by Téa Blake | Jan 27, 2014 | Gender Research
Study: The Business Benefits of Gender Diversity and Working Women on the Front Lines (Gallup, Badal, 2014)
Finding: The study of more than 800 business units from two companies representing two different industries — retail and hospitality — finds that gender-diverse business units have better financial outcomes than those dominated by one gender.
InPower Insight: The human race was designed to work better at the top and the bottom, at home and at the office, in gender partnership!
Summary:
Many studies look at the impact of balanced gender groups on leadership – because there’s where we perceive the greatest imbalance to be. But Gallup took another angle and looked at the impact of men and women working together on the front lines – in retail. This is the first study of this kind we’ve seen. The results – as they are in the leadership studies – are dramatic:
- Gender-diverse business units in the retail company have 14% higher average comparable revenue than less-diverse business units (5.24% vs. 4.58%).
- Gender-diverse business units in the hospitality company show 19% higher average quarterly net profit ($16,296 vs. $13,702) than less-diverse business units.
Career Coaching Tip: If you’re leading a team – at any level – make an extra effort to make our team diverse, in terms of gender and other characteristics. This may require you to rethink how you hire! Open yourself to that possibility because you’ll be making it that much easier on yourself to lead a team that performs well! Getting a job? Look at how diverse the team is that you’re joining. Will they appreciate what you bring to the table even if it’s different? Talk to them about this and if you want away because you don’t feel you’ll be appreciated for the diverse view you bring, find a polite way to let them know this is why they lost you!
Source Link
Keywords: working women, research, gallup, retail
FREE PDF
Guide to Women in Leadership
Executive Coach Dana Theus shares her tried and true strategies to help women excel in higher levels of leadership and achieve their executive potential.
by Guest Author | Jan 22, 2014 | Career Development
Research has shown that career sponsors have a more positive effect on your career than mentors. But how do you get a sponsor? We love Henna’s career advancement tips on the 5 factors that invite sponsors to help us. What are you doing to attract sponsors? – InPower Editors
Want to get choice assignments? Want to make more money? Want to have a bigger impact? Get sponsored.
Only 13% of women leaders have sponsors according to data from the Center for Talent Innovation. How do the rest of us get the right sponsors? Sponsors are the people several levels up in the organization who have political clout and influence to get us promotions, the right assignments, and visibility. While mentors can give advice, sponsors get us promoted. We need both. Sponsors generally find us, but we can certainly take action to be visible and raise our hand. To get the inside scoop on how people really decide who they sponsor, I spoke with several people in leadership roles and those in HR who have the inside scoop on how this actually happens.
5 Factors That Drive Executive Sponsorship
1) Consistent Results – We have to be great at what we do and we have to do it consistently. In order for sponsors to be willing to use their precious political capital on our behalf, they have to have confidence that we will deliver for them. ”Demonstrate competence consistently. It’s what builds confidence and credibility” advises Chris Lowe, President of Food Service at Coca Cola North America. This is a necessary factor, but it’s not sufficient.
2) Communication of your personal brand – What is it that you’re great at and helps you stand out? This is not about fulfilling the job description. This is about us understanding the special spark or talent we have that creates value in an important way. Are you the person that is able to turn around client relationships? Are you the person that’s able to solve the toughest problems? Are you the visionary that is able to envision future trends like no one else? A great tool for doing that is using personal assessments (I recommend Strengthsfinders and Stand Out) in addition to feedback. Discover and articulate your personal brand in your performance review and career discussions.
3) Clearly understand fit between your brand and value drivers in the organization – “It’s important to take ownership and navigate your career toward projects and assignments where your special talents also create tremendous value for the organization”, says Tammy Woodard, an HR professional for KPMG.
4) Connect strategically – Who are the people who have power and influence in the organization? They are likely two levels up in the hierarchy. Get to know them. Work on projects or teams where they can see you in action. Make sure you speak up. Get really good at presentation skills because that is where potential sponsors are generally going to see you first. “Find out what matters to them. It may be very different to what matters to you, so listen carefully. If our goal is to get promoted and they are a decision-maker then we need to help them get what’s important to them”, says Woodard.
5) Collaborate across the network – “Sponsors want to support people who have good social skills”, says Lowe. “They have the ability to get others to collaborate with them. They have the ability to get things done because they are seen as team players”. ”Socialize” (get informal feedback and discussion going) on your ideas. Sponsors want to propose people for advancement who others will also give the nod to. Make it easy for your sponsor to sponsor you by making sure you have a wide network of influential people who know you and are aligned with you.
You’re probably thinking, “And I do this all in my vast reserves of spare time?”
1) Delegate and de-clutter activities that don’t count – Like most things in life 20% of our effort generates 80% of the results. Take some thinking time to de-clutter or delegate activities that don’t count. Plan thinking time on your calendar to do this.
2) Bring a strategic mindset to what you’re already doing – Much of this doesn’t need to take extra time. All it requires is a different mindset. The next meeting you’re in, make the effort to connect with influencers and understand their goals. Help them get to know you.
3) Commit to collaborating in what you’re already doing – Make it a leadership practice to help someone feel heard and understood in a meeting. It is in our enlightened self-interest to help others get what they want. These are the “social skills” that Lowe mentioned.
What is it that you’ve observed in your organization that gets people sponsored? Pick at least one action you will take from reading this that will help you get sponsored.
Originally on: Transformational Leaders
Learn the 7 Strategies for Attracting an Executive Sponsor.
by Guest Author | Jan 16, 2014 | Career Development, Coaching Advice, Leadership
We’ve heard some women point at “office politics” for why they don’t care much about getting ahead, and even some who don’t let it stop them hold their nose and deal with it. Sometimes this is an excuse and sometimes it’s not. Dana takes a hard look at what is really going on behind the “office politics” issues that women face in the workplace and gives us a fresh way to think about it. – InPower Editors
Early in my corporate career in global companies, I got some massive doses of “company politics” and learned how important they were to my career. I learned that if certain people weren’t willing to go to bat for me, my climb up to the next level (or anywhere, really) would be severely hampered. Working for smaller startups wasn’t terribly different, and there were fewer people to politic with, so in some ways learning how to play the game was even more important.
I’ll admit that many times I found myself thinking, “if people would just stop playing all the games and let me do my job I’d be successful!” It was frustrating.
But as my career progressed and I learned more about leadership and how organizations really worked, I came to appreciate “politics” in a different way.
People make things happen
Organizations are social creatures, made up of social ties between people. When people get together, they can make amazing things happen. That’s how companies and organizations succeed; that’s where their power comes from. So how can you lead a social unit successfully if you can’t be influential within the social culture?
You can’t. So if you want to lead and make things happen, you need to learn to “play” within the culture you hope to lead and effect. It’s part of how you gain credibility to be effective.
What if the game is rigged?
I’ve seen many women opt out of climbing the ladder because they “didn’t want to play politics,” and I totally respect that. My own shift into entrepreneurship was in part because I chose to play a different game.
But to me that’s the key. It’s all a game. Success at work is all about working with people leading and collaborating with people who don’t think like you. So when I hear women complain about the game of politics I listen for whether they’re allowing the politics to victimize them into being forced out or beaten down. If the game is rigged, you can let yourself lose, or you can put the ball down and walk off the field.
The other option is to make an inpowered choice to play a game you feel you have a chance of winning to accomplish something you feel is worth accomplishing.
The choice is yours.
What do you think of office politics? Is it ever constructive? How have you dealt with it successfully? What lessons have you learned from your mistakes.
Take charge of your career development to get the job that supports your work and your life. Check out the tools and resources in the InPower Coaching Career Center.
by Guest Author | Jan 14, 2014 | Coaching Advice, People Skills, Personal Mastery
How do you know when you’re ready to ask for help and receive it with arms wide open. How do you know when it’s time to grow into a new version of you? We think everyone experiences these growth times a bit differently and we enjoy how Mitch shares her current growth stage with us all. Welcome Mitch as our newest InPower blogger! – InPower Editors
The title of today’s story is from one of my wedding vows: When you wish to grow and change, I promise to encourage and support your dreams.
About 8 months ago, during a sunny walk with my husband through our neighborhood, I had a ‘moment’ where I knew it was time to ask for help. After 7 years of juggling the joyful demands of my family and running a successful business, I had begun to feel stagnant. I was ready for a new adventure. I could feel it. I said to my husband, “Honey, if I seem a little ‘off’ lately it’s because I feel this growing sense of stagnation. I’m not ready to do anything about it just yet but I feel something coming, and I wanted to give you some warning.”
I am a strong believer that my feelings will always be my best guide. I know when I am happy and thriving. I know when I have lost my spark. I know when I am in between. As an executive coach, I work with people who are doing their best to be their best, every day. It’s inspiring to witness and it also keeps me honest. It keeps me asking myself: “What’s worth working hard for?”
Over the course of my adult life, there have been different answers to that question:
…In the first decade, it was being a wilderness expedition guide. I relished moving every 6 months to follow the seasons– and the jobs! This entailed learning all I could about the wilderness and about people working together.
…For the next decade, I devoted my energy to building a thriving executive coaching business, finding the love of my life, and raising two great kids. This required working hard to learn all I could about being a great mom and businesswoman, and being intentional about the kind of family—and life—we wanted to have.
…The current decade of my life is focused on helping professional women thrive by being happy, successful and balanced in their approach to work and life. Helping women like you find your way to greater happiness, success and fulfillment is something I consider deeply worthy of my hard work. My wish is to help you tune into the genius of your feelings so you can keep your fire burning strong, and let the world benefit from your talents.
Back on that sunny walk in April, I knew I was ready to grow and change. I felt it. When I asked myself, ”What’s worth working hard for now?,” the answer came through clearly. It was to create WiRL—an online summit for professional women seeking career success and a balanced life. WiRL kicks off April 28th, 2014—one year after I felt that first inner flutter. Creating it has proven one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done, but I was reminded why I’m doing it when I recently overheard my daughter tell her friends, “My mom is helping women! ALL women.”
My hope is that WiRL brings you the courage and clarity to keep dreaming and striving to be your best in work and in life. And that the collective wisdom of our amazing speakers will help ignite and fuel your fire!
Originally on: Women In Real Life Leadership Summit
Did you like today’s post? If so you’ll love receiving them in your email for a good morning infusion of InPower! Sign up HERE and receive The Woman Effect Manifesta, by Dana Theus, as our thanks to you!
by Guest Author | Jan 2, 2014 | Career Development, Coaching Advice
Today many of us are relaxing for the first time in a while. Others are looking forward to when they can. All of us can benefit from remembering that we choose the life we are leading and such mindfulness can help us through the busy times and the doldrums. We really enjoy how Emily counts down 11 lessons of mindfulness. Such good reminders at any time of year. – InPower Editors
Since February of this year, I’ve been helping a community of women executives become conscious leaders. In the process, I’ve spent a lot of time researching what it takes to actually make this transition.
For example, what is the difference between a leader and a conscious leader?
Where does mindfulness fit into modern business culture?
What are the specific tools needed to develop a “strong back and a soft front” at work?
In answering these (and many other) questions, this community – Awake Exec – has grown to more than 150 members and archived approximately 17 hours’ worth of training so far. As a gift to them – and to you for being here – recently I went through the content again, searching for only the best nuggets to recap a fabulous year of learning.
Here they are.
#11 The success you’ll have tomorrow is based on the person you decide to be right now.
Mindfulness is about paying complete attention in the present moment. When you choose to live this way you begin to act more deliberately, leading to better decision-making and better results.
#10 The power to be your highest self lies in the space between stimulus and response.
You can’t always control the circumstances of your life, but you can always control how you respond to them.
#9 Witnessing your thoughts without judgment is the key to emotional freedom.
Since every experience begins with a thought, you can actually change your experience simply by changing your thoughts about it.
#8 Your inner critic isn’t real.
That cranky, self-critiquing voice in your head is nothing more than an illusion. It only has as much – or as little – power as you give it by engaging.
#7 The events of your life do not change according to whether you’re happy or unhappy about them.
Dealing with the data (seeing facts without emotion or judgment) allows you to view your life as it is – not as you want it to be – again leading to better decision-making and better results.
#6 You are not your job.
Success isn’t what you do. Success is showing up in each moment as the best of who you are.
#5 High-level thoughts create high-level things.
People and opportunities that come into your life have an energy that mirrors your own. What are you attracting?
#4 You cannot be disrespected.
At your core, you can’t be attacked, violated, disrespected, insulted, or even sick. Your body can but your highest self transcends the body. This thinking is very helpful for moving through extremely difficult situations with grace.
#3 The only way out is through.
Filling internal voids by “running and numbing” (soothing yourself with bad habits like overworking and overeating) is lethal to your sense of calm. To make real, lasting change you must fearlessly turn towards the feelings underneath those behaviors – consistently making “little right choices” as you heal.
#2 You are here to serve.
If you’re not getting as much as you want in your career, think about how much you’re giving. Period.
#1 You always have guidance if you listen.
We all have an internal teacher but it’s impossible to hear with a noisy, unsettled head. Mindfulness shows you how to dial down the chaos of the world, dial up your intuition, and expand into your goals / vision with calm confidence.
Originally on: Emily Bennington
Take charge of your career development to get the job that supports your work and your life. Check out the tools and resources in the InPower Coaching Career Center.
by Guest Author | Jan 1, 2014 | Career Development, Coaching Advice
New year’s day only comes once a year, and it offers us an opportunity to create a beginning like no other day. We like how Dana uses this day to do some intuitive career planning. But seriously, why wait until New Years to plan your future? Whatever you do today, enjoy the beginning. – InPower Editors
A few years out of school and into my career I found myself really enjoying New Year’s Day. It was always quiet. Everything was closed. The bustle of the holiday was over and while some nursed their hangovers, I usually had little to do. One year, I found myself writing out some intentions. Even early on I’d given up on “resolutions,” knowing that if I didn’t want something to the point of planning on it, it wasn’t going to happen.
My intentions looked something like this back then:
- Move into a better apartment/neighborhood.
- Convince my boss I was ready to manage a client meeting on my own.
- Become a “player” on “issue X”
- Decide whether to keep my car, get rid of it and do without or get a new one.
- Upgrade my wardrobe.
- Attach a cool vacation to some work travel.
I had fun writing the list. As I decided what would go on the list I let my imagination run free. I imagined running the client meeting without the boss around to direct things. I noodled the idea of living without a car (I came from L.A. My car was my life!) I thought about what kind of wardrobe I wanted for the new position I’d just take on in the firm. I imagined some of the places I could go on vacation. I didn’t worry much about how I’d do these things, I just enjoyed letting my imagination come up with the list.
Exactly a year later, something pretty amazing happened. I found myself on New Year’s Day with little to do and went back to my journal. I found that list and guess what? I’d accomplished everything on it! I was shocked. I’d forgotten all about that list and yet I’d accomplished it all – and more! It occurred to me that the mere act of writing the list had increased the probability I would be able to achieve it.
So I wrote out another list. And a year later I revisited it to find I’d accomplished most of what I’d set out to do. As the years went by, I came to rely on this New Year’s Day reflection as the primary way I steered my career and my life. It became a time to sit back and look at the big picture – to climb to the top of the mountain and decide which direction to set out in next. It became my primary career planning tool.
Eventually, I began to do this more often, and even more deliberately – to the point where now I do a version of intention-setting almost daily. But New Year’s Day remains a special time for me where I go to the highest mountain I can find and chart the most exciting course I can imagine. It becomes the one day of the year I truly don’t give any energy to how I’ll achieve my dreams, but simply enjoy the dreaming. And I believe it continues to be one of the most important ways I grow myself and develop my career.
What are you doing today? Are you taking the time to sit back and think about what you hope happens this year? Are you giving yourself the freedom to dream? I hope so.
Happy New Year!
by Guest Author | Dec 25, 2013 | Coaching Advice, Insights & Inspiration
For all who celebrate, may today be the most Merry of Christmases.
For those who don’t celebrate this particular day, we wish you the joy of the season and the opportunity to enjoy the world as it slows down for just a bit.
Peace.
by Guest Author | Dec 24, 2013 | Coaching Advice, Commentary
At this time of year it’s not unusual for all of us – even those surrounded with family and friends – to feel a little disconnected and even lonely in the middle of the bustle of things. Why am I so lonely with friends? We think the way Marcia reveals her own struggle with this dynamic is helpful. We can all use a little reminder to allow ourselves to be seen and to connect with those around us. Take the time in this busy week to connect with those around you. – InPower Editors
I get a monthly acupuncture treatment as a “tune up” for my body. After my last treatment, my therapist pulled up a chair and said, “Can I ask you something personal?”
I said yes while my body tensed up, gearing for the inquest.
“Are you lonely?” he asked.
“How could I be lonely?” I answered. I quickly ran off a list of all the people I connect with around the world by phone or Skype and recounted the last three lunches with friends. I reassured him my primary relationship was fine.
He set his hand on mine. “I didn’t ask you if you had people in your life. I sensed a loss of connection in your body. You may talk to people, but do they really see you? Do they know what you really need when you talk? And what about the earth? When did you last connect with the trees, the earth and the sky?”
I hunched over, knowing exactly what he meant.
When I first started my business, I owned a 24-foot camper trailer that I took out every summer, exploring a different part of the Rockies and Pacific coast. Most times, I had a friend to travel with.
Since then, my business has grown every year. I am so blessed I had to sell the camper because I didn’t have time to use it. I haven’t had a chance to smell the caramel-scented bark of a Ponderosa pine, marvel at the perfect reflection of the sky on a glacier lake, and watch the sun go down as I lie with a friend or my lover in a field of tall grass.
Do I spend time with my friends? A few times a year I make sure we have a meal together to keep up the “friendship.” Do they really see and know me right now? I am afraid the intimacy has been lost.
I can sit at my desk and give thanks for my success. It is not the same as feeling at peace with my life.
Loneliness can happen even when you have many social contacts. Researchers at Rush University Medical Center assessed levels of loneliness in 823 senior citizens over a 4-year period. They found people who described themselves as feeling most lonely were twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s as the ones who described themselves as least lonely. However, feeling lonely did not necessarily equate with a lack of social contacts. Feeling alone or empty relates to the quality of relationships, not the quantity.
When people feel disconnected and separated, they are more susceptible to age-related declines in neural pathways. The researchers concluded that loneliness is not a reaction to dementia, but actually a cause of it.
So even if your life is full of people, if you don’t regularly spend hours with a friend talking and listening about your concerns and hopes for life, if you don’t take time to let your feet touch the earth, breathe in fresh air in a beautiful environment, and fully feel gratitude and love throughout your body, your loneliness can be physically as well as mentally damaging.
Ask yourself these questions:
- “What would it hurt to stop what I am doing and go somewhere where I can enjoy the outside world?” The sights and sounds of nature remind us that we are a part of the life force working in all living things.
- “Who would I be if I didn’t define myself by how much I accomplished today?” You don’t need to care less about your work to care more about your mental and physical health.
- “What friend can I plan to visit or invite for an afternoon of true sharing?”
You may not be alone, but do you feel empty? You can’t fill this emptiness with food. Feed your heart by being seen and heard, by giving others the gift of your full attention and by appreciating the beauty in the world around you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Read more tips on how to reconnect with your life force at Wander Woman: How High-Achieving Women Find Contentment and Direction and Outsmart Your Brain.
Originally on: Psychology Today
by Guest Author | Dec 19, 2013 | Career Development, Commentary, InPower Women Blog, Work-Life Blend
Moms know how much stress they’re under, but what does a non-mom work stress expert think? We really appreciate that Paula took a look at stress through a mother’s eyes in today’s post where she reviewed the new book by Katrina Alcorn, Maxed Out. Along the way, Paula teaches us all about stress management, whether we have kids or not. – InPower Editors
I wanted to read Maxed Out: American Moms On The Brink because it’s about one of my favorite subjects – burnout. As a recovering burnout sufferer and someone who now studies the topic for a living, I’m always eager to read new information that might help others prevent it and grow more resiliant. As a non-mom, I was also expecting to learn a little about motherhood, and I was surprised at how much I didn’t know about the difficulties of working and raising a family.
The author, Katrina Alcorn, is an engaging writer who puts the reader front and center in her quest to answer the question many women ask: “Can I raise a family and work too?” Most of my friends are going through the same thing, yet, I am often not privy to their struggles, likely because they assume they will bore me with their tales of soccer practice, doctor’s appointments, and breast feeding. I wish they would let me into their world more.
I teach professionals about the six sources of burnout and work stress that have been studied and researched by Drs. Michael Leiter and Christina Maslach. While these six sources have been studied with regard to their applicability at work, I am surprised at how well they translate to non-work. The six sources are as follows:
Lack of control: Your sense of control over what you do in undermined or limited, and you don’t have a lot of say in what’s going on.
Values conflict: There is a disconnect between your core values and the core values of “it” (“it” is work, according to the research, but could also be something bigger, like society or culture).
Insufficient reward: You feel taken for granted, not recognized and/or undercompensated (I think this describes most mom’s I’ve ever met).
Work overload: Work is too much, too complex, or too urgent.
Unfairness: You or others are treated unfairly, there is a culture of favoritism and assignments and promotions are made in an arbitrary fashion and discussed behind closed doors.
Breakdown of connection/community: You have to work with patronizing colleagues, there is no mechanism for conflict resolution, and feedback is non-existent.
Several of these sources are highlighted in Ms. Alcorn’s book. First, she distinguishes between “busy” and “Busy” when comparing her workload to non-parents. I was also struck by the research she references about productivity – for industrial workers, productivity dramatically decreases after eight hours a day; for knowledge workers, productivity decreases after just six.
Next, I was struck by the numerous examples of values conflict. Not only the conflict in values between Ms. Alcorn (“I need some flexibility) and her boss (“Flexibility to a point, then hey, I have a business to run”) but also more globally between working moms (“I’d like a private place to pump”) and Corporate America (“Try the broom closet; and p.s. I have a business to run”).
Finally, While Ms. Alcorn has a small support system in the Bay area, she mentions that her parents and family do not live nearby. My parents were fortunate to live in a cocoon of help when they raised my brother and me. One set of grandparents lived right across the street, and the other set was seven miles away. Living in a small town had its advantages as my parents knew and relied on most of their neighbors for help. When women choose to work and raise children, it really does take a village, and when they need the help of others most during this time, many are doing so with support systems that are too small.
I really enjoyed this book, and it opened my eyes to the reality many working moms face. I hope to read more about Ms. Alcorn’s world soon.
Take charge of your career development to get the job that supports your work and your life. Check out the tools and resources in the InPower Coaching Career Center.
by Guest Author | Dec 18, 2013 | Coaching Advice, Personal Mastery
A client and I recently strategized what I thought was an awesome move for her… and she emailed me back a few minutes after we hung up with this simple statement: “My boss said no.”
I was disappointed for her because the approach would really have positioned her well among her peers and superiors. But hey, the boss said no. I emailed back and told her to pretend it wasn’t about her.
This advice, she said, helped but she was confused about the boss’ response, so I encouraged her to talk to her boss more about it after some time had gone by. I spoke with her a week or so later and it turns out that, it seems that the boss was concerned with the way her proposal would have cluttered up some other proposals he had in the works. So, it wasn’t really about her, it was just poor timing for her to put that particular proposal on the table.
It’s Not (Always) About You
The fact is, sometimes is IS about you. However, going straight “there” and concluding that whatever the rejection, it’s your fault is really missing an important problem-solving opportunity.
And in fact, problem-solving is at the heart of business. However, most of us get fixated on our own problems and forget that everyone else – including the boss – has problems too.
If you want to reduce the amount of rejection you get, make sure you’re focused on the right problems, yours, your bosses and the company’s. This can mean that you focus on solving problems your boss has, or relating the problems you have to priorities you know the boss shares. Either way you reduce the chance of rejection when you’re focused on problems many people think are the ones that deserve attention.
How To Deal With Rejection – Emotionally
(more…)
