by Solange Lopes | Jul 21, 2014 | Career
Zip Detail sheath dress – $91.90 – nordstrom.com
It’s lunch time, and time for some Monday corporate fashion! We are all over the Nordstrom Anniversay sale this week (which is up until August 4)! Today, our pick is this sharp Ellen Tracy zip detail sheath dress, which combines great style with an impeccable professional look.
Loving the exposed zipper which adds a touch of unexpected originality to this otherwise classic cap-sleeved sheath dress! The slit skirt is also a great addition to this dress, as are the elegant and comfortable side-seam pockets. On sale for $91.90, this dress is perfect for work and…after work!
Seen a great, work-friendly fashion pick or brand you’d like to share? Please email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
The Corporate Sister.
by Solange Lopes | Jul 21, 2014 | Career
galleryhip.com
Happy Monday! Yes, it is Monday, it seems to come back every week…Hope everyone had a great week-end, and is ready to start this new week in full gear. I know I am…
One of the management approaches I have always found most relevant to businesses is the Total Quality Management concept (TQM). TQM originated in the 1950’s, and has gained prominence in the ’80s. This approach is concerned with providing customers with satisfactory products and services, by fostering a company’s culture, attitude and organization that emphasizes effective, waste and defect-free processes.
As I’ve considered the careers of successful corporate sisters (and brothers), I’ve also come to notice how most of the biggest and most influential careers are built on these eight (8) principles, which also happen to be TQM’s governing principles. And as we strive in our own careers, we should also integrate these powerful principles into our own, and ask ourselves the right questions:
1. Ethics: Are you aware of, and following the business code of ethics of your organization?
2. Integrity: When it comes to honesty, morals, values, fairness, and sincerity, are you comfortable with the way your conduct yourself at work and handle your responsibilities?
3. Trust: Are you trustworthy when it comes to your career? Do you feel like you inspire trust to management? Do you take pride in your work and are committed to it?
4. Training: Are you taking sufficient trainings to acquire more skills and advance your career? Are you also involved in providing training for others?
5. Teamwork: How do you handle teamwork? Are you productive in team environments? How do you handle issues that arise in teams?
6. Leadership: How are you demonstrating leadership in your career? As a manager or a supervisor, is your leadership style effective?
7. Communication: Is your communication style effective? How do you envision your communication style and efforts affecting your career at different levels of management?
8. Recognition: Is recognition important to you? As a manager or supervisor, do you recognize your direct reports in an effective manner? Do you also proactively recognize your own contributions as a team member?
How are you applying TQM to your career?
The Corporate Sister.
by Solange Lopes | Jul 19, 2014 | Career
ynaija.com
It’s the week-end, and Joan is meeting with Laura, her co-worker, for coffee. They recently hit it off at the office, and have since then taken their relationship outside of work, meeting up for mall shopping trips, holding frequent pow-wows about work and life over the phone…in other words, nurturing a budding friendship in an outside of work. Yet, and despite being excited about her new friend, Joan often wonders how this relationship could affect her work. What if they stopped being friends? Could they still work together? How about others’ perceptions at work? And would friendship blur the necessary professional boundaries between co-workers? Hmmm….
Friendships with co-workers, colleagues or managers are always source of much debate and internal (as well as external) questioning. As we spend most of our day at work, it is important to foster healthy and friendly relationships with the people we work with. Having times throughout the day to socialize and discuss topics other than professional matters is even crucial to maintain a sense of teamwork, not to mention sanity, in the workplace. Yet when these relationships blossom outside of work, along with the happiness and anticipation we experience, is also a sense that we may need to tread carefully. Please note that we are not discussing here any type of intimate or love relationships here.
Many of us have experienced relationships with co-workers gone awry. I know I have! And rather than limiting the disastrous impact of these friendships turned sour to my personal life, I’ve had to suffer the consequences at work as well. Needless to say, these made for quite uncomfortable and awkward work days…So how does one manage relationships with co-workers outside of work?
1. Maintain boundaries! All relationships require some level of personal boundaries. When it comes to relationships with co-workers, considering the impact these could have on your work (and your livelihood), maintaining boundaries is even more important! If some lines should not be crossed, express it from the start and stick to these!
2. Have an honest talk! In light of a prior disastrous relationship experience with a co-worker, I would recommend having an honest talk before deepening a work relationship outside of work. It is important that both parties understand what’s at stake. Gently allude to the fact that you are aware you both work together, and if any disagreements or issues were to arise in your friendship, these should not affect your work, be subject to retaliation at work, or affect your work in any way.
3. Be Open! Some of the longest-lasting friendships I still maintain started at work. Despite the potential negative impact these relationships could have on your career, be open! Great mentoring relationships turn into lifetime friendships, while many a co-worker has been known to make lasting friendships with fellow co-workers.
How do you maintain relationships with co-workers outside of work?
The Corporate Sister.
by Solange Lopes | Jul 19, 2014 | Career |
Multi stripes short sleeve maxi dress – $78 – nordstrom.com
Happy Saturday! The week-end is finally here…and so is the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale that is now open to the public! I always look forward to the Nordstrom Anniversary sale for its great, and oh so fashionable deals…among which our week-end fashion pick, this adorable, week-end friendly Everleigh multi-stripe short sleeve maxi dress!
Love the elegant simplicity of this otherwise casual dress. The multi stripes bring a touch of originality to the conservative yet much flattering silhouette, while the short sleeves keep it all nice and comfortable. I could pair this dress with a nice pair of flats or even elegant wedges, and voila!
This dress is on sale for $78 at Nordstrom! Happy Saturday!
The Corporate Sister.
by Solange Lopes | Jul 18, 2014 | Career
Boucle Scalloped Jacket – $110 – topshop.com
TGIF! And to finish this week in high professional style, we picked this Betty boucle scallop jacket in ivory from Topshop! Because it should;t just be about the perfect LWD (Little White Dress), but also about THE perfect LWJ (Little White Jacket)…and we may just have found THE ONE!
Loving the delicate ivory color of this lightweight cotton jacket, perfect for summer in the office! The boucle detail of the jacket, along with the unique and unexpected scalloped edges, bring the elegance factor up a notch, and upgrades any outfit in an instant!
This jacket is $110 at Topshop.com!
The Corporate Sister.
by Solange Lopes | Jul 18, 2014 | Career
The Power of checklists – thebudgetnistablog.com
Happy Friday! TGIF!
Do you find yourself competing projects and forgetting to add an important detail or two? Do you usually stare at your review in disbelief, saying things like “I can’t believe I forgot that”? Are you a top performer but could be even more successful if your work were 100% thorough? Well, you may be in need of a checklist or two…
I found myself asking myself the same questions at work, as I challenged myself to submit impeccable work constantly. However, with mounting pressures at work, endless distractions here and there, and work hours that never seem enough to do it all, it was easier said than done. That’s when I got in the habit of using checklists to vet my work, and even making up my own to ensure optimal results, regardless of the assignment, task or project.
In his best-seller The Checklist Manifesto, surgeon and checklist advocate, reveals to us that despite the incredible wealth of knowledge and possibility available to us today, we keep committing avoidable failures that constantly set us back, across all major fields and industries, as well as in real, simple and usually quite disorganized life. In his book, Mr. Gawande explains that the simplest of tools can actually render us more effective: the checklist. So how can we incorporate checklists into our professional lives more effectively?
1. Use a comprehensive checklist! If you are using a checklist template from work, ensure that it covers all the most essential aspects of the project or task at hand. If you happen to be building your own checklist, as you probably will have to, sit back and take a critical look at it to make sure that it provides 360 degree view of the process it is undertaking to cover.
2. Don’t make it too short! An effective checklist is not pages long, as it would not only waster your precious time, but take your concentration off the very purpose of it. Yet, it shouldn’t be too short either, as it may fail capturing important details of the process that may create, once again, those “avoidable failures”.
3. Selection, selection, selection! A good checklist is not a laundry list of anything and everything that could affect a project, process or task. Rather, it is a selective list of what could go wrong. Ask yourself what are the most critical culprits of the task at hand, and if those are no listed on your checklist, then you may want to reconsider…
As a bonus, we are attaching our basic project checklist…just for you:
Basic Project Checklist
Are you using checklists in your work?
The Corporate Sister.
by Solange Lopes | Jul 16, 2014 | Career
Sylvan Heel Pumps – tjmaxx.com
For our coffee break today, we are (literally) breaking away from work and going shoe-shopping! Loving this pair of Sylvan Heel pumps in tan for their classic and impeccable look. As a stiletto addict, I can appreciate a lower, more traditional heel, especially when it comes with impeccable style.
The square toe, front bow and oh so elegant nude color remind of the iconic Celine pump, and give this shoe a definite French je-ne-sais-quoi! It’s simple, pure class, and at $39.99, you can’t beat this!
Seen a great, office-appropriate shoe you’d like to share? Please email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
The Corporate Sister.
