The Importance of Emotional Intelligence for Career Success
Leadership Emotional Intelligence is not new- however it has been shown that leaders in today’s market need it more now than ever before. Emotional Intelligence is the understanding of how we interact with other and build relationships. It is not how much you know that is important – it is how we interact with others.
My discussion today will help us to better understand why emotional intelligence is so important for successful leadership and how we can use EI to advance our careers.
Featured Guest
Joining me is Lauran Star. Lauran Star is a sought after author, consultant and speaker who inspires vision and strategic change in any economic environment. She is the leading thought leader in Emotional Intelligence and Women’s Empowerment.
With more than fifteen years of leadership experience with several Fortune 500 companies, as well as an active consulting career in the Dental / Healthcare and Financial arena –Lauran has an understanding of what today’s audiences are facing. Lauran became a proud member of the United States Armed Forces in 1989 and served for ten years.
Lauran Star also is a national syndicated radio host on Contact Talk Radio – where she engages her audiences weekly on topics ranging from Emotional Intelligence, Client Retention to Organizational Development.
Lauran holds a Master’s Degree is in Organizational Psychology and a Bachelors in Psychology. Her certifications include;Executive Coaching, Emotional Intelligence, NLP, Firo and TKI Conflict Management. She is an active member of both the National Speakers Association and Global Speakers Federation. Her website is www.LauranStar.com
Listen to the April 10th show live at 12 noon ET or download the podcast.
Recognizing and Overcoming Unconscious Gender Bias in the Workplace
In a perfect world, we would all live in a pure meritocracy, where we would be judged soley on our performance. But research shows us that no such thing exists. Though we all want to believe in the meritocracy, the truth is that decisions about who gets hired, who gets developed and who gets promoted are often made based on many factors, including assumptions we make and preferences we have based on gender.
This week we’re going to discuss the unconscious bias that women face in the workplace, how that affects their advancement, and what needs to be done to overcome this bias.
Featured Guest
Joining me is Anne Weisberg. Anne Weisberg is a Managing Director and Chief Strategy Officer at the FutureWork Institute, a global consulting firm that translates future trends to transform organizations.
Anne is a well-respected leader in the diversity and inclusion field, and has written extensively in the area of gender diversity and work-life integration, including co-authoring the best-selling book, Mass Career Customization: Aligning the Workplace with Today’s Nontraditional Workforce (HBS Press, 2007), The Gender Dividend: Making the Business Case for Investing in Women (Deloitte, 2011), Paths to Power: Advancing Women in Government (Deloitte, 2010) and Everything a Working Mother Needs to Know (Doubleday 1994).
Prior to joining the FutureWork Institute, Anne was Director of Diversity and Inclusion at BlackRock, where she helped launch a women’s leadership forum to accelerate the careers of the firm’s high potential women, oversaw the strategic use of employee networks and imbedded diversity practices into HR processes and systems. Prior to BlackRock, Anne was a Director in Talent at Deloitte and prior to that worked at Catalyst, where she directed a large study of women in the legal profession and advised clients on diversity strategies. Anne has also practiced law and clerked for a federal judge.
She received her Bachelor of Science Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California, Berkeley and her Juris Doctor cum laude from Harvard Law School.
Listen to the April 3rd show 12 noon ET or download the podcast.
Cathie Black Tells Us What It Takes To Get To The Top
If you are invested in your career and professional growth and are looking for advice on the best path to the top this show is a must! Joining me today is bestselling author and media executive Cathie Black, whose incredible career is a great role model for all of us. Cathie will offer her best advice to navigate the often challenging workplace and what she believes is necessary for women to achieve success in business today.
Featured Guest
Cathie Black is a well-known media executive, best-selling author and now an advisor, board member and investor in digital start-ups and entrepreneurial companies. She was president, then chairman of Hearst Magazines, one of the world’s largest publishers of monthly magazines for 15 years, and oversaw such titles as Cosmopolitan, Food Network Magazine, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Harper’s Bazaar, O, The Oprah Magazine, Town & Country and nearly 200 international editions. Called “the First Lady of Magazines”, Fortune Magazine and Forbes named Black to their annual “Most Powerful Women in Business” lists numerous times.
Cathie’s New York Times best-seller, translated into 12 languages, “Basic Black: The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life)” offers invaluable lessons about the workplace with stories of working with media greats like Oprah Winfrey, Rupert Murdoch and Gloria Steinem.
She served on the boards of IBM and the Coca-Cola Company for 20 years, before becoming Chancellor of New York City Schools in 2010. She is a member of the National Council of Foreign Relations, a trustee of The University of Notre Dame and the Kent School. She currently serves on the boards of Vibrant Media and Zuse.
Listen to the February 27th show or download the podcast.
Self-Promotion is a Political Skill
Hopefully most professional women now understand the importance of taking credit for their accomplishments and promoting themselves across the organization to gain visibility and credibility. There have been many studies by Catalyst and other organizations that support the necessity of promotion for career advancement for women.
Understanding your value proposition and being able to confidently articulate this to others is the first important step in promoting yourself in the workplace. The ability to self promote begins with an inner journey of self-reflection to gain an understanding of what you bring to the table and how it benefits others in the organization or the company.
The second step is the determination of how, when, where, and to whom you should promote yourself. This requires political savvy or a sensitivity to the culture and people involved as well as a strategic focus to figure out who needs to know the information about you for your advancement.
It does no good whatsoever to promote yourself in a way that turns people against you. In fact, it can do more harm than good. If the culture in your organization does not respond positively to powerful women and there are not many women with top leadership roles, you might make the assumption that your promotion needs to be subtle and personal.
Like any other relationship in or out of the workplace, it takes some time to develop trust and mutual respect. Take the time to get to know the person with whom you are communicating. What is important to them? What interests them? How does your value proposition benefit them? Can you offer some support on a project? Collaborating on a project is a great way to gain visibility and showcase your skills without blowing your own horn. What other opportunities are there in your organization?
If you have a boss who never gives you feedback, ask for it. Send weekly status updates. Request feedback to determine if you are on the right track and meeting expectations. Keep track of your accomplishments over the year to help you prepare for your performance review.
What is the culture in your organization?
How receptive is this culture to assertive women?
Do you have any female role models who have leadership positions? Look at how they communicate. What has led to their success?
As you build your own internal and external power network, build relationships and listen and watch for clues that will help you position and promote yourself in a savvy manner.
We can learn to articulate our value proposition but we also need to be mindful of how best to communicate this to others for the maximum impact.
Ten Core Competencies for Leadership
On this show we frequently talk about women’s leadership and what it takes for women to be successful in business. Today we are going to discuss the 10 Core Competencies for Leadership and give you some practical advice and tips on how to up your leadership game.
Joining me on today’s show is leadership expert and women’s advocate Kathryn Kolbert.
Featured Guest
Kathryn Kolbert is the Director of the Athena Center for Leadership Studies at Barnard College.
A public-interest attorney, journalist, and visionary in the not-for-profit world, Kathryn has an extraordinary depth of experience in collaborative leadership, educational programming, and civil-rights advocacy. She has been recognized by The National Law Journal as one of the “100 Most Influential Lawyers in America, and by The American Lawyer as one of 45 public- interest lawyers whose vision and commitment are changing lives.” In 1992, Kathryn argued the landmark case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey before the U.S. Supreme Court and has been credited with saving Roe v. Wade with what Jeffrey Toobin has called “one of the most audacious litigation strategies in Supreme Court history.
Before joining Barnard, Kathryn was the President and CEO of People for the American Way and People for the American Way Foundation, two of the nation’s premier civil rights organizations. During her tenure, People For the American Way’s Political Action Committee was cited by the National Journal as the most successful advocacy group of the 2008 election cycle.
Kathryn graduated cum laude from Temple University School of Law, and received her undergraduate degree from Cornell University’s School of Arts and Sciences. She has lectured at colleges and universities across the nation and is a frequent commentator on constitutional and women’s rights issues in the national media.
Listen to the January 2nd 2013 show or download the podcast.
It’s Not A Glass Ceiling: It’s A Glass Grid
Catalyst studies show that women are just as ambitious as men and use the same career advancement strategies but they don’t get the same pay off. “Clearly, access to the ‘hot jobs’ and to senior-level sponsors with clout to create that access can make a dramatic difference in closing the persistent gender gap.” said Ilene H. Lang, President & Chief Executive Officer, Catalyst.
According to a new Catalyst report, Good Intentions, Imperfect Execution? Women Get Fewer of the Hot Jobs Needed to Advance, women get fewer of the high visibility, mission-critical roles and international experiences the so-called “hot jobs” that are key to getting ahead at global companies. Unequal access to those “hot jobs” may be an underlying cause of the persistent gender gap at senior levels.
If women are equally ambitious and use the same career advancement strategies, what prevents them from the access to these “hot jobs”? It’s the glass grid.
Everyone talks about the glass ceiling and having to knock on the glass ceiling to get ahead. What’s really going on is that women have a glass grid. This is a power grid that is so hidden and buried that women don’t know it exists and because they don’t know it exists, they don’t know how to navigate it.
Think talent and hard work are enough to get ahead? The workplace is a highly politicized environment where key decisions about who gets ahead, who gets the plum assignments, who gets the scarce resources are not just decided on merit. Understanding the politics and what really happens behind how decisions are made in the workplace is essential if women are to succeed.
Women tend to have less power and less access to power than men which puts them at a disadvantage. In their book, Political Skills at Work, authors Ferris, Davidson, and Perrewe state:
Women do not see the necessity of political maneuvering. This political deficiency relegates them quickly to the losers brackets and probably explains what appears to be active and blatant gender discrimination in promotion and advancement.
The glass grid redefines the journey women have to the top. The higher up you get in an organization, the more competitive the environment. In fact, the power often shifts as women move up which results in additional challenges to navigate the grid successfully. Political skill and savvy become even more important as women ascend the corporate ladder.
Women in Law: The Challenges and Opportunities
Women lawyers have made great strides but much work remains to be done. Women have been graduating law schools at approximately the same rate as men for the last two decades but women comprise only 16% of law firm equity partners; 14% of governing committees of law firms and just 6% of firms have women managing partners. 1/2 of all law firms have no women among their top rainmakers.
Today we will discuss the challenges facing women attorneys, how best to overcome these challenges, as well as the opportunities for women in law today.
Featured Guest
Timi Hallem graduated from law school in 1972, a time when less than 10% of the class was female. That was a sea change from her undergraduate days at Smith College, then, as now, an all women college. Not surprisingly, Timi was the first woman hired at Tuttle & Taylor (her first employer, a firm that closed in 2000). She was the first to seek maternity leave, at a time when no LA firm had a written maternity leave policy, and she was the first woman elected to partner.
Since she started practicing (and before), Timi has devoted time and energy to helping women. As a second year lawyer, she chaired the Women Lawyers of LA legislation committee and put together broad coalitions to change California’s rape laws and for the first time get sex discrimination included in civil rights laws.
Timi is now a partner at the LA-based law firm of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, where she is a partner in the real estate group, chair of the hospitality group, and chair of the firm’s women’s initiative. Timi has been named One of SoCal’s Most Influential Women in Real Estate by Real Estate Southern California, 2000?2006, and also honored as one of The Best Lawyers in America from 2006?2013.
Listen to the Wednesday, October 31st show at 12 noon EDT or download the podcast.
Marianne Williamson: Women and A Call For A New Kind Of Politics
We lack female representation in our electoral politics today. The U.S. Congress is currently comprised of 16.8 percent women and our state legislatures 23.6 percent. How does this lack of female participation and gender equality affect the overall agenda of American politics today?
Marianne Williamson believes that the more women we have at the table, the more we can shift from a focus on economics to one that creates real social change. Marianne suggests a fresh approach to politics is necessary, and in my recent interview with her, she outlines her thoughts about our current political system and the need for more women to engage in the process. A new conversation about transformational politics begins with Marianne’s event in Los Angeles, CA on November 10-11th: Sister Giant. Women, Nonviolence and Birthing a New American Politics.
1. Why Sister Giant? Why now?
No matter who wins the election in November, something even more fundamental needs to be addressed in this country than simply the differences between the two parties. We don’t just need new political policies; we need a new politics. We need a new worldview. We need to become more sober stewards of the extraordinary narrative of American history. The most conscious minds are turned off to politics for a reason: it’s mean, toxic, corrupt and so forth. But there’s a conundrum there, if we’re not careful; we can’t just not engage. But we need to engage it in a new way, and Sister Giant is simply part of the emerging conversation
2. What is your intention for Sister Giant?
That people end the weekend feeling an aliveness around the subject of politics that perhaps they hadn’t felt in a long time. That their conscience has been bothered, yes — we have 23.1 child poverty rate in America, among 35 developed nations in the world second only to Romania; we have the highest incarceration rate in the world; and Citizens United is arguably a threat to democracy — but also filled with a sense of new possibility that can’t be found within the current political dialogue
3. Why is it important for women to step up and become involved in the political process?
The U.S. Congress is comprised of fewer than 17 percent women; our State Legislatures are comprised of fewer than 24 percent women. Would our political priorities be the same if there were anywhere near gender equity among our elected representatives? As long as political influence is determined more and more by economic power, where does that leave children? They have no financial leverage, but they are citizens of the United States no more but no less than anyone else. Is it right that their welfare is so consistently and chronically untended to? I believe in my heart that if more women were at the table, then fewer of our children would be suffering.
………Read more on my interview with Marianne on my Forbes column.
Dealing with People, Power and Politics at Work
Most women cringe when they hear people talk about office politics. They dont want to get involved in the politics and certainly dont want to be considered a political animal. Being political has a negative connotation in the workplace. Yet, research shows us that in order for us to move our careers forward we need to learn to be politically savvy and understand how decisions are made in our organization and who makes them. Its always a good idea to identify key people in your organization and build and nurture relationships with them to advance your career. This week’s discussion is about how to deal with the people, power and politics at work and my guest is Jane Clarke, author of Savvy.
Featured Guest
Jane Clarke an author and director at Nicholson McBride, a business psychology consulting firm. She has worked in consulting for over 20 years and her clients include London Business School, UBS, and J Walter Thompson. She contributes to national newspapers, appears on TV and radio, and has written for the Financial Times, the Guardian, and the Independent, a British daily. She is also the author of Office Politics, Wired Working, and Resilience.
Listen to the October 17th show or download the podcast.
Jennifer versus John in the Workplace: Jennifer loses!
Imagine this. You are a competent, highly skilled woman. You work hard and expect that opportunities for advancement will present themselves. But, they dont. Youre puzzled. Youre doing everything youve been told to get ahead and its not working.
Whats going on? A recent study done at Yale offers one possible explanation. Bias still exists for women especially in science, math and other technical industries. Are you surprised?
In this study, male and female professors of biology, chemistry, and physics at six major research universities were asked to evaluate applications for a lab manager position. All the professors were given the same information regarding qualifications of the applicants. The only difference was one was labeled John and the other, Jennifer.
Even though the applications were identical in regards to background, qualifications etc., John received higher competence scores and compensation than Jennifer. John was offered a starting salary considerably higher than Jennifers.
The study confirms what many women experience in the workplace every day: gender bias. Is it possible that we are blindsided by this gender bias?
When I entered the workforce in the mid 1980s, I expected gender discrimination and, in fact, found it in almost every company where I worked. Now women have the expectation that the landscape has changed and the path for career advancement has been cleared of this bias. Perhaps its more difficult to deal with in todays workplace because its more subtle than it was a couple of generations ago.
Heres the lesson: Dont be in career denial! Take the time to understand the political landscape in your organization. Seek out the power players and build the relationships that can positively impact your career growth. One thing is obvious from this study, the professors were simply evaluating applications and never had face to face meetings with the fictitious men and women.
Building relationships with the influencers and decision makers in your company is your best option for overcoming gender bias. As you develop and strengthen these relationships, you become more than a female employee. These relationships and your ability to communicate your accomplishments help you to stand out and get on the radar screen for advancement.
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