It’s odd how a color can come to represent an entire person, place, thing, or concept. When we think of the color green, we often think of freshness, newness, and yes, money. When we think of the color red we envision passion, frustrations, and stop signs. When we think of blue we contemplate the ocean, the sky, and men. ...and then there is pink. Dare To Be ‘Pink’ Pink has long been associated with women, to the pleasure of many and the chagrin of many others. Pink has long

“You can either be your greatest advocate or your own worst enemy.” Self-help books have been trying to guide women into finding their own power, discovering their own passion, and unlocking their hidden potential for decades. We are told that with just the right set of worksheets, or just enough conferences, or with a dash more open mindedness, every woman can unleash the fury that has been buried deep within her. The notion that within every woman lies an untapped reservoir

Cultural Diversity Today In as much as it can create a great competitive advantage, cultural diversity has been one of the major challenges facing many big companies. A 2017 survey by Data Force shows that about 50% of the 100 fortune 500 companies involved in the study have a workforce with over 38.7% ethnic minorities drawn from different countries worldwide. Dealing with employees and customers from different races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, gender, nationalities c

Vulnerability gets a nasty reputation We often view vulnerability as a weakness, a flaw, or a hindrance to leadership and corporate success. We have been trained, especially as women, that vulnerability is something that we need to mask. Something we need to be ashamed of. We have been programed to believe that vulnerability and leadership cannot coincide. We need to shift our thinking During a hugely popular TEDTalk by Brene Brown, the importance of vulnerability was highli

It's All Too Common It is an all too common tale: Woman graduates college. Woman lands a decent job with upward potential. Woman works hard and advances in the ranks....woman then stalls. In recent interviews and studies of female leaders and executives in the workplace, we begin to uncover the reality behind the Female Advancement Stall. While factors such as misogyny, favoritism, and social barriers do come into play, it seems that there is one smoking gun that burns bright

Life can be messy. And as much as we’d like to have control over the unknowns in this world, there will sometimes be sudden and swift challenges. You could lose a loved one, have a medical crisis, face unemployment, or experience a natural disaster without any warning. A successful life isn’t about predicting the messes. It’s about having the courage and the ability to bounce back after these potentially traumatic events. Resilience is a fancy word for how well you can adapt

I Won It Let me tell you a quick story: After spending years at my company, slowly working my way up from an executive assistant position to a team lead, I had won a promotion into a new department. It is important to me that I reiterate that this promotion was not given to me – I won it. I had been up against several other internal and external candidates, and had put in the time and work to win this position. What To Do With It Of course, after winning this promotion, I wan

Living With Shame Many women leaders might not readily admit it, but they live with a lot of shame. True, the shame is by large unfounded, but nonetheless it is there. Living With Guilt High ranking female executives are often barraged with a sense that they are doing something ‘wrong’ in their lives, either by prolonging children, forgoing marriage, or placing their career before other aspects of their lives that society says they should be focusing on. On the other hand, th

Eliminate Balance? A former executive from ExxonMobil and Phillip Morris made headlines by announcing that women need to “eliminate the word balance” from the work/life balance equation. “It sets everyone up for frustration and disappointment.” The former executive? Dede Bartlett. That seems like a rather bleak and cynical outlook, but Bartlett is not alone in her sentiments. For decades, women executives have decried the face that men do not seem to have the same difficultie