Leverage Your Relationship DNA in the Workplace

lerzan aksoyContributed by Lerzan Aksoy, Ph.D.

What are your relationship strengths and weaknesses?

The answer is not what you think; in fact, it comes down to exploring how one interacts with one’s co-workers. That is what I and my co-authors, Timothy Keiningham and Luke Williams of Ipsos Loyalty, discovered when we embarked on our study about relationship styles. The Ipsos Loyalty study, the most comprehensive study of loyalty ever conducted, comprised thousands of responses for a nationally representative sample of the U.S. population. In conducting the study, we found key differences between how men and women build relationships with their co-workers whether it be their boss, peers or those who report directly to them.

Knowing and understanding these differences can be of great use to those looking to gain competitive advantages at work and as a leader. In fact, it turns out that the more connected we feel to the people we work with, the more happiness and fulfillment we experience. Sadly, our study revealed that only one in 20 invests the time and effort to build relationships in the workplace.

The key to building better relationships starts with self awareness. We found that everyone has a distinct combination of ten relationship styles that makes up his or her “RELATIONSHIP DNA.” Five of those 10 styles demonstrated the main differences between the sexes: Our results indicated that women excel at three distinct relationship styles and problem coping styles compared to men (empathy, connectedness and emotion-focused coping), but falter in two (security and calculativeness), compared to men.

Taking a closer look, we explain each of the five styles, and dissect the various business pros and cons of each one.

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Tips for Re-Entering the Job Market – Get that Senior Level Job Back

Businesswoman with colleagues in the backgroundBy Esther Hanscom, Hanscom Consulting (New York City)

Last month, the New York Times published an article entitled “In Job Market Shift, Some Workers Left Behind.” Catherine Rampell reported that for the last two years, the weak economy has created an opportunity for employers to do what they would have done anyway: dismiss millions of people who were displaced by technological advances and international trade.

This article struck a chord with me because I work in the recruiting industry and hear about the woes of the unemployed masses on an almost daily basis.

One in particular is a neighbor, a former banking HR generalist who has not procured full-time work for over 2 years. “Jane” is in her early 40s with a University of Chicago undergraduate degree and is now at the end of her 401k savings. She fears losing her rent stabilized apartment on the Upper East Side soon, and her attempts to sell her Burberry coats on Ebay recently have failed.

She has come very close to being hired for a number of HR jobs. But in the end, the hiring managers always decided to go for someone who had more computer experience, more hands-on experience in talent acquisition, or with employee benefits. In the past, companies may have been okay with a generalist skill-set that was short on specifics – but no more.

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Seven Expert Presentation Tips for Women Climbing the Ladder

kristinarnoldContributed by Kristin Arnold, Author and Professional Speaker

Giving a presentation is one of the most stressful responsibilities you have in the workplace, especially if you do not give speeches routinely. However, women who have broken the glass ceiling know how to engage and involve their audiences during every presentation. Sure, they get nervous (we ALL do!). But they don’t get caught up in the moment thinking, “Will I make sense? Do I look all right? Am I going to embarrass myself?”

To be an effective, engaging presenter, you have to let go of your own internal conversations and focus on your audience. This means you have to care sincerely about and want to connect with each person in the audience. They need to know that you are putting their needs first. Even if you have given the same presentation before, you need to know enough them so they feel they can trust you and will want to listen to you. Get to know the hopes, fears and interests of your audience. Take the time to understand the people, their backgrounds, and the collective culture – often called the “personality” of the group – so you can connect your comments with what they care about.

Here are some proven ideas on how to reach out, discover what your audience wants to know and connect with them even before your presentation begins!

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Three Steps for Making Even Better Decisions on the Job

SylviaContributed by Dr. Sylvia Lafair, Award Winning Author and Workplace Relationship Expert

Making the right decision is always a combination of head, heart, and gut; whether it’s choosing from a sumptuous dinner menu, hiring a skilled project manager, or agreeing to purchase a new office building.

Deciding is an art and craft that includes research and data. However, while most decision making models and processes are organized around assessing and understanding the issues at hand, it is also critical to include the subtle psychological aspects that can make decision making seem irrational, even impossible.

The key to quality decisions is listening to yourself as you trudge through all the logical reasons and move from no to yes to maybe, to no again to “okay, it’s a go.”

Pay attention to the behavior pattern that best suits your personality. This is the clue; gaining insight into your personal arsenal of how you choose will expand creative options and help you make better choices in the future. Are you the “lone wolf” who resists asking for too much input that would muddy the final outcome, the “politician” who has to get consensus before you give the final word, the “impulse addict” who needs a fast and furious decision to avoid anxiety, or the “avoider” who stays in the background pushing others to be the final voice so you can never be blamed if things go wrong?

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How You Can Overcome the Top Barriers Keeping Women from Advancing

janewoodsContributed by Jane C. Woods, a personal development specialist

When I was employed in a management role, I coached and mentored many young women coming through my organisation. I’m now a professional coach working with senior and executive women. The questions and issues have not changed significantly over the years, although of course, everyone is unique and bring their own unique set of circumstances to bear.

A 2004 Catalyst survey found that the top two barriers that hold women back from top positions are:

  • Lack of significant general management or line experience (47%)
  • Exclusion from informal networks (41%)

These broadly correspond with the issues I hear when coaching executive women. What follows is some of the coaching advice I have shared with executive women on how to overcome these challenges.

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Ideas that Work: Getting the ‘Blokes’ on Board

Maureen Frank, Founder of Emberin

Maureen Frank, Founder of Emberin

Contributed by Anita Beasley, Director of Development, Emberin, outlining Telstra‘s 2010 Catalyst Award winning Next Generation Gender Diversity Initiative.

Australian business is a unique case study for women. On a global stage, Australia often punches above its weight with regards to issues and achievements, but not in the area of women’s leadership. In this area, Australia has some of the worst statistics in the western world! The average gender pay gap is 17.5% and at executive level this worsens to 28.3%. Women currently make up 45.4% of the workforce. 2% of Chairs in the ASX200 (Australian Stock Exchange Top 200 companies) are women. 8.3% of Board Directors in ASX200 are women and 10.7% of Executive Managers in the ASX are women.

There are many reasons for this and one of the main ones is the severe male dominance in the workplace and the unique Australian male psyche that accompanies this. It reinforces stereotypes and unconscious bias. Most men in the workforce come from a good place, they just don’t realise that their habits and business style unfortunately disadvantages women.

Telstra Corporation is Australia’s only Catalyst member. Since 2007, the company has set aggressive strategies in the area of gender diversity, and in early 2008 it recognised that something had to change dramatically to really start to see some shift in their organisation. Like many Australian organisations, Telstra’s record wasn’t great. In fact, the “a-ha” moment was around men.

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The Busy Women’s Guide to Mobile Banking

mobile phoneContributed by Arah Erickson, head of Wells Fargo Retail Mobile Banking, a service that launched in 2007.

As all busy women know, time has become the most valuable commodity in our lives, more cherished than that corner office or, in some cases, extra vacation days. And, we are constantly trying to find ways to “multi-task” our way into gaining another 15 minutes in our day. Whether you are an entrepreneur, corporate executive, or a multi-tasking working mom, the common thread among us is that time is precious. We all get creative in how we “find” extra time in the 24-hour day to either fit in one more task or spend a little more time with friends and family.
 
In the quest to simplify our lives in small ways one important place to look is to your mobile phone – and more specifically to the mobile banking tools that many banks are now offering to customers that help manage day-to-day finances on the go.
 
There has been a revolution in what people are doing on their mobile devices and the way they are staying connected to the world through them. Whether it’s calling a taxi, getting driving directions, checking email, or using it for banking, personal mobile devices are the center-piece of communications and information. These days you can get a snapshot of your bank account details, make a payment while traveling by bus or train, pay your bills on your mobile device (even during the middle of the night if you have a fussy baby), or transfer money to a cash-strapped loved one.

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Taking a Holistic Approach: Diversity Advice from Accenture

diversity teamBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

“I would first start off by saying we are very comprehensive,” explained LaMae Allen deJongh, managing director of U.S. Human Capital & Diversity at Accenture. “We emphasize inclusiveness, not only of diversity you can see, but also diversity that is invisible. Different interests and backgrounds are what make it special for us.”

She continued, “Regardless of the type of diversity we are talking about, at Accenture we work to integrate and embed it into the fabric of our organization – it’s part of our DNA.”

Accenture, recently named one of DiversityInc’s Top 50 Companies for Diversity for the fourth consecutive year, has, for many years, focused on building gender diversity. Now, as deJongh explained, the organization is moving into a new phase of diversity – from a programatic focus toward a more holistic approach.

She explained, “We continue to evolve. From my optics, achieving embedding is the next stage of maturity.” How can the holistic approach work for your firm? DeJongh has offered several tips based on her own experience at Accenture that may work for your company.

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It Pays to Negotiate: 5 Tactics That Work

selena_authorpic01Contributed by Selena Rezvani, author of “The Next Generation of Women Leaders: What You Need to Lead but Won’t Learn in Business School”

If you think about it, we’re engaging in negotiations at work all the time. Whether we’re asking for the big promotion, the funding to attend a training or conference, for a vendor to come down on their prices, or to take a vacation during “busy” season, we’re in more bargaining situations than we realize.

With the pay disparity still a reality for most women, we need as many negotiation tools as possible at our disposal. What better time to revisit negotiation than now–as we approach April 20–the fifteenth annual Equal Pay Day? Consider the following strategies the next time you enter a negotiation at work, and remember, real-life practice is the very best preparation for negotiating.
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6 Steps to Take On the Unwritten Rules Keeping Women out of Leadership Roles

Lynn_24P2193_FContributed by Lynn Harris, Author of Unwritten Rules: What Women Need To Know About Leading In Today’s Organizations.

For years we’ve been told to be patient.

“Just give it time,” say the powers that be. “We’ll soon see more women leaders in government, corporations, law firms, universities, and more… just give it a little more time…”

The fact is, men still lead 80% to 90% of organizations worldwide. Yes, some women have moved up and into corner offices, but they’re relatively few in number, and the rate of change is painfully slow – in some countries it’s actually stalled.

Women constitute half of the world’s labor force. We now make or influence the majority of consumer buying decisions.

Why, then, do we still see so few women making key decisions in boardrooms and executive suites?

A big part of the answer is the unwritten rules.

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