Career Women Coaching

Female CEOs of Fortune 500 Companies Discuss Success

"The most important factor in determining whether you will succeed isn't your gender, it's you," argues Angela Braly, CEO of WellPoint. "Be open to opportunity and take risks. In fact, take the worst, the messiest, the most challenging assignment you can find, and then take control."

"I have stepped up to many 'ugly' assignments that others didn't want," says KeyCorp's CEO, Beth Mooney.

Ursula Burns, the CEO of Xerox, says it's wise for aspiring leaders to cultivate risk-taking. "There were lots of reasons for Xerox not to acquire Affiliated Computer Services," she says, by way of example. But the company took the gamble. "In the two years after we purchased ACS, we are transforming our company—more than half of our revenue comes from our services business and we continue to maintain a leadership position in the technology that made Xerox great."

Along the career path, the CEOs say, pursue new skills relentlessly. Change jobs after you've mastered the current one. Be willing to tack sideways on the career track, or even backward, to pick up key expertise or command a business unit.

"I knew from an early age that I wanted to lead a company," says Denise Morrison of Campbell Soup. "I developed a strategic process for my career plan that set the final destination, developed the career track, identified skills to build, took line positions to gain experience, and sought leadership and management training on the job, through special assignments, coaching and networking. For example, as VP of Marketing for Nestlé, I actually worked in a manufacturing plant which gave me a deep appreciation for how the supply chain works."

"In order to lead an organization, you have to be incredibly comfortable in your own skin," says Gracia Martore of Gannett, "and the only way to do that is to be confident in who you are."

Look for opportunities to stand out from the crowd and ask for what you want, the CEOs advise. And when you hit a goal, speak up and toot your horn. Don't wait to get noticed. "For a lot of women, they think the myth is true, that if they just do a good job and work hard, they'll get recognized. That's not the case," says Maggie Wilderotter, CEO of Frontier Communications, and the sister of Ms. Morrison.

As for the sanctity of performance, Ellen Kullman, CEO of DuPont, says it drove her career: "Accountability, performance and external benchmarking."

"I had a very strong work ethic," adds Heather Bresch, CEO of Mylan, "and was willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. There is simply no substitute for hard work when it comes to achieving success."

The Myths

"The biggest myth that I'd like to set to rest is that women can't have a family and a successful career," says Ilene Gordon, CEO of Corn Products. "The skills that make a good business leader—organization, drive, trust, delegation and compassion—also go a long way to balance the responsibilities of work and family life."

"The myth," adds Ms. Braly, "is that women and their families don't have to make trade-offs to have an 'extreme career'; they absolutely do. How you prioritize your life and career is your choice. Once you make a decision, stick to it; don't always second-guess yourself."

The myth, continues Deanna Mulligan, CEO of Guardian Life Insurance, is "that you can have a 'balanced' life at all times."

Source: The Wall Street Journal, May 18, 2012

 Barbara A. McEwen: When Doing It All Won't Do: A Self-Coaching Guide for Career Women--Workbook Edition -- Paperback Edition 

"When Doing It All Won't Do: A self-coaching guide for career women" by Barbara McEwen & John G. Agno. 

Purchase and download for the Nook eReader and iPad tablets at Barnes & Noble   for $9.99

Purchase and download at Amazon for the Kindle Edition - for $9.99   

Power Dressing for Executive Women

For years, women have been seeking alternatives to the power suit, with its big shoulders, wide sleeves and boxy torso that mimicked men's suiting.  The matched crimson suit—once deemed essential for a female executive—reflected an era when women tried, often clumsily, to fit into male molds. There was also a militant element to that office apparel. At Procter & Gamble in the 1980s, where a woman worked as a financial analyst, she was informed by a boss that only the "secretaries" wore dresses. 

Career women have long added bold colors to gray or black suits. But it's now common to see them wearing pink and other soft hues, and even mixing them together.  The new look carries a higher degree of difficulty and may be harder to pull off than a plain matched suit and white blouse. 

But all this freedom is not without risks.  In general, women still have to be dressier than their male counterparts.  Low-cut blouses and short skirts remain off limits for the office.

Executives themselves have led this trend. Now more well-established in the workplace, women have been seeking more choices.  Even designers who made their names with seductive party dresses, like Pucci's Peter Dundas and Zac Posen, have recently veered toward professional-woman looks, with suits and eveningwear that could be appropriate for a chief executive.

However, there is one problem that career women face that often goes unaddressed. It is what it means to be wearing the right clothes. 

A woman’s wardrobe is an essential component of her presentation. It is as important as her handshake, her eye contact and her attitude.   All these women, instead of sending the right message they are signaling to those above that they are not a team player, that they are not ready for promotion.

The faux pas many women make is that they believe their wardrobe is a reflection of who they are. They are attempting to project their distinctiveness and their individuality. Others prefer to wear what is comfortable thinking that this is appropriate since they’ve noticed others in the office also dress this way.  And then there are those who want to be known for their style and creativity. They want to stand out from the crowd.  

The mistake is that they don’t view the clothes they wear to work as their corporate uniform.  

If you’re like most women, this is eye opening. Don’t lose the point that the real purpose of “the uniform” isn’t for erasing your identity; its purpose reflects the symbolism that “you’re part of the team.”  It creates a visual representation of a common goal and a shared purpose.  

In the corporate world, the business suit is still viewed as the uniform.  This means that, when its leaders are representing the firm, others are not distracted by what they wear but rather the intent is to keep them focused on the message.

Sources: The Wall Street Journal, May 10, 2012 and “When Doing It All Won’t Do: A self-coaching guide for career women.”

 John Agno: Decoding the Executive Woman's Dress Code

 Barbara A. McEwen: When Doing It All Won't Do: A Self-Coaching Guide for Career Women--Workbook Edition

 John G Agno: Women, Know Thyself: The most important knowledge is self-knowledge.

Strong Pipeline of Female Senior Executives

Companies are grooming more women for the corner office.

With a growing pool of highly qualified women and intensified investor pressure on boards to diversify corporate management teams, companies "are hiring more high-potential women who could be CEO," says Judith von Seldeneck, head of Diversified Search, a Philadelphia executive-recruitment firm.

The next wave of women who will command major U.S. corporations likely are senior managers today. "Some phenomenally well-qualified women" hold top operational jobs, says Ellen Kullman, CEO of DuPont Co.

Nearly 73% of Fortune 500 companies now have at least one female executive officer, though women comprise just 14% of executive officers, according to Catalyst, a New York research group.

In good news for the pipeline, a study conducted by McKinsey & Co. for The Wall Street Journal, found that 24% of senior vice presidents at 58 big companies are now women.  However, a lack of profit-and-loss experience may stall some women's progress.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, April 30, 2012

 John Agno: When Doing It All Won't Do: A Self-Coaching Guide for Career Women

 Barbara A. McEwen: When Doing It All Won't Do: A Self-Coaching Guide for Career Women--Workbook Edition

As Coach, The Hands-Off Manager Allows Success

It has been said the fish discover water last and humans discover coaching last.

In "The Hands-Off Manager," the authors discuss how the hands-off manager as coach allows for success in the book's last chapter.  Morale in the workplace is the creation of the leader.  He or she coaches it into existence.  Or doesn't.  But morale is not just an accidental climate that comes in on the wind.

Every person on the planet today who has transformed from the low, suicidal life of addiction to a new life of spirit, service and health has more than "changed."  They have become someone else.  They have become their potential.  And, in most cases, they have been coached.

Sometimes coaching takes on the form of parenting.  Sometimes it shows up as 12-step sponsorship, and sometimes it is just sharing an idea with a friend.  But one thing is certain: people can change--and coaching can accelerate that change.

The word "coaching" comes from the world of sports.  A world of performance and numbers.  Therefore, sports provides a perfect metaphor for what good coaching is in an organization.  The first thing a masterful coach does is decrease the fearful emotional charge inside the person being coached.  As the great football coach Vince Lombardi said, "It's hard to be aggressive when you're confused."   So, if you're coaching me, you first bring our positive attention to my situation.  Soon my negative feelings start to lift.

When you are a positive leader with positive thoughts about the future and the people you lead, you add something to every person you talk to.  Because positive always adds to (increases, improves) something.  And so, the first thing a coaching conversation does is change the math.  It alters the charge in the mind of the person being coached from negative to positive.  That alone makes coaching immediately valuable.

Coaching helps bring a person "into alignment" with their true talent.   It increases productivity; hard numbers and profitability are affected.  Under the supervision of a hands-off manager, the mind grows stronger, more imaginative, and more excited about doing great work.

A lot of people think that coaching means giving advice; that you give advice in kind of a nice way so that you're giving advice but you can call it "coaching."  That's not really coaching.  That's consulting; simply giving advice.

So what is professional coaching and how does it differ from consulting?

Download and listen to this MP3 recording of a recent interview of Coach Agno for the answer to that question.

Coaching is all about allowing what's possible to emerge.  It's moving a person out of being stuck in a mindset where they think they are limited.  The coach maintains what the Zen masters call a "beginner's mind" in which nothing is impossible. 

Lasting behavioral change is always the ironic specialty of the hands-off manager.  By not micromanaging, more things change.  By keeping your hands off the process, the process improves more quickly.

Would you pull a flower up from the ground with your hands to help it grow?  Why try to do similar things to an employee?

 Steve Chandler: The Hands-Off Manager: How to Mentor People and Allow Them to Be Successful

 Barbara A. McEwen: When Doing It All Won't Do: A Self-Coaching Guide for Career Women--Workbook Edition 

Know Thyself

In business, you can learn something new and unexpected at virtually any time or any place.  With that in mind, the contributor network of entrepreneurs, advisors and experts have shared 68 of their most unexpected or unusual business lessons.  Here below is number 5.  The others are presented at:  http://www.carolroth.com/blog/60-unexpected-business-lessons/#more-768478

5. Be Yourself, Know Yourself

"One of the most important business lessons that I learned came through my work with an Exec Coach, John Agno, when I realized that I wasn't operating with internal integrity.

It is important to know, understand, and accept all of yourself – idiosyncrasies and all. You are better at some things and worse at others. Know your strengths and blind spots. No one is perfect and no one fits in everywhere.

Be true to yourself and who you are. You are happiest when you are in alignment inside and out."

Thanks to Faith Fuqua-Purvis of Synergetic Solutions LLC.

"Women, Know Thyself: The most important knowledge is self-knowledge"

Let’s face it: you are the most interesting and important subject in the entire world. You will always be at or near the center of your world.  It’s a comfortable place to be!  So, one of the most exciting—and, often, one of the most intimidating—experiences lies in gaining a fuller understanding of just who you are.

There is a big advantage in knowing ourselves and the type of environment in which we feel nurtured.  But there is also a huge advantage in knowing how a partner, a child, or a co-worker thinks, feels and sorts information.

Once we recognize that not everyone is like me and that each of us sees the world through their own lens, we will quickly realize that individuals will approach similar situations differently. It is not necessary that they do it just like me.

You cannot afford to miss the richness that comes with understanding your own personality and the benefit it brings to relationships.

As the world moves faster, when you are expected to do more with less, when teamwork and innovation are essential, when there are greater cultural and international concerns, understanding psychological types offers an unmatched resource.

   Barbara McEwen: Women, Know Thyself: The most important knowledge is self-knowledge  

 

 John G. Agno: Women and Time

 Barbara A. McEwen: When Doing It All Won't Do: A Self-Coaching Guide for Career Women--Workbook Edition

 

It’s Time to Brag! You’ve earned the right!

Guest Author Jeannette Seibly asks,  "Have you?"

Presented at a sales meeting and wondered why your credibility wasn’t quickly understood? They stopped listening after the first 4.3 minutes.

Submitted information required by bank lenders or investors, but the value of your products or services wasn’t understood? Even when they were superior!

Have a client stray because they were unaware of the wealth of results you had provided?

Lost the job interview, promotion or pay raise to someone less qualified?

We are accomplished women (and men) that have achieved amazing results. What’s missing?

When I was talking with another business owner this week, I was telling her about my newest ebook, It’s Time to Brag!   I shared about a mutual friend who had resisted my coaching in how to share professional results, create the WOW! in her biz presentations.  You can imagine my pleasant surprise when I attended an event where she was the keynote speaker.  Before she said one word, she was oozing with credibility. Clearly she had taken the coaching and done the work.  She had learned how to brag!  It was amazing to see the audience immediately engaged!

You’ve been taught that bragging is wrong since you were very young!  This misperception has carried over into your business life.  Too often when you meet with someone you make the standard statements that sound like everyone else!   I’m a coach.  I’m a health consultant.  I sell IT solutions.  People have tuned you out when you talk in a non-descript manner.  You haven’t captured their attention.

If they were being kind, they may have asked for more information and cringed when you launch into your standard spiel about the benefits of your products and services, or job skills.  When they looked sufficiently glazed over, you may have repeated yourself.  Or worse, you used fancy acronyms or words that no one readily understood.  You fell into the trap of falsely believing they were interested because they refused to ask for clarification.

The issue isn’t that you need more confidence when speaking.  It’s not that you need to “feel it.”  It’s that you need to learn how to quantify your results and share those achievements in a biz savvy manner.   It’s time to brag!

Get over your apprehensions!   Learn how to brag!  You’ve earned the right! 

For more information, go to: http://TimeToBrag.com

 Jeannette Seibly: It's Time to Brag!

Gender and Corporate Social Responsibility

A new study conducted by researchers at Catalyst and Harvard Business School (HBS) suggests that what’s good for women is good for business and also for society as a whole.   According to Gender and Corporate Social Responsibility: It’s a Matter of Sustainability, companies with more women at the top may be better practitioners of corporate social responsibility (CSR).   Prior Catalyst research has shown that such companies also financially outperform, on average, those with fewer women in senior leadership roles.

“Companies are realizing that advancing more women to senior leadership roles has many benefits, including increased financial performance and sustainability,” said Anabel Pérez, Senior Vice President, Development, Catalyst.   “As this study shows, inclusive leadership has a positive influence on the quantity and quality of an organization’s CSR initiatives.  When business leadership includes women, society wins.”

Catalyst and HBS researchers found that companies with more women board directors and corporate officers contributed significantly more charitable funds, on average, than companies with fewer or no women in senior roles:

• In 2007, the average donations of companies with three or more women directors were 28 times higher than those of companies with no women directors.
• Between 1997 and 2007, companies with more women board directors donated significantly more funds than did companies with fewer women—with each additional woman board director representing an increase of 2.3 million dollars.
• Companies with 25% or more women corporate officers in 2007 made annual contributions that were 13 times higher than those made by companies with zero women corporate officers.
• Companies with more women corporate officers donated significantly more funds between 1997 and 2007, and for each percentage point increase in women corporate officers, yearly donations increased by 5.7 million dollars. 

These higher contribution levels are demonstrably linked to having more women in senior leadership roles, not merely to the size of a company’s budget:

• Controlling for key factors that might influence donation levels, such as a company’s overall financial performance, size, and industry, the presence of women leaders still had a significant positive impact on a company’s levels of giving.
• Studies have shown that women leaders may bring diverse perspectives on fairness and the distribution of resources to donation decisions, which may in turn broaden a company’s commitment to CSR and increase its levels of charitable giving.

This study also indicates that companies with more women leaders are not only more committed, on average, to corporate social responsibility—they may also be better at it, in the sense that such companies are likely to develop higher-quality CSR initiatives.   Leaders who highlight gender issues in CSR strategies often position their organizations for sustained growth—a payoff that extends from the company to communities and to broader society.

"When Doing It All Won't Do: A self-coaching guide for career women" by Barbara McEwen & John G. Agno.  Order the PDF ebook - Workbook Edition (ISBN-10: 0983586527) for only $12.99 (to view full-size on your computer screen or decide to printout locally) today:  Add to Cart

Purchase and download for the Nook eReader at Barnes & Noble  (.ePub Format - ISBN: 9780983586555) for $9.99

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Women Leadership

In their book “Megatrends of Women,” Patricia Aburdene & John Naisbitt point out that, “The traits of the manager of the future uncannily match those of female leadership. Consultants have tried to teach male managers to relinquish the command-and-control mode.  For women it was different: it just came naturally.”   

Tom Peters, author of “In Search of Excellence,” tells men “who wish to stay employed to study women’s ways of leadership.”  What these authors are saying, is that many of the behaviors that women have been socialized to possess, can be translated into valuable job skills.  Both the working world and the political arena need the talents women bring.

Yesterday,  100-year-old IBM quelled long speculation over who would lead the tech giant into the next century. Virginia “Ginni” Rometty , a 30-year Big Blue veteran, will be the next chief executive and the first woman to run the company.

Rometty will succeed current CEO Sam Palmisano on January 1, becoming one of the most powerful women in corporate America and joining just 3% of women leading major public companies. Palmisano said that gender didn’t factor into his decision and that she “deserved it.”

Earlier this year, FORBES named her the No. 82 most powerful woman in the world and identified her as the next in line for CEO .

"When Doing It All Won't Do: A self-coaching guide for career women" by Barbara McEwen & John G. Agno.

Order the PDF ebook - Workbook Edition (ISBN-10: 0983586527) for only $12.99 (to view full-size on your computer screen or decide to printout locally) today:  Add to Cart

Purchase and download for the Nook eReader at Barnes & Noble  (.ePub Format - ISBN: 9780983586555) for $9.99

Purchase and download at Amazon for the Kindle Edition -(.mobi format - ISBN: 9780983586531) for $9.99   

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Are Masculine Norms Barriers to Women?

Women have been in the workplace for decades, but many will acknowledge that it is still a man's world.

According to the most recent data from New York-based Catalyst Research, women now make up nearly half (46.7%) of America's workforce and hold 51.5% of management, professional and related occupations.  As more women enter the workforce, and many become the primary breadwinners, there is a structural shift taking place in organizations and households. 

Yet, only 7.6% of the Fortune 500 top earners are women, and women make up only 2.6% of Fortune 500 CEOs.  Many women say the corner office remains off-limits because the unwritten rules of the workplace continue to favor men.

Companies today "are building on masculine norms," states Anne Hardy, a vice president of technology strategy at SAP Labs, during a panel discussion at the recent Wharton Global Alumni Forum in San Francisco.  Managers need to think about how to create environments in which women can "thrive and grow," she says, and which might inspire them to make a long-term commitment to a company or start their own.

The Women Presidents' Organization, a New York-based nonprofit, regularly polls its members about how they do business.  The most recent surveys show that 100% of the 50 fastest growing women-led companies provide health insurance, 88% provide 401(k)s, 80% provide life insurance and 66% offer telecommuting.

Nationwide, 62% of private companies offer health insurance and 47% offer retirement benefits, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics: 59% of private company employees have access to life insurance and just 5% have access to flexible workplace policies.

Source: Human Resource Executive, October 2, 2011

Please let us know what you think about masculine norms being barriers to women by commenting on this blog posting.

Gaining a Higher Level of Life Satisfaction

Tens of billions of dollars are spent worldwide every year on employee training, but often the long-term return on investment (“ROI”) remains questionable. 

A new ground-breaking study from researcher and author of The Happiness Advantage Shawn Achor investigates this issue and finds that a new kind of positive psychology training exhibits a valuable ROI. 

A single training session on the principles of positive psychology was shown to improve the overall happiness, energy and stress management skills of 77 managers against a control group.  Subjects were evaluated again four months later, and impressively, the benefits of significantly higher life satisfaction (quality of life) continued compared to the control.  

"By testing employees over many months we can determine if there is a long term ROI," said Shawn Achor, researcher, author of The Happiness Advantage, and consultant to Fortune 500 companies. “This sets a new standard for trainings.”  

In December of 2008 as the worldwide economic crisis was beginning to take shape, a ten minute survey was administered to 77 KPMG managers getting a baseline reading of 14 different metrics including stress, social support and optimism. 

Then, Achor delivered a three hour training entitled “Positive Psychology: the Science of Happiness and Potential” to the 77 mangers.   A week after the training, the survey was re-administered to the experimental group and compared with a control group (managers who did not go through the training but took the surveys). 

In April 2009, both groups were tested again.  Even after four months, the group of trained managers showed significant increases to optimism and life satisfaction - one of the greatest predictors of performance and success.  Extensive studies have shown that employees with higher levels of life satisfaction are more productive, produce greater sales, and are more resilient in the face of challenge. 

The study revealed three findings. First, teaching the principles and strategies of positive psychology is vital to preparing managers to deal better with the challenges of a modern work environment. Second, extensive research has already found that employee life satisfaction is a direct contributor to productivity and performance; thus, a training that conclusively enhances this quality could have far-reaching implications. Lastly and most importantly, this research indicates that even a short training on positive psychology will create a clear and long lasting ROI--an indication that it may be increasingly important for companies to start training their employees on the skills of positive psychology. 

Over the past year, Achor has delivered these lectures and trainings to leaders in 42 different countries. “This is an emerging field and we are excited about its potential to help us rethink trainings,” said Achor. “More studies need to be done, in a variety of industries, to determine how these effects translate into higher profit and performance.  We have only begun to tap into the potential ROI of positive psychology trainings.”

 Shawn Achor: The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work

To reclaim your time and life: "When Doing It All Won't Do: A self-coaching guide for career women" by Barbara McEwen & John G. Agno.  

Order the PDF ebook - Workbook Edition (ISBN-10: 0983586527) for only $12.99 (to view full-size on your computer screen or decide to printout locally) today:  Add to Cart

Purchase and download for the Nook eReader at Barnes & Noble  (.ePub Format - ISBN: 9780983586555) for $9.99

Purchase and download at Amazon for the Kindle Edition -(.mobi format - ISBN: 9780983586531) for $9.99   

Purchase and download all eReader formats at Smashwords  (Various Formats, except the pdf Workbook Edition, are available - ISBN: 9780983586524) for $9.99