This week I had the opportunity to attend an event for the Center for Women in Business, sponsored by the US Chamber of Commerce here in the District. There was a wonderful conversation that took place amongst our distinguished panel of female Fortune 500 executives; the topic was “who took a chance on you?” As that topic was discussed it struck me, as entrepreneurs every … [Read more...]
Making The Hard Decision To Stay Or To Let Things Go!
We are talking today about when you are scared to move forward but you know that you have to make a choice to stay or to leave! Do you believe that sometimes things just aren’t meant to be? It’s a hard truth to accept, especially when you love somebody or something. It can make it harder to hold when the humane thing is to let go. As businesswomen, we have paths filled … [Read more...]
Making Room For Silence
Within each of us there is a silence-a silence as vast as the universe. We are afraid of it and we long for it......Can we recognize that now and then there comes an inner sense, a fleeting thought, a little yearning to live our lives differently? Gunilla Norris, Inviting Silence These two quotes are from one of the most compelling resource books I have ever read. This … [Read more...]
Amplify the Employee Voice
Guest post by Sarah Hedayati (learn more about Sarah at the end of this post) I’ve been fond of the show Undercover Boss since it premiered two years ago. I hadn’t seen the show in a while, so the other night I decided to tune in. Most of the episodes focus on a CEO who goes undercover and takes on some of the grunt jobs to find out what it’s like to work for their … [Read more...]
When the Student is Ready, a Teacher Appears
As I listen to the stories of the business world and how many mistakes CEO’s make, I think about how no one talks about the lessons that they learned on the way to that success. There is a tendency to hold out successful business owners as gurus, when the reality is that they were blessed with good teachers and the ability to learn from previous failures. For some of us no one … [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...]
The Awarness to Lead
Many things have been said about leadership some good and some bad, but the one thing that has stuck with me has been the awareness of leadership. Now when I say awareness, I don’t be mean micro-managing your staff or applying dual layers of approval. I mean awareness of the atmosphere you create in your company. Different companies will have different cultures, but at the very … [Read more...]
A Pay for Performance Twist
In a conversation with a trusted advisor this morning, I had a rather revolutionary suggestion thrown at me. We were complaining about employee motivation and work quality solutions and how none of them actually seemed to address the motivation and reward head on. My advisor threw out the suggestion "what if people were only paid for the kind of work they completed? It would … [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...]