Most Recent Posts

How To Deal With A Jerk At Work

How To Deal With A Jerk At Work

Key Takeaways: Jerks at work are energy vampires—don’t let them drain you. They’re out there slamming doors and yelling, but your power lies in how you respond, not react. Don’t take it personally (yes, really). Their behavior is about them, not you—and when you stop...

Reclaiming Leadership: A Manifesto

Reclaiming Leadership: A Manifesto

Key Takeaways: Leadership isn’t reserved for the C-suite—it’s a daily, personal choice to stand in your power and be a force for positive change, wherever you are. We've let go of our dreams and power too easily—traded in our passion for the illusion of security, and...

4 Reasons The Western Woman Can Save The World

4 Reasons The Western Woman Can Save The World

The Dali Lama said “The Western Woman will come to the rescue of the world.” Never mind that Hilary Clinton didn’t get elected president of the United States. The trend she is a part of is well underway, and I’m not talking about feminism.

Just because no one I know got raptured last weekend doesn’t mean the apocalypse isn’t upon us; it just means we get to change the world before everything goes to hell. The world is in a pretty nasty state, based on the daily headlines, and it’s easy to feel powerless to save it. Yet I know so many people determined to do just that, many of them women. What I’d like to see is more people – men and women – stepping into their world-saving powers, more consciously, more assertively and more effectively.

Note to Men: Don’t stop reading now (if you got this far – kudos to you!) The stuff we ladies are naturally good at – and that the world needs – you are pretty good at too. Mostly you just need to ALLOW yourself to be good at it!

October 2024 Leadership Development Carnival

October 2024 Leadership Development Carnival

It’s time for another installment of the Leadership Development Carnival! Thanks to Weaving Influence and the Lead Change for organizing some great posts from some remarkable leadership writers. If you're new to blog Carnivals, these represent a collection of...

What does “ownership at work” mean?

What does “ownership at work” mean?

Key Takeaways: “Ownership” is more than a corporate buzzword—it’s a layered concept that varies depending on your role, from executing a task to being accountable for an entire project’s success. In today’s world of fluid careers, where professionals shift between...

Popular Posts

How to Overcome the Imposter Syndrome: Make it Your Best Friend

How to Overcome the Imposter Syndrome: Make it Your Best Friend

Mary finally received her promotion! After years of positioning herself and working on her personal brand she finally achieved her goal and had been put in charge of a product division for a major manufacturer. Predictably, our first executive coaching call in her new...

6 Steps to Authentic Self Confidence for Women

6 Steps to Authentic Self Confidence for Women

  Why would anyone follow a leader with no self-confidence? They wouldn’t.Do women struggle with self-confidence more than men? Yes.Then why are we surprised when there aren’t as many female leaders as male leaders in our businesses and society? We shouldn’t be. Now,...

Leadership

Career Coaching Tip: The Limits of Empathy

Career Coaching Tip: The Limits of Empathy

Early in my career, empathy was my ace-in-the-hole management technique. I was all business when it came to helping my team on technical, process and performance issues, but if they had an emotional reaction or issue, I reverted to empathy because it was the easy...

Soap vs. You: A Leader’s Guide to Branding

Soap vs. You: A Leader’s Guide to Branding

Back in the old days, companies did branding and people did leading. Not so today. Now-a-days if you want to get into, or stay in, leadership and other positions of influence you must have personal branding. In our overwhelmed world, brands – both personal and...

3 Ways to Give Yourself Permission to Succeed

3 Ways to Give Yourself Permission to Succeed

Many times the voice in our head holds us back. So it is quite often the voice in our head that needs to give us permission to move forward. Whether you're an entrepreneur or not, Elizabeth's advice will give you permission to do this more often! - InPower Editors...

Mentoring

Mentee vs. Protégé: Is there a Difference?

Mentee vs. Protégé: Is there a Difference?

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...

Five Steps to Start A Mentoring Circle

Five Steps to Start A Mentoring Circle

Did you know that according to this 2011 Linked In survey of 1,000 women professionals, while 80% said having a mentor was important, only 20% actually had a mentor? In my work as an executive coach and speaker, I notice how easy it is for many women to second-guess...

How to Coach Women to Greatness

How to Coach Women to Greatness

https://youtu.be/EUF_um3yTzc Women in the workplace are struggling against burnout and career interruption as they recover from extra burdens placed on them from the pandemic. (See comments for details.)As a woman, this feels like an uphill climb and to the mentors...

Interviews

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Career Advice

The Impact of Poor Leadership on Burnout & Job Satisfaction

The Impact of Poor Leadership on Burnout & Job Satisfaction

Burnout is a work-related process of chronic stress and disengagement and has been called the occupational hazard of the 21st century.  The formula for job burnout is simple:  too many job demands, too few job resources, and not enough recovery or time to re-charge...

How To Psyche Yourself Up For Difficult Conversations

How To Psyche Yourself Up For Difficult Conversations

By: Mary Schaefer What do you do when you’re really ticked off A client asked me for coaching to help deal with having difficult conversations a colleague. The colleague made false accusations, talked about him behind his back and micromanaged. Overall he made him...

Women in Leadership

Cultivate a Feminine Presence

Cultivate a Feminine Presence

Key Takeaways: Redefine Leadership Through Feminine Presence: Embrace a holistic, collaborative, and inclusive approach to leadership. By connecting to our experiences as wives, daughters, and mothers, we can lead with empathy and understanding, offering a different...

Blend, Don’t Balance Work and Life

Blend, Don’t Balance Work and Life

Key Takeaways: Work-life “balance” is outdated—embrace the blend. Life isn’t a neat 50/50 split; it’s a constantly shifting mix of priorities, and it’s okay if the ratios change day to day (or hour to hour). Guilt doesn’t serve you—cut it out. Women often carry a...

Breaking the Mold: Thriving as Women in the Workplace Built for Men

Breaking the Mold: Thriving as Women in the Workplace Built for Men

Key Takeaways The workplace needs to evolve to support women: Traditional workplace structures, designed with men in mind, often fail to accommodate the needs of women in the workplace, hindering their advancement. Women bring unique strengths to leadership: Qualities...

Diversity & Inclusion

Cultural Change: An Update on Workforce Diversity

Cultural Change: An Update on Workforce Diversity

As I’ve begun to explore the interpersonal dynamics of workplace discrimination more closely, I have gone back to update my own understanding of workforce diversity data and what it tells us about the the demographic makeup of the modern workforce. I have been...

The Woman Effect: TEDx MassAveWomen Video & The Research Behind It

The Woman Effect: TEDx MassAveWomen Video & The Research Behind It

  On December 3, 2012 I had the honor of speaking to a group of powerful women in Washington DC at a TEDx event, TEDxMassAveWomen. I’m very excited because I’ve long wanted to distill down what InPower Women's about, into a simple but powerful video, and this gave me...

What’s Wrong With Women’s Empowerment?

What’s Wrong With Women’s Empowerment?

What’s wrong with women’s empowerment? Nothing and everything. - Click To Tweet At its best, women’s empowerment programs are an organizational (or social) recognition that cultural barriers diminish women’s chances to succeed and make an attempt to counteract those...