By Stephanie Wilcox (Middlefield, CT)
Making it to the top in sports takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Making it to the top in business often takes the same three components. In fact, many of today’s female executives say playing sports taught them about competition and teamwork, which translates to their career. Is this merely an anecdote, or do sports really help make girls into future business leaders? One former executive gives a resounding “Yes!”
“I believe my basketball experience can be directly linked to my business experience and success,” said Mary Claire Bonner, who retired last March from Aetna. Before retiring, the New York resident was Senior Vice President of local and regional business (LRB) for Aetna, working directly for the company’s president and “running a large business that concentrated on small and mid-size employer health benefit needs in more than 30 states.” Reflecting on the position, Bonner discovered that her favorite part about leading others was creating a strong team. The skills to be good at this, Bonner noted, started in fifth grade when she joined the basketball team.
“Playing basketball changed me as a person,” said Bonner, who played from grade school through her junior year at one of Penn State’s Commonwealth campuses. “Because I was a point guard, I had to lead in setting up plays. We learned that it’s hard to lose, but losing makes you work harder. You have to be smarter; have a better strategy.”
Bonner points out that developing a strategy on a sports team is like the business concept of developing a strategy, being smart and working hard to win. Others have recognized the same parallel of sports and high achievers and are finding ways to encourage sports involvement. According to the Hall Of Fame Network magazine, the Women’s Sports Foundation, started by female tennis champion Billie Jean King, became established because, “Sport is where our children learn about teamwork, goal setting and the pursuit of excellence. In an economic environment where the quality of our life is dependent on two-income families, our daughters cannot be less prepared for the highly competitive workplace than our sons.”
Voice of Experience: Anna Pinedo, Partner, Morrison Foerster
Voices of Experience“If you’re good at what you do, most people will understand different approaches and work styles,” said Anna Pinedo, a Partner in the Capital Markets Group at Morrison Foerster. She advises women entering law “not to assume that there is any one right path.”
“The one rule I’ve leanred is that there aren’t any hard and fast rules to follow,” Pinedo said. She continued, “All along, colleagues, clients, and friends have given me career advice. I listen carefully, but decide things for myself.”
Having been named one of the Best Lawyers in America 2010, as well as featured in Crain’s New York Business “Forty Under 40,” Investment Dealer’s Digest “Forty Under 40,” and Hispanic Business‘s “100 Most Influential Hispanics, Pinedo has build a successful, globally recognized career in capital markets and derivatives law.
Her leadership advice for professional women is: “Spend time being involved in professional organizations, talking to colleagues at other firms, and building close relationships with clients – it’s amazing how helpful other people can be.”
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How Do Team Sports Help Develop Girls into Future Leaders?
Managing ChangeMaking it to the top in sports takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Making it to the top in business often takes the same three components. In fact, many of today’s female executives say playing sports taught them about competition and teamwork, which translates to their career. Is this merely an anecdote, or do sports really help make girls into future business leaders? One former executive gives a resounding “Yes!”
“I believe my basketball experience can be directly linked to my business experience and success,” said Mary Claire Bonner, who retired last March from Aetna. Before retiring, the New York resident was Senior Vice President of local and regional business (LRB) for Aetna, working directly for the company’s president and “running a large business that concentrated on small and mid-size employer health benefit needs in more than 30 states.” Reflecting on the position, Bonner discovered that her favorite part about leading others was creating a strong team. The skills to be good at this, Bonner noted, started in fifth grade when she joined the basketball team.
“Playing basketball changed me as a person,” said Bonner, who played from grade school through her junior year at one of Penn State’s Commonwealth campuses. “Because I was a point guard, I had to lead in setting up plays. We learned that it’s hard to lose, but losing makes you work harder. You have to be smarter; have a better strategy.”
Bonner points out that developing a strategy on a sports team is like the business concept of developing a strategy, being smart and working hard to win. Others have recognized the same parallel of sports and high achievers and are finding ways to encourage sports involvement. According to the Hall Of Fame Network magazine, the Women’s Sports Foundation, started by female tennis champion Billie Jean King, became established because, “Sport is where our children learn about teamwork, goal setting and the pursuit of excellence. In an economic environment where the quality of our life is dependent on two-income families, our daughters cannot be less prepared for the highly competitive workplace than our sons.”
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Ask-a-Career-Coach: Stop Waiting for Feedback
Ask A Career CoachDo you know what your boss really thinks of you?
Not really? Well, you’re in good company. It’s an open secret that women don’t get as much performance feedback as their male colleagues. It could be that male managers fear an “emotional response,” or it could be that they fear being perceived as harsh or harassing. Whatever the reason, women are denied a crucial ingredient in professional development and advancement. Because without specific, timely, and ongoing feedback, it’s much harder for you to build your capacities and your career.
So what’s a girl to do?
Stop waiting. If your boss isn’t going to initiate the conversation, then start it yourself! Feedback is one of the many things (like promotions, raises, assignments, mentors, and information) that you may have to ask for.
Here’s how.
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Why are Women Execs Twice as Likely to Leave a Job?
Featured, Office PoliticsA new study conducted by professors at Oregon State University’s College of Business found that female executives are more than twice as likely to leave their jobs – voluntarily and involuntarily – as men. This is true despite the fact that women now dominate the ranks of university graduates across nearly all fields and that most women, before the age of 30, are not only experiencing more success than their male counterparts, but they’re also making more money than them. The October study, which appeared in the journal Economic Inquiry and analyzed data from Standard & Poor’s 1500 firms, has left many wondering: what gives?
The study found that about 7.2 percent of women executives left their jobs, compared to 3.8 percent of men and both the voluntary rates (4.3 percent versus 2.8 percent for men) and the involuntary rates (2.9 versus 0.9 percent) were higher for women executives. Despite systemic evidence that women are more likely to depart from their positions, the researchers did not find a smoking gun.
“The evidence suggests that women are being drawn out and forced out at higher rates; however, we don’t see too much evidence of a systematic pattern in the types of firms that are forcing or having women drawn out,” said John Becker-Blease, lead author of the study and assistant professor of finance at Oregon State University. “So in a sense, it seems the playing field is uniformly tilted against women across firms.”
The study also found that women are more likely to leave smaller firms and firms with more male-dominated boards. Consistent with past research, the Becker-Blease’s research also indicates that women are more likely to leave a job due to domestic or social responsibilities than men, which explains the higher voluntary departure rate. When it comes to being dismissed from a job, Becker-Blease’s research just confirms something that we’ve known for a long time: women at the mid-levels of management may not be getting the kind of opportunities and professional support that they need to advance successfully to the top ranks.
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Getting Results – Performance vs. Putting in the Hours
Managing Change“In my 20 years of experience both as a practitioner as a VP of Operations & Supply Chain and as a Business Consultant and entrepreneur across multiple industries and globally, I’ve found that those work environments focused on results over presence are at least 80% more likely to achieve bottom line results,” says Lisa Anderson, President of LMA Consulting Group, Inc. “It is amazing how much effort and hours seem to be valued in the traditional business environment yet they have no correlation to business results.”
Results are what keep businesses in business, so it’s strange to think that the Results-Only Work Environment, or ROWE, movement is a relatively new thing. Developed by Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson, ROWE is different to flexible working policies: it says that you do what you need to do in order to achieve the specified results.
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In Case You Missed It: Business News Round-Up
NewsThis week’s financial news was dominated by the following Europe’s debt crisis entering a new phase when EU finance ministers agreed an €85bn bail-out for Ireland and the outline of a permanent mechanism to deal with future debt crises; ECB bond buying steadying the euro markets; and mixed US data dampening recovery hopes.
Economic Backdrop
Commodity prices were higher across the board: copper neared record levels, and during the week gold rose above $1,400 an ounce, close to November’s nominal record high of $1,424.10.
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Intrepid Woman: Mwen regrèt ou gen pou doulè.
Intrepid Women Series“Mwen regrèt ou gen pou doulè.” (I am sorry for your pain.)
It was the chant that greeted the redhead American, Ian, who led our team, as we returned patients from surgery to their family and cots. Ian, an American from Colorado, had been volunteering at the hospital in Jimani, a small town on the Haitian/ Dominican Republic border, since the first evacuations from Port-au-Prince. Creole is the national language of Haiti, but rarely taught or studied outside of Haiti. He mastered (and taught us) that simple but heartfelt sentence in their language, and it created an immediate bond between all of us. In that small phrase, we were able to cross cultural boundaries.
I was thousands of miles away from my corporate life. I had just parted company with my former employer, a casualty of the financial crisis. The timing proved perfect to volunteer as a relief worker in the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake.
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Strategies to Shatter the Startling Leadership Disparity
Breaking the Glass CeilingA report recently released by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and the University of Bath School of Management revealed that women are 6 times less likely than men of similar professional experience to be CFOs or CEOs.
Similarly, in the UK women make up 46.6% of the working population – but they only hold 12.2% of board positions in the FTSE100. Sandra Rapacioli, CIMA’s R&D Manager added, “And of our members in the UK, males make 24% more than our female members.”
She continued, “We were surprised there still remains such a big pay and seniority gap in this day and age.” Fortunately, CIMA has produced a report detailing the best practices of women who have managed to break the glass ceiling, with advice for women at all levels of their careers.
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Voice of Experience: Linda Bracken, CEO and Founder of YJT Solutions
Voices of ExperienceLooking out the 38th floor window in a conference room at YJT Solutions, I can see straight ahead of me the Ceres statue that sits on top of the Chicago Board of Trade. Also known as the Roman Goddess of Agriculture or the Eternal Mother, the statue overlooks Chicago’s financial district and LaSalle Street.
The maternal sighting seems significant as I sit down to interview Linda Bracken, CEO and founder of YJT Solutions.
“People say that when you have kids the love is greater than you could ever expect and that is true,” she said. “But the sense of responsibility for my children as well as my employees is greater than I could have ever have imagined as well.”
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5 Ways You Can Be a Better Manager – It’s All About Personality
Managing ChangeRecent studies show that employee engagement is way down, and that many employees are looking for new opportunities – or they intend to, as soon as the economy picks up steam. But don’t worry! A number of studies have also revealed what these employees are looking for, and what can motivate them to stick around – good management. This means a manager with high EQ, who understands personal motivations, and who is looking out for their employees best interests and development.
Working now to improve your relationships with your employees, as well as providing tailored learning and development opportunities for them, can help stem future job losses – as well as build a more productive and motivated team today.
According to Bob Kreisberg, Founder, President, and CEO of OPUS Productivity, the best way to strengthen workplace relationships is to delve into your employees’ personality profile. According to Kreisberg, “If you understand the strengths of that person, you will understand what motivates them.” Here’s how.
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