Today, we commemorate International Women’s Day. This year’s theme is rightfully called “Make it Happen“, as a reminder the biggest issues for women around the world are far from being solved, and this despite the big feminist calls of this past year. From #yestoallwomen, to #whyistayed, the social media campaigns raising awareness to women’s issues were abounding. Yet, awareness may just not ben enough…
In order to bring sustainable change to this, we must affect not only corporations, businesses and states, but most importantly legislations that effect real change. We must purposely seek to make a difference, not just at home, but beyond the limits of our own perceived influence. This year, could you commit to making a donation to a charity for women? Could you mentor another female looking to succeed in your own organization or beyond? Could you push for government change from where you are? Could you tell your son, husband, father, or boss, about what it means to be a woman in this world, and how they can help make it a better place for their wives, daughters, nieces, mothers too?
Yes, women “make it happen” every single day, most of us to barely survive and make it to the next. Yet, there is still much work to be done. Let’s continue to make it happen, not just for ourselves, but for all of us, our daughters, nieces, cousins, mothers, aunts, and for all the women around the world.
Enjoy this short video from UN Women’s Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo on International Women’s Day 2015:
My $0.05: With the advent of smartphones and tech stuff everywhere, it’s now more than ever important to delineate personal and business. Here are a few quick tips:
1. Read your employer’s technology and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies! Find them, read them, and apply them!
2. Don’t email work documents to your personal accounts. This could be considered stealing confidential documents. Just don’t do it!
3. Beware of checking personal email on your work computer. Anything you access on your computer at work can be used against you. If you really have to check your personal email, use your own device.
4. Watch personal communications at work. That includes emails, instant messages, and even phone conversations. Keep personal emails to a minimum and very “kosher”. Avoid chain mails for security reasons, and if you think your boss shouldn’t see it, don’t send it out!
Basically, when at work, do your work! And if you must communicate on a more personal level, bring your own device!
Button front tunic – Photo credit: urban outfitters.com
I love easy, flowy tunics for the week-end. Hence today’s pick, this stylish, mixed business side slit button front tunic from Urban Outfitters. Loving the clean cut and relaxed fit of this drapey top in woven linen. It just speaks Spring to me. This tunic is priced at $169 at Urban Outfitters.
I’d pair this with a pair of crazy sexy cool ankle pants like this slim, multi-floral Pixie pair from Old Navy, or for added oomph, a pair of wide-leg pants like these Pallazo pants from Joe Fresh.
Once in the middle of busy season in Public Accounting, I went to work wearing two different shoes. It’s not even that I could have gotten confused because they looked alike, or had the same shape, or I had any alcoholic beverage before going to work (which by the way is a serious no-no). The explanation was simple, I was exhausted, stressed, and on the brink of losing my sanity.
Staying sane at work is important. Work will drive you crazy at times, maybe even most of the time, what with unfair office politics, competitive co-workers, rude colleagues and general professional annoyances on the daily. And you may very well be caught wearing different shoes, or applying make-up on just half of your face, unless you consciously decide not to lose, and leave, your mind at work:
1. Keep your cool! The average person faces at least 30 crisis a day, most of them occurring in their workplace. That should give you enough perspective to keep your cool. Crisis is part of work, and the first rule to address it is to stay calm. So take a bathroom break, inhale deeply, close your eyes, do whatever you need to keep calm in the face of stressful situations at work!
2. Get out of your head! I’m a creative person, so I’m really good at making up stuff in my head. When stressful situations come up, I already have a demonic plot filled with imaginary scapegoats and traps all ready in my busy brain. The result: more stress, an increased bad mood, and the inevitable chocolate day-long binge. My advice: get out of your head, and look at the facts straight in the eye instead of worsening it all in your head. And oh, lay off the chocolate too…
3. Tune the drama out! My husband has this mental tuning-out technique he applies whenever I start going into “freaking out” mode. It’s so effective I don’t even realize he doesn’t hear a word of my ranting, and comes out of the whole episode totally unscathed and sane. Create your own mental tuning-out technique at work. Whether it’s the latest earphones, a no-fail excuse every time your gossiping co-worker starts talking, or the perfect response to your insulting colleague, keep doing whatever you can to tune out the drama.
4. Laugh it off! Nothing like a good, hearty laugh to lighten up the mood. Watch an episode of The Office, picture your manager with two heads and bulging eyes, whatever you need to do, but just have a giggle!
5. Leave work…at work! Do your best to solve issues and remediate unsolved differences at work while you’re…at work! Don’t trail any negative professional baggage home. Scientists agree picturing a closed door when you leave the office helps you find closure at the end of the day. So close that door, let it go, life goes on…
For many companies, this is performance review and bonus time. After writing your own self-review, analyzing your successes and failures, here you are, sitting across your manager, getting hammered with negative comments about your performance the past year. And it’s a tough pill to swallow, however much you love (or absolutely hate) your job. So how do you handle a negative performance evaluation, without crumbling to pieces or taking it too personally?
My $0.05: A bad performance review takes a toll on you, period. No one likes to get told their work is not up to par, or get chewed by their boss on any and all mistakes they made (or didn’t).
1. Acknowledge it’s a hard experience, and give yourself permission to feel the frustration, anger and/or pain that is often a result of it.
2. Understand what it means and what the implications are. Is the negative feedback cause for job security concerns? Are you being put on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) and does this spell doom for the rest of your tenure at this job? Ask the hard questions to get the answers you need.
3. If you’re going to contest it, do it the smart way! You don’t want to come across as defensive and not receptive to constructive criticism. Take a deep breath, receive the feedback first, then present your arguments in a neutral way and with supporting evidence to back it up. Expose your point of view in a smart, not argumentative way.
4. Be proactive and follow up! Make sure to check in with your manager as to any action plans to implement and follow. If you choose to start looking for another job, be proactive about it too, after hours!
