Featured Guest

Susan Bulkeley Butler is the founder and CEO of the Susan Bulkeley Butler Institute for the Development of Women Leaders. In 1965, Butler was the first professional female employee at Arthur Andersen & Co., and in 1979 she became the first female partner of Andersen Consulting, now known as Accenture. Susan is a delegate at Vision 2020, a national project focused on advancing gender equality by energizing the dialogue about women and leadership. She is a past member of the Board of Trustees at Purdue University. Late Indiana Governor Frank O’Bannon presented Butler the Sagamore of the Wabash Award, Indiana’s highest honor for distinguished service. She also received an honorary doctorate in management from Purdue. Her aspiration is to impact “zillions of women and girls to be all they can be.” She fulfills this aspiration with her new book, WOMEN COUNT, A Guide to Changing the World, her first book, Become the CEO of You, Inc, (2008), her monthly newsletter, executive coaching, speaking and conducting workshops.

Listen to the September 7, 2010 show, or visit our VoiceAmerica archive to hear any of our previous shows.

Recent research shows that when you are distracted from a creative challenge for a few minutes, you are more likely to come up with a creative solution than if you focused your attention on it. In the study done at the University of Amsterdam, students were given a creative problem to solve. One group was told they had three minutes to think it through before giving their answers. Another group was given an unrelated task to do for three minutes to distract them. This task was a non-creative one that was designed to use their conscious thoughts. The third group was asked to come up with ideas immediately.

What was the result? Well, you might think the group that was given time to focus on a solution would have better results and more creative ideas, but the opposite occurred. It was the distracted group that generated more creative solutions. Here’s the reason given: the distracted group had a task that occupied their conscious thoughts, thereby freeing up their unconscious mind to do some creative work.

Don’t you find this is true yourself? How often have you tried consciously to focus on a creative solution and come up empty?

I remember trying to rename my radio show last January. I spent hours trying to think of a new catchy name. It wasn’t until I let it go and focused on other activities that the answer came to me, Head over Heels!

It’s an incredible “ah-hah” moment when the conscious part of your brain receives the answer from your unconscious.

There is a great lesson here for all of us. When we are attempting to find a creative solution, we need to distract ourselves and do something totally different for a while in order to free our subconscious brain to come up with the answer.

Let yourself be distracted and amazing things will happen.

Have you experienced this?

Featured Guests

Karine Moe is a Professor of Economics at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She earned a Ph.D. and M.A. in economics at the University of Minnesota, a Master of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, and a B.A. in economics from Saint Olaf College. She is a labor economist with particular interests in how the use of time (especially for women and girls) affects labor market outcomes. She is the author of over a dozen articles and book chapters and the author/co-author of two books: Women, Family, and Work: Writings on the Economics of Gender (2003) and Glass Ceilings and 100-Hour Couples: What the Opt-Out Phenomenon Can Teach Us About Work and Family (2009, with Dianna Shandy).

Dianna Shandy is Associate Professor and Chair of Anthropology and Director of African Studies at Macalester College, where she has been teaching since 1999. She earned a Ph.D., M.Phil., and M.A. in Anthropology at Columbia University and a B.S. in Languages and Linguistics with Certificates in African Studies and Russian Area Studies at Georgetown University. She is the author of three books and more than 30 articles and book chapters.
Listen to the August 31, 2010 show, or visit our VoiceAmerica archive to hear any of our previous shows.

People with low self-esteem often try to remain under the radar screen because they don’t want to be noticed, but especially in this economy, that is the wrong thing to do.

This quote caught my attention because the focus of my coaching for professional women is to help them create visibility and be on the radar screen of key influencers at work. This is critical for career advancement.

The article also states that, in general, we tend to make assumptions about people who exhibit behavior associated with low self-esteem. One common assumption is that they are not very intelligent. We make these assumptions based on the fact that these people seldom speak up in meetings and if they are called on, they are timid and don’t readily express an opinion.

Other self-sabotaging behavior that is associated with low self-esteem is not asking for raises or promotions. It’s easy to see how all this can negatively impact your career.

Sharon Fontain, who is an expert in self-esteem, states that self-esteem can be learned through the practice of positive self talk.

What you’re doing is working with the unconscious mind, which is extraordinarily powerful and extremely stupid. In other words, it is perfectly within your power to fool your unconscious mind, allowing you to banish low self-esteem for good.

Wow! that’s great news. A regular practice of positive self talk can actually boost your self-esteem. If you feel you are in this category and are victim of negative thoughts about yourself and your ability, it’s time that you did something about it before it dramatically affects your career.

Notice when negative thoughts come up and think of a positive thought to replace it. Practice the positive thought over and over, until you can “fool” your brain. For example, “I will never make it in the company” can be replaced with “I am talented and have a great deal to offer this company. I know that I have the capability to succeed at whatever I attempt”. See how it works?

Make a conscious effort to speak up in meetings with confidence, offer your opinion, volunteer for special projects and other initiatives in the company to make yourself more visible.

Lois Frankel recommends you go one step further and fake it.

Fake it until you make it. This will not only convince your superiors, but it will also help you rejigger your thought processes.

What do you think? Does it work to fake it until you make it?

Listen to my Head over Heels Radio interview with Lois Frankel to learn more ways women unconsciously sabotage their careers and advice on how we can modify our behavior to better position ourselves for advancement.

According to Wikipedia,

A thought leader is a futurist or person who is recognized for innovative ideas and demonstrates the confidence to promote or share those ideas as actionable distilled insights.

The panel was in agreement that in order to be a thought leader, it’s not enough to be creative and innovative. One must also have the ability and confidence to promote their ideas.

Part of the discussion addressed how women are not really good at speaking up and promoting their ideas; how we often take the back seat to men in the workplace. What is the best way to communicate your ideas so that others will be inspired and motivated to support you?

I don’t know why it always surprises me that the majority of these discussions about women and leadership end up focusing on women and self promotion and self confidence. I was sitting in the audience nodding my head. Self confidence and self promotion are necessary ingredients for women’s leadership and career success. I can’t stress it enough. And though my readers are probably tired of reading this, you can have the best ideas and the best business concept, and if you don’t have the confidence to promote your ideas and the skill to communicate effectively, you will not become the thought leader you desire to be. Thought leadership requires both components; the thought and leadership skills. Leadership implies that you have the ability to get your message across to others to both inspire and motivate action on their part.

Of course, the discussion last week also touched on the “double bind” concept that as women we need to be mindful of the way we promote ourselves; men can get away with outright bragging and we can’t. The double bind is widely accepted as part of our current culture. Women need to recognize that there is an art to creating the credibility and visibility you need to be a thought leader without sabotaging your efforts.

First, clarify your thoughts and ideas.

Second, create a compelling and passionate message.

Third, be strategic. Identify the web of influence in your internal and external networks who need to hear your message.

Fourth, develop a communication/action plan to consistently be visible to these stakeholders to communicate your message.

Fifth, follow the action plan and modify as necessary.

Use the energy and passion you have for your ideas to propel you into action. Once you are motivated to action, as a thought leader you need to communicate your message to inspire and motivate others to action.

Can this cautious outlook sometimes work against us? It is possible, in my opinion, to be so cautious that you never move forward in your business or career. Being overly cautious can paralyze you.

Almost every major milestone in my own career has been due to me taking an enormous leap of faith and trying something new; something perhaps I was not totally prepared for but decided to embrace regardless. When a door opened, I ran through it and never worried how I would master what was required to be successful in this new opportunity. I’m not saying that every time I took a risk, it worked out well. There have been times that I have fallen flat on my face. When this happens, it’s important to dust yourself off, gather your wits about you, and start all over again. In other words, never let your failures prevent you from learning a lesson, picking yourself up, and seizing the next opportunity that comes along with the same passion and energy.

What is the essential ingredient we all need to have in order to take a risk? Self confidence! Self confidence fuels your persistence and determination and helps propel you through any open door. In fact, with enough self confidence, you won’t even wait until a door of opportunity opens for you, you’ll go find it!

It’s critical for your success, whether you are an entrepreneur or corporate professional, to periodically connect with your value and talent to establish and grow your foundation of self confidence. This, in my opinion, is the secret to success.

We need to periodically connect with our value and talent because we often take our accomplishments for granted. We lose that connection to what is unique and wonderful about us. Do whatever it takes to honor your accomplishments and ability. One suggestion I make repeatedly is to keep a success journal and record all your accomplishments and review your entries each week, celebrate your achievements, and think about what these successes say about you. This will fuel your self confidence and your ability to take on new opportunities, which, in turn, will lead to career and business success.

Self confidence is the secret of success.

The post poses some direct questions to the reader about whether or not your role has changed significantly in the past six months and whether you have been given new responsibilities with no formal promotion or pay raise. Ashkenas reminds us that the practice of assigning more responsibility without changes in job title or description has become more common lately due to the reorganization and downsizing of companies.

I suppose that any of us who have survived downsizing feel very fortunate to still have a job. In this situation, we are more likely to take on more responsibility without a promotion because we not only feel lucky to have a job, but also somewhat vulnerable and sensitive to the instability of the company and the economy. We want to keep our jobs.

That being said, we also need to realize the value that we bring to our company and not let the fact that we have taken on more responsibility go unnoticed.

Ashkenas has some great advice:

…don’t wait for your boss or someone else to recognize that you’ve been invisibly promoted. Revise your job description or create some bullet points about what the job now entails. Have an honest discussion with your immediate supervisor about what it will take to achieve these expanded responsibilities, how you will develop the skills needed, what you may need to do differently, and what he or she can do to help.

I think that Ashkenas’s article has a special message for professional women. In my opinion and from my own business and coaching experience, I have witnessed that many women have difficulty standing up for what they want and need. Women are more likely to take on extra work without requesting a visible promotion or salary increase. In fact, I would go so far as to say that women are more likely to take on the responsibilities and wait to be noticed and recognized without taking the credit or taking the initiative to have a conversation and negotiate a better title and compensation.

One of the most significant mistakes that professional women make is believing that if they work hard and do a good job, someone will recognize and reward them.

Talent and experience are not enough. Hard work is not enough. We must learn to speak up for ourselves and communicate to others our value and accomplishments in order to advance our careers.

Ashkenas states:

..make your invisible promotion visible both to you and to your boss. It will give you the recognition you deserve and the support you need to make sure that you don’t unintentionally become a victim of the Peter Principle.

I might add to this: Don’t be the victim of  the assumption that if you remain invisible others will recognize and reward you.

I left corporate America six years ago to start my coaching business and I’ve never looked back. Sure, there have been challenges; plenty of challenges. I would be dishonest if I said running my own business is a piece of cake. It’s not. It can be stressful and even scary at times. Why? Because YOU are the business and though you can occasionally take time off (as difficult as that is for me personally), at the end of the day, it’s YOU who makes all the decisions and charts the course for the direction of your business.

In the beginning, I would stress over every decision. It seemed to me at the time that every decision was a monumental one. What should I name my company? What should my website look like and say? What is my niche? I have to say now I make my decisions quickly and they are often based on my intuition. Sometimes I make good decisions; some aren’t so great, but I’ve come to realize that this is all part of the evolutionary process of becoming an entrepreneur. I celebrate the fact that I have the ability to make these decisions and chart my own course; to make some mistakes and hopefully learn from them and move forward. That’s what is means to be independent after all.

That being said, I think it is possible to be independent to a fault as an entrepreneur. You can’t build and run a successful business in a vacuum. It’s important to surround yourself with a network of supporters and mentors that you can tap into for advice.

I read recently that every business owner should have an advisory board for their business; a group of like-minded business people who can act as a sounding board when you need it. This advisory board can be a formal group or an informal relationship with colleagues who have the experience and expertise to help guide you.

Who should be on your advisory board? For my coaching business, I look for advice and support in finance, marketing, technology and design and often use a coach myself to keep me on track and move my business forward.

So, it is Independence Day and I am celebrating my independence! Being an entrepreneur is an amazing experience to me. Because I am following my passion to help other professional women be successful, it never feels like work. I love it and every day is a celebration of my independence. That being said, I think as an entrepreneur, it is possible to be too independent and we need to seek out the advice and expertise of others to help us grow. In the end, this gives us the ability to maintain our independence and flourish.

Happy Independence Day!

We called ourselves “The Dynasty” which gives you a clue as to how impressed we were with ourselves at the time! We were bright, attractive, and full of fun. We all had an amazing zest for life!

Years have passed since our graduation from Connecticut College and through the years, this group of friends has continued to share many milestones together; marriage, children, divorce, death, and career challenges and successes. We always take the time from our busy lives to stay connected and make a point to set aside quality time each year to meet for a few days. These reunions are always filled with laughter and tears, and always the warmth of love and friendship. There is such a special feeling when you re-unite with old friends. No need for formalities. We get right into it and return immediately to where we were as college students and bask in the glow of love and respect for each other, and the safety in knowing each other so well.

This past week, we lost one of our friends to cancer; the second one from our group. When someone passes at a young age, of course, there is an overwhelming sense of sadness.This past week since we all received the news of Judy’s passing, we have once again pulled together to support each other and share memories; memories about the good times as well as the tough times, laughter, tears, and gratitude for the time we spent with Judy and each other over the years.

So this post is a tribute on many levels. First and foremost, it is a tribute to my friend Judy, who valiantly battled her disease until the end, who gave us all so much joy through the years with her sharp wit and wisdom. It’s also a tribute to “the dynasty” and how our friendship and commitment to each other have endured; how we have continued to support each other through all of life’s challenges. It’s also a tribute to the strength of women everywhere and their innate ability to form and build lasting relationships. It is this innate ability to build strong relationships that will take us forward into leadership positions that will change the world.

Women’s Leadership Exchange is staging a VIRTUAL business summit for women on May 26th!

I have been offered a discount code for the conference for all my friends and contacts. If you are interested in attending this incredible event,  you can register here for just $69 (instead of the regular price of $119)

http://www.womensleadershipexchange.com/index.php?pagename=virtual

and put VIPTICKETS in the source code.

I’ll be there and hope you can join me!