the goals you’ve set? These questions came to mind after a recent coaching session with a long-standing client, Jen H. (not her real name). We were discussing goals. It wasn’t our first conversation on the topic. As soon as she accepted the new position, a lateral move after nearly 15 years in a similar post … [Read more...]
Women Leadership and Mad Men
Some revolutions are bloody, and some are flash-in-the-pan moments. The women’s movement began quietly with a book “The Feminine Mystique”, moved to bra burning, and gained traction with consciousness raising groups. All of that seems like it was centuries ago. We now head large organizations, are in key positions in government, and have a say in just about everything. … [Read more...]
Why Critical Mass is Important
Post 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, … [Read more...]
Leadership Lessons: I’d Rather Be a Whale
Part 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 … [Read more...]
Employee Brand Differentiation
Differentiating 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, … [Read more...]
Women and Men: Different Perspectives
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 … [Read more...]
Leadership and “Process till you Puke”!
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 … [Read more...]