What Women Bring to Leadership

November 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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The BBC's Katty Kay and ABC's Claire Shipman co-authored a book a couple of years back called Womenomics. In it they cite, among other things, a number of companies where the presence of women in among top leadership had a positive effect on the firm's financial success. For example: Accounting firm Ernst & Young's research found that companies with more women in senior management make more money. McKinsey & Co. found that greater gender diversity in management of European firms … [Read more...]

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Don’t Clone Yourself

August 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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A boss of mine early on in my career had a tough, almost bulldog, style. He was a pragmatic, no nonsense guy. He didn't have a wide vocabulary and didn't spend a lot of time talking about concepts. He was super loyal to the company and even more so to the branch of which he was a part. In short, he was the antithesis of yours truly. I never understood why he hired me, with my Masters degree in HR Management and my parallel interest in the bigger picture and broader developments in the … [Read more...]

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Traditionals, Boomers, X, and Y Are People Too

February 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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There is a debate raging as to whether all this talk about the different generations is evidence-based or mostly media-driven simplistic categorizing. A recent article in People & Strategy Journal reports on a thorough study done of the peer-reviewed literature on generational differences in two areas: Career Management and Organizational Loyalty Work-related Values and Attitudes Here is their conclusion: "In sum, our review of 26 peer-reviewed studies found few consistent … [Read more...]

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Not Only Purchasing Will be Effected

June 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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In the latest Newsweek magazine, an article entitled The Richer Sex reminds us of the rapidly growing purchasing power of women around the planet and how some (but not enough, and that's the point of the article) companies are tailoring their products and services to appeal to the female customer. If the current trend continues, the author writes, "the average woman will make more than the average man by 2024." Put aside for the moment flex time, work life balance, glass ceilings and mommy … [Read more...]

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Cultural Neuroscience – The Brain in Action Again

March 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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Not surprisingly, although I had never heard about it before, there is a branch of brain research that studies: How cultural traits to which we are exposed impact our brains How our brain and its processes impact the emergence and transmission of cultural traits Newsweek had an interesting short article by Sharon Begley that offers just a glimpse into this field. She recounts a study comparing how, for Chinese and Westerners, the medial prefrontal cortex (a section of the brain) swings … [Read more...]

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Hire to Complement Your Strengths

September 21, 2009 By Leave a Comment
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I once worked for a fellow named Ray. He was an combative, dedicated HR manager who had come up through the ranks without a lot of "book larnin'." While he saw most issues in black and white terms and was rough around the edges, Ray was wise, street smart and fair in his personnel-related decisions. When he took in yours truly on a transfer from another branch of the company, I had been recently hired with a masters degree from Cornell. Here was I, with my soft, nuanced approach to everything … [Read more...]

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