It’s a fact, Ladies. The most fulfilling experience of our lives – nurturing little beings into wonderful adults – is statistically killing our careers. At least that’s what the data says. According to a 2010 study by Michelle Budig and Melissa Hodges of the Social and Demographic Research...
The bigger the organization you work in, the greater the likelihood that you’ll meet your demise in death-by-meeting. What a horrible way to go! And the worst part? All that pain and suffering – and it’s usually a crap shoot as to whether you’ll get through all the items on the agenda.
No. Actually, the worst part is when you end up running those meetings yourself!
Agendas are often useful for thinking through what you want to cover. But – having an agenda does not mean having a meeting worth everyone’s time to attend. How to avoid death-by-meeting when you’re in charge? Agenda or not, take the time to think through your intended outcome for the meeting.
To everyone but us, we were a power breakfast. Meeting early at the Mayflower Hotel in downtown Washington DC, we were strategists behind an international organization representing 160 of the biggest companies and Non Governmental Organization (NGO) nonprofits in the world. The Director, on a trip...
Everyone wants to change. The airwaves are full of tempting enticements to cause change in our bodies, our minds and our relationships, but the real process of change is so much more organic and subtle than a pill or piece of exercise equipment can deliver. When I was a little kid I was afraid of...
As a rule, women are good communicators. Yet many women are told that their communications patterns are holding them back when it comes to workplace success. What’s going on here? For starters, the above observation is full of generalizations. “All women” aren’t “good” at stuff any more than “all...
Every job has it’s turning point, that time when you’re not learning as much as fast; or you’re losing interest; or starting to figure out what you really want to put your career energy into… even though you’re not quite ready to declare the job you’re in “ready to go.” It’s this “itchy point”...
Yes, many organizations and governments are oppressive and need to be voted and fought against. But true freedom of choice is a state of mind. How can you tell? In any community, regardless of circumstance, you can find people who bear the burden of the rules around them differently. There are...
If you’re “happily enough employed”, can you really be in a job search? Yes! In the career development world we call this a “passive job search” and it’s been shown that people who are happy where they are usually get the best job offers to go somewhere else and they’ll be even happier! To the...
What does it mean to be IN power when you’re working for yourself? The answer to that question, I believe, is meaningful for all of us – even those with bosses who climb the corporate ladder, live in cubes or on airplanes, slogging away on either side of the glass ceiling (which is there for some...
My first management job was a disaster. I was one of four analysts working on a client account. My boss was getting annoyed dealing with all of us and our silly just-out-of-grad-school questions. He didn't like editing our client memos because he had more important things to do. He liked me and...
