Dear Readers,
We are reworking and updating our site this week so please have patience while we troubleshoot to bring back our leading career advice and news by next week at the latest.
Thanks in advance,
Nicki Gilmour
CEO and Founder
Leading your team in a pandemic is about navigating
a course that puts control and choice of how much your team wants to talk about the pandemic in their court. This a lot to take in for most people to take in and giving space to let them have their own personal thoughts or feelings and the degree to how much they want to share those feelings, should be very much up to them.
People are psychologically in different places for different reasons including it seems due to location, political affiliation in the USA (nowhere else it turns out, just here) and where they get their news from.
Work towards helping everyone get to the “a-ha” moment of what is happening, by helping them get to a conclusion which resembles the objective reality that is happening. As a psychologist, I am sure that the one thing that matters is that they have to get there themselves. Telling them what is real, is not going to work, as much like gender and other prejudice, so many people cannot get to the experience of objectivity as they are viewing so much through their own subjective experience processing filter lens. The result? If it literally it isn’t happening to them or someone they directly know, they dismiss it as a possibility! Cognitive dissonance is real! If there was ever a time to read Immunity to Change by Kegan and Lahey the Harvard development psychologists, my friends that time is now! Here is a cheat sheet article on theglasshammer.com on the subject.
Some people are very distracted by life stuff -very understandable, life has changed for so many of us with a lockdown. I am personally on week 4 with a possible 8 weeks ahead with a spouse on the front lines working in an NYC hospital and “sans babysitter” for a while yet. Yet, understand some people want to distracted by work as its a good way of maintaining sanity if they have the backup to escape to the computer or the necessity to keep the work going to keep the business going. No one wants to fail in their career or business due to the coronavirus, that is a fact. Flex to what you need to be for that person in that moment, this is an evolving emotional ride for most.
Here are 6 tips to lead in a pandemic
1. Acknowledge this is not a normal time for anyone and it is not business as usual
2. Give the other person space by asking them at the start of the meeting, “How would you like to spend this time together to ensure that we honor the professional work agenda and the personal needs of everyone in light of these unusual circumstances?”
3. Be neutral in your reaction to where they are at emotionally, mentally and psychologically in this process of digesting the realities around us. No judgement around if they are in denial or if they are in distress. Instead create a safe environment to express how they feel if they want to. Do not project how you feel unto them with wordy recounts of your life events or feelings around it unless they want that. Work out how you feel and talk to your therapist or coach and then create space for everyone else to have their feelings and thoughts too.
4. Be careful about anxiety provoking questions like ‘how are you doing with homeschooling?” as so many of us are not doing well with many things. Instead ask, “How can i best support you and clear obstacles for you?”
5. Be consistent in actions and clear in communications, as this is leadership even in normal times.
6. Be human, first. Empathy is a muscle.
We are taking a publishing break until mid May to ensure we can coach (email nicki@evolvedpeople.com for coaching 2 sessions for $599, pack of 5 sessions for $1700 on zoom, facetime or phone) and support anyone who needs it and create space for everyone to focus on life priorities and staying well. Enjoy our archives of profiles (1500) and Career Advice (5000 articles)
Stay safe, social distance, ‘Happy Easter, Passover and Happy Spring’ and see you in May with a flatter curve (we hope).
Best Wishes,
Nicki Gilmour
CEO and Publisher
www.theglasshammer.com
Remote leadership is in the spotlight in this current COVID-19 reactivity environment of quarantine and social distancing, and leaders are called to remember – now, more than ever – that leadership is not just about the employees or projects you manage, but the human beings you are interconnected with.
As entire offices are now working from home, the question is how to lead and motivate through these times. How do you stay supportive and facilitative to your people through the absence of in-person interaction? With a backdrop of increased uncertainty and lack of control, how do you take it day by day as a manager?
This is Not Last Year’s Remote Office
Prior to the crisis, remote working had grown by 91% in the last ten years and 52% of workers globally were working from home once a week. It was estimated that at least 50% of the U.S. workforce would work remotely by 2020. The current context has blown the statistics apart.
Context is everything. The advantage of working remotely is normally the sense of freedom and flexibility, but for many it’s now a result of imposed restriction, that goes across every aspect of life.
Some team members will struggle deeply with isolation and routine loss. Previous remote workers will not be having the same experience as before.
Elizabeth Grace Saunders, a Time Management Coach, writes in Fast Company, “For some, the idea of working from home is a dream—no commute and no drop-in meetings—pure productivity bliss; for others, it’s terrifying… Ready or not, you’re working remotely.”
American Psychiatric Association (APA) emphasizes, “Many are teleworking full-time for the first time, isolated from co-workers, friends and family. Our daily living routines are disrupted causing added anxiety, stress and strain—physically, mentally, and financially. It is completely natural for this disruption and uncertainty to lead to anxiety and stress.”
6 Ways to Support Your Team
As a remote leader, here are recommended ways you can support your team members:
Establish Work Availability and Boundaries
“When transitioning to a remote team, leaders should prioritize the development of clear boundaries and guidelines,” writes Jason Wingard, dean and professor at the School of Professional Studies at Columbia University, in Forbes. “At its most basic, this involves assisting employees in delineating their availability: when they will be working, how they can be reached for different needs, and how they will address challenges such as childcare.”
Encouraging employees and yourself to establish work hours and be communicative about them will help productivity and avoid burnout.
“There’s a lot more flexibility, which can be exceptionally dangerous,” writes Saunders. “You can end up barely working, working all the time, or somewhere in the middle where you begin your work very late and end up needing to work into the wee hours of the night.”
“Segment out what home or personal tasks you won’t do when you are in your work hours;” she advises, “that way you don’t spend half the day tidying the house and neglecting key tasks.”
Encourage a Routine and Dedicated Work Space
The APA recommends keeping a regular routine including work, family, breaks, and other activities – as well as a designated physical space for work within the home – to support mental health while working from home.
Saunders writes that sticking with your routines – such as wake up, eating, activities and exercise times – support a greater sense of normalcy and clarity.On the other hand, Saunders writes “Abandoning all your routines will lead to decision fatigue and likely a lapse of willpower. You may find yourself home all the time, yet not even showered or dressed most days.”
Denoting a dedicated work space to settle into will help you and team members focus – and reserving that space as much as possible for work.
Be Flexible and Compassionate To Differing Circumstances
Optimal availability, schedule, and routine may look different for each individual, including yourself.
“Your mindset (now) has to shift to flexibility, overcommunication, and compassion,” writes Jay Friedman, president and parter of Goodway Group writes in Business Insider. “Take everyone’s situation into consideration and adopt accordingly.”
Friedman emphasizes the importance of establishing ‘parameters for a work-life integration plan’, which allows employees to adapt their schedule around their total responsibilities, such as home-schooling, and that may look different than a 9-to-5.
“To avoid miscommunication, encourage employees to be open on their calendars by blocking out ‘family’ time;’” he writes, “encourage those without such responsibilities to carve out ‘personal time’ before and after their work day to facilitate healthy work-life harmony.”
Also, re-assess responsibility allocation in your team based on the current situation.
Prioritize Goals, Not Hours
It’s not about hours spent sitting at the desk. Focus on goals and results.
“Don’t worry as much about what is being done. Instead, concentrate on what is being accomplished,” quotes Forbes, from sales and marketing professional Donald Hatter. “If we are meeting our goals, then great. If not, we need to look into the situation further. It is all about accomplishment, not activity.”
“Especially during times like these, look at the team’s achievements and celebrate what they’ve done,” Friedman writes. “The ongoing support and celebration of wins — both large and small — will be a huge motivator.”
Clarifying goals and who supports what can help with delegation, according to authors in Harvard Business Review (HBR): “Clarifying roles among the team helps people understand when they can turn to peers instead of the leader, which prevents the leader from becoming a bottleneck.”
Check In Regularly and Document
46% of remote workers, according to HBR and cited in Forbes, reported that the best managers checked on their team members regularly and frequently.
Checking in, as well as responding quickly, are important to keep connection, while face-to-face virtual meetings retain a sense of closeness and cohesion.
As written in HBR, “The most successful managers are good listeners, communicate trust and respect, inquire about workload and progress without micromanaging, and err on the side of overcommunicating.”
According to John Eades, CEO of LearnLoft in Forbes, questions should be:“What have you done? What are you working on? Where do you need help?” It’s important to give ownership for how things get done with individuals, and trust your people.
Brian de Haaff, Co-founder and CEO of Aha!, points out that documentation is critical when running a team remotely, assuring communication is flowing, messages are accurate, and records are kept. Recording virtual meetings on Xoom, etc helps to catch team members up directly.
Haaff further recommends documenting the three Ps: “problems, progress and plans”, to use as a launching point for weekly check-ins.
When moving around the virtual office, check your bias. Homophily – such as reaching out, relating to, assigning and relying on those with whom you share similarities – is at play. One recommendation is to keep a list of team members with photos around to consult, so you can see if you’ve truly been reaching out to all.
Be Connected, Be Personal, Be Empathetic
More than ever, remind yourself that your team members are human beings with emotions stirred up in this moment.
“People suddenly working from home are likely to feel disconnected and lonely, which lowers productivity and engagement,” according to HBR. “Under these circumstances it is tempting to become exclusively task-focused. To address these challenges, making time for personal interaction is more important than ever.”
This means keeping face-to-face connections through virtual tools, especially with those who may need extra support, showing active interest in people’s lives and well-being, being available and approachable as a leader, and acknowledging people’s concerns with compassionate flexibility.
“The best way to ensure people are engaged is to over-communicate. You can do daily check-ins and virtual hangouts like morning coffee or lunch,” advises Friedman. “If the method you’re trying isn’t working, change and adapt quickly.”
Don’t just manage your team or projects. Connect as humans that are mutually inside a challenging environment of disruption and uncertainty, and need support as we help each other through these waves.
By Aimee Hansen
Aimee Hansen is a freelance writer, frequent contributor to theglasshammer and Creator and Facilitator of Storyteller Within Retreats, Lonely Planet recommended women’s circle retreats focused on self-exploration and connecting with your inner truth and sacred expression through writing, yoga, meditation, movement and ceremonies.
The Business Book of the Year 2019 award winner, thoroughly-researched Invisible Women: Data Bias In A World Designed For Men, by feminist advocate Caroline Criado Perez, examines example after example of how women are often missing from the basic data collection that informs how the world – across all realms of human life – is designed: The “default male” premise.
We often see binary gender statistics reported in regards to the small numbers represented by women. Let’s flip the statistics to instead reflect the large numbers represented by men.
Over 93% of Fortune 500 CEO’s are male – a record low. 79% of C-Suite executives are men. 83% of boardroom seats worldwide and 95% of board chairs are held by men, and also 82% of boardroom seats in North America and over 95% of chairs are held by men. 98% of the CEOS for financial institutions and over 80% of executive board members are men.
100% of U.S. presidents and vice presidents are male and so now is the 2020 major party campaign race, which – in the context of many countries with influential strong female heads of state in their cultural history – is hinging on becoming an All-“American” leadership trademark.
75% of parliamentary seats are held by men globally. 94% of Nobel Prizes handed out since 1901 have been to men.
76% of news coverage when considering 20 years and 114 countries focuses on men, and 73% of news stories are reported by men. 69% of characters speaking in popular films are men, 77% of protagonists are men, and 79% of filmmakers are men – across eleven countries.
All Academy Awards for Best Director have been claimed by men amidst primarily male nominees, except one.
When men occupy 70% to 100% of representation across spheres, “underrepresented” is a gross understatement when it comes to women.
What is apparent is the pervasiveness of men in our worldwide culture as the default leader, voice, achiever, speaker, storyteller, even…human.
What Does a “Default Male” World Mean?
In her book Invisible Women: Data Bias In A World Designed For Men, feminist advocate Caroline Criado Perez points to the “default male” premise upon which much of our daily world is created – because women are either not though of at all, or just written off as a complexity.
“When typical female heart attack symptoms are called ‘typical,’ this is default male. When ‘gender-neutral’ toxicity levels for chemicals are determined using data on men, this is default male,” says Perez in an interview for Evoke. “When researchers complain that female bodies are too complicated to test on, this is default male—how else could you justify excluding half the world for reasons of simplicity?”
Social activist and journalist, Perez has a track record of advocating for women’s inclusion and visibility. She previously campaigned successfully to keep a woman on the British banknote. She also co-founded the The Women’s Room – a database of over 2,500 women experts in their fields – to increase the representation of female experts quoted in the media.
The database’s homepage addresses the disproportionate representation of male experts: “The media says that this is because there just aren’t that many female experts around, and the media just reflects the reality of the world. This website is about proving them wrong.”
It could be working to help do so, as women increased from 24% of experts in 2010 to 36% of experts in 2015.
How “Unthinking” Creates a “Default Male” World
As written in Wired about Perez’s findings: “There exists a real gender data gap that is ‘both a cause and a consequence of the type of unthinking that conceives of humanity as almost exclusively male.”
This “unthinking” impacts on women’s health and even lives. What first compelled Perez towards this book was the deadly gender gap of knowledge in the medical world.
As Perez shares in Evoke, “… because public health information focuses on male symptoms, women don’t realize they’re having heart attacks. Worse, doctors don’t realize. The result is that women are more likely to die following a heart attack than men… Our society positions science as neutral; as objective and free of bias. Science deals in facts. In truth. Only, now it turned out that our cultural positioning of men as the default humans was corrupting science.”
Perez gives examples of how ‘default male’ data feeds algorithms that make dangerous leaps and false assumptions: “First, because the datasets on which we train algorithms are hopelessly male biased, voice recognition software doesn’t recognize female voices, translation software translates female doctors into male doctors, and image-labeling software labels men as women if they are standing next to an oven.”
The evidence that the world is not designed for women appears in everything from the size of smartphones, transport and snow-clearing routes that do not reflect the amount of unpaid work women do or their daily travel behavior, automotive crash systems and seats and seatbelts designed for men’s bodies (women have a 47% greater chance of serious injury in a car accident), restroom layouts that don’t reflect the different uses or time needed by the genders, CPR training which normalizes touching male chests only (men have a 23% higher chance of resuscitation in public), and even the temperature deemed comfortable for the office space you may be working in.
The “Default Male” Data and Design Loop
In her book, Perez writes, “No one meant to deliberately exclude women. It’s just what may seem objective is actually highly male-biased.”
The tech industry and the design industry are very male-dominated industries. 74% of computing jobs are held by men, and the turnover rate for women is over double that of men (41% vs. 17%). Across 1980 to 2010, 88% of all information technology patents were obtained by male-only invention teams (only 2% were by female-only invention teams). 88% of engineers in Silicon Valley startups and 89% of executives in Silicon Valley companies are men.
Perez is quick to say that design tends to reflect the needs of the people who are doing the design (for example those who have never been pregnant may not think of pregnancy parking spaces), and there is a catch-22 loop that feeds into male-dominated design.
“Ninety-three percent of venture capitalists (VCs) are men, and these teams suffer from the same problem as male-dominated developer teams: they simply aren’t aware of certain female needs,” says Perez in Evoke. “As a result, entrepreneurs developing new tech for women need good data because they will not be able to rely on a VC already having personal experience with, for example, how terrible all the current breast pump options are. …But because we lack data on female bodies, such entrepreneurs are less likely to have the information they need to make the case for their ideas. They are therefore less likely to get funding. And so tech for women remains, for the most part, of the shrink it, pink it and price it up variety, rather than genuinely catering to women’s needs.”
In Wired, Perez shares that exclusion goes to yet another level when it comes down to excuses or shortcuts for not considering women. She cites a scaled-down male dummy being used to represent a female: “That’s not forgetting. That’s a deliberate act.”
Perez told Evoke, “The excuse I came across most often in the course of writing the book was that women are just too complicated. This excuse appeared in fields ranging from the economy, to travel infrastructure, to medicine. Women’s working lives are too complicated, our travel patterns are too complicated, our bodies are too complicated. And instead of engaging with that complexity, researchers prefer to just exclude half the world. They choose to save money rather than to save women’s lives.”
How To Disrupt a “Default Male” World?
Disrupting the “default male” world is overdue, and that too is an understatement.
The way this will ultimately happen is if there’s more women involved in data collection, design and development – so women’s differences and needs will neither be forgotten about nor dismissed.
“Seeing men as the human default is fundamental to the structure of human society,” Criado Perez writes, as noted in Science News. “It’s time for women to be seen.”
Authors Bio: Aimee Hansen is a freelance writer, frequent contributor to theglasshammer and Creator and Facilitator of Storyteller Within Retreats, Lonely Planet recommended women’s circle retreats focused on self-exploration and connecting with your inner truth and sacred expression through writing, yoga, meditation, movement and ceremonies.
By Aimee Hansen
Productivity is state of mind.
Aided by peace of mind which none of us have right now in the midst of a pandemic.
As someone who invented and launched theglasshammer from my living room in Brooklyn, I can testify to needing utmost grit, tenacity, determination and focus to produce a large volume of work on a daily basis for thirteen years through good and bad times looking at a wall or a screen. In fact, the irony is, social distancing feels rather similar to my everyday professional life of walk the dog, write editorial, do coaching on zoom/facetime, cook lunch, walk the dog, write, coach, cook, childcare on repeat. I even lived in the woods for two years so social isolation is clearly what I have been training for, dear readers.
Here are my top 5 tips for keeping it all going during this time:
1. Set Boundaries- physical, mental and emotion for yourself
Physical boundaries are the easiest. Delineate areas in your house, even a corner of your apartment to work from. Do what you need to do to make it “nice” for you. Pictures, or a bare desk, you know who you are. Keep it clean by clorox wiping the bottom of your laptop and keys and screen once a day. Ditto phone.
Mental and emotional boundaries are harder. Confine work to work and don’t check email on the couch on your phone for example. Also, to emotionally protect yourself during work do not read news, instead listen to soothing classical music, jazz, a radio station that you like ( for me BBC Radio 2 cannot be beaten) or an old “album” that brings you back to a good time. Create nostalgia if you need that on dark quarantine days as this is going to last for a while so stamina and strategy are crucial elements to keeping sane and therefore productive.
2. Get Exercise
Get up and walk outside (while keeping a distance of course) or peleton or bike yourself skinny. Whatever your jam is, and is still ok to do, do it. You can sit on an exercise ball and have a stand up adjustable desk, there are ways to create variety. Get your trainer to work with you virtually. You don’t have to go as far as Sarah Conner in Terminator 2 doing chin ups on the metal bed frame ( humor will get us though this).
3. Get hobbies.
Ever wanted to speak a language? I learned to cook when i lived in the woods, cook like Julia Child with WW2 dried goods. Challenge yourself to be resourceful. Grow veggies, knit, read books about foraging mushrooms even if you never do it. It is amazing what you learn skill wise and more importantly what you learn about yourself.
Have kids? Explore new stuff with them in the down time. Coloring is extremely soothing and Frozen 2 will provide you with plenty to do there including googling “let it go” in many languages and belting it out “Libre Soy”.
If you are a busy person, chances are there are several TV shows you have wanted to catch up on. I just started Outlander, a celtic time traveling tale that lasts for 6 or 7 seasons, that will be a great mental distraction to invest in (also life in 1743 makes our current reality as dire as it is, still better). And novels, remember them? Have virtual book clubs with your friends. Virtual wine and cheese ( i have been invited to one already). Business books and professional development books are also good and here are my recommendations for the next few weeks:
Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader
Buy extra coffee, tea, candy, chocolate, vodka, wine or whatever you need for the days that you need a cheap thrill.
4. Get reflective time
See this as opportunity to look inwards and reflect what is meaningful to you. Take a list of “should do’s” and figure out what is real and what is not. What is working for you? What is not? What do you want to do differently when we emerge from this? What has been the best of 2020 so far that you can expand on at work? Meditate – however and whatever method works and watch how you can regain the power of your mind.
5. Use technology to get the job done
There is actually a lot to be said for saving time not commuting. You might find you do more old fashioned calling and videoconferencing with someone because you do lack the human contact factor. Email is still email. It is by getting sucked into facebook and other productivity sucks like cat videos that you will wonder why the “to-do” list is still there.
Video call your friends near and far, call your parents and older friends as they have to stay in the most.
Good luck and if you need executive and frankly, life coaching on how to thrive professionally and personally during this unusual time, book in with me at nicki@theglasshammer.com – 3 video sessions x 90 mins long that you can use all year long for $899 or book a 15 mins chat to see if it for you here
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I am a professionally certified coach (PCC) with a masters in Social (I/O) Psychology, i am your person on this one.
Write “coach me” in the email headline and we can set up a time or book now if you are ready for a full session here.
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You will get through this! STAY SAFE.
Guest Contribution
In today’s challenging environment with more and more sent home to work, it’s imperative to know how to work virtually. When you haven’t done it previously, it can be overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be.
These tips should help.
Best Tips for Working Virtually:
- Have a clear plan of attack – There are so many things that need done (i.e., setting up your office, internet, etc.) and the list goes on. Start a to-do list and prioritize. Realize that not everything has to be done immediately. By prioritizing your list, it feels more doable. And who doesn’t like to cross off those to do’s!
- Get Supplies Pronto – With so many heading out to get supplies, you are going to see things sold out. You want to stock up on business suppliers such as paper, ink, etc., soon. While doing so, grab extras so you don’t run out when they are gone. Because seriously, you never want to run out of ink … EVER! Trust me on that one. Plus, get some fun things too. You get to decorate your new office at home, so let your personality shine though. Just remember that you might be on Skype and doing video calls. Make it fun, but professional. Also, keep all receipts. Many companies are paying for supplies and you want to have proof of your purchases.
- Your Internet is crucial – You are more than likely going to need to connect with others in your company remotely so getting your internet set up is crucial. If your company provides tech support utilize it. Just write out all your questions in advance so you utilize their time in the best way possible. Believe it or not, tech guys really don’t like the 25 calls when 2 would suffice. Don’t be that person!
- Test your equipment and work through those nasty bugs that can happen – Those who have worked from home for years know that things happen and how you deal with it is what can save you. So work through those in the early stages. Also, again you want to prioritize. Figure out what is happening in the next few days that needs your immediate attention. Work on those first. Keep in mind, speed is important. Your computer from a decade ago might not cut it today so if you have to, get a new one.
- Back up all work – Your company more than likely had back-ups already in place. But now that you are home it’s imperative that you set this up immediately. A flash drive, cloud storage such as Dropbox, and also Carbonite are good recommendations. Just as important as backing up your system, also make sure you know how to restore it if something happens. So figure that important step out as well. Darn, one more thing to add to your to do list.
- Skype, Zoom, FreeConference Pro, etc., will be your best friends – These allow you to have audio and video conferences. Look into them pronto.
- Set up your webcam – Invest in a good one too. More importantly though check it out and see how you look. When it’s too close all you can see is your face close up, which means every winkle will show. Not a good look. Also review your background. Anything that is in view should be cleaned up. Now is not the time to see your old Diet Cokes sitting around that you haven’t thrown away. I mean who does that? (Guilty as charged!)
- Discuss your situation with your family and friends – Be firm on the fact that you’re working and just because you are home, you can’t talk for hours or watch their kids because you are home and they still need to be at the office. Interruptions can lead to work that is not your best, so plan accordingly.
- Set up a dedicated area – If you can convert a room or a part of a room to an office that is the best scenario. Find a place where the interruptions are less frequent and also away from barking dogs and other distractions. Being able to shut a door for the office is great too.
- Have Activities For Your Children Ahead of Time – Bored kids are no fun! You might be working hard, but they are all the sudden out of school and left with little to do. Plan ahead and have fun things for them to do. All those coloring books and toys they got for the holidays might just come in handy now. Of course, plan age-appropriate activities and know that a little TV now isn’t so bad. They are probably stressed as well with the recent news.
- When on important virtual calls or conferences, be sure to turn off any distractions – If you are on Skype, turn your phone off so you can’t hear voice mails. Log out of email programs such as Outlook so all your email notifications don’t appear if you have it set up that way. You don’t want everyone at your company to see the email coming from Aunt Grace.
- Write down all your passwords – I’ll leave it at that. You’ll thank me later for that one!
- Set down clear guidelines on how you will be communicating – Decide what works best for you and your company in keeping in touch? Phone, email, virtual conferences, etc. Plan this in the beginning and work out solutions that make sense. Also, be brief in corresponding. If it can be done in an email, do it. No one has time for long drawn-out meetings, even virtually. Also, no one has time to read a novel in an email. Get to the point quickly.
- Stay Focused – Work on one thing at a time and really proofread and watch your work. Mistakes can happen because of the stress of the situation. By slowing down and really focusing you can avoid most of them. Also, be good to yourself. Buy your favorite coffee or goodie to make yourself feel good. Remember to breath and take breaks getting up and walking around. You’ll be amazed how good that feels.
The most important thing to do is take it slowly and try and remain calm. Contact a friend or associate and chat. Reach out and say hi. Turn off the news. Now I’m not saying don’t listen to the news, just avoid the 24/7 news cycle as that can be overwhelming. And finally, know that this too shall pass. We all will get through this and the other side will be spectacular.
Author Bio:
Diana Ennen, President of Virtual Word Publishing, https://virtualwordpublishing.com offers PR and Marketing services, book marketing services, virtual assisting services, and PR and Virtual Assistant Coaching. She is also co-author of Virtual Assistant the Series: Become a Highly Successful Sought After VA. She has been featured in USA Weekly, Forbes, Inc. Radio, Fox News, Women’s World, USA Today, CNN, Wall Street Journal, and many more. She also has many valuable resources such as her PR Success Webinar Series – https://virtualwordpublishing.com/coaching-and-classes/pr-success-series/
Happy President’s Day 2020. We are taking a publishing break this week to work on our new site behind the scenes that should be launching at the end of March. Look out for that. Also, as it is the school holidays for many, we urge you to smell the roses and spend time with those who matter and want to talk our own advice there too.
In the meantime, here is a selection of our favorite “how to” career articles. Career articles regarding “how to” never get old! Here are 5 picks that our readers liked most and have some of the highest readership figures over our thirteen years of bringing you the information that matters regarding how to navigate to the next level, beat the office blues and break your own glass ceiling:
Some were written a while ago but remain solid in their advice and relevancy. Enjoy and see you next week!
1.How to Survive a Re-Org and keep your career on track
2. Negotiation Tactics to close the gender wage gap
3. What to do when you feel undervalued at work?
4. Are you an “insecure overachiever?” stop the imposter syndrome
5. Who is on your Board of Directors?
7. Negotiate More Vacation Days!
8. Avoid Burnout with this article and this one too.
9. How and When to find a new job.
10. Use the Lattice not the ladder in your career.
Coaching is the ultimate career secret weapon and is where the rubber meets the road since advice is generic but coaching is specific to who you are and where you are.
If you want to be coached as a soon to be or a new leader or even just want to be even more excellent than you are today, then get in touch with Nicki (nicki@theglasshammer.com) for a free exploratory chat to see if leadership or executive or career coaching is for you. Write coaching in the title of the email so you dont get lost in the pile.
We have a number of excellent associate coaches ( all Columbia University qualified) who can be matched with you, including Nicki who is also an organizational psychologist, looking at the systemic as well as the individual career enablers and de-railers.
Enjoy the week!
Empathetic anger: the emotion felt in response to another person being hurt by someone or something else
Have you ever been told “don’t be so emotional?” at work?
I remember a specific moment in an office I worked in over ten years ago. A male boss was speaking to a female co-worker about something he was unhappy with in her performance, and while conveying his feedback, he told her not to be so emotional.
As he spoke in the fishbowl office, I watched from my cubicle while he paced back and forth, his hands waving emphatically through the air, his face and head getting redder and redder, his voice elevating until it carried right through the glass walls to where our team sat. My co-worker remained relatively calm in a chair in front of him.
When she finally came out with tears held back in her eyes, I considered the irony of what I’d just witnessed – how selective emotions that were more masculine-identified were permissible and somehow not too emotional?
And I wondered too, were the tears that stung in her eyes also anger, albeit withheld?
When Caught in Anger
All emotions are guides and most dangerous if denied, but the way we manage them and channel their outward expression matters. Today children – and girls particularly – are being encouraged to be in more in touch with anger, rather than repress it.
“It is natural and normal to feel anger,” iterates Audrey Nelson, Ph.D., in Psychology Today. “If you never get angry, it means you have no boundaries or you will not acknowledge them.”
When in the moment of anger, it’s important to realize what’s at play.
Research shows that anger impairs your ability to step back and see any matter from multiple perspectives, which can lead to conflict spirals. This holds true even when the residual anger is unrelated to the situation you are presently dealing with.
“What we’re finding is that when people feel angry, they’re collapsing in on themselves,” says Wharton professor Maurice Schweitzer about the studies. “They become far more egocentric.”
The researchers share that any emotion that results in high arousal – including happiness – means a diminished ability for perspective-taking, which requires greater cognitive energy. It’s important that when caught in anger to realize you are more likely to hold an egocentric perspective in this moment.
When Leaders Display Anger
Research has shown that displaying anger in the office has the potential to go several ways when it comes to leadership perception.
Leaders who are perceived to exhibit anger as a personality trait, as opposed to selectively and motivationally, are often seen as less effective. Especially when a leader’s anger is deemed inappropriate, it decreases employee motivation towards voluntary tasks.
Displaying anger has been associated with perceived power more than displaying sadness, however some research shows that showing sadness can actually create more positive outcomes for leaders.
Whereas showing anger is associated with “position (ie. legitimate, reward and coercive) power,” which does indeed have benefits in perceived leader effectiveness and follower loyalty, showing sadness is more associated with greater “personal (ie. referent) power”.
This means that leaders displaying anger are seen to have more coercive power, being solid in their position in the organization and the punishments and rewards they wield, but are less appealing on a personal level than leaders who display sadness. That can have some backfire effects on leadership leverage.
Another study shows that when a leader displays anger in response to a matter of integrity, this increases the perception of his or her leader effectiveness. However, when a leader displays anger in response to a matter of competency, this reduces perception of his or her leader effectiveness.
Also, it’s all in the eye of the beholder’s own feelings. Research that measured performance found that followers who were not very agreeable responded positively to a leader’s exhibition of anger, whereas followers who were highly agreeable responded poorly to the exhibition of anger by a leader.
When Women Exhibit Anger
Due to the glaring gender gap, the research on leadership perception and anger is skewed towards displays of anger by male leaders. Not surprisingly, anger is perceived differently if displayed by a woman than a man, though it’s entirely untrue that men experience anger more often than women.
What research has found is that while men experience decreased effectiveness when they cannot display anger, women are able to hold in the anger, and may even feel bad about experiencing it, but will still be able to act upon their feelings when the situation calls for it.
Beyond feeling it’s counterproductive, women leaders have a social reason to hold back on overt anger expression.
“Women incur social and economic penalties for expressing stereotypical ‘masculine’ emotions because they threaten society’s patriarchal barriers against the ‘dominance of women’,” writes Quintin Fottrell, summing up the researcher’s findings.
When women clearly exhibit the agentic (often masculine-identified) qualities that both sexes associate as primary to effective leadership, they fall into a double bind where they are seen as less communal than expected from a woman, and judged harshly.
Unless women exhibit both agentic and communal qualities simultaneously, women leaders can experience backlash.
Research on group deliberation found that men’s social influence increased when their opinion included an expression of anger, whereas women’s social influence diminished when they expressed the exact same opinion with anger.
Whereas participants confidence in their own position diminished when a man was expressing his position with anger (observers were more likely to question their own stance around an angry man), it solidified more when a woman expressed her position with anger.
The researchers found that “Participants regarded an angry woman as more emotional, which made them more confident in their own opinion.” While anger added to credibility for men, and increased their authority, it led to dismissal for women.
Women, unlike men, are also likely to be perceived in a poorer light by both men and women if they express anger about situations that have personally caused them harm rather than share with emotional neutrality. Women’s anger was attributed to her personality in this case, whereas men’s anger is perceived to be motivated by external circumstances.
It’s Different When Women Exhibit ‘Empathetic’ Anger
Not all anger is the same. Sometimes it helps to have anger attributed directly to personality, when it comes to advocating for or defending others.
A recent set of studies revealed that when women display genuine empathetic anger – “anger that is caused by witnessing or learning of harm done to another person” – they are positively perceived as signaling both agentic and communal leadership traits.
Women were significantly more likely to benefit from displays of empathetic anger than men, including being seen as more effective in their position. The reason is that observer’s more strongly attributed the empathetic anger in women leaders to their personalities, which reflected positively upon the leader’s character.
The researchers encourage women to be very forthcoming in displaying their empathetic anger, because it allows women to be witnessed positively as agentic while increasing their communal perception too. Empathetic anger is associated with prosocial behavior.
It’s frustrating to have women’s expression of anger under greater scrutiny by everyone, women included. It’s also good to know that when anger has a more collective feel, it works for reinforcing women’s leadership, as the injustices one women faces are rarely faced entirely alone.
When it comes to empathy, it’s one place women are rewarded for getting “too emotional.”
Authors Bio: Aimee Hansen is a freelance writer, frequent contributor to theglasshammer and Creator and Facilitator of Storyteller Within Retreats, Lonely Planet recommended women’s circle retreats focused on self-exploration and connecting with your inner truth and sacred expression through writing, yoga, meditation, movement and ceremonies.
By Aimee Hansen
Here at theglasshammer.com we are happy to honor and celebrate Black History Month 2020 by curating some of our favorite articles on the topic.
Research such as Catalyst’s work on the “Concrete Ceiling” on African American women in Corporate America, would show that there are specific systemic issues hindering the progress of this group.
Back in 2016, we wrote about how a person can individually think about their privilege, with trends being very much about a “check your privilege” that year. Surveys examined it, we navel gazed it with writers reflecting hard. But, did it matter? Has it mattered? Oscarssowhite then is proving to be the same now in 2020 despite amazing talent and hard work by African American artists with Janelle Monae even going to lengths to talk about it at the Oscars (with good allies.) We cannot seem to get past awareness and keep giving the biggest prize to the white guy. Watch Election 2020 for same results. Donald, Pete, Joe, Bernie, Mike? Not sure we will ever see a 5 person line up with names like Donna, Petra, Joanna, Bernadette and Mekayla. Nevermind Shonda or Sharifa in there.
There are certainly parallels present when it comes to the explicit resistance of people who have traditionally held all the cards of power with can be seen all day every day with on social media with the defense of the status quo with “Not all white people” as well as “Not all men” or “All lives matter.” When this happens, people need to ask themselves what are they feeling when they choose to defend an entire societal group with unknown people in there? Why do that? What is the cognitive emotional process that drives that behavior because if you know that you are trying to be a good person and do the right thing, why not focus on your own actions only individually and institutionally instead of defending people you do not know?
The Corporate Context
2017 saw losses in black female leaders at the top And, where are we now? It is hard to see the real progress down the ranks for pipeline. And, each firm and each industry certainly have degrees of effort and robust integrated talent processes to change the situation. We do know that black women are rising their hands for leadership.
Visibility continues to matter so here are some of our favorite profiles over the years of amazing women who identify as African American.
Publisher’s Pick:
1) Erika Irish Brown, Chief Diversity Officer at Goldman Sachs shares,
“If you expose people who are smart and hard working to opportunities – and provide them with an access point to begin a career – success follows.”
2) Ursula Burns (then CEO, Xerox) speaks at Catalyst shares,
“You have to moderate your voice so people can pick out the important things. You have to understand when it’s important to speak. I had to learn to kind of shut up. Not all of the things that are happening are important to me. I have calmed down about the areas that are not that important.”
3) Paula Anderson, Partner Litigation, Shearman and Sterling shares,
“Access to the pathways to success also means dealing with some of the unconscious biases that may exist,for example, there are certain preconceptions some people have with respect to women not having boardroom presence or not being aggressive enough. Particularly in the litigation field, there are certain ideas of what a successful and capable litigator should look like, and that’s often something akin to a Perry Mason.”
4) Valerie S Peters, SVP, and Head Relationship Management Services, Abbot Downing shares,
“When I entered the corporate world over 20 years ago, I believed that it was possible to achieve anything with hard work and discipline, and I still believe those are key ingredients to success,”
5) Susan Reid, Chief Diversity Officer, Morgan Stanley shares,
“Like many younger people I focused quite a bit on building technical skills and getting the work done, but if I had an opportunity to start over, I would focus on cultivating relationships earlier and sustaining those relationships over time,”
6) Kimberly Bryant, Founder and CEO, Black Girls Code shares,
“I spent 20-plus years as a woman in a male-dominated field and underwent struggles throughout my career as part of it. I was able to forge my path, but there were not many role models and I had to constantly prove my ability to thrive and compete in male-centric environments. That’s one of the key drivers for me – I want to to create a different environment for the girls coming behind me.”
7) Avis Yates Rivers, CEO Technology Concepts Group International shares,
“There are some technical women who want to be technical ICs. You need to find the environment to foster that. For women who have the vision or leadership – we need more CIOs in corporations. Find a mentor and let your interests and desires be known and have someone pushing you along the way.”
8) Lisa Davis, now Managing Director, Citi shares,
“Many people are afraid to network,” she continued. “I for one am a typical introvert and I’m not always comfortable taking the initiative to meet people and interact – but when you talk about true networking, that’s what you do! Its not just about meeting people, it’s about developing relationships rather than just collecting business cards.”
9) Carly Scales, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs Technology Division shares,
“Throughout your career, finding your true north and being comfortable in your own skin is really important. Having authenticity and being able to bring your full self to the office is an important component to ensure you can do your best work and contribute to your team at the highest level.”
Enjoy these and so many of our excellent profiles over the years.
Guest Contributed By Dr Galina Goncharenko
In 2017, an American actress, Alyssa Milano, tweeted: “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet”. The Twitter message went viral and triggered one of the largest contemporary movements against abuse of power, assault and harassment. The #MeToo movement provided visibility and continuous public scrutiny to the cases of abuse of power, sexual harassment and misconduct in the workplace. However, it has also highlighted the paucity of options open to women to report problem behavior in the office. Even though, it was effective for celebrities to use their public profile and social media to highlight their appalling treatment, it isn’t necessarily an option for everyone. Here are the seven ways to spend 2020 and the years ahead without harassment and sexual misconduct at work.
Call out inappropriate behavior if you see it in the workplace
We still need to deepen our understanding of the nature of sexual harassment and identify all types of inappropriate behavior that should be no longer tolerated in the workplace. According to the UN survey (2018), less than 2% of the sexual misconduct cases contain attempted or actual sexual assault in the workplace. The remaining 98% include being subjected to sexual stories or jokes, offensive remarks about body and appearance, attempts to draw into a discussion on sexual matters, gestures or use of body language of a sexual nature and touching. Be aware that all these actions belong to sexual misconduct in the workplace as even the least severe of them can cause long-lasting psychological damage and harm your productivity and wellbeing at work.
Ensure that your employer takes the threats of sexual harassment seriously
The #MeToo movement advocates changes to the laws, policies and regulations surrounding sexual harassment and assault, for example, instituting protocols that give victims the ability to file complaints and report predatory behavior without retaliation, as well as the elimination of non-disclosure agreements in the cases of sexual misconduct. The practical steps recommended to be undertaken by organizations include the recognition of inappropriate behavior, the declaration of a zero-tolerance culture on sexual misconduct and acknowledgement of male domination and the need to increase the presence of female leadership. Companies are, or at least should be, refreshed to the importance that the reports and investigations of misconduct should be treated proactively and robustly, with feedback to victims, survivors and the general public.
Ensure that your company has right toolkit to raise a complaint
There are social, cultural and practical barriers to reporting sexual harassment, abuse and misconduct. It can be very difficult to report misconduct in the office face-to-face or via email because the unwanted recipient of the harassment may feel awkward about discussing it, may be uncertain about how the complaint will be received or might wish to complain about someone who is in a position of power or authority over them. Fortunately, we have seen the creation of a market for new digital solutions of harassment reporting which hopefully will help make the complaint raising process easier and empower harassment victims to report all levels of inappropriate workplace conduct. For instance, a London-based technological start-up, Vault Platform, designed a “TrustTech” end-to-end platform that includes the employee app, corporate case management hub and data analytics and helps to support accountability and safety in organizations. This product empowers employees to speak up when they encounter misconduct.
Nurture the new working culture
The technical innovations alone won’t eradicate harassment from the office. The implementation of technological solutions to tackle harassment need to be interlinked to continuous improvement of organizational culture and personal accountability. To move forward the change in organizational practices and culture the creation of psychologically-safe and respectful working environments need to be emphasized. The lack of psychological safety in organizations generates fear and prevents employees from being effective, resourceful and creative. Psychological safety of individuals needs to be placed at the center of developing safe, inclusive and non-discriminatory working environments. The culture of effective innovation in organizations starts from securing psychological safety of employees, valuing human capital and creating transparency for the balance of power, respect, empathy and non-tolerance of abusive behaviors.
Sign up to kitemarks, codes of conduct and professional campaigns
We have also seen increased opportunities for companies to signal their values through schemes like #HeForShe campaign and #OvertoYou kitemark. Launched by UN Women in 2014, the #HeForShe campaign invites people around the world to stand in solidarity with women to create a visible and united force for gender equality. The #OverToYou Kitemark promotes the work organizations undertake to tackle sexual harassment in the workplace. The priority of workplace ethics has also raised in the codes of conducts and standards of many professional bodies, such as the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute.
Find creative ways to learn more and take inspiration
The #MeToo movement, toxicity and complicity in working environment together with the need for further female empowerment were among the main themes of popular culture in 2019. This brought several inspiring movies and TV series to watch to stay tuned for the #MeToo agenda. For example, a powerful TV drama The Morning Show with Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon shows authentically the complexity of workplace power dynamics and the deep psychological damage of sexual harassment. Another inspiring example is Bombshell with Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, and Margot Robbie, revealing the true story of how the culture of impunity at Fox News has been unchecked for decades and finally tackled by the acquisitions of 23 known victims. In addition, the New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey published She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement, documenting the origins of the #MeToo movement and their investigation of Harvey Weinstein’s case.
Stay conscious
Despite the obligations of employers, regulators and society to ensure non-violent working environment, your safety in the workplace starts with you. Stay empowered by knowing that feeling safe at work is your fundamental human right and learn about the ways to identify and report on unhealthy power imbalances and misbehavior and the instruments to protect yourself.
Guest Bio:
Dr Galina Goncharenko is a Lecturer in Accounting at the University of Sussex Business School. Her research engagement project “The impact of harassment reporting technology on organisational accountability and psychological safety in the workplace” aims to move forward the change in organizational practices and culture emphasizing creating psychologically-safe and respectful working environments. The project facilitates the LinkedIn community “Organisations Without Harassment” to share effective practices and develop better methods of reducing workplace harassment.
Guest contributor views that are not necessarily those of the glasshammer.com – all rights reserved.