“Shine” On Yahoo – Shine On!

Quick Site Review:

Found a new site for women – Shine – from yahoo.  Going back to what I was talking about a few months ago in “They’ve Got The Power” , we have another example of big business chasing down women as the ultimate consumer, which can only be a good thing for women.

Shine is a well-organized site, with an obviously smart team putting everything together.   As soon as I hit it yesterday, I was drawn in with all the news, stories and features that were targetted for my demographic/age group (and never mind asking what age group that might be). They have a wide range of topics, not just centering on the typical ”mom” and “fashion” stories, and a nice layout. Best of all, you can start your own blog, which of course, I’ve already done, because I just can’t stop talking. 

Check them out, but be warned,  be prepared to spend a couple of hours searching around, there’s a ton of good stuff here.    

I want a woman to win

I admit it,  I want Hilary to win the golden ticket, and I want her to win it because she’s a woman. 

When I say that, it’s not like I’m talking about a dimwitted imbecile, this is Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton.  I could turn this  into a wikipedia page , but suffice to say,  she would not be sitting on Super Tuesday, with 740 delegates under her belt, if she wasn’t extremely intelligent.  No woman in American history has accomplished what she has. 

I’m an avid supporter of Universal Health Care as well.  I believe that to be considered a great and benevolent society, you have to look after your fragile, your weak and your sick.  Admittedly, there are issues with free health care systems, but these issues are normally funding related.  I think we can all agree that the $3.5 trillion being spent on the Iraq war, could have bought alot of band aids.    

It’s time to answer the question, What If?  We haven’t had a woman come this close, to this kind of power, since Margaret Thatcher retired 18 years ago, (Kim Campbell was Prime Minister of Canada, but only for 4 months).  Today, women hold just 16.6% of political positions worldwide.  And not to rub it in, we have a world filled with war, poverty, housing crises, and global warming.  I’m not blaming all the world’s problems on men, I’m just blaming the people in charge — who just happen to be men. 

So, what  if an experienced, intelligent woman was in charge of the most powerful country in the world?

Would women’s wages rise toward parity?

Would daycare be accessible and affordable?

Would women entrepreneurs find more funding opportunities?

Would women owned companies find more government contract opportunities?

Would the whole country smell of daisies and roses?

I don’t know.  I do know that only a woman understands a woman, and I believe that the best opportunity to have women’s issues seriously addressed, is to have a woman in charge. 

Obviously, I’m a Hilary fan, and have been for years, but if you’re cemented in with another candidate, that’s fine with me, I just want to see everyone involved.  What I’m suggesting is this,  if you’re sitting on the fence – and you’re a woman, it’s o.k. to let the estrogen tip you over.  This could be the break that we are all looking for. 

You’re Firing Me?!! I don’t think so!

Had a good chuckle with this one. A woman in Jacksonville was flipping through the classifieds and sees, what she thinks is her job, being advertised. She convinces herself that her boss is about to fire her, so she walks into the server room and deletes 7 years worth of files .

Well, turns out she wasn’t being fired, she was just paranoid. Surprisingly, an “oops,sorry”, wasn’t quite good enough for the employer, and they had her arrested. She’s currently out on bail.

You know though, if she had of been right, and she was about to be fired, she would think it was all worth it. Hell hath no fury….

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A Great Article for Women Thinking About Their MBA

Blog and Run:

A really great article from timesonline.co.uk – “A Supportive Culture and role models top women’s wish list”

If you’re woman who is considering going after her MBA – let’s you know that there are options for your particular situation, gives you some things to think about, and things to look for in your business school.

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Suzie Homemaker or Ms. Powersuit?

 

Whether we like it or not, the single biggest obstacle between women and career success, is the overwhelming responsibility that most of them have on their shoulders.  Women look after their families, their households, and many are facing the reality of looking after their elderly parents (1.2 million in the U.K. alone).  Women don’t have time to shower, never mind finish payroll, put together sales proposals or travel extensively for business. 

It is amazing that after 40 years of independence, women are still being overwhelmed by their daily lives.  The question of course is why?

Our spouses, partners and families are perfectly capable of helping, so why is it still on our shoulders?  Are they shirking their duties or are we still living with a superwoman dream?  Do we still want to be Suzie Homemaker at home and Ms. Powersuit at the office?

It’s probably a combination of the two.  Our families our more then happy to be waited on, while we want to be looked upon as nothing less than the most organized and resourceful woman in the world.  This is completely unhealthy though and is destroying us on physical, mental, emotional and professional levels.  It’s time to start taking real steps to gain real control of our lives. 

Step 1:  Realize that you can’t do everything yourself. 

I realize that this is probably the hardest step to take, but it’s o.k., that’s why there’s more people on the earth besides you, so they can help out.  Rome wasn’t built in a day and it wasn’t built by one Empress.  It’s time for a family meeting, where you can tell everyone exactly what you need, to make your life easier.  This is going to be a big change for all involved, but it’s time to make it clear that things are going to change, why they’re going to change, and what everyone is going to do about it. 

Step 2: You’ll Actually Need to Verbalize the Requests

I know that we often expect the men in our lives to read out minds, but science has shown that they do not have telepathic abilities yet.  You will actually have to say: “Can you pick the kids up from soccer, I’m busy.”  Surprisingly, if you put a note in their palm pilot, they’ll usually show up at the field on time, and everyone will make it home safe, without you. 

Step 3: Realize that nobody’s house looks like Martha Stewart’s, except Martha Stewart

The world is not going to end if you leave the house and there are dishes in the sink.  Your children are not going to die of malnutrition if they eat peanut butter and banana sandwiches for supper.  Stop feeling so guilty.  

I realize that our mothers and grandmothers had floors that you could eat off of – but is that really necessary?  Are you ever going to eat off the floor?  Why’d you spend $2 grand on that dining room table?   And let’s not forget the five second rule, you’re always covered by the five second rule.

Your family should be more worried as to whether or not you’ve had 15 minutes to rest in a day, then if there are clean socks for the morning.  It’s not illegal for a 12 year old boy to wear the same pair of socks for two days; in fact, he’s probably doing it anyways. 

Step 4: Realize that your children have hands. 

Did you know that children who are raised on farms, get up at 5:00 a.m. to do chores, before they go to school?  And do you know what – they actually survive!  I haven’t heard of a rush of farm children, running to the psychiatrist’s office, because they had to do some manual labour. 

I’m not saying to hire your children out as farm labourers, but I am reminding you that they are perfectly capable of folding some laundry and washing the dishes.  Realistically, helping around the house will turn them into adults who can actually look after themselves.  Their future partners will thank you.   

The Recession is Coming – Now What?

“I’ve Not Failed – I’ve Just Found 10,000 Ways That Won’t Work” – Thomas Alva Edison

I stumbled across this quote, at the bottom of a chain letter actually, and as soon as I read it all I could think was: “That pretty much sums it up, doesn’t it.” 

The economic news gets worst every day,  over 2 million people are going to lose their homes to foreclosure,  and Wall Street is in full skid, with the Dow losing over 4%, the S&P dropping 5.4 % and Nasdaq dropping 4.1%, just last week. 

We’re all reading the news with knots in our stomach, but inevitably, what are you going to do, roll over or roll with it? Do you give up or get smart? 

The news isn’t all bad.  Reuters is reporting that 1 in 4 small/medium sized business in the U.S. have at least 1 position that they can’t fill.   That’s alot of jobs.  Yahoo Finance reminds us that there was a 6 year high of $29.4 billion in VC investment in 2007.  That’s alot of money. 

I’m not suggesting that we throw on the rose coloured glasses and pretend that the Emperor has clothes, but the sky isn’t falling either.   This is the time for preparation, not panic.  If you’re employed, figure out what you’d do if you lost your job – could happen – have a back up plan – you always have to have a back up plan. You could start a whole new career, you could start a new business, the back up plan could actually become the best thing that ever happened to you.

If you already own your own business, this is just the time to play hardball.  Find new markets for your products/services, and sell like you’ve never sold before.  Let your market know you’re the best and never back away from it.  Keep your competition in mind, but envision them as small dots behind you in the race.  Ask for help when you need it, learn to say no when you have to, and make your suppliers treat you as well as you treat your clients. 

This isn’t the first recession, it won’t be the last.  Our grandparents survived, our parents surived, we’ll survive.  But there’s no reason for this to be a time of just survival, handled properly, this can be a time of change and transformation. 

Women In Business – Losing The Fight In Canada?

Post and Run:

Being reported in the Globe and Mail Today - the number of women, in top executive positions, has fallen in Canada over the past year.

“Just 31 women hold the highest-paid executive jobs in the 100 largest publicly traded companies. That’s down from 37 last year, according to the study by executive search firm Rosenzweig & Co.”

From The Article :

“Of the six positions that declined, two were eliminated because of corporate restructuring after mergers, two of the companies that were included last year are no longer in the top 100 and the other two were retirements of women who were replaced by men. “

so that tells us, that not one of the top 100 companies in Canada promoted a woman in 2007

……………..

What is going on?

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Oprah Moves One Step Closer To World Domination

My Question is – how much Oprah is too much? And I’m not Oprah bashing – I humbly, humbly, bow to her accomplishments, she is an absolutely amazing business woman, earning $260 million in 2007 alone, currently worth an estimated $2.5 billion. 

I couldn’t help but notice though, that the only person who has ever been on the cover of Oprah magazine is well…. Oprah. I personally look forward to her ensemble change each month.

Now, she’s teaming up with Discovery to start her own television station, (not her first time in, she was part of Oxygen back in the late 90’s), which will be called OWN, The Oprah Winfrey Network. Oprah is an icon, she’s just on a different plane then the rest of us, but she has stumbled along the way; and I always wince for her when she does.

I’m feeling a teensy bit of a wince right now. We all love Oprah, but an hour a day is more then sufficient. The problem with Oprah is that everything she does is very “Oprahish”. It’s very inspirational, very deep, very be-all-that-you-can-be. So although I realize that OWN won’t be 24 hours of Oprah’s face, I’m concerned that it will be 24 hours of “you should really be working at making yourself better”; while most of us enjoy spending tv time ” not quite intelligently as we could or should”. If we didn’t, would any of us, have any idea, of what Scott Baio is doing?

It’s reported that they’re on the hunt for a CEO, I just hope she invests in some good comedy writers too – because it’s o.k. to relax once in a while Oprah – it’s o.k.

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Do You Have to Be a Bitch to be Successful?

THE QUESTION OF THE DAY: Do you have to be a bitch to be successful? It seems that every woman who breaks through the ceiling is called a bitch.  Do you have to be a bitch to be successful?  Or, is society still draping assertive, strong women with negative stereotypes? To explore these questions we first need to distinguish between a real bitch and a strong businessperson who just happens to have breasts.  We have to acknowledge that there are “real bitches” in the business world, women who are absolutely vicious.  They don’t just step on a few heads on their way up; they ground their stilettos through the skulls.  They view everyone as expendable and do absolutely nothing to support the growth of women based industry.  Everyone has come across her.  She can make a grown woman cry and takes every opportunity to belittle her co-workers.  These women are really out there and they are creating real, identifiable havoc. 

Laura Tanenbaum, author of “Catfight”, found that: “Many professional women confess they prefer male rather than female supervisors. They complain that women at work refuse to share power, or withhold information, or are too concerned about receiving credit for every little thing they accomplish, or are cold toward underlings (male and female alike). In such complaints they use the word ‘bitch’ a lot,”      

 On top of that, the U.K.National Workplace Bullying Hotline reported that half of its 3000 calls were regarding a female serial bully.  That’s more then four people every day, who are so exasperated with the treatment they receive from a female co-worker ,that they seek expert advice in dealing with the situation.   

This now begs the question – why do these women behave this way?  Many experts fall back on the old excuse that women who behave in an overly aggressive manner are doing so to duplicate the behavior they see in men.  It’s as if everyone really believed the old “sugar and spice and everything nice” story.  No one seems able to admit that the women who behave like tyrants do so simply because they were born that way.   

 If you’re working for someone who fits the description of the real bitch, you have my sympathies.  Waiting for her to show her softer side probably is a waste of time.  The best advice may be to send her a link to this article and see if she can take a hint.  You should probably be prepared for a short period of unemployment immediately following your giving her this book but nonetheless, the stress just isn’t worth staying in the situation.   

The levels of anxiety and depression that arise from being in a virtual war zone can have devastating effects on your emotional, physical and mental health.  Have some faith in yourself and take the time to find what makes you truly happy in life and then find a way to make a living doing that. You will eventually find your niche, be it with a company that appreciates you, or be it out on your own. 

Then you can sit back and watch your nemesis die miserable and lonely and then you win. We mustn’t however, confuse being what has been described as a “sociopath in a skirt” with being an assertive, or even aggressive, businesswoman.  Just because a women deals openly and honestly with her business partners does not make her a bitch.  Just because she stands her ground when she knows she’s right doesn’t make her impossible to deal with.  Just because she asks for details and does her own investigation, doesn’t make her a control freak.  It makes her smart.

So no, I don’t believe that you have to be a bitch to be successful, but I don’t think it hurts once in a while either. 

 

Men And Women – Still Different

In, “The Great Divide”, Sara Stewart, of the NY Post, provides an excellent report on how the inherent differences in men and women transfer over into business life. 

She introduces us to Chris Flett, the author of, “What Men Don’t Tell Women About Business : Opening Up The Heavily Guarded Alpha Playbook”.  He runs with the theory,

“that women mentor women to deal with men; men mentor men to bring in more business”,

which translates into women wasting time; meaning that women should be more like men. 

She follows that up with a great piece from Lisa Robyn, author of “The Corporate Dominatrix: Six Roles to Play to Get Your Way at Work”, who reminds us that all business leaders should embrace their inner woman.

Can’t help but wonder why can’t we all just get along?  

The article is full of great statistics and great ideas.  We’re finally at a place where we can recognize that our differences are real, now we can spend the time examining how to get the best of both worlds. 

  

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