Why Doesn’t Academic Success Lead to Career Success?
Women excel academically. We are currently earning almost 60% of college degrees, about 50% of doctorates, and roughly 45% of MBA’s. We are more prepared than ever to assume leadership roles in business. Yet just 4.2 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are women. So...
A Heads Up About Keeping Your Head Down
I facilitated a workshop this past week for women executives from ADP at The Athena Center for Leadership Studies at Barnard College. Before the workshop, a survey was sent out by The Athena Center in order to determine some of their barriers to advancement....
Changing Things Up
This past week I moved from Martha’s Vineyard to Connecticut; lots of packing and unpacking; organizing and discarding. Now that I am fairly (?) settled in my new place, I realize how challenging change can be, even when we plan for it. Our daily routines are...
Leaning In and The Hokey Pokey
It’s ok to “lean in”. It’s ok to “lean out”. It’s ok to opt-out. As I was writing this, I had a visualization of doing the hokey pokey. Do you remember that from your childhood? “You put your whole self in. You put your whole self out. You put your whole self...
Learning From Failure
We all do it. We make mistakes every day; some big mistakes and some minor ones. It’s part of life. Do you know that if you Google “learning from failure”, you will get about 129 million results? So you are not alone. We can’t avoid our missteps but we can...
The Pros and Cons of Flex Time for Women
Many companies are now offering more flexible work options in order to retain their top talent pool, especially women. But does this flex time work for or against women’s career advancement? And how important is this to women? According to a recent survey by...
Is It More Important To Be Likeable or Competent?
Is it more important to be well liked or to be considered competent? According to new research, if you want to be influential and successful as a leader you need to be both likeable and competent. However, likeability is much more important initially. By...
Are You Leaning In Or Hanging On?
Are you “leaning in” or hanging on? That’s the question addressed in this recent New York Times Article. According to the article, many women (and men) with children under 18 would much rather have flex time and/or work less hours than have the corner office and more...
To Golf Or Not To Golf
This past week I led a discussion for senior women at an 85 Broads event in Boston about politics in the workplace. As we exchanged ideas about the best way to build relationships and alliances with men in the workplace, the subject of golf came up. Many of the...