Let’s Make Sure The Glass Ceiling Stays In The Past

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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. We have seen that a woman can successfully grow a small company into a major player, such as Meg Whitman did with eBay. She formed a fledgling Internet idea into a company with revenue of 8.46 billion dollars a year. She now has her eye on another arena—politics.

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 Tip of the Week shows you how to do this.

 

 The Glass Ceiling Is History!: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Women Are Secretaries And Men Are CEO’s?

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

One of the situations that motivates me to keep on bloggin’ is that most working women are not promoted above mid-management positions. This is not what you would expect when 6 out of 10 college diplomas are awarded to women and half our workforce is now female. My goal is to convince each woman to think about why this is happening and to decide this won’t happen to her, and that she’ll do her best to alert other women.

My topic involves the types of jobs we usually see doled out to women.

 

 Are Jobs Stereotyped? [6:32m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Secret To Saving Precious Time:  Avoid Perfection

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I like to include the latest research whenever I can so you’ll feel confident when you buck conventional wisdom. However, perfection is tough to measure. If you want the truth, you only have to ask yourself, “Am I guilty of thinking my work is not good enough because it’s not perfect?” Whenever you answer “yes,” I want you to put time above perfection on your priority list and take another look.

In this podcast I tell you 3 setbacks you can suffer by being on the Perfection Hook and in my Tip of the Week, I’ll show you how to start the Perfection Cancellation Process—all for your benefit, little miss perfect!

 

 Perfection Is Not A Good Thing! [4:53m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

How To Cancel A Limiting Stereotype

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

Starting out in rocket science and computer technology, I was often the only woman in the room.

That’s another way of saying, the stereotype others had of me didn’t fit with the group. I was well aware of these assumptions.

I’ll bet you’ve had the feeling—at one time or another—that people have stuck a stereotype or label on you that made you out to be less than you are.

You may have felt like an outsider to their groups.

In their minds they could be thinking:

• not important,
• not educated,
• not capable,
• not assertive,
• it could even be, “Oh, she’s a mother.” and further questions might end right there.

You can see how this limits the opportunities a person is willing to offer you. In my Tip of the Week, I discuss how you can prepare ahead to cancel these negative, incorrect, stereotypes.

Don’t Let This Stereotype Stick To You

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

You can’t deny it, in a business environment, as you scan a room of new faces, you notice which are men and which are women. You can’t avoid this. Studies show that we have to decide which gender we’re looking at before we can do anything more. In the fraction of a second before logic sets in, your brain makes use of stereotypes stored there to make things easier for you. Sounds like a good thing? Not if that stereotype whispers to your brain, “She’s probably not important.” as you single out a woman. This certainly is an obstacle for women, but now that you know it, here’s how you can prepare ahead of time to deflect that stereotype as others scope you out and assess your worth from a first impression.

A Study Shows Women are Harming Women!

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

We’ve all encountered a Queen Bee. We know of that woman who wants to be the only female working with men. That’s one rationale. The other one I suspect is that she’s thinking, “I had to work twice as hard as a man to get here . . . so I’m making sure you don’t get it any easier!” If you’re working for a Queen Bee, that’s tough, really tough. She’s a gatekeeper to the glass ceiling—she demands a higher performance from a woman than from a man.

 

 The Queen Bee: Is A Woman Holding You Back? [5:28m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Collaboration For Good Leadership

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

I’ve been receiving requests for more information on leadership styles for women. Of course, the same leadership style will work no matter if you’re a man or a woman, but the questions have been phrased to indicate many women are not comfortable with the autocratic style of leadership, where the leader dominates the team with a one-sided approach to reach an objective.

If you’re not comfortable with that style, there are other choices. Collaboration is one that many women tend toward—what I mean is they can be really, really good at it!

 

 Leadership Using Collaboration [6:35m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Mars-Venus Stereotypes Are Barriers To Women’s Advancement?

“Men and women aren’t planets apart, but their stereotypes sure are!”

—Nancy Clark

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

In the recent past you could attract a lot of attention by saying women are different, very different, from men. It was a quick jump to assume that women are nurturing, and that maybe men are not—or that women show empathy, and men do not. It has become a sad state of affairs. As with all trends, this one went too far and now it’s time to reconsider.

Do We Still Have A Glass Ceiling Because of Stereotypes?

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

I think we have a problem at work, but just in case I’m exaggerating, I’ll give you the statistics and let you decide.

In the beginning, or at least for a very long time, women have been 51% of the population. In 1950 women made up only 29% of the workforce. Today women are half our workforce (46.5% to be exact). Half of our midlevel managers are women—that sounds fair to me. But, and here’s the big but, women are only 15% of the top two tiers in the Fortune 500. So let’s do the math: Men are 85% and women are 15%. That’s a huge difference—discrepancy—handicap. At least in my mind it is. How do you feel about this? (Your comments are important to me.)

What do you surmise is the reason for the 85-15 Handicap?

 

 How Bad Is The Gender Gap At Work? [7:19m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Is She Too Strong? Too Pushy?

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

Instead of a lawsuit, I say shine a spotlight on double standards in the workplace.

People will decide what’s not acceptable behavior.

Public opinion brings rapid change, and that’s what we anticipate.

 

 Double Standards For Men And Women? [5:40m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download