by Sima Matthes (New York City)
Of the six companies among the Fortune 100 ranking for this industry—Boeing (#27), United Technologies (#39), Lockheed Martin (#57), Honeywell (#73) , Northrop Grumman (#76) and General Dynamics (#87)—all have women in the C-suite.
by Caroline Shannon (Dayton, Ohio)
Sharon Vosmek was busy planning an exit strategy when the CEO decided to resign from the company Vosmek had been working at as second in command for about three years. She was positive the company, Astia, would seek an external candidate, and then that person would bring in his or her own team. It never occurred to her that, perhaps, she could be a viable candidate for the position; that is, until the Astia community convinced her otherwise.
“I finally threw my hat in the ring for the position after the very loud and consistent support of others,” said Vosmek, who is now the CEO of Astia. “To this day I am surprised by my own lack of understanding that I had the very skills required to succeed as the CEO of Astia.”
Contributed by Amy Dorn Kopelan, Co-Creator of The Guru Nation
At the recent CEO summit I produced in Canada, one of the women directors admitted to me that she was mortified when she was handed a pink slip and went to hide in the Ladies Room so no one would see her cry. She left the company at the end of the day, but before exiting, quickly signed the severance agreement given to her by an HR manager. She did not address her team nor did she say goodbye to her colleagues. She was just so embarrassed by the situation.
Contributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart
You have two job offers. Which do you choose? You’re expecting a baby. Do you stay at the job, scale back or quit altogether? You’re unhappy in your current job. Do you move laterally, find a new employer, or change careers? You will make many career choices in your lifetime. A matrix of your priorities and your options is a useful decision-making tool: Read more
by Sima Matthes (New York City)
On November 25, 2008, The Women’s Executive Network (WXN) announced their picks for the 2008 Most Powerful Women in Canada: Top 100. This list recognizes and celebrates the achievements of women in academia, government and the arts alongside those in corporate leadership. More than a quarter of the women on this year’s list work in banking and financial services. Read more
by Liz O’Donnell (Boston)
The World Economic Forum 2008 Global Gender Gap Report released last month may show that women are making progress worldwide, but a report closer to home tells a bleaker story, even in one of the most progressive states in the Union. The University of California Davis just released its fourth annual study on women in the 400 largest publicly held companies headquartered in California and it reveals there is only one woman for every nine men at the executive levels of these companies.
by Elizabeth Harrin (London)
“I don’t think women find it harder to succeed than men,” says Sara Caplan. “I think often they choose a different lifestyle.” And management consultancy is a very specific lifestyle choice. It can involve long hours, being away from home, and being expected to hit the ground running as soon as you arrive at the client site. You can’t have an off-day and you can’t always predict how your working week will plan out. This can make it a difficult choice for women.
Contributed by Martin Mitchell of the Corporate Training Group
In case you were too busy enjoying your weekend (or too swamped trying to get all of your holiday shopping done) to have kept up with the news, contributor Martin Mitchell has been kind enough to gather some important market events from this past weekend (and week) so that you can start this week well informed:
Saturday, December 6th
Financial Institutions
by Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)
The average person looking for a life change might change her hobby or her job. But Laureen and Barbara DeBuono are not your average women.
Laureen, a Duke University- and NYU-trained attorney, has had a love affair with Africa since she was a teenager; Barbara, an MD with a Masters in Public Health who once served as the Rhode Island State Epidemiologist and the New York Commissioner of Health, has been fascinated with public health since she took a CDC-sponsored elective on the topic while in medical school. They combined their talents and interests in Africa and global health to create better lives for women in Sub-Saharan Africa through their public charity, the MAIA Foundation.
“We just were thinking about our lives and our legacies. We were both turning 50. Our children were going off to college. We were ready for a new chapter in lives,” said Barbara; “We said to ourselves, ‘Let’s give back. Let’s try to do something that can really make a difference.'”
by Elizabeth Harrin (London)
The winners of the British Legal Awards were announced on Wednesday, November 26th, with the law firms Eversheds, Ashurst and Linklaters each scooping two awards. Hosted by Dara O’Briain, the awards ceremony, sponsored by BlackBerry, took place at Old Billingsgate Market in the City of London.