Posts By books
Author: Glass Ceiling Largely Intact
booksDouglas M. Branson, professor of business law at the University of Pittsburgh, is the author of a new book,
Last Male Bastion – Gender and the CEO Suite at America’s Public Companies (Routledge). Women For Hire talked to him.
How did your expectations of how women have fared in management over the past 50 years compare to the reality?
Not very well. Women have been graduating from the law, MBA and graduate schools in great numbers since the 1970s (over 30% back then, over 40%, or more, today). Women constitute more than 50% of the workers and 50% of the middle managers in corporate America today. So the expectations have been high for quite some time.
Author: Don't Like Your Job? Branch Out
booksIn her new book Get A Life, Not A Job: Do What You Love and Let Your Talents Work for You (FT Press) Paula Caligiuri recommends that we rethink our careers with a contrarian but ultimately common sense approach: If your job isn’t giving what you want, find three of them. Women For Hire talked to her.
Author: Dump Performance Reviews
booksIn Get Rid of The Performance Review (Business Plus; April 14), UCLA professor Samuel Culbert argues that performance reviews pit employees against one another, undermine relationships between bosses and subordinates, reward personality over performance – and decimate the bottom line. We asked him Five Questions.
Love Your Job But Hate the Boss? Read This
books 2Katherine Crowley and Kathi Elster are the authors of Working for You Isn’t Working for Me – The Ultimate Guide to Managing Your Boss. (Portfolio). Their company, K Squared Enterprises, provides consulting and public speaking on workplace relationships. Women For Hire asked them Five Questions. 1) In this economy many people are probably working in jobs they like but for bosses they loathe. Yet they can’t afford to quit. If you had one single bit of advice for them, what would it be? Kathi E – In this tough economy we can’t afford to take our boss’s bad behavior personally. The greatest gift we can give ourselves is to detach and depersonalize from the boss.
Finding Your ‘Quiet Strength’ as an Introvert
booksFour out of five introverted professionals say extroverts are more likely to get ahead where they work, says Jennifer Kahnweiler, author of the new book, The Introverted Leader: Building on Your Quiet Strength. What’s more, over 40 percent say they would like to change their introverted tendencies, but don’t know where or how to begin. Women For Hire asked Jennifer Five Questions.
1) What is it about extroverts that makes them so successful?
Extroverts draw their energy from the “outside in”—being invigorated by the people and events around them. At work, they are natural schmoozers, and their ease in building relationships opens the door to promotions and plum assignments. They’re also the “talkers” in meetings and conversations—giving their ideas and accomplishments more air time and attention. In essence, extroverts are the ones who get heard and noticed—a clear advantage in our noisy business world.
2) You write that President Obama is a “classic introvert.” Why and what can introverts learn from him?
President Obama exemplifies many characteristic behaviors of introversion. He exudes a cool, calm demeanor—a real plus in today’s turbulent times—and regardless of the heat of the conversation or circumstances, he remains low-key and speaks softly, slowly, and succinctly. He also likes to dig deep on issues and events, process ideas and information internally, and “think first, talk later.” The aha? It’s not only “out there” extroverts who can rise up and lead— introverts have the right stuff as well.
3) Why do introverts often get overlooked in the workplace?
According to my research—a two-and-a-half-year national study— introverts are routinely ignored, overlooked, and misunderstood at work. Moreover, introverted women may have further difficulty in claiming their place at the table. The good news? When introverts confront their key challenges, they can learn to manage them. The top three:
— Project overload. Introverts tend to have difficulty saying no and find it equally hard to ask for help or direction. As a result, they frequently feel overloaded with projects and deadlines—hurting their on-the-job performance.
— Underselling. Introverts typically stay mum about their accomplishments—seeming to abide by the old Southern adage, “Don’t brag on yourself.” Yet today careers are made or broken by what others know about a person’s skills and potential. Introverts, therefore, regularly miss out simply because they don’t sell themselves.
— Failure to “play the game.” Introverts inherently retreat from office politics. Sure, politics can be nasty, but much of the game is natural and necessary, particularly for building relationships up and down an organization. Introverts, with their desire to be low-key, often fail to sniff out important politicking opportunities and wind up watching their extroverted colleagues get ahead.
4) I’m smart. I’m funny. I do my work well. But I’m also introverted. Are there ways I can leverage my introversion?
Entertainer Victor Borge said, “A smile is the shortest distance between two people.” As an introvert, you can overcome perceptions of being standoffish or too serious by smiling, laughing, and letting your humor come out. Also, ask great questions (being an introvert, you already know how to listen and learn from the answers), use your depth to help engage and connect with people, and show your smarts by contributing earlier in meetings and conference calls.
5) How can social networks like LinkedIn help an introvert like me?
Social networking Web sites let your fingers do the talking—allowing you to communicate with people how you want to, when you want to. You can prepare for first-time meetings, send helpful “news you can use” items, and warm up cold leads—all in a low-key, yet friendly way.
Staying Cool in Tough Times
books 1Psychiatrist Judith Orloff is an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA. Her new book, Emotional Freedom: Liberate Yourself from Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life (Harmony Books, 2009, $24.95), is a guidebook to remaining positive, calm, and brave in tumultuous economic times. Women For Hire talked to her.
1) The Greatest Generation lived through the Depression and was forever altered by it. How does this recession compare to that in terms of how it is affecting people’s moods and anxiety?
As a psychiatrist my practice is booming. Never in my career of 25 years have i seen such an increase in worry, fear, anxiety and insomnia. I have been on book tour with Emotional Freedom since March, 2009 which was the height of the economic downturn. All over the country, I’ve been honored to be able to help people see these difficult times as an opportunity for growth and for developing courage. It is so easy to go under with negativity when facing such gigantic financial stress. Our world is in the midst of an emotional meltdown–people are on the edge. They desperately need tools for how to stay positive, focus on small baby steps forward, and to focus on the love in their lives.
2) Sometimes I think I’m losing it with worry about uncertain economy. What are some danger signs that I’m in trouble, mentally?
Danger signs include insomnia, chronic agitation and anxiety, hopelessness, and inablity to appreciate the love in your life especially in times of adversity. Also chronic depression, where it’s hard to get out of bed in the morning, to get motivated, to think clearly or take action to do what you can to better the situation.
3) Obviously, no one likes an economic downtown, but what evidence is there that it has created a mental health crisis?
The APA Stress in America Survey says almost half of Americans are fearful they can’t meet their families’ basic needs; 8 out of 10 cite the economy as a major stressor. Meanwhile, 62 percent of Americans in a new Gallup poll described themselves as either “struggling” or “suffering” due to economic fears. The health consequences of all this stress? Nearly half of Americans admit they’re overeating to cope, and nearly a fifth are drinking and smoking more. The survey also found anger, depression, headaches, and insomnia on the rise.
4) I wake up many days worried about what is going to happen to me and my family. What are a few tips to manage my fear?
Here are some tips from Emotional Freedom:
1. Stay in the Now–do not let your mind wander to worst case scenarios or catastrophize about the future.
2. Take small doable action steps to better the situations–for instance paying off $5 on a credit card if that is all you can afford.
3. Focus on the love in your life–love is the most important thing in the world. Focus on the love you have for your family, your friends, your loved ones and appreciate that especially during hard times.
4. Do aerobic exercise–this gets the endorphins, the feel-good hormones flowing and turns off the biological stress response.
5. Practice three-minute meditation–take a short mini-break to breath, relax the body and focus on something beautiful and positive.
6. Attract positive people, not emotional vampires. Be around people who are upbeat, not depressed. Engage in activities that make you feel better, such as yoga or taking a walk with a friend, rather than wallowing in fear of the pink slip, your 401(k) statement, or your credit card. bill. Affirm all that is going well in your life–good friends, family, small pleasures. Focus on what you have to be grateful for rather than stresses. These activities chase negativity away.
7. Calm down your stress hormones. Eliminate or avoid people and situations that induce the stress response in your body, which speeds up your pulse and mimics the feeling of fear. These include caffeine, sugar, and other stimulants; emotional vampires, or people who drain your energy and make you tense to be around; violent newscasts; traffic jams; and arguments.
5) What are ways to take my fears about worries about the economy and turn them to my advantage?
In Emotional Freedom, I discuss the importance of transforming fear with courage. Try to look at crisis as opportunity, a time to grow more centered, resiliant, clear and courageous. Frame it this way instead of simply sinking into despair or wallowing in poor-me. The premise of emotional freedom is that we must be committed to not living a fear-driven life–even in the midst of turmoil. Not all stress is bad. “Good stress” has been proven to motivate people into finding sucesss so you can make stress work for you by letting it motivate you to find create solutions to the current economic woes.
