by Guest Author | Aug 20, 2013 | Coaching Advice, Commentary
I’ve always admired the leaders of get it done, change the world companies and their CEOs; companies like Apple, Facebook and Spanx. But before I get too starry-eyed and wanting to emulate leaders like Jobs, Sandberg and Blakely I have to stop and remind myself that 96% of corporate leaders are burnt out, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. Yes, these titans of innovation are burning out and you would never know it. Turns out Harvard Medical School knew.
This is the thing about burnout. Most people are really good at masking it.
I’ve seen this everywhere I’ve worked. The CEO (managing partner, COO, CFO, VP, etc.) starts off fresh and full of energy. Then somewhere between the never ending emails, the day long meetings and continual crises they start to look haggard. They start to get a paunch. They get cranky and maybe start acting like a tyrant. They make decisions that aren’t as clear, edgy and visionary as before. Burn out is creeping in. But no one sees it, let alone the person going through it.
We want to have our stuff together or at least look like we do. To appear burnt out, stressed, fatigued or overwhelmed is viewed as a sign of weakness. We can’t appear unfit for duty. If we let others see us sweat, it is often as a badge of honor – “I’m more important than you.”
In our desire to have it all and be it all we are masking the warning signs of burnout. It’s a myth that burnout means going up in a burst of flames, unable to work any more, full out exhausted. While that can happen, it never happens overnight. It can take years and even decades to get there. Whether you’re the C-suite or a cubicle, burnout has warning signs. The key is to identify how you’re masking the symptoms before it’s too late.
Here are 3 warning signs you may be headed to burnout but don’t know it.
1. You’re wired and you’re getting stuff done. Lot’s of it.
Burnout is often associated with fatigue, moodiness, disaffected attitude, etc. The path to burnout, however, can look very different. I recently met a high-energy woman everyone saw as vibrant, bubbly, busy and involved in everything. Indeed, she was a wired, non-stop, on the go type of gal.
Despite how much energy everyone said she had, Christy, as I’ll call her, knew she was burning herself out. She got so much done because she was wired on caffeine, sugar and adrenaline. But she wasn’t bringing her best self to anything. She got emotional energy from taking care of everyone else, except herself. Her adrenal glands were working overtime to keep up.
She was burning out and no one knew it. As she admitted, keeping up with her pace of volunteering for every assignment, family crisis and church obligation was not sustainable. While not in full burn out, she was racing there quickly while masking her pain from others.
2. You “can’t turn it off.”
I know how it is. You have a free evening. What do you do? You sit down on the couch and grab the remote. Ah yes, a quiet evening. But then you see a TV ad that sparks an idea. You pick up the laptop to jot it down. Next thing you know you’ve done three hours of work. Your excuse for getting to bed at 2 a.m. is “but I can’t turn it off.”
Similarly, you’ve been told to meditate to relax and get more focused. Again, you say, “but I can’t sit still and turn it off.”
The “I can’t turn it off” excuse for not recharging, refueling and rejuvenating masks the journey to burnout. This excuse is really saying “if I slow down they will find out I’m a fraud. The busier and more connected I am, the more essential I will be.” Ah yes, the dreaded “I’m not worthy” reason.
I call this the “burnout mindset.”
The belief that you are not worthy or that you’re a fraud is rarely if ever true (and no YOU are not the exception). Your employer, your family, your friends want the best from you and for you. They don’t want a shell of your former self. They don’t want to have to worry about you or fire you (as employee or friend). So take off the “I can’t unplug” mask and realize you are good enough. Then turn off the smartphone. Stop checking email in the middle of the night. Stop masking the need to recharge. Learn to relax.
3. You keep telling yourself “it will slow down soon.”
This was my favorite while working for a fast growth start up years ago. It was the lie we all kept telling ourselves.
Face it. Life is never going to slow down. It hasn’t yet so why do you keep hoping?
You are surrounded by information 24-7. You are expected to do the work of three people. Deadlines are shorter. Pressure is greater.
I told myself it would slow down soon for almost 20 years. It didn’t slow down until I chose to slow down.
Things outside you won’t slow down. Your company is striving to get to market first. But you can’t get it there, unless you build the stamina and resilience to keep up and excel. If you keep hoping things will slow down, you are masking reality and failing to act in ways to avoid burnout.
Burnout is not inevitable. It is avoidable. To avoid it, begin by identifying which of these three masks you wear. What will you do today to remove it?
by Téa Blake | Aug 16, 2013 | Gender Research, InPower Women Blog
Title: Women-Owned Small Businesses Growing Quickly
Study: Women-Owned Companies (Phillips, American City Business Journals 2011)
Finding: Women-owned small businesses are the fastest-growing segment of the business market.
Note about The Woman Effect Research Index: This study was performed by researchers not affiliated with InPower Women. Our Research Index includes all relevant research to the subject of women, business and power. We do not influence how the research was conducted or reported by the researchers. In our abstracts, we focus on pulling out the most actionable advice for individual women. To suggest additional research we should index, or discuss our choice of abstract focus, please contact us
InPower Insight: Wonder where the women leaving the ranks of corporate America are going when they leave half way up the ladder? Many of them are going out on our own to run very small businesses, which can be run from home.
Summary:
One of the key findings of the study conducted is that women owned small business category is the fastest growing segment of the business market and this is most recognizable among small US companies.
Nearly half of the companies with 1-4 employees is owned by women however, only 1/3 of businesses with 5-499 employees are owned by women. Women tend to have businesses that they can run from home and so their revenues are lower than their male counterparts.
While women who own businesses tend to be younger than their male counterparts, being an average age of 48.5, their net worth is significantly less. On average women earn 884,000 dollars while men earn 1.4 million. Researchers explain that this may be attributed to the smaller scale of women owned businesses.
It was also found that women are more independent decision- makers. Though they travel and work less than their male counterparts, women are more stressed.
Personal Coaching Tip: If you are tempted to go out on your own, you’re in good company. Recognize that most of your female peers are running smaller, less well capitalized businesses, however. If your goal is to found a growing and high-value company, you’ll still be in the minority and encounter many of the same sexist trends you run into in a corporate environment. If you want a business that supports a more flexible lifestyle, you can find it, but this isn’t an automatic solution to the stress and “time crunch” reality you’re leaving in the corporate world either. Here’s a big benefit, though: in either scenario, you’ll be your own boss. You’re in charge of your success. What do you want it to be?
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 Dana Theus | Jul 31, 2013 | Coaching Advice, InPower Women Blog, Women in Leadership
Leadership advice runs rampant on the internet, which is fine because most of it comes from a place of wisdom and reflection.
If you’re a woman aspiring to lead, however, there is one tiny problem with this spew of “how to” and “Top 10” lists. Since our dominant leadership culture is male, the majority of the advice is largely designed to make men better leaders. In most cases, the advice is fine for women, too, but watch out because some of it can be disastrous to your career.
Specifically, ladies, keep an eye out for the leadership lessons trying to help men overcompensate for some testosterone-induced bad habits. These bad boss habits include lack of empathy, rigidity and egotism. On average, this is not your problem!
Here’s the catch for the women. On the whole – women are already very empathetic, flexible and happy to deflect credit. If you’re a high-potential woman, following advice that tells to you over-emphasize these traits is at best unnecessary and at worst will encourage you to go too far the wrong direction. You see, leaders have to have some inflexibility, emotional distance and healthy ego in order to effectively herd the cats and manage the chaos of modern business.
Simply put, while on average men could use a little more flexibility, empathy and humility, women – on average – could use a little less! (more…)
by Guest Author | Jul 31, 2013 | InPower Women Blog, Leadership
What are women thinking in the C-Suite? Once they have faced and conquered all the obstacles and reached the corporate pinnacle still so dominated by men, what do they wish they had known or done differently as they were building their careers?
I’ve been wondering about the answers to this question, and fortuitously, I just reconnected with Sharon Dauk, a very savvy executive coach who has heard both the triumphs and regrets of C-suite women.
It didn’t take long for Sharon to zero in on one key reality C-suite women wish they had known earlier in their careers: the capacity of women to undermine or compete–often in devious and underhanded ways. Sharon explains that most successful senior women have figured out how to play the “old boys” game…given the simple fact that most if not all of their superiors have been men, and most of their peers are men as well. This means they have figured out the delicate balance of competing and collaborating with men—and scored promotions along the way. But once they get to the top of the mountain, many women want to help more junior women do the same. Their “help” often translates to very personal mentoring and guidance (read: professional coddling), which they tend not to do with more junior male colleagues. Often after these senior women have really invested themselves in the mentoring relationship, they are under-cut or betrayed by the women they’ve guided.
Sharon is not sure why this happens—but it does, and it often becomes very personal. She thinks it could be because women are not hard-wired genetically to collaborate with other women. Certainly there are many examples of great female collaborations, but things seem to change when big promotions and big money is at stake. Sharon has observed that when jobs narrow at the top of organizations, women default to almost a zero-sum game competition rather than a “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” strategy more common to men.
What’s the answer to this problem? Sharon advises senior women to be equally tough with female and male subordinates. This, she says, avoids exploitation, which can be the result of the career entitlement some junior women feel when they receive very personal mentoring.
In a less political sphere, the second lament Sharon hears from senior women is that they have, over time, over-extended themselves with “extracurricular” activities that do not advance their careers. She acknowledges that the “greater good” of philanthropy is not to further your own goals, but sometimes you can indeed do well by doing good. It’s an issue of limited time, and Sharon advises clients to choose their outside activities both strategically and judiciously.
Women gravitate toward many organizations they simply deem “worthy” or those focused on the advancement of women overall. An example is the many “women’s forums” dedicated to promoting women’s causes and careers. Men are a bit less altruistic, tending to join and work for organizations specifically related to their business–like a charity run by the boss or non-profits heavily populated by leaders in their industry. The difference is that women tend to have just a “give” attitude (giving far too much more time than they have), and men have more of a “give and take” attitude (giving a reasonable amount of time and taking the opportunity for valuable networking). The clincher is that men get business “credit” for their outside activities, and women’s activities are often considered second cousins to their careers.
As I think about Sharon’s examples of things C-suite women wish they had realized or done earlier in their careers, it seems more than a little distorted, jaded and maybe even unfair. Women should be able to help other women without worrying that their help will be exploited. Less senior women—and humans in general—should know that it’s bad business and personal karma to turn your back on people who have gone out of their way to help you succeed. You should be able to volunteer wherever your heart takes you without wondering if the organization will advance your career.
All true, but not the reality of corporate life in the fast lane. –KAS
Sharon Dauk knows from whence she speaks. She spent many years on Wall Street in mergers & acquisitions and real estate investing/development, before becoming an executive coach, mentor and strategic advisor to C-suite executives and entrepreneurs. She helps women in early stage to Fortune 100 companies move forward at critical business junctures, navigate personal and professional transitions and master leadership and management skills. Sharon@sharondauk.com
Originally posted on: 9 Lives For Women
by Guest Author | Jul 24, 2013 | Coaching Advice, Commentary
Time management isn’t just an issue for busy executives. When you’re in the volunteering stage of your work-life it is a much needed skill. Volunteers often over-extend themselves and also feel that they should be able to complete 99 tasks and projects at home just because they are not “working” in an office.
In my many coaching hours I’ve seen that women often leave the workforce in search of more time at home–but when they get there they are even more stressed out than they were with a paid job. The competing forces of children, husband, aging parents and household management (and often much more) make “me time” fleeting and To Do lists long.
How do you inject some method into the madness? Executive Coach Roy Assad of Florida-based Human Capital Group shared his simple but powerful method for “breaking through” the clutter. –KAS
***
The majority of us are living lives that have hit – or are exceeding – the threshold of complexity. We have endless to-do lists scribbled on sticky-notes that occupy every available surface of our lives.
When we see another person strolling along with an attitude that screams “No worries,” we wonder, “How do they do it?”
In this era of the information superhighway, multi-tasking, media saturation, Wifi hotspots, and being plugged in 24/7, peace of mind isn’t something that comes naturally. You’ve got to work for it just like you work for everything else.
There are a few simple strategies that will help you break through your chaotic outer life to the other side of inner calm:
1. Make a list of all the “incompletes” in your life.
2. Make a list of all the things you tolerate in your life.
3. Make a list of all the things that are repetitive in your life.
Incompletes are things that still need to be done and are hanging over you. They can be big things like I haven’t spoken to my daughter in a year and I need to call. Or they can be little things like I need to change the light bulb in the lamp on my night table. List everything. Don’t worry about how you’ll fix it — just write it down.
The second strategy is making a list of things you tolerate. We typically tolerate people – like that person who always brings your mood down when you get together, yet you agree to spend time together anyway because… well, you’re not exactly sure WHY but you’ve never done anything to stop it. That’s tolerating. Put that person on your list. And sometimes we tolerate things, like an old car with no heat or air, or a house that’s too small for our family. Again, don’t worry about how you’ll fix it, just write it down.
Finally, make a list of all the repetitive things you do every month that you’re going to do next month and the month after: get a haircut, pay the rent, change the oil in your car, change the filter in your air conditioner. Spend some time with this list because it’s important to include everything. Don’t skip anything, no matter how mundane or silly it seems.
Once you have your lists, create three folders labeled as follows:
1. Things I am doing NOW
2. Things I am NOT doing now
3. Things I am NEVER doing now
Now go back through your three lists and write each item on a separate piece of paper. Then put each item in the appropriate folder.
A word of caution about the folders: The NOW folder can only be filled with items that you’ll actually do – today, now. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you can do more today than you really can. Otherwise, you’ll feel guilty and that defeats the purpose of this project.
Everything that doesn’t go into the NOW folder goes into one of the other two. The NOT NOW folder is for things you intend to do in the next few days or week. The NEVER folder is reserved for far-fetched things that are neither urgent nor immediately important.
Once you’ve filed everything into your folders, your job is to complete what’s in the NOW folder. At the end of every day the NOW folder should be empty. This will give you a great sense of satisfaction because you’ll actually see what you’ve accomplished that day.
Each morning, review your NOT NOW folder to see what you are choosing to do that day. This is a deceptively simple mind trick you’re playing on yourself. Instead of beating yourself up for things you couldn’t find time to do each day, you’re telling yourself that you choose to do certain things and choose not to do other things.
Once a month, review what’s in your NEVER folder, and see if there’s anything you want to move into the NOW or NOT NOW folders, or perhaps you can simply let go of these tasks altogether.
If you commit yourself to this easy system you’ll begin to see your attitude change dramatically. You won’t feel overwhelmed anymore, and you’ll face each morning with a sense of possibility and wonder — instead of stress and dread.
Originally posted on: 9 lives for women
by Guest Author | Jul 23, 2013 | InPower Women Blog, Leadership
On May 9, 2013 women leaders gathered at the Forbes Women’s Summit. This wasn’t a conference about advancing women. It was a conference about women advancing the world, and in doing so, redefining the rules of power. With video appearances from Oprah Winfrey and Sheryl Sandberg and live discussions with Janet Napolitano; designers Donna Karan and Tory Burch; Helene Gayle, CEO of CARE; and Ellen Kullman, CEO of Dupont, among others, we heard stories of how women are redefining power.
10 ways women are redefining power
For women, power lies less in hierarchy and more in the ability to affect change. It lies less in the money and resources we have, and more in our resourcefulness and ability to mobilize others. Here are just some of the stories that most resonated for me during the Forbes Women’s Summit. Power is:
- Connecting with purpose. Imagine being a prosecutor in the state of New York. You have an “Aha” moment where you realize that you are responsible for putting many women criminals in jail who are themselves victims of lack of opportunity. Joi Gordon left her job and joined Dress for Success. She is now the CEO, creating opportunities for others and powerfully pursuing her purpose. “For me real power is aligning who you are — your personality — with what you were meant to do — your purpose and your calling,” Winfrey said at the summit.
- Solving a problem. Power is noticing a problem, deciding that you’re the one to solve it and the time is now. Maggie Doyne decided to take a gap year before going to college. She spent it in Nepal and discovered that the country has 1 million orphans. She connected with one young girl she saw breaking stones in a quarry and decided she was going to make a difference for this child — to help her be educated. She asked her parents to wire the $5,000 in life savings she had. She now runs an orphanage and a school for orphan children in Nepal.
- Finding your voice. Each of us has a song and a message. Whether we tweet it or sing it is up to us. Lourds Lane, musician and creator of Broadway musical “Chix 6,” told the story of how she found her voice in breaking the rules. She describes growing up in an abusive household and finding refuge in music as a child prodigy. At the age of 7, while performing for a large audience, she decided to take a leap – literally, off the stage and into the audience. She felt the joy of the music and how it connected her to the audience. She says, “I feel the most joy when I stand with and for people. … By standing in a space that is larger than yourself, you are the world.”
- Connecting with others. We can connect with others through our shared passion for what we believe in, now more than ever through technology. In his book “Tribes,” Seth Godin writes about how finding a sense of community is part of our DNA. The Internet and other connection technologies have exponentially affected these connections, giving us access to more people than ever before. Susan Wojcicki of Google told the story of a recent video chat Google facilitated with President Barack Obama where a woman asked why her husband hadn’t gotten a job. Obama answered, “Why don’t you send me the resume and we’ll see!”
- Using your platform to elevate others. Each of us has a platform, even if we don’t realize it. Our platform lies in our resourcefulness. Designer Donna Karan spoke at the summit about how helping people look good on the outside wasn’t enough for her. She wanted to help them feel good on the inside. She is using her platform to solve a problem she is intimately familiar with: cancer. Her Urban Zen nonprofit helps patients, doctors and caretakers get holistic care for the whole person. Our platform may not be as big as Karan’s, but we each have one. Mine is in my ability to spread ideas that resonate for me. What’s yours?
- Making an ask. There is power in making an ask, asking for a favor, asking others to step up. This power lies in our willingness to practice humility and vulnerability. It lies in the power of understanding that we can do nothing alone, and having faith that others will help if we can just have the courage to ask.
- Coming up with a better idea. Imagine something that costs $10 and solves the problem of education in developing countries. A solar-powered lamp created by 83-year old Eva Haller allows children in the developing world to read in the evenings. The alternative is kerosene lamps that are bad for young lungs and the environment.
- Changing the conversation. Twins Miki Agarwal and Radha Agarwal have created an underwear company for women called THINX. Their tagline is “Change your underwear. Change the world.” Their underwear is stain resistant and prevents those “embarrassing moments” that occur during a menstrual cycle. For every purchase, they enable a woman to make a difference for a girl in Africa by providing her washable reusable pads. Girls in many parts of the world miss seven days of school because they don’t have sanitary protection. These young entrepreneurs are changing the conversation by speaking up about the shame that women experience during this time of the month in many societies around the world. Many aren’t allowed to sleep in their own homes.
- Having inner authority. Tory Burch talked about the importance of developing a thick skin. “I did hear — and tried not to listen — to a lot of negativity. … Creating this company was an incredible experience. The negativity and the noise was really just a sidebar.”
- Within all of us. Each of us has the power inside us. It shows up in a choice we make to stand up, be counted, have our voice be heard, decide today’s the day we will solve the problem that bothers us, or lend a hand to those who are doing it. We choose in the purchases we make. We choose in the messages we spread. We choose in the problems we solve.
Here’s the play by play of the summit on Forbes.com
Interested in taking these concepts deeper? Check out our free coaching resources!
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 | Jul 17, 2013 | Coaching Advice, Commentary, Leadership
By: Lea McLeod
At some point in your career, it’s inevitable that you will discover the opportunity to work with executives. Whether it’s a joy or a trial is up to you.
It could be an executive in your organization, the executive of a customer or maybe even a big donor in your non-profit.
No matter the situation, it might throw you off if you aren’t informed that these unique organizational animals seem to function a bit differently from you.
I bring this up because so often, in working with clients, the whole boss/authority/executive thing is a block to taking some action in the workplace. Often people are intimidated by executives and are not sure how to interact with them.
No matter your role or theirs, it will help all aspects of your career if you learn to work effectively with executives.
Working with execs is not like having a conversation in your team meeting, or even working with your boss.
Learning how to engage with, and respond to them, will enhance your credibility (and viability) in the organization. It will also help you develop more confidence.
As a manager, I had to think carefully about what people on my team were appropriate to put in front of executives, and which were not. From that experience I can tell you this: Not being “executive-capable” could be a career limiter for you.
So let’s talk about some of the key attributes of executives, and how you can best develop your “executive-facing” skills.
1. Executives fly at a different altitude.
As with any group or individual, you’ve got to understand your audience to have the most meaningful conversation.
Execs see across the whole organization, and connect the dots from top to bottom. You need to understand how your piece fits into their worldview to connect most effectively with them.
2. Execs are experts in issue triage.
They have learned how to quickly dive into the heart of an agenda item, dissect it, and ask scathingly good, on-point questions.
Try to anticipate what questions they might ask, and prepare a response. They may not need you to “ramp up” to the conversation and give them all the background data. Be ready to get to the heart of it.
3. They expect their scathingly good questions to be answered, directly and succinctly.
One of the biggest gaffes I see in executive conversations is failing to answer the question. You may get so excited about what you have to tell them, that you aren’t listening for what they want to hear.
Prepare accordingly, listen, and respond. Be concise, clear, and direct. Err on the side of less vs. more. They can always ask more questions.
4. They can smell BS a mile away.
Don’t do it. And if you choose to do it, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
5. They want to know you believe in what you are saying.
Conviction about what you say to an executive is as important as the message itself.
I had one manager who struggled with this. We’d send him in to an executive meeting with program information and this caveat: Whatever you do, don’t blink. One time, he blinked. It wasn’t pretty.
You must believe in what you are saying and have conviction that it is the right solution for the organization. Executives will test for conviction.
6. They can cover a lot of territory relatively quickly.
Think cheetah, gazelle or quarter horse. They’ll move quickly until they pull up to focus on an issue. They will drive this, not you. Be deliberate, but prepare to move fast and flex the conversation accordingly.
Just because you made all those pretty slides it doesn’t mean an executive wants to look at them.
7. If there’s a flaw in your logic, numbers or content, they will find it.
And they will point it out to you.
Know your back-story and your numbers, and the logic behind them. Have someone with content expertise review, poke, prod, and test your content – and you – ahead of time. Don’t risk destroying your credibility with bad numbers, or worse – a guess.
Do. Not. Guess. Ever. Say you’ll look into it and come back.
8. They’re impatient. They may be abrupt. Don’t expect a group hug when you leave.
If you’re presenting something, don’t expect flowery kudos when you’re done. They’re moving on to their next agenda item while you’re gathering up your stuff.
9. They remember what you told them.
So don’t tell them anything you don’t want them to remember and remind you of later. See point about not guessing.
10. They don’t subscribe to buzz words.
They want facts, solutions, numbers, and conviction. Spare the likes of “paradigm shifts,” “open kimonos” or “eating your own dog food” and stay on topic.
Here’s another tip for you.
They have Executive Assistants who know them very well, and who have already figured out how best to wrangle them. Ask one for help and insight if you have trepidation.
Freaked out? Don’t be. You can do this. It’s a matter of developing the mindset and doing the footwork. The more prepared you are, the more confident you’ll be. And, it’ll make you better at everything else you do.
And when you’re in there, remember, they were all in your shoes at some point too!
Here are next steps for you:
- Leave a comment on this post below, and let me know which tip is your favorite, or, submit a tip that you have used that I didn’t include on the list.
- If this article was helpful to you, do me a favor and share these 10 tips with others you know who might be struggling with executive interface.
- Print this handout and keep it on your desk: 10 Tips for Working With Executives.
Originally on: LeaMcLeod.com
by Téa Blake | Jul 12, 2013 | Entrepreneurship, Gender Research, InPower Women Blog
Study: Human Capital and Women’s Business Ownership (SBA Office of Advocacy, 2008, Hackler, Harpel, Mayer, 2008)
Finding: Women are one of the fastest growing segments of the entrepreneurial business sector, having more education, more managerial experience and greater willingness to expand outside of “traditionally female” industries than their wage-earning female counterparts.
Note about The Woman Effect Research Index: This study was performed by researchers not affiliated with InPower Women. Our Research Index includes all relevant research to the subject of women, business and power. We do not influence how the research was conducted or reported by the researchers. In our abstracts, we focus on pulling out the most actionable advice for individual women. To suggest additional research we should index, or discuss our choice of abstract focus, please contact us
InPower Insight: If you’re a woman and thinking of leaving the corporate sector for to own your own business, you’re not alone. Women and entrepreneurship have a lot in common.
Summary:
What patterns do we see among self-employed females, one of the fastest growing entrepreneurial segments?
As women gain more education and encounter more opportunities for advancement, they are also entering the ranks of the self-employed more often.
The study finds that women who are self-employed have more education and earn their degrees much faster than other working females. Self-employed women also hold more executive/managerial positions, and participate in non traditional industries for females. They are also older than wage-earning females, and have more “income diversity”.
Career Coaching Tip: If you’re thinking about going out on your own, don’t feel bound by your experience in the “wage-earning” category. Your female colleagues are using entrepreneurship as the opportunity to expand beyond traditional female employment categories and experiences. Open your mind and your eyes. Other women are doing just that!
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 | Jul 10, 2013 | Coaching Advice, Commentary
Yesterday morning I had coffee with a fellow mindfulness teacher in the tiny town of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.
As we swapped stories about how we were led to this work, she spoke of helping couples who had been through some sort of trauma – an affair, addiction, etc. – but were trying to repair their relationship and hold their families together.
“What did you like most about that?” I asked.
She looked at me and her eyes welled up with emotion.
“So many of my clients deeply regretted the damage they had caused. They would say to me over and over, ‘That’s not who I am.’”
In that moment of genuine sincerity…
… I thought of Paula Deen.
Because in her Today Show mea culpa this week where Deen was asked about making racial slurs in the past, she basically said the same thing.
Over and over.
That’s not who I am.
It’s fascinating how many of us talk such big games about who we are, only to fall short – sometimes when it matters most.
Doesn’t make us bad people.
Doesn’t mean we can’t change.
Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be forgiven.
However, it does mean an opportunity for the rest of us to learn from those mistakes.
As I was listening to my friend talk about her clients, I was reminded yet again of how years and years of hard work – with a spouse, with a child, with a colleague, with customers, and, yes, with the Food Network, QVC, and Target – can be gone in a moment.
Which is exactly why you need to own each and every moment you’ve been given.
Because it’s what you do RIGHT NOW that defines who you are.
Regardless of what you say later.
Post originally on emilybennington.com
by Dana Theus | Jun 26, 2013 | Coaching Advice, InPower Women Blog, Leadership, Work-Life Blend
My second son just graduated High School and heads off to VA Tech next Fall. He’s the last one out of the nest and it’s got me thinking about the first half of my parenting life – the half where they are children. I’m grateful for so many things about being a parent, not the least of which is having two fine young men to show for it, but I’m also grateful for what they taught me – about leadership.
I’d like to say that it was my worklife that taught me to be a good parent and working mother. After all, I was working for over a decade before I had kids. But looking back on it, I really wasn’t all that great a manager or leader in my 20’s and early 30’s. Putting “work” before “life” meant I was still trying to figure it all out on the job. I wanted to be a “cool” leader that everyone looked up to, but I failed as often as I succeeded. I felt too competitive with my staff; I overworked myself and resented my staff when they didn’t follow my lead.
Parenting was the force that made me grow up – at work and at home. Here are the two key lessons in leadership I owe to my kids.
Tough Love is Love
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