By Samantha Santiago, Claims Strategy Director, Liberty Mutual Insurance
A proven asset to all companies, diversity of thought is the idea that our thinking is shaped by our culture, background, experiences and personalities. It is also about different work styles and approaches. In short, each of our unique perspectives is our currency—we all have what it takes.
Yet as a young female executive, I did not bring my authentic self to work. For almost 15 years, I did not contribute my full self, and as a result, I experienced tremendous self-doubt, missed out on sponsorship, lost opportunities for promotions and endured a whole host of uncomfortable conversations. What I held back: the fact that I am gay. I did it out of fear of being pigeon-holed, which led to a fear of being outed, which, in turn, made me hold back even more, refusing to join any employee resource groups. Read More
If you’re like most people trying to use social media to network, you probably think the number of followers or connections you have matters. But instead of obsessing over breaking 200, 500, 1,000, “you should be paying attention to what’s going on in your network and how you’re connecting with posts, content, likes, retweets and mentions,” says J. Kelly Hoey, a networking expert and author of 
If you’re being passed over for promotions by people less qualified than you or not getting jobs you can’t believe you didn’t get, part of the problem could be your self-presentation. “From the way you walk into a room to the tone of your voice, there are nonverbal ways of communicating that you are or aren’t manager material,” says Ruth Sherman, CEO and celebrity speech and media coach and author of 
By Lisa Kottler, Senior Vice President, Retirement Services, NFP