Contributed by Molly Meyer, co-author of It’s My Company Too!
I’ve told plenty of people about running with the bulls in Pamplona. What I usually leave out is that I was the most scared I’ve ever felt in my entire life…and I’ve seen all three Paranormal Activity movies.
At the San Fermin festival I thought to myself, “How fast can these bulls really run? How close will they get to me, really?” Ha. That was before I stepped onto the world’s narrowest street next to the scariest man I’d ever seen that wasn’t acting opposite Bruce Willis in an action-adventure movie. He had chosen to run next to me for a reason. I was small, young, female, blonde… I’d run next to me too. If it came down to it and he had to out-run his neighbor, I was guaranteed hoof-meat.
I forgot to mention that I wasn’t on “vacation” when participating in this once-in-a-lifetime experience. I was traveling while working (not to be confused with traveling for work). I’ve split the last three years nearly equally between North America and Europe. In fact, I’m writing this from the stony beaches of Croatia. I’m not a full-time freelancer—although I was able to co-author a book while traveling. I’m actually the Creative Director of a marketing company based out of Chicago.
Not many people understand how I “get away” with this having a steady job while traveling the world lifestyle. But, when you understand the kinds of things you require in order to produce your best work, then both you and your organization can justify the freedom to work where you want as much as possible.
I find it extremely difficult to be in one place and pump out the same imaginative work day after day. If it’s not running with the bulls, it’s dancing at Oktoberfest or singing karaoke on a cruise ship. I crave a change in scenery, if not to satisfy my curiosity or placate my impending boredom with monotony, then certainly to enhance the part of my brain that collects life experiences, cultivates them, and spits out something new to use as a marketing bit.
Maybe I’ve never used running with the bulls as material for a client’s advertisement, per se, but I do channel the emotions I’ve experienced in situations all over the world—like the complete helplessness of mind-numbing fear—to create something that offers comfort to consumers who might be experiencing similar emotions. It’s a win-win for both me and my organization—they get a deeper chest of potential material, and I get the satisfaction of experiencing its contents.
Through all of my “experience mining,” I often find myself feeling frantic trying to keep track of the time differences, project deadlines and creative briefs while balancing my need for adventure. When I first started out, I was lonely, overwhelmed and stressed. I had to reassess my situation.
How can a committed, entangled employee of an organization have her traveling cake and eat it too?
I put together a bible of do’s and don’ts for how to maintain human contact, give my best work to my organization, and earn a paycheck.
Read more
Owning the Business Leadership Style That Is Right For You
Expert AnswersMany women in business struggle to find their own leadership style that feels right, natural, and based on “women-centric” qualities instead of “male” attributes.
I hear from women all the time who want something new, a leadership style that reflects more fully what their values are and who they are as individuals. Instead of mimicking male and often outdated models, as women, we must begin to identify what leadership is for us.
The new model I propose must utilize our intuition as well as intellectual abilities.
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Back to School? Back to Work!
Expert AnswersIt’s that time of year again. Back to school. Although I have only one child still at home, the beginning of September will always feel like the beginning of the New Year to me. I even tend to plot my New Year’s resolutions over the summer. “This fall, I’ll… contact ten potential new clients, finish those foreign language CDs, start exercising regularly (yeah, right!).
Thinking back, it was at this time twelve years ago that I decided to really focus on trying to return to work, after seven years at home with my kids. I remember telling myself the prior spring, “you’ll have one more leisurely summer, and then you’ve really got to start DOING something.” Not that I wasn’t doing anything. With five kids age 11 and under, I was plenty busy, but the kids were all slated to be in school at least part of the day, so I figured I had a few potential “revenue generating” hours available. And I was determined to make the most out of them. But how?
To make a long story short, I ended up working for a neighbor who had his own executive search business (I had been in finance, then recruiting, before I left the workforce). Executive search turned out to be a great fit for me, and I eventually developed my own client base. But I remained passionate about the issue of returning to work after taking a career break, and I co-authored a book on the topic (Back on the Career Track). My co-author Carol Cohen and I then founded iRelaunch and began running the iRelaunch Return to Work Conference throughout the US and in London, bringing together professional women who have been out of the workforce with employer sponsors for a day of education and networking.
So if you’re on career break now, whether taking care of your kids or for other reasons, let this be the year you DO something. Here are 5 simple steps you can take in the next week to move your relaunch forward.
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Our Latest Research: LGBT Women in Finance in the UK
Managing ChangeThis year, The Glass Hammer has been exploring what it means to have many social identities – after all, not every woman is the same, obviously, and we are shaped by our other different social and ethnic backgrounds as well. For example, how does being a woman impact your ambition, your networking techniques, or your ability to get a promotion at work? How does adding an additional minority identity – like LGBT – change that?
We believe that taking a more granular approach to diversity is one way to develop programs, policies, and workplace cultures that help every person thrive in their career.
That’s why Evolved Employer, our workplace consulting arm, is launching today our latest research into multiple identities: “Being Out at Work: Exploring LGBT women’s workplace experience in the UK.”
Our research revealed some interesting results around the impact of leadership on creating inclusive cultures. And our respondents were not shy in letting us know – the leadership at many firms may be talking the talk, but managers and colleagues are not always walking the walk.
This points to the importance of LGBT allies (also known as straight allies). When straight colleges are willing to stand up for LGBT inclusion, they can help achieve the inclusive culture that so many people in senior management talk about. Leadership support is important, but leaders can’t do it alone. People on the ground practicing inclusion every day are critical to creating organizations where being out isn’t seen as being a career liability. This is the key to developing a company where everyone can bring their whole selves to work.
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How to Satisfy Your Travel Bug and Stay Part of the Team
NewsI’ve told plenty of people about running with the bulls in Pamplona. What I usually leave out is that I was the most scared I’ve ever felt in my entire life…and I’ve seen all three Paranormal Activity movies.
At the San Fermin festival I thought to myself, “How fast can these bulls really run? How close will they get to me, really?” Ha. That was before I stepped onto the world’s narrowest street next to the scariest man I’d ever seen that wasn’t acting opposite Bruce Willis in an action-adventure movie. He had chosen to run next to me for a reason. I was small, young, female, blonde… I’d run next to me too. If it came down to it and he had to out-run his neighbor, I was guaranteed hoof-meat.
I forgot to mention that I wasn’t on “vacation” when participating in this once-in-a-lifetime experience. I was traveling while working (not to be confused with traveling for work). I’ve split the last three years nearly equally between North America and Europe. In fact, I’m writing this from the stony beaches of Croatia. I’m not a full-time freelancer—although I was able to co-author a book while traveling. I’m actually the Creative Director of a marketing company based out of Chicago.
Not many people understand how I “get away” with this having a steady job while traveling the world lifestyle. But, when you understand the kinds of things you require in order to produce your best work, then both you and your organization can justify the freedom to work where you want as much as possible.
I find it extremely difficult to be in one place and pump out the same imaginative work day after day. If it’s not running with the bulls, it’s dancing at Oktoberfest or singing karaoke on a cruise ship. I crave a change in scenery, if not to satisfy my curiosity or placate my impending boredom with monotony, then certainly to enhance the part of my brain that collects life experiences, cultivates them, and spits out something new to use as a marketing bit.
Maybe I’ve never used running with the bulls as material for a client’s advertisement, per se, but I do channel the emotions I’ve experienced in situations all over the world—like the complete helplessness of mind-numbing fear—to create something that offers comfort to consumers who might be experiencing similar emotions. It’s a win-win for both me and my organization—they get a deeper chest of potential material, and I get the satisfaction of experiencing its contents.
Through all of my “experience mining,” I often find myself feeling frantic trying to keep track of the time differences, project deadlines and creative briefs while balancing my need for adventure. When I first started out, I was lonely, overwhelmed and stressed. I had to reassess my situation.
How can a committed, entangled employee of an organization have her traveling cake and eat it too?
I put together a bible of do’s and don’ts for how to maintain human contact, give my best work to my organization, and earn a paycheck.
Read more
So Now There are Four Glass Ceilings?
Breaking the Glass CeilingIf you’ve been following any women’s career blogs lately, you’ll have read that the glass ceiling is dead, according to a new study by Ernst & Young.
Well, not quite.
In fact, according to the professional services firm’s survey of 1,000 women in the UK, the concept of the glass ceiling we’ve come to know has merely been replaced. With what? Well, with many glass ceilings.
Lately, there’s been an increasing focus on gender diversity in the workplace, explained Liz Bingham, Managing Partner, People and Talent, UK and Ireland at Ernst & Young. “But the notion that there is a single glass-ceiling for women, as a working concept for today’s modern career, is dead. Professional women have told us they face multiple barriers on their rise to the top.”
Not exactly the news we were waiting for. But, by identifying the many different challenges standing in women’s career progression, we can more accurately find ways to break through them.
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Authentic Words from Authentic Women
Industry Leaders, LeadershipThis year, our theme has been “exploring identity at work,” and we have hosted two panels exploring what it means to be a woman and LGBT in financial services in New York and in London. Recently whilst attending and speaking at Out & Equal’s Global Conference in London, I was fortunate enough to attend a breakout session called “Being a Senior Executive Woman” moderated by the skilled Jean Balfour. The panel consisted of Liz Bingham from Ernst & Young, Claudia Brind-Woody from IBM, and Alexandra van der Tuin from Accenture (Netherlands).
The panelists discussed being an authentic leader, breaking the glass ceiling, and how sponsorship has a big role to play in increasing the number of women in senior management.
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Career Coaching for Your Inner Critic
Ask A Career CoachWe all have an inner critic. She’s usually telling us:
Our inner critic pops up without notice to give us unsolicited advice. Her constant whispers keep us from reaching our potential. She saps our energy, kills our creativity, fans our fears, and squelches our spirit. What to do? Here are five steps to work with our inner critic.
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How to Manage Your Team with Positive Psychology
Office PoliticsThe standard approach to corporate human resources has come a long way in the last half-century. Up until about World War II, employees were largely viewed as corporate assets—hired for their abilities, workers were expected to perform and achieve with very little attention paid to their personal development or individual well-being. The “positive psychology” movement of the 1960s and 70s brought the idea of subjective employee satisfaction to center stage. Many of the most successful companies today, from small start-ups to multinational business conglomerates, attribute much of their success to the happiness of their workers. More companies than ever are investing in their employees’ emotional well-being, and most are seeing tremendous results.
One application of positive psychology is in the workplace environment. An employee who feels valued and cared for by her employer is more likely to be content, which in turn can lead to increased productivity, greater interest in teamwork, and fewer sick days. The feeling is contagious. Departments that work cohesively spread to divisions, floors, and units: before long, an entire company is in step and more successful than ever before.
To many managers and executives, however, dealing with employee emotions feels a bit “soft.” Overcoming the initial hesitation to care for employees as people, not just workers, is not always an easy transition. Here’s how you can make it work.
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Moms-in-Law: Balancing Priorities in Parenting and Practicing Law
Work-LifeThree years ago, Rachel Smith, employment attorney and partner in the Houston office of Baker Hostetler and mother of a then-one-year-old daughter, learned the hard way that her work/life balance was seriously out of whack.
Smith had been in the middle of another crazy week both at work and home: she was planning for her daughter’s first birthday party, family was in town, and work was exceptionally busy. To top it off, she had plans to travel with her husband to Puerto Rico for their first post-baby vacation—which meant doing double duty on the front end to clear the deck at the office.
But instead of waking up to the alarm with her husband to depart for the airport as scheduled that Sunday morning, Smith instead found herself compelled to drive back to the office late Saturday night, on the heels of her daughter’s birthday party, just to tie up a few more loose ends before leaving on vacation. The result of her midnight mission? A block away from her driveway, she fell asleep at the wheel of her SUV, wrecking her vehicle and totaling her neighbor’s car.
“I remember telling my admin mid-week that I would sleep when I was on the plane for Puerto Rico Sunday morning,” recalls Smith. “I had decided on Wednesday that I’d get sleep on Sunday—in retrospect, clearly crazy. But at the time, I felt like I had no other choice if I was going to accomplish everything I needed to get done at home and in the office before leaving on vacation.”
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Men Who Get It: Barton Hill, Global Head of Marketing, Securities and Fund Services, Citi
Men Who "Get It"“To be honest,” began Barton Hill, Managing Director, Global Head of Marketing, Securities and Fund Services, at Citi, “as a white male, there’s a lot that I didn’t know, that I’ve learned along the way.” When Hill was tapped to Chair the Bank’s North American Diversity Operating Committee, he thought it would be just be a matter of figuring out and implementing the right diversity policy. But, he continued, there was so much more.
“There’s a whole range of concerns that people of different backgrounds possess, and what different challenges lie before them. I simplistically thought we just didn’t have the right programs or we just weren’t working hard enough. But the range, and depth, and root causes – I had no idea what the obstacles were.”
Hill said he was particularly struck by the notion of “feeling safe.” He explained, “The concept of feeling safe – I never would have thought of that. Safe is not a word I would have thought of in a work environment. But it’s real.”
Armed with new knowledge and inspired by his four daughters, Hill is working hard to move the diversity journey forward as Citi transforms its business.
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