Stop Underestimating Yourself
Before being interviewed for the position of president of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards thought she was unqualified and should just skip it. Uncertain what to do, she called her mom, the late former Governor of Texas, Ann Richards. Never one to mince her words, the elder Richards said simply: “Get it together.” Read More
Don’t Play the Weather Girl if You Want to Be the VP
A woman gets into an elevator. She’s a hard-working executive who comes to the office early every day. One day, the CEO gets into the elevator with her. She freezes, afraid to talk and afraid not to talk. So, she chats about the weather.
Another day, she’s riding the elevator when the CEO steps in again. But this time, a male colleague also gets in, shakes the CEO’s hand, introduces himself and says: “We just had a great meeting with a new client we were pitching the other day. And, I think we’re going to get the business.” The CEO looks at him and says, “You just made my day.”
The woman, realizing her mistake, reflects: Her colleague was branding himself as the next VP while she was branding herself as the weather girl. Read More
Think Only Extroverts Can Lead? Here Are 5 Reasons to Think Again
If anyone has ever hinted that you need to be an extrovert to be a successful leader, here’s your one-word response: Oprah.
As Susan Cain wrote in her 2012 bestseller, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, there are many misunderstandings about the nature—and skills—of introverts. But over the past decade, that has been changing.
Here are five things people are now recognizing about introversion in the workplace and beyond, according to Jennifer Kahnweiler, a Conferences for Women speaker and author of The Introverted Leader, Quiet Influence, and The Genius of Opposites:
How to Master the Tiny Habits That Will Help You Reach Your Potential
When he was a teenager, James Clear got hit in the face with a bat during a baseball game. It took surgery and nearly nine months for him to be able to work on regaining basic functions, like walking in a straight line. And even then, he could only focus on developing one tiny new habit a time. But together, these tiny habits turned out to make a difference—big enough that, in college, he was named an Academic all-American.
Luckily for us, Clear also went on to be an expert in how tiny habits can help us reach our potential—insights he compiled in 2018 New York Times best-selling book, Atomic Habits and is sharing with the Conferences for Women.*
“Excellence is not really about making radical changes,” he says. “It’s about accruing small improvements over time and committing to this philosophy of continuous improvement.” Read More
Six Powerful Ways to Take (Happy) Charge of Your Time
If you wanted to, you could read more than 5 billion search results about how to save time. But, ironically, that might be a waste of your time. After all, as KJ Dell’Antonia, former New York Times reporter and author of How to Be a Happier Parent, says:
“When it comes to time, you can savor it. You can endure it. You can miss it—which is that thing when you suddenly look up at the clock and realize you just spent an hour and a half on Facebook. But you really cannot save it. It only moves in one direction.” Read More
Networking is More (and Less) Than You Think
Laura Okmin
Sometimes, the most valuable lessons come from the most humbling moments. At least, it was one of those moments that gave FOX NFL reporter Laura Okmin one of her greatest insights in what not to do when networking.
As a young reporter, and the first woman to be covering TV news in Alabama, she had gotten to know Charles Barkley, the NBA champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist.
“One day, I called Charles and he answered the phone and said: “Well, well, well. Laura Okmin, what do you need?” And I went: “Well, can’t a girl just call and say hello?” “A girl can,” he said. “You just never do.…I know when you call, you need something. So, what do you need?”
Register one of the biggest networking mistakes: always having an agenda. From then on, Okmin made sure she reached out to offer something—such as, congratulations on wins and condolences on losses—more often than she asked for something. She’d learned that networking is really about relationship-building.
Here are 3 more tips from Conference for Women experts: Read More
The Real Road to the C-Suite
Shoma Chatterjee
There’s an image many of us have of who makes it to the C-Suite: Think square-jawed, 6’4″ tall, Ivy League educated, followed a linear road to success. No mistakes. Right?
Well, not exactly. According to a study of 18,000 executives who were finalists for C-Suite positions, conducted by GhSMART, a New York-based executive advisory firm:
- 45 percent got there after surviving at least one big career blow-up.
- 33 percent took a giant leap that they didn’t feel ready for. “They went through all the imposter syndrome gremlins that said, ‘You shouldn’t do it.’ But somehow, they did; and that was the pivotal moment for them,” said GhSMART’s Shoma Chatterjee.
- 66 percent started small—beginning their own business, or taking on a project in another country or region where they could see a business through end-to-end.
The Q&A
Tech leader Carolyn Herzog: “Anyone who makes us want to be a better person is the very definition of inspiration.”
Tech leader Carolyn Herzog: “Anyone who makes us want to be a better person is the very definition of inspiration.”Carolyn Herzog, EVP and General Counsel at Arm (the world’s leading semiconductor IP company) shares five surprising insights about leadership, women’s progress in the workplace—and what she’d want a mentor to tell her if she were just starting out.
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You Asked. She Answered.
Q: Is there a good comeback for when someone repeats your idea and takes credit for it? I usually just sit there and think: What just happened?
A: Charmaine McClarie, leadership expert and executive coach says: You can simply say, ‘Excellent idea. I’m really glad that you agree. And I have three strategies that will make a difference as we move this forward.’ Then send out an email and identify what they are so that everyone knows it’s you.
Tired of Feeling Invisible? Here’s How to Be Seen and Rewarded
“Do you feel sometimes like there’s a person inside that’s screaming to jump out?” asks leadership expert and executive coach Charmaine McClarie. “I want you to let that person out because that person is really the truth of who you are.”
But to be recognized and rewarded for who you truly are, it’s essential to use the language of leadership that makes people turn their heads and listen, says McClarie, who says her strategies have helped 98 percent of her clients be promoted within 18 months.
Here are her top five: Read More