This month we talk about the importance of seeking guidance from others, and provide a tool to get you thinking about whether you are fully engaged and energized in your life. If not, or if you just need a career boost, our Building the Foundation for a Fulfilling Career can give you the insight and tools you need.
Our wish for you is to continually grow and to thrive!
Susan & Lynn
Feature Article
Who’s With You?
The HOV lane – to use it we must take at least one other rider with us. When we bring along a friend we speed by the scores of slow moving vehicles in the lanes beside us. They’re the ones changing lanes every few minutes to get a few yards ahead, while we and our friends cruise by in the single lane next to them, relaxed, engaging in conversation, listening to energizing music, pumped up for the day.
That is, if we take someone along with us. If we decide to go it alone, we’re the frustrated ones in the regular lanes.
The same can be applied to our careers.
This analogy came to mind when we recently met a woman who is in the midst of a career crisis. Not long ago she made a career change. Her rationale was sound – she needed more flexibility in her schedule at this time of her life. Her line manager did not have the ability to grant that flexibility, or so she thought. So she changed jobs and companies.
She now recognizes her strategic mistake: she failed to test the former line manager’s assumption with one of her senior sponsors. As a result, she finds herself in a very unsatisfying position, in a company culture that doesn’t match her style, and with no established sponsors.
Help!
It’s a simple word that we find hard to say. As this very bright, ambitious woman now knows, she could have had another opportunity in her former company, with the support of an influential sponsor, simply by asking for help.
We are put on this earth to live in community with others. Most people like to help. Yet we still come up against problems and challenges that we think we can handle by ourselves. None of us can do it all, nor do it perfectly. We can’t do it on our own. We need the support and guidance of others.
In our Building the Foundation workshop, you have the opportunity to join with a community of other career women and gain the insight that comes from time spent on your personal development combined with the experiences of others.
Career Tip: Before making any major career decision, test it out with at least one other person (more, if possible) knowledgeable about you and your career.
Resource Corner
McKinsey Quarterly: Changing Companies Minds about Women by Joanna Barsh and Lareina Yee
McKinsey draws upon their research from 30 diversity experts and the examples of three companies, Time Warner, Shell and Pitney Bowes to discuss what barriers still keep women from advancing in corporations.
According to Barsh and Yee, “When senior leaders commit themselves to gender diversity, they really mean it – but in the heat of the moment, deeply entrenched beliefs cause old forms of behavior to resurface.” Click here to read ideas on breaking this cycle.
Human Performance Institute: Free Energy Assessment
The HP Institute created the concept of the “corporate athlete” and the importance of training to be fully engaged in all aspects of life. This link gives you a quick assessment of your level of engagement, based on the work of Dr. Jim Loehr in the book, “The Power of Full Engagement”.
For an experience tailored for women, you can attend our Building the Foundation workshop, which helps you identify what energizes you and how to align your career accordingly. Join a community of supporting women facing similar challenges and opportunities in the corporate world.
Upcoming Event
We’re currently working our Spring/Summer calendar, Check our website for the most up-to-date events.
About Susan and Lynn
Susan Hodge and Lynn Rousseau created Women Leading Together in order to provide seminars, workshops, and coaching circles to help career women move forward to create fulfilling careers. Visit our website at www.WomenLeadingTogether.com.
