Career Women Coaching

College to workplace transition varies for men and women

As we approach Women’s History Month in March, the gender pay gap remains an important issue in today’s workplace. But a recent survey released by the Center for Professional Excellence (CPE) at York College of Pennsylvania suggests young women undergo several other challenges beyond the paycheck as they transition from college to the workforce. 

When asked to rate the degree of difficulty for transitioning from college to full-time employment on a scale of 1 (easiest) to 5 (hardest), the average response for females fell at 2.74, significantly higher than their male counterparts at 2.43. The biggest challenge experienced by both groups was finding a career in their chosen field (39.6 percent), followed by abiding to a more rigid schedule/early mornings (15.5 percent). 

On the same 1 to 5 scale, males (3.81) rated themselves as better prepared than females (3.63), when asked if they felt they had the necessary professional skills to succeed. 

“Whether male graduates are legitimately better prepared, or if they simply feel they are without a solid argument to defend that notion, is certainly a topic for deeper inquiry and discussion. ” said Matthew Randall, executive director of the CPE. “But what seems possible is that males’ inflated views of themselves may actually provide them with the boost of confidence needed to make the college-to-work transition easier. To a point, perception is reality in the workplace and a worker who feels confident in his or her abilities will generally outperform, in the short term, one who is constantly second-guessing him or herself.” 

Females were also more likely to experience a generational divide than males. When asked to what extent they agreed that “coworkers of older generations (i.e. Baby Boomers, Gen X) understand my generation of workers,” the male average response was 2.82, compared to the female average of 2.64. 

“Both genders struggle bridging the gap between generations, as respondents overall were twice as likely to disagree that older generations understood them than they were to agree with the statement,” Randall added. “But if the issue is more prevalent for women, it can be yet another obstacle when trying to establish a firm foundation for a promising career.” 

Since 2010, York College of Pennsylvania’s Center for Professional Excellence has conducted a national study on professionalism in recent college graduates. Previous research has surveyed human resources professionals, managers, college faculty, college career development officials, and now graduates themselves. 

A national sample of 519 recent college graduates between ages 23-28 participated in the survey. The maximum margin of error associated with the samples is 4.3 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. 

The full survey results, which address several aspects of college graduates transitioning to the workplace, can be found here. 

CONTACT: Matthew Randall, [email protected], 717-815-1534 (office).

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

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

 Everyone you meet these days is overworked and out of time. 

 

Working Harder With More Stress?

In today’s app-driven world, with all of its connectivity and modern amenities, why do we all feel that we are working harder with more stress and less satisfaction than ever before? 

Rather than being in control of our lives, we feel harried, harassed, and worried about the health of our families and children—and for good reason. 

In 2011, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that antidepressant use in the United States has increased nearly 400 percent in the last two decades, making antidepressants the most frequently used class of medications by Americans ages 18-44 years.

In 2013, the CDC reported that the suicide rate among Americans ages 35–64 years increased 28.4 percent between 1999 and 2010.  And in 2014, The American Psychological Association found that American teens report that their stress level during the school year far exceeds what they believe to be healthy (5.8 versus 3.9 on a 10-point scale) and tops adults’ average reported stress levels (5.8 for teens versus 5.1 for adults).

It is imperative that we find a better way.

Based on more than twenty years of groundbreaking work by success and leadership researcher and corporate consultant Susan Ford Collins, The Technology of Success teaches 10 Success Skills that anyone can master, and offers specific, practical tools and strategies to build self-confidence, redefine success, and find fulfillment in today’s hectic world.

Fellow executive coach Barbara McEwen and I have authored a self-coaching book for career women.

The concept for the book came about because of the very real, very important needs that our female clients repeatedly expressed.  Year-after-year, we have heard women’s frustrations as they struggle with the countless roles and duties that are routinely placed upon them.

Career women, in particular, have come to believe it is their lot in life to be running on 8-cylinders day in and day out.  

Women are dancing to a frenzied beat, believing just because they can, they think they should.  They have been taught if they are capable of doing something it shouldn't be necessary to look for help. This has lead women to become frustrated by experiencing long days and nightmarish schedules.  Women are exhausted.

We believe these books deserve to be read by all women who strive to achieve fulfillment in both their personal and professional lives. 

Sources:   Susan Ford Collins: Success Has Gears: Using the Right Gear at the Right Time  in Business and Life (The Technology of Success Book Series)

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

 John G. Agno: Women and Time (ebook or paperback)

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Source: http://www.brightonsbm.com/management-courses/diploma-management-studies.php

Don’t Let A “Misery Loves Company” Mindset Sabotage Your Career

A bad boss breeds low morale, poor motivation, performance and productivity that usually produces grumbling and complaining among co-workers. Don’t fall into this “misery loves company” mindset or else your bad boss and your co-workers will sabotage your chances for a rewarding career, says Dr. Noelle Nelson, author of Got a Bad Boss? Work that Boss to Get What You Want at Work  (Amazon eBook, $7.99). 

 “A department afflicted with a bad boss is a sorry sight,” says Nelson. “It’s dismal and depressing. It can prevent your from rising to the top of the heap, and instead, you will be buried beneath it.”

Nelson says employees who find themselves trying to deal with a bad boss as well as not being caught up in the office malaise, are up against a double whammy. “Not only do you have a bad boss, but everyone else in your department is suffering from the same unsupportive situation--and dragging you down with them,” says Nelson. 

Recent research by Scott E. Carrell of the University of California-Davis shows that people may adopt the diet and exercise patterns of the least fit within a peer group. They don’t tend to emulate the most fit, rather they gravitate toward those who don’t make the grade. This is especially true of the lesser fit individuals.

How does that apply to your bad boss situation? “If you don’t exert extra effort, you’ll be influenced by your equally unhappy co-workers to be even more unmotivated and unproductive than you already are,” explains Nelson. 

Nelson’s advice: “Don’t join in the water-cooler complaining sessions. Walk away. Instead, surround yourself with friends outside of the office who are happy and successful in their work.

Always look for ways to succeed, to do your work more efficiently, to advance your skill set—anything to keep yourself on an upward career track. By doing so, you can counteract the ‘peer group effect.’  You’ll find, that no matter how bad work becomes or how often your bad boss throws a screaming fit, staying above the fray will help you step up the career ladder faster.”

For tips on working with specific bad boss types and career self-coaching, go to:

http://www.noellenelson.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GotABadBoss or at https://twitter.com/GotABadBoss.

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

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

 Everyone you meet these days is overworked and out of time. 

 

A Mentor is More than a Ticket to the Top

Six Ways a Mentor Can Make a Difference

By Guest Author Lisa Tener                            

If the latest studies are to be believed, more mentoring of women executives is not necessarily resulting in promotions to top positions.

Instead, the studies say, women need sponsors to sponsor them for top positions.  Important to know, but a mentor's role is not merely to help you reach a position in the upper echelons of a company.

There are other important reasons to seek mentors:

1. To help you define success in the first place: A good mentor can help you create a vision for where you're going. In addition to sharing how others have been successful in your current environment, a mentor can help you think about what would work for you. Your mentor can help you assess whether your values match the corporate values.
2. To help you be successful in your current job: Your mentor can help you assess the skills you need and where to find them. They can also provide an experienced view on any challenges you are experiencing and offer solutions to problems, systematic ways to implement strategies, and other things that have worked well for them and their peers in similar situations.
3. To model what works: Ask your mentor to share stories of what's worked in their careers and what hasn't. Learn from your mentors' experiences.
4. To help you specifically when you are changing jobs: Bonnie Marcus, author of The Politics of Promotion, says, "The mentor can offer advice on how to best navigate in the new work environment and give information about the people and politics. They can also help mentees by introducing them to potential allies and champions as well as give their informed opinion on how to promote their ideas and create visibility for themselves.
5. To offer strategies that lead to success, including promotion: Beth B. Kennedy, a leadership coach who has taught many leaders how to begin a successful mentoring relationship, shares that many of her clients have had mentoring relationships that have impacted their long term success.  She notes, "A current client of mine learned strategies from her mentor that led to her promotion. Her mentor taught her ways to raise her visibility in an authentic way, as well as some excellent delegation and time management strategies."
6. To help you make good decisions: When you're facing a difficult decision a mentor can offer "recharge and support" according to Kennedy. 

Lisa Tener is an author, trainer and four-time Stevie Award winner, including the Silver Stevie Award for Mentor/Coach of the Year 2014.  Lisa serves on faculty at Harvard Medical School’s CME publishing course and blogs on topics like on how to find a literary agent.  You can also find her posts on the Huffington Post. Follow Lisa on Twitter @LisaTener  and Facebook.

 

Bonnie Marcus: The Politics of Promotion: How High-Achieving Women Get Ahead and Stay Ahead 

 

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

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

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

 

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Success is not an individual matter.

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Doing What You Do Best

At one time or another, all of us have dreamed of becoming a heroine, a celebrity or someone else who stands out above the crowd.

And yet, if we were honest with ourselves, we are often reactors rather than actors in our own lives.  That happens when life seems like a runaway train we are scrambling to catch.  Too often, we try to live our lives with far too little information about how the game of life really works.

Think about this fact: Most things in life come with detailed instructions.  Pages of instructions.  Yet, the thing that matters most to us, life itself, doesn't have one instruction manual.  We have to discover the way to live our lives for ourselves!

The first part of the discovery process is to learn about who we are.  We need to become the Lewis and Clark of our own personal territory, discovering our signature talents/strengths, weaknesses, triggers, motivations, tendencies, skills, goals, hopes, wishes, expectations, and themes.

Early in our lives, we understand that we have a personality unique from everyone else's.  Later, we'll understand that personalities are shaped by our genetics, our personal life experiences, and the manner in which we interpret those experiences.  Life is one long succession of learning experiences--and too often we have to endure the same lesson over and over again before we learn it by heart.

An old saying points out, "If we don't learn the lessons that life sends our way, they will simply dress up in different clothes and march right back into our lives."

An important aspect of self-discovery occurs when we recognize that individuals are all different, that each of us sees the world through our unique lenses.  This is the perspective from the inside looking out.

The second part of the discovery process pulls us outside ourselves and into the experiences of others, which will enrich our lives incalculably.  We can amass a great wealth in lifetime experiences by learning from others.

Once you've started the process of self-discovery, look for input.  Ask questions.  Search for feedback.  There are countless resources at our fingertips: professional organizations, community education classes, local colleges, libraries, books, professional journals, networking groups, individuals, alumni outreach offices, executive coaches, friends, and many more.

Life is about learning to know and understand one's self, and it is the most motivating and inspiring quest in the world.

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

If your brain tells you that you're not focusing on those things that really matter, then this book is for you.  Reading it will help you understand and work with your unique inner compass.

Understanding who we are, how other people see us and knowing what is important to us is critical to our success.  As you learn more about yourself, you will know best how to manage your time and life in a way that gives you peace, a sense of fulfillment and the strength to handle the challenges ahead.

Self-awareness facilitates change...and...sometimes, just being aware, allows the problem to solve us--rather than requiring us to solve the problem.

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

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

 Everyone you meet these days is overworked and out of time. 

 

 

CUPID IN THE CUBICLE

What happens in the office stays in the office…until now.

 With Valentine’s Day approaching, Vault.com reveals the results of its annual Office Romance Survey, offering a glimpse at what really goes on behind the conference room doors.  

According to this year’s data, 51% of business professionals surveyed say they have participated in some type of workplace relationship – of that number, 21% had an ongoing, yet casual relationship; 18% were involved in a random office hookup; 16% enjoyed a long-term serious relationship with their co-worker; and 10% were lucky enough to meet their spouse or partner at work (3% chose other). Regardless of success or failure, 63% said they would do it again.  

But those numbers are no longer surprising to survey respondents who believe office romances are gradually becoming more acceptable in workplaces throughout the United States.

Perhaps the most striking statistic from this year's romance survey is that just 5 percent of respondents believe that no office romances are appropriate, down from 11 percent in 2011.  Additionally, more respondents than ever (29%) are of the opinion that all romantic connections in the workplace are appropriate—including those between managers and their direct reports. 

“Co-workers are spending more time together than ever before, so it comes as no surprise to anyone that there might be a love connection made in the office – or even a one-night fling.  It’s human nature and the survey results support this concept," said Tara McCaffrey, VP of Marketing at Vault.com. “The more interesting data comes as you dig deeper into the survey.” 

Marketing professionals are the least likely to hook up with one another (43%).  Joining marketing as industries where action really applies to the level of work performed by employees are accounting (45%), healthcare (47%), energy (48%), and finance/banking (49%). 

The Battle of the Sexes

Office romances differ depending on sex.  More men participate in them while women often look for long-term relationships when dating a co-worker.  And, while the data may support the idea of a glass ceiling more than anything else, a majority of men date subordinates while more women date supervisors.

The following data is broken out by gender: 

Men (55%) have participated in more office relationships than women (45%)

Men have had more random office hookups than women

Women have participated in more ongoing, but casual relationships than men

Women have enjoyed more long-term serious relationships with co-workers than men

More women than men have met their spouse/partner at work.

More women than men have a non-intimate office spouse.

Women are more likely to date a supervisor than men

Men are more likely to date a subordinate than women

About Vault

Vault is the source for employer and university rankings, ratings and insight for highly credentialed, in-demand candidates. Vault’s editorial mission is to provide the research required by candidates to evaluate professions, industries, educational pathways, and top companies. Vault ratings and rankings inform candidates’ analysis of companies and allow direct comparison between potential employers in such high value industries as law, banking, consulting and accounting.  Vault’s customers include Fortune 1000 advertisers and recruiters, the country’s top universities and graduate schools—and 8 million consumers worldwide.

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The Laws of Attraction and Allowing

Whatever you are giving your attention to causes you to emit a vibration.

There is a current that runs through everything.  Some are aware of this Energy, but most humans are unaware of it.  However, everyone is affected by it.

Through your eyes, you translate vibration into that which you see.  Using your ears, you translate into the sounds that you hear.  Even your nose, tongue, and fingertips are translating vibration into the smells, tastes, and touches that help you understand your world.  But your most sophisticated of vibrational interpreters by far are your emotions.

Everything you experience in your physical environment is vibrational.

You can feel whether you are allowing your full connection to Source Energy or not.  In other words, the better you feel, the more you are allowing your connection.  Feeling good equals allowing the connection; feeling bad equals not allowing the connection.

Every thought vibrates, every thought radiates a signal, and every thought attracts a matching signal back.  That process is the Law of Attraction.  And so, you might see the powerful Law of Attraction as a sort of Universal Manager that sees to it that all thoughts that match one another line up.

The universal Law of Allowing is based on the understanding that all creation arises from an ebb and flow:  The tide must recede in order to form into a wave.  A seed is first pressed deep into the dark ground before it begins it upward journey toward the sun.  So, too, getting what we want unfolds much more effortlessly and magically when we create it from a place of appreciating what we already have.

One of the primary benefits of the Law of Allowing is that it brings us to a state of relaxation, surrender, and peace.  Creation is equal parts intending and allowing.  Manifesting with the greatest amount of ease is simply a matter of striking the right balance between the two.

When the Law of Attraction and the Law of Allowing work together, we first take a moment to clarify the intention before taking action.  Said another way, we deliberately decide how we want to feel, and get into that state of being before we do anything.  A few minutes of aligning your energy with the outcome you want to create is far more powerful than hours and hours of action taken without this connection.

Make it a priority to first bring your internal energy into alignment with the essence of your desire before you take any external action.

Sources: Esther Hicks: Ask and It Is Given: Learning to Manifest Your Desires

Christy Whitman: THE ART OF HAVING IT ALL: A Woman's Guide To Unlimited Abundance buy at Amazon.com or for more information and/or purchase the book from the author at: http://theartofhavingitall.com

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

Success is not an individual matter.

Success is not an individual matter. It depends upon our relationships. Connection and coordination with others matter.

The manner in which we connect matters.  Increasing our social capital is all about knowing how to share knowledge so it not only adds value to the organization, but also to our recognized worth within the organization.

As an executive, we need to look at ourselves as the hub of our personal and business networks. How we connect will determine whether or not we will obtain resources when we need them. By making the invisible structure” of personal and business relationships visible, we will work more effectively as we increase our personal bandwidth.

The most successful executives are masters of consensus building. They understand the terrain and can understand their allies and resisters. They know that collaborating and building coalitions are critical ways to spend their valuable time.

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

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

- See more at: http://www.coachingtip.com/2011/07/when-doing-it-all-wont-do-a-self-coaching-guide-for-career-women.html

 

Maternity Leave

Most new mothers have more college degrees than men, they entered the workforce in near-equal numbers, and they chose their careers assuming that having children wouldn't mean losing money.  Almost two-thirds of women with children under 6 work, about twice the rate of the previous generation.

According to the United Nations' International Labour Organization, there are only two countries in the world that don't have some form of legally protected, partially paid time off for working women who've just had a baby: Papua New Guinea and the United States of America.

With no federal action, some states have stepped in.  Five states pay new mothers through their disability insurance programs.  In 2004, California passed the country's first paid parental leave law.  Since then, New Jersey and Rhode Island have followed.  Washington won't be able to ignore this forever.

Canada passed its first national maternity leave law in 1971 and has been adjusting it ever since.  In 2000,  it lengthened its available leave from six months to a year.  About four months of that is reserved for mothers; the rest is available to all parents.  They receive 55% of their salary (up to an income limit), paid through the country's unemployment insurance program, and are guaranteed their jobs when they go back to work.

Source: Bloomberg BusinessWeek, January 19, 2015

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

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

 Everyone you meet these days is overworked and out of time.