When you’re mentoring someone, what do you call the person to whom you’re imparting all your wisdom? Mentee seems the easy, opposite of mentor, but I don’t like the term. Putting an “ee” on something makes it sound like something you’re “doing to” someone else. Key Takeaways: Mentorship is a...
Dana Theus
Dress For Success vs. Inner Power
“You’re going to write a women’s blog? You mean more ‘dress for success’ stuff?” Gah! No! When I launched InPower Women four years ago it was—in part—a reaction to the ‘dress for success stuff’ I saw on so many other blogs targeting women in the workforce. I wanted to create a place where...
What Meryl Streep Can Teach Us About Mean Girl Bosses
Between Maggie Thatcher in The Iron Lady and Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada, Meryl Streep has played some pretty tough bosses in her movies. So when I got the umpteenth request from professional women - readers, clients and friends - to explain the phenomenon of lady bully bosses (i.e.,...
Gen Z: A Multigenerational Leadership Opportunity to Respect Diversity
“These young whippersnappers, today!” Can’t you just hear it? That old geezer whining about the young upstarts? Multigenerational leadership challenges between younger and older workers are as predictable as the sun. When I was young I just remember trying to survive when I came into the work...
Co-opting Post-Sexist Gender Bias to Retain Top Talent
Have you ever taken Karate? I took two classes, not enough to retain any physical benefit, but I learned one thing I still keep with me 30 years later: when we take advantage of natural forces to create change, change happens more smoothly and comfortably. Research out of Harvard may just hold the...
INSIGHT: Intentions Solve Overwhelm
Overwhelmed? Try setting intentions. Set ONE THING as your intention to achieve by the end of the day and be satisfied when you achieve it. Do this every day. Overwhelm results from a lack of distinction. When you’re flying over the forest the gullies, fallen trees and open spaces are clear. It’s...
Stressed? Practice the Art of Saying No
The holidays are upon us and this means - increased stress! We all "know" that when things get busy we need to be gentle with ourselves and that one of our best strategies is to say "No" more often, and preserve more of energy for the highest priorities. We know it but we often don't do it. I want...
INSPIRATION: Success Is Messy
Life is an art and a science. Expect it to be messy. Own the mess and the process and life becomes beautiful and amazingly powerful. When they told you to color in between the lines, “they” did you a great disservice. “They” were wrong - Messy is good Creating something valuable is a messy...
Reframing the Quest to “Have it All” – The Case for Worklife Equity
How did we get here? Who’s silly idea was it to “have it all?” in the first place? My mother’s generation didn’t “have it all” – or even half. Married women in my mother’s and grandmother’s generation were locked in the domestic ivory tower as queens of their homefronts, but powerless in society...
Iron Man vs. Athena for CEO – Leadership Battle of the Sexes?
I recently saw Iron Man III with my family and it was a good time. Bad guys. Good guys. Destruction. Even a humble pie big enough to go around. As I enjoyed the pyrotechnics and good-guy triumph, however, I was reminded of how completely our comic books reinforce the most unhelpful of bad boy...