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...]
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...]
Maybe We Really Have Changed
I was very conscious of role changes yesterday. First, my husband and I needed to get some basics for our new home in Sonoma County California. We were running late and made a last stop at the closest Costco. The Super Bowl had started about ten minutes before and as Saints fans, we wanted to get home to cheer this special team to success. I stopped at the bank of … [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...]
Top 10 US Cities to Capture Small Business Recovery Act Dollars
Uncle Sam wants small business entrepreneurs to lead the nation to economic recovery--and has billions of dollars to make it happen. Small business owners are in line to receive low-interest loans and government contracts through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). To secure your little corner of the recovery, you'll need to be at the right place with the right … [Read more...]
When is the Right Time To Do What You Want?
Guest post by Anna Dworaczynska (learn more about Anna at the end of this post) How many of us wait for the right time to change our lives? Regardless, whether it is a minor or more complex change? I used to have a long list of excuses ready, which held me back from pursuing what I wanted. This is no longer true as I realized I need to create opportunities if I want a … [Read more...]
Perfection’s Imperfection and the Tiger
One step up from excellence lays perfection. How different are these two concepts? Business excellence can lead us to being better and smarter than the competition, maintaining high standards, striving for leadership, quality, and high service. Perfection can lead us to….the Tiger Woods syndrome! Tiger was a little boy who had a golf club put in his hand as soon as he … [Read more...]
Looking For What You Love to Do in All The Wrong Places
Guest post by Kirstie Berzanski (learn more about Kirstie at the end of this post) I sell moving boxes and supplies on-line. I know that this does not sound like exciting work, but I LOVE IT! As a matter of fact, I have finally found the line of work I want to be in. Believe me when I tell you that I NEVER would have picked this industry if my husband, (back then fiance) … [Read more...]
Breaking the “Instant Response” Cycle
Perhaps it's because of women's hard won reputation as excellent multitaskers. Or perhaps its because we all panic that if we don't put in our two cents instantly, we'll be ignored. But whatever the reason, too many of us have gotten into the nasty habit of being "overly responsive." As soon as our Blackberrys vibrate or we hear the ping of a new email arriving in our … [Read more...]