Today is Better than Yesterday – The Glass Ceiling is History

by Nancy F. Clark (Follow her on Twitter)
Named one of Forbes: Thirty Women Entrepreneurs To Follow On Twitter

 

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Finally, and dramatically, public perception has changed!

Five years ago, anyone could say, “ A woman or an African American man cannot be elected President,” and it would be assumed to be true. Now, even though Hillary Clinton did not win, we can picture either type of candidate having a viable chance in the future. Imagine the change: Race or gender no longer eliminates you from becoming President of the United States!

This perception is percolating down into our business world with the outstanding performance of a number of female CEO’s: Carol Bartz of Yahoo, Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo, Ellen Kullman of DuPont, Irene Rosenfeld of Kraft Foods, Ursula Burns of Xerox, as well as Angela Braly of WellPoint one of our largest Fortune 500 companies.

The Rules are Changing

You no longer have to dress like a man or act like a man to reach upper management—the level that was forbidden by the glass ceiling. You can act in a style that’s comfortable to you as long as you show others they can have confidence in you. My Business Tip of the Week shows you how to do this.

The Glass Ceiling Effect

Some of you may be wondering, “How strong was that glass ceiling?” With nearly half the U.S. workforce female, it only allowed 15% of the upper management desks to be occupied by women. So, assuming as I do, that women and men are equally competent in their abilities, we would be seeing 50% of those desks occupied by women if the glass ceiling had not existed.

This glass ceiling effect took place over and over again at review time. There’s a little bit of subjective thinking in a review, in the manager’s mind, that pushes a competent worker over the threshold into a higher level position. It goes like this, “She’s doing a good job . . . but she doesn’t look like upper management material in our company.” Well, that’s true. She probably doesn’t appear as confident or as imposing. She probably talks about her business worries—men work harder to not expose any weakness. And she probably doesn’t look like the current upper managers, 85% of whom are men.

What Must You Do?

Individually, we have to remove gender bias—along with racial and ethnic bias—from our subjective promotion criteria. I need to emphasize here that it doesn’t matter if the reviewing manager is male or female. We’ve been comparing our employees to men at the top. So, it’s up to each of us to do our part to conduct unbiased reviews—making sure the glass ceiling stays in the past.

5 Steps for Moving Up

Here’s what you can do to speed your ascent into the realm of upper management.

1. Believe that the glass ceiling is obsolete and that it won’t affect you. You know, act as if there’s no sexism left in business. Remember that others who still hold that belief are hanging onto a passé dogma.

1. Make a point of showing you’re a decision maker. You can solicit input, but assume your role as the final decision maker on projects. You must overturn that erroneous stereotype that women are indecisive. Management studies show female managers are good at making decisions.

1. Force yourself to be more of a risk taker. Women are more risk averse than men, and sometimes miss business opportunities. So, up your risk taking by 15%, 20%, or whatever takes you slightly out of your 100% safety zone.

1. Speak up when others will notice—remember, you’re now a player. Act like one.

1. Get help at home—help with the cleaning, help with the children, help with your elders—don’t assume you have to do it all. You’ll still have moments when you feel overwhelmed with your “other life duties,” but try not to complain at work. Your superiors might decide you can’t take on higher assignments.

My Business Tip of the Week asks you to join me in prodding companies to do the right thing. Here it is.

Business Tip of the Week:

See to it that the statistics for your company are published. The Internet is a good place. The purpose of these stats is to highlight your company’s positive role in shattering the glass ceiling, such as:  “Five years ago, 11% of the top 2 tiers of our company were female. This year we’ve progressed to 15% and we’re looking forward to progressing next year as well.” A public record of this is an incentive to do even better next year. And I’m all for incentives, because they work!

Be sure to visit our site, www.WomensMedia.com to get Expert Advice for Working Women.

Now that the glass ceiling is history, make your move—with confidence.

Be sure to visit our site, www.WomensMedia.com to get Expert Advice for Working Women.

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Website, WomensMedia, by Hilary M. Lips, Women and Leadership: The Delicate Balancing Act See solutions that smooth the way for women leaders.

Blog, Women’s Lunch Talk, by Stacey Hanke, Communication and Vocal Power —Using Your Voice to Convey Confidence or listen to it here.

Podcast (always about 5 minutes), Working in Heels, by Nancy Clark, Gender Stereotypes Hold Women Back—Those Little Put-Downs Really Do Add Up!

Here’s How You Can Stop Procrastination Fast!

by Nancy F. Clark (Follow her on Twitter)
Named one of Forbes: Thirty Women Entrepreneurs To Follow On Twitter

 

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Here’s one of my favorite quotes. It’s by Marsha Evans.

You can have unbelievable intelligence, you can have connections, you can have opportunities fall out of the sky. But in the end, hard work is the true, enduring characteristic of successful people.

Do you need help overcoming procrastination? Are you late with business projects—are you late meeting arrival times? Here’s what works for a lot of people. It’s called the Reverse Calendar method. I first started using this technique when I needed to drive somewhere and arrive on time. I’ll admit, I was arriving late for lots of things, things you wouldn’t want to be late for. My kids were even getting annoyed. When it reached the critical stage, I was forced to plan ahead: What time do I need to be at my presentation? What do I need to pick up on the way? What do I need to drop off on the way? And what if I hit a little traffic?

You know how it goes for driving. You pick your arrival time at your destination and add a little time cushion in case traffic isn’t cooperating. And here’s a tip, if you’re expecting a stressful day, do what I’ve started doing (now that I’m a reformed procrastinator), I add another time cushion that will relieve stress because when I arrive early, I can read something fun or something informative before going in. I take that along with me as an incentive. It’s my non-food reward. Hmmm, I bet the candy advertisers don’t want to hear that, but I guess the book-selling advertisers will support my thinking.

Well, we’ve taken care of driving, but we need to talk about those business projects that are occupying the worry section of your brain.

For a business project, you need to break it down into Discreet Steps, the smaller the better. Sometimes it’s a little step that fouls up your schedule, such as: Contact James about X.

Write down the date when the project needs to be completed. And now give yourself a cushion of a day or two, and write the date of this deadline as your Optimal Project Deadline. Won’t you feel good when you meet this deadline?

For each small step, write down how long it will take you to complete. Obviously, it’s called the reverse calendar method because you work backwards from this deadline, writing on your calendar when you’ll do each step that you’ve outlined. Scheduling the exact amount of time at the exact time of day, will do a lot toward overcoming procrastination—that is, if you obey your calendar. But, you’re going to do that, because you’re no longer a procrastinator! Ah, positive thinking feels good—Wayne Dyer was right.

My Women in Business Tip of the Week gives you an added bonus for your project. Now here it is.

Women in Business Tip of the Week:

Pick a project you need to tackle. Write down the name of this project to ensure that it’s the only one you’re going to think about right now. Give it a jazzy name, just for fun, or for more positive thinking! Follow the Reverse Calendar procedure, pick your Optimal Project Deadline, break the project into Discreet Steps, and schedule them (in pencil at this point) at exact days and times on your calendar.

Now here’s where I’m adding something that I believe will make your project turn out even better—a project bonus. I’m advising you to add an extra step to your list. You decide where to put this extra step—where it’ll make the most difference in whether your project is good or whether it’s great. For some projects, this will be at the beginning where time for creative thinking could pay off. For example, that creative thinking could lead you to run a quick survey to bolster your information. For other projects, this will be at the end where having another set of eyeballs doing the proofreading is important.

Add that bonus in. Doesn’t it feel good? You have a head start, and you know you have work to do. Now, get out there and do it!

—How Doing It Now Can Save You Time

by Nancy F. Clark (Follow her on Twitter)
Named one of Forbes: Thirty Women Entrepreneurs To Follow On Twitter

 

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Here’s a relevant quote by Susan L. Taylor:

We don’t have an eternity to realize our dreams,
only the time we are here.

Well, that’s a sobering thought, but that’s the reason you’re here today, to learn how to manage the time you’ve got. Recently, I talked about putting your To-Do List together. You know, with the priorities and all.

Now, here’s a little change I want to add. For better time management, I want you to add a Do It Now category to that list. Put it right at the top. This relates to a task that takes very little time. Would you like me to put a number to it? Okay. If a task will take less than 5 minutes, you’re going to do it now!

There’s one condition to this. Can you guess? I want you to quickly add this to your To Do List—at the top under the heading Do It Now. I know this takes a teeny bit of time, but there’s a reason. When you finish your Do It Now tasks, you can bask in your success. You can pat yourself on the back and tell yourself, “I am no longer a procrastinator!” Now there’s some good self-talk!

After this becomes a habit, you can drop writing down each task. Research shows that it takes approximately 21 days of doing something before it becomes ingrained as a habit. So, give it the 3-week challenge. If the self-talk congratulations are a welcome new positive attitude habit, then by all means, keep doing it. With a positive attitude, I think gold and silver will start landing on your doorstep. But we’re not concerned about that—we’re concerned about time.

My Women in Business Tip of the Week gives you an added time bonus. Now here it is.

Women in Business Tip of the Week:

I can give you a hint of the time bonus with just one word: Delegate. If you want specific information on delegation, go to the WomensMedia.com site and do a search for “delegation.” Your push from me this week is to carefully look over your To Do List and find one—merely one—task that you can delegate to someone else. It doesn’t even have to be someone in your own business. You could delegate a task to an outside vendor or service. If there’s cost involved, think about how much your time is worth to you. And remember the quote—you don’t have an eternity.

All you have to do is find one task. Pull out that To Do List, and find it and you’ll be on the road to better time management!

Be sure to visit our site, www.WomensMedia.com to get Expert Advice for Working Women.

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Website, WomensMedia, by Lynea corson-Hadley, Not Reaching Your Goals Fast Enough?

Blog, Women’s Lunch Talk, by Nancy Clark, Time Management: You Can Organize Your Desk With These Easy Steps! An Organized Desk Will Save You Time Starting Today listen to it here.

Website, WomensMedia, by Lynea Corson-Hadley, Design Your Own Business Or Job
If you feel stuck in a job or career that doesn’t suit you, if you’re not happy and excited about going to work each day, maybe it’s time to make a change — because it doesn’t have to be that way.

by Nancy F. Clark (Follow her on Twitter)
Named one of Forbes: Thirty Women Entrepreneurs To Follow On Twitter

 

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1.  Imagine you’re on your deathbed – an unpleasant enough visual to catch your attention, as it should. It makes you think about the shortness of life and the importance of doing things that are important to you. If you knew you might die soon, say next year, what things would you want to quickly begin accomplishing? Think about various facets of your life and pinpoint the 3 most important items for each.

2.  Drop pessimism. I especially want to talk to you if you look at whatever’s unsatisfactory in your life, and say, “That’s the way it is. Things are bad. I’m just being realistic.” If you don’t drop the pessimism, you’re squandering chances of success. Admit it, people with an optimistic outlook go farther. Others want to be around them—others want to help them. They have a headstart. Hey, it’s an attitude. You can change an attitude. Studies have shown that when people are told to intentionally smile, even if they don’t feel like it, they start feeling happier. And, people react to them in a more pleasant manner. It’s a vicious cycle (in a good way): You force yourself to smile, you feel better, others smile back at you, they feel better, they turn and smile at someone else—or do someone a favor, who then passes the favor on. That’s a vicious cycle we should strive for. Adopt a new attitude—your new mantra is “I’m an optimist at heart.”  Now and then bad things happen, even to optimists. Reframe these things. They are now Challenges—and you’re up to the Challenge. Right? Right!

3.  Take up acting. You know, act as if . Who is the role model for the life you want to lead? How does she talk, dress, carry herself? Aim high. Assume this is a class project—and you expect to get an A+ for your efforts. It’s interesting, the thoughts that go through your mind before you take an action register strongly in your subconscious. In fact, scientists say your subconscious can’t distinguish between imagined actions and real actions. This explains how an athlete can improve her game by adding visualization sessions. So, visualize yourself acting in a new manner. Start strengthening those new, improved brain circuits!

4.  Meet new people. It’s stimulating to meet new people. Find out what they’re interested in—what they like to do. Tell them a little about yourself, but don’t hog the conversation. So often people are thinking about the next comment they want to make and consequently steer the conversation away from where the other person was headed. My Tip of the Week deals with this topic.

I’m frequently surprised that the impression I have of someone before I get to know them is way off base. Now, I try to give them a chance to change that first impression. I’m conditioning myself to not label people as Probably-An-Artist or Not-A-Serious-Business-Person before I give them a speaking chance. Who knows, they could be both! (I am.)

5.  Take baby steps at first. Sometimes we avoid going after a goal because it seems like such a big deal to undertake. This is one of the reasons we often procrastinate, saying, “I’m not quite ready to do that. I’m sure I will be soon.”  What if you decided to start right now, but with the intention to only do a teeny, tiny bit—only take a baby step? It might be to do an Internet search. This might give you the incentive to take one more baby step—maybe make a phone call. Those are easily doable, right? Each day that you find yourself leaning toward procrastination, take one more baby step.

My Business Tip of the Week deals with Meeting New People.

Here it is.

Business Tip of the Week:

I advise women in business to set a goal of meeting new people who could help them in business. You set the number. For instance, you could decide you want to meet 1 new person each month who could accelerate your business. If it’s a client you’re thinking about, perhaps 1 a week would be your goal.

There’s one more goal you could consider. How about setting your sites on someone who is living the business life you aspire to? You’d be surprised how often a high-level person is willing to impart advice to someone who admires them. Try it!

Be sure to visit our site, www.WomensMedia.com to get Expert Advice for Working Women.

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Website, WomensMedia, by Caroline Jalango, How To Motivate Yourself Toward A Worthwhile Goal

Blog, Women’s Lunch Talk, by Nancy Clark, Time Management & Procrastination —Tackling Procrastination Is A Time Management Tool That Works!or listen to it here.

Podcast (always about 5 minutes), Working in Heels, by Nancy Clark, Organizing Your Desk For Time Management Results —Spending Time On Organization Is Time Well Spent!

Website, WomensMedia, by Lynea Corson-Hadley, Design Your Own Business Or Job
If you feel stuck in a job or career that doesn’t suit you, if you’re not happy and excited about going to work each day, maybe it’s time to make a change — because it doesn’t have to be that way.

Is Your Goal to Mix Happiness and Business?

by Nancy F. Clark (Follow her on Twitter)
Named one of Forbes: Thirty Women Entrepreneurs To Follow On Twitter

 

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If you’ve suspected that happy people get better work evaluations and higher pay, then you’re right. A 15-year study in Australia showed this is true. Happiness has wide ranging effects. According to Professor Martin Seligman (author of Authentic Happiness), “…it turns out that adults and children who are put into a good mood select higher goals, perform better, and persist longer on a variety of laboratory tasks, such as solving anagrams.” Ah, that means happiness improves motivation as well. More Good News.

Did you ever expect to hear the words “scientific” and “happiness” in the same sentence? I didn’t, but now I’m happy about it.

Recent scientific reports show your happiness level is something that can be increased with a minimum amount of effort. Don’t you want to be happier? Don’t you think others like to be around happy people? Professor Sonja Lyubomirsky of the University of California (author of The How of Happiness) has conducted happiness research with thousands of men and women. The Good News is that a full 40% of your happiness level is completely within your control. You may have received Unhappy Genes and suffered Unfortunate Life Circumstances, but you still get a clean 40% at your command. And the tasks you can do are surprisingly easy.

Before I talk about these tasks, let’s get the 3 Big Happiness Myths out of the way.

Myth #1: Happiness is something that you find, like Shangri-la. This is not true, so don’t wait around for this magical occurrence.

Myth #2: Our circumstances determine our happiness. This is not true, so don’t think, “IF only this would happen, THEN I’d be happy.” I think this is a trap everyone falls into at some time.

Myth #3: You either have it or you don’t. Not true either. I’ve already told you’ve got 40% to develop. You can make improvements.

Let’s get to the 12 tasks that Professor Lyubomirsky says will help you. She has an instant aversion to overly sweet sounding ideas, as I do. But, when she pushed herself to write gratitude letters to colleagues, she was surprised with the positive effect on others and on herself. So give yourself a little push. These are simple tasks. You don’t need to try all 12 of them. You could start out by selecting 4 that sound most appealing to you. Later, you can get around to other 8 and astound yourself with the results. Let me know about these astounding results. While you’re at it, get a copy of The How of Happiness and take its personal inventory and recommendations.

Here are the 12 simple tasks.

1. Express gratitude — You can tell others or you can write down 5 every evening for a week.
2. Cultivate optimism — Keep a journal of Your Best Possible Future. I’ll talk more about this in my Tip of the Week.
3. Avoid overthinking and social comparison — Cut down on how often you rethink your problems and compare yourself to others. Cut down on thoughts, such as, “I wish I wouldn’t have said that! I should have said …”
4. Practice acts of kindness — This is one of those overly sweet sounding ideas that I’m surprised I’ve become addicted to doing at least once a day. And scientists now have proof that “pay it forward” is something that usually happens. It’s saccharine, but true. I agree with Robert Wright (author of Non-Zero, another book you should get) that altruism is built into our genes. It’s helped our survival. As Martha Stewart would say, “It’s a good thing.”  Nah, I can’t get that sweet.
5. Nurture relationships — Spend time and energy in cultivating and enjoying a relationship, or healing an ailing relationship.
6. Develop strategies for coping — Practice ways to handle or get over stress, hardship, or trauma.
7. Learn to forgive — Write a letter in which you try to let go of anger or resentment of someone. It is necessary to write it, but not necessary to mail it.
8. Do more activities that truly engage you — I call these “flow activities” that you find challenging and absorbing. You know you’re in flow when you lose track of time. If you’re interested in this topic, you absolutely have to read the book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.
9. Savor life’s joys — Pay close attention and replay life’s momentary pleasures and wonders, through thinking, writing, drawing, or sharing with another.
10. Commit to your goals — Pick one, or several of your goals and devote time and effort to pursuing them.
11. Practice religion and spirituality — Devote thought and energy to whichever form is comfortable for you.
12. Take care of your body — Engage in physical activity, meditating, smiling, and laughing.

So, pick your Top 4 and devote attention to them. Later, pick up the other 8 and see how high you can raise your Happiness Level. Who could object to that?

My Business Tip of the Week deals with Task #2 Cultivating Optimism.

Here it is.

Business Tip of the Week:

This will not take much of your time. It will take 20 minutes tonight and 20 minutes for each of the next 3 nights. Research at two universities (by Professor Sonja Lyubomirsky, and by Professor Laura King) has shown this small investment of time can make a significant difference in your life.

Select a blank notebook and begin writing a journal of Your Best Possible Future. Be sure to cover each area of your life—I mean, your future life. Picture yourself in the future, after everything has gone as well as it could. You’ve worked hard and accomplished your life goals. For instance, Julie Anne could say, “I can imagine myself married with 2 children, working in the Internet field, spending summer vacations in Montana with my family, meditating and exercising on a regular schedule, planning social outings, organizing art exhibitions, and performing the saxophone with The Big Sky Cowgirls.”

Remember, scientists have shown us we can increase our happiness, optimism, and our motivation. Spending 4 nights on this exercise will make a difference, and devoting another night, maybe once a month, will improve it even more. How much of an improvement in Your Best Possible Future do you want to see? Make it happen. It’s within your control!

Be sure to visit our site, www.WomensMedia.com to get Expert Advice for Working Women.

Website, WomensMedia, by Gretchen Rubin, 10 Tips from Gretchen Rubin on How to Be Happy at Work

Blog, Women’s Lunch Talk, by Nancy Clark, Balancing Work, Family, Friends And More —Consider 8 Aspects In Your Work-Life Balance or listen to it here.

Podcast (always about 5 minutes), Working in Heels, by Nancy Clark, The Good News About Women And Leadership —Here’s Something to be Happy About!

Blog, Women’s Lunch Talk, by Nancy Clark, Reduce Stress With Mindfulness —One Minute of Focus Is A Minute Well Spent or listen to it here.

Website, WomensMedia, by Sarita Maybin, How to Stay Positive in a Negative Workplace.

For Time Management Keep Your Priorities In Mind

by Nancy F. Clark (Follow her on Twitter)
Named one of Forbes: Thirty Women Entrepreneurs To Follow On Twitter

 

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If you’re a working woman, chances are you want to be a success in your job and you want to

be a success with your family and your friends, and you want some time for yourself as well. Talk about a full bucket!

Well, there’s only so much time available in that bucket—we aren’t allowed to make it bigger. So the quantity of tasks we put into this bucket each day is limited. You know you could easily fill it tomorrow with any 1 of these categories:

• Job
• Family
• Friends
• Yourself

1. First, you need some research. You need to know what works best for other working women. Our audience members at www.WomensMedia.com have tested our ideas and have saluted the one I’m about to tell you. Most of these women have agreed with us that they’re near a computer and would like to use it for their lists. We agree. This does make it nice and easy—and it looks good too! Aesthetics are important. Well, actions are too.

2. Now you need to know how to format any item on your To-Do List. It can’t be something difficult to do in one sitting, like “Prepare the Marketing Report.”  You might have a file for the Marketing Report. If you’re one of those Super-Organized Women, you probably have an outline of the steps that need to be taken—and the steps are in order! Nah, I’m not one of those women either. So, just think about the Marketing Report and decide what is one physical action that should be taken first. It might be an action such as, “Email, phone, or visit Jan to get her data.” That’s still not quite right. You have to state the exact action you’re going to take—OK, OK, I’ll email her.

3. You remember those 4 categories I mentioned, Job, Family, Friends, and Yourself? (You might want to add others, such as Church, etc.) Well, start with each of these separately, putting To-Do items—just a few—under each. When you’re a working woman it’s tough to decide which category is more important—so don’t do that yet!

4. At the left of each item put:

• “H” for high priority
• “M” for medium priority, or
• “L” for low priority.

You have a column of priority levels, then tab over, and you have the tasks listed. Look over the items you’ve listed as High Priority. Now think about the direction you want your career to take. Are you missing a task that will lead you there? This only takes a minute, but it’s a minute you should give your To-Do List each day. Now put your tasks into priority order, and see why using a computer is so helpful.

Here’s the customization decision only you can make:  Do you want to see 4 categories on your To-Do List separately or do you want to lump them together? Either way, keep the total number of tasks low. You want this to be a Doable To-Do List for the day.

5. At the end of the day, put an “X” in front of the tasks you’ve completed. Congratulate yourself for doing a good—or pretty good—job! In fact, why don’t you give yourself a little reward? Why not? It reinforces this good behavior—and it adds to the “Yourself” category that’s probably not seeing much activity.

I have 2 Business Tips of the Week to give you. I know I’m going overboard.

Tip #1:

Working women use those computers! Is there a chance down the line that you’ll want to compile a list of completed tasks to show someone else? Or for your own use? In that case, save the file with the date and use the untackled tasks—don’t feel bad if there are some—to start the next day’s list. When you’re assigning the high, medium, or low priority to these reappearing tasks, add the letter to the front of the line. This way you can quickly see if you’re avoiding an item—there’ll be a double or a triple letter there. Ooow, sounds bad. You’re right; it’s not good. My advice is to uncover the problem. Is this something someone else should be handling? Is there an unpleasant side to this task that you need to commit to handling? What will happen if this task is never handled? Hmmm, maybe that’s an incentive.

Tip #2:

Here’s another customization decision you must make:  Do you think it will help you to put approximate times next to some of the items? For example:

• “I’ll do this before 11 am.” – or
• “At 2 pm I’ll drop everything else and I’ll do this task” – or
• “Before I go into the meeting I will do this. And I mean it!”

If so, put this in parentheses after the item. In fact, I list it in blue ink instead of black. Aesthetics, you know are important—almost as important as actions.

Now, go out there and act on your To-Do List. It’s a great stress reliever!

(on the podcast, I added a segment) If you’re one of those people who are really into self-improvement and want to compete with yourself—as I’m doing—here’s a bonus tip. At the end of each day, see how many tasks of each priority you’ve completed. For instance, if you finished 3 out 5 high priority items, write down 3/5 H, if you did all 4 of the medium priorities, put 4/4 M, and if you hit 2 out of 5 low items, put 2/5 L. Now put these fractions down on a chart and see how much you can improve!

Visit our website, www.WomensMedia.com, for Expert Advice for Working Women.

On our website, WomensMedia Expert Advice for Business Women you should read these excellent articles:

How to Succeed in Business by Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz

Self-Talk Your Way to a Stronger Self-Image by Dianne Schilling

Podcast (only about 5 minutes), Working in Heels, by Nancy Clark, A Female Brain Is A Good Brain —Can We Talk About A Female Brain Advantage? How About  “Equal.”
or read it here.

Blog, Women’s Lunch Talk, by Sharon Michaels, Do You Have the Traits of a Leader?
or listen to it here.

For quick updates for Business Women you should follow NancyFClark on twitter here.

An Organized Desk Will Save You Time Starting Today

by Nancy F. Clark (Follow her on Twitter)
Named one of Forbes: Thirty Women Entrepreneurs To Follow On Twitter

 

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Visual this: You have a clean desk, no clutter. Ahhh. Every drawer you open has tidy compartments. Nice. You know exactly where to go to find the most important To Do’s and where to go to find the most pressing Urgent To Do’s —they’re rarely the same items! How true.

I’m going to assume you have file drawers with labeled file folders in them. We’ll talk about that another time.

We probably all agree that this would be great. How do we get there? Things that used to be recommended, such as an accordion file for things on hold, don’t make sense to me in an information-heavy environment. Also, forget about the advice of having an Input Tray that rapidly accumulates tons of paper. It gives me the feeling of having a non-specific, hard to look at file folder on my computer. We can do better than that!

I recommend you handle every piece of paper as soon as it comes in. If it’s junk, make it invisible immediately—it goes into the trash. If it’s an item to deal with, make a note on your To Do List—and that list better be on the computer with its own desktop icon because it’s that important. Now, put the piece of paper into a file folder with associated items and into your file drawer in your office. If you don’t have an appropriate folder, now’s the time to label one. If you’re worried about memory lapses, put the name of the new folder next to the item on your To Do List. Now you can avoid that nagging But-I-May-Lose-It feeling. If the piece of paper could be dealt with by someone else, give it to them. If he or she is the type of person who may not take action soon enough, you can have an item on your To Do List, such as “Things I gave to Karen’s assistant” and put a date next to it. If she forgets to handle it, let her know you keep a list of things you give her with the date, and she may start doing your things first.

Wouldn’t you feel more efficient if you could file some of these papers in your computer? And wouldn’t it be even better if you threw away the now obsolete papers? Bask in that great feeling ‘cause that’s what you’re going to do. Scan that piece of paper and save it as a PDF file, or run it through an OCR program (optical character recognition) so it’s now a regular document. Save it on your computer in an easy to find file. Throw away the piece of paper. Pat yourself on the back!

I used to have a problem with Post-Its. I’d write a search phrase or the URL of a site I wanted to look up. These colorful bits of paper made my desk look archaic. Now, I stick the related bits onto one piece of typing paper. I should (and I will) put this into a file folder that stays near my computer. But there’s always something to work on. I haven’t done that yet.

My Business Tip of the Week covers another type of clutter that probably haunts your desk.

Also, be sure to visit our website, www.WomensMedia.com, for Expert Advice for Working Women.

Now here’s my Business Tip of the Week:

There’s one type of desk clutter I have that I haven’t mentioned, and it’s a biggie for me. There are a number of business books that publishers send to me to review, and there are a number of journals I receive that I like to read, and I should read. I can’t stuff them in a file drawer or pass them off to Karen’s assistant. I’ve decided they cannot reside on my clutter-free desk. I put a chair next to the desk, somewhat out of site, and that’s where the books wait for me. The journals go next to my purse, also out of site, where I can easily pick them up on my way out of the office. The ones that stay on the bottom too long are ready to be tossed.

On our website, WomensMedia Expert Advice for Business Women you should read these excellent articles:

Organize Your Filing Systems:  A Four-Step Formula That Really Works by Sally Allen

Five Cures for Busyness:  Are You Constantly On The Go? by Ali Hale

For quick updates for Business Women you should follow NancyFClark on twitter here.

By Stacey Hanke (Read about her here.)

 

 Public Speaking Using Visual Aids Effectively: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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How many times have you seen a speaker use visual aids packed with words, data and facts? As you get lost in the visual, the speaker’s message also gets lost. You leave the presentation confused and wonder why the speaker wasted your time when it would have been easier to simply send the visual aids by email.

According to a study by the University of Minnesota, visual aids can increase by 43 percent your chance of persuading an audience to accept your position. In addition, studies by Harvard and Columbia show that visual aids improve retention by up to 38 percent. This is why it is critical that your visual aids not lose sight of the message objective.

Your visual aid is not the message. You are the message. For example, avoid putting every word you plan to say on a PowerPoint slide. Instead, build your story into your visual aids.

Follow our tips on the podcast for getting the most out of your visual aids.

——————–

Be sure to visit our site, WomensMedia to get Expert Advice for Business Women.

For quick updates for Business Women you should follow NancyFClark on Twitter, or StaceyHanke here.

Sign up for the WomensMedia Newsletter.  We make it easy!

On our website, WomensMedia you should read this: Leadership Success Advice from Yahoo Chairman of the Board, Carol Bartz

and you may benefit from this:  5 Ways to Lead an Unstoppable Team, Sylvia Lafair, Ph.D.

It may help to listen to:

How To Give Criticism — Sandwich Style Is Not Best!

A Good Leader Learns How To Give Criticism To Her Team
or read the blog here.

Sign up for the WomensMedia Newsletter.  We make it easy!

How to Grab Listener Attention in 30 Seconds or Less

By Stacey Hanke (Read about her here.)

 

 Public Speaking: Structuring Your Message: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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“We are here today to talk about…” How many times have you heard individuals open a meeting, conference call, sales call or presentation with those words? Do they grab your attention? Most likely not. Listeners usually know where they are—and why. You don’t need to state the obvious and encourage them to tune out.

To grab listener attention within the first 30 seconds, you need structure. Most individuals fall into the trap of saying too much in the first minute of a conversation (or presentation).

Keep in mind that people remember the first and last things that are said. Therefore, it is critical that your message include a powerful beginning, and a dynamic ending that includes your opinion, the call to action and a summary of benefits.

When you are creating these elements of your talk, write down trigger words to minimize verbosity and to prevent you from writing word-for-word what you are planning to communicate. If you need to use notes while delivering your message, trigger words will spark your thoughts. Write two to three trigger words or bullet points for each idea you have. Your listener does not want to be read to, nor do you want your message to seem memorized or scripted.

Trigger words will allow you to convey a message that is conversational and welcoming. It is natural to lose your train of thought during a presentation, sales call, meeting, conference call, webinar or face-to-face conversation. Trigger words will jog your memory and get you back on track quickly.

To guarantee your message has impact and influence, follow these four steps.

1. Opinion

If your listeners think you do not believe in your topic, why should they? To influence your listener, share your opinion and feelings about the topic. If you do not state your opinion, your listeners will be confused about your position and what you want them to do. Stating your opinion adds believability to your message and builds listener trust.

Two examples of opinion statements are, “Communication skills are essential to getting your message across” and “Our current position with the ABC project will either make or break our budget.”

State your opinion in the opening and closing of your message. Stating your opinion will increase learner retention and the likelihood that listeners will take action.

2. Action Steps: General and Specific

Communicating directly to your listener what you want them to do increases the likelihood that you will get the desired results. Remember, this is the reason you are communicating the information in the first place. If you are struggling to identify what action you want your listeners to take, you may need to look for a more appropriate way to convey the information.

General Action Step

A general action step states what you want listeners to do while they are physically present during your message. This action step will be part of your opening. Examples are, “Consider applying these new behaviors” and “Explore the opportunities.”

Specific Action Step

Identify a specific action that is measurable and quantifiable. A specific action step puts commitment in the lap of your listener. Listeners need to walk away with a clear understanding of what you are asking them to do. State this action step in the closing of your talk. For example, “Set a goal by the end of the day on Friday identifying how you will practice and get feedback on the skills and techniques we have discussed.”

3. Benefits

When listeners are asked to take action, they want to know what’s in it for them. When you show listeners the benefits of taking action, you increase the odds that they will comply.

Identify two to three benefits your listener will receive as a result of performing the action you recommend. For example, “Setting a goal by Friday will help increase listener trust, enhance your credibility and boost your confidence.”

Remind listeners that your information is of value to them. The benefits may seem obvious to you, but your listeners need to hear and understand them. Benefits are the most persuasive elements of your talk. Repeat the benefits in the opening and closing of your message.

Let’s put these steps together for your opening and closing. If my topic were communication skills, I would open and close as follows:

Opening

“Communication skills are critical to influencing action. Stay open to the skills and techniques you will practice here today. These skills will increase listener trust and the credibility of you and your message.”

Closing

“Communication skills are critical to influencing action. Set a goal by the end of today identifying how you will practice your new skills and how you will get feedback. By using these skills, you will quickly build trust and credibility with your listeners and influence action.”

Be sure to visit our site, WomensMedia to get Expert Advice for Business Women.

For quick updates for Business Women you should follow NancyFClark on Twitter, or StaceyHanke here.

Sign up for the WomensMedia Newsletter.  We make it easy!

On our website, WomensMedia you should read this: Leadership Success Advice from Yahoo Chairman of the Board, Carol Bartz

and you may benefit from this:  5 Ways to Lead an Unstoppable Team, Sylvia Lafair, Ph.D.

It may help to listen to:

How To Give Criticism — Sandwich Style Is Not Best!

A Good Leader Learns How To Give Criticism To Her Team
or read the blog here.

Sign up for the WomensMedia Newsletter.  We make it easy!

Save Time And Boost Your Leadership Status

by Nancy F. Clark (Follow her on Twitter)
Named one of Forbes: Thirty Women Entrepreneurs To Follow On Twitter

 

 Delegation and Time Management [4:51m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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In a previous post, Time Management & Procrastination, I mentioned that delegating tasks to others can save you time. I urged you to stop procrastinating and start giving them away. Now I’m going to say, “Take a few extra minutes—this is not procrastinating—to decide exactly which tasks would be the ones to give away.”

If you own the company and feel like making coffee, running the copier, and wiping smudges off windows, go ahead with the busywork. But if you work for others and you’re concerned that they may not view you as Leadership Material, drop these tasks as soon as you can.

The fact that you’re concerned about time management lets me know that you have more than enough to do at work. That’s good, because it means there’s probably something you can delegate.

Why don’t some people want to delegate?

1. It could be that they want to appear indispensable—you know, “Just try to replace me!”
2. It could be they think it’ll be too much trouble to explain to someone else how to do the job.
3. Or, it could be they don’t want to accept the responsibility of making sure this other person is performing the new task well and on schedule.

To all three above, I say if you want to be considered Leadership Material, get over it! Now, are you ready to delegate? Good, here’s the Business Tip of the Week.

Tip:

There are certain tasks that lower your perceived status in the eyes of others. Your self-improvement lesson this week starts with jotting down the tasks you do in a month’s time. Put an up arrow in front of the status-enhancing ones and a down arrow in front of the down-dragging ones.

Concentrate on the down arrows. Add a #1 to those that you can see others doing fairly soon. Ah, who can you dump these on? No, let’s not get negative here. It may be possible to mentor an underling. What if you combined a couple of your menial tasks with one that’s a level up for this person? You could coach her (or him) while making sure those tasks are handled properly as well. Bundle these jobs together and visit your boss with your proposal for that up and coming person you have in mind, you know, your Time Saver.

Now go out there and improve your status while saving time! What could be better? Oh, I know, improving your status, saving time, and increasing your pay! We’ll get to that part soon.

Visit our website, www.WomensMedia.com, for Expert Advice for Working Women.

Be sure to visit our site, WomensMedia to get Expert Advice for Business Women.

On our website, WomensMedia Expert Advice for Business Women you should read these excellent articles:

Women and Leadership: Delicate Balancing Act by Hilary Lips, Ph.D., Director of Center for Gender Studies at Radford University

The Y-E-S of Inspiration: Becoming An Inspiring Leader by Rebecca Hourston, MA, CPCC, Director of Programs at Aspire in London, Winner of “Leader in the Workplace 2010”

For quick updates for Business Women you should follow NancyFClark on twitter here,