by Solange Lopes | Feb 12, 2014 | Career
Posey dress – $199 – katespade.com
Happy Wesnesday!
Spring is in the air…or at least on our minds! And as we are contemplating the spring trends this year, florals are definitely coming to mind…hence our fashion pick today! We selected this Posey dress from Kate Spade, which by the way is having up to 75% off sale these days…
I love the festive and classy floral print, which can be worn under an elegant neutral cardigan or blazer for work. The slim fit of the dress is also much flattering, while making it a great option for both work and play.
The Posey dress is on sale for $199, down from $398!
Seen a great, work-appropriate fashion piece you’d like to recommend? Please email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
The Corporate Sister.
by Solange Lopes | Feb 11, 2014 | Career
beat the competition – madamenoire.com
The corporate world is not your neighborhood’s annual barbecue fest. There’s a reason why it’s often called the “corporate jungle”. It’s tough, and to succeed in it, especially as a corporate sister, you’ve got to be able to roll with the punches. And not even that is enough…
I once worked for a great Director who would consistently outline in my reviews the following: “It’s not enough to solve problems when they present themselves; you’ve got to anticipate them”. Really? I just racked my brain trying to figure out this huge reserves variance, and now you want me to have been able to anticipate it. Am I supposed to have sensory powers to predict the future state of the Company’s financials too?
As much as his comment always rubbed me the wrong way, I have to admit in hindsight that he was right. The best competitive advantage is gained right at the onset, and preparation is KEY to turn each day into a success and beat your competition before it even realizes what’s coming their way or had their second cup of coffee..:, even before 9 am:
- Learn from your day: In order to start strong, one’s got to reflect on their successes
Learning – pjmclure.com
and failures. On a small scale, what this means is being able to examine how your day went and take away those things that worked, and those that…well, did not work quite so well. Are we talking about an hour-long introspective process cutting into all our deadlines and to-do’s? Not quite, we know there’s not enough time for it. Yet getting in the habit of (quicly) mentally re-assessing your day will help you register what worked well (like that inpromptu meeting with the otherwise uber-busy Controller), and what did not work so well (like spending 2 hours preparing or analyzing the wrong sales forecast…arrghh, it happens!). And the more you get in the habit of continually assessing and re-assessing your day, the easier it will become to tailor your work responses and habits towards increased effectiveness, which brings me to my next point…
- Prepare your “to-do” list for the next day the night before: One of the most
To-DO-List – bentbutnotbroken.org
effective ways to successfully confront daily challenges is not just to prepare for them, but also to anticipate them. Carving out at least a half-hour to an hour towards the end of every day, based on your prior (quick) assessment of how your day went, is a great way to get ahead of your competition at work. Besides, it has been proven that making a to-do list the night before allows your brain to methodically churn out the best ways to accomplish your goals and objectives for the next day…And it also gives the Universe an opportunity to put the right people and situations in your way to get these goals accomplished…
- Start the next day big…or small: While there are two schools of thought when it
start-small – coreexcellence.com
comes to how to most effectively start your day, either with smaller tasks you can rapidly check off your list, or with big tasks that will consume more time and energy, you still need to pick your approach. I personally believe that how you start your day is better suited to the type of personality you have. I tend to struggle with procrastination, so the best approach for me is to tackle big tasks first and get them out of the way instead of leaving them for last. For those who are better off gaining confidence first by tackling small tasks and checking them off their to-do list, the second approach may work better. Whether you decide to start big or small, commit to starting well…
How do you beat your work competition by 9am?
The Corporate Sister
by Solange Lopes | Feb 11, 2014 | Career
Asymmetrical Wrap Skirt -0$46 – Missselfridge.com
We are sooo looking forward to Spring, it’s not even funny…And so do our closets and fashion files, which is why for our lunch break today, we are showcasing one of the upcoming trends of this Spring: the wrap skirt. Think pencil skirt with an edge! The interesting geometric shape of this skirt, not to mention the fact that it is flattering on most body shapes, makes it a versatile work wardrobe pick!
For our pick today, we’ve selected this asymmetrical wrap skirt from Miss Selfridge. Love the geometric effect amplified by the black-and-white color contrast. It’s $46 at Miss Sefridge online.
Seen a great, work-appropriate fashion piece you’d like to share? Please email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
The Corporate Sister.
by Solange Lopes | Feb 11, 2014 | Career
Career Stress – clutchmagonline.com
Most of us are stressed out at work, that’s a fact! Too much work, too little work, too many responsibilities, not enough responsibilities, bad bosses, could-care-less bosses, absent bosses, wrong jobs, not-quite right careers: stress, stress, stress!
The most common complaints include: “How do I know if this is the right career/job fir me?”, “I have no positive role models!”, “I would like to be mentored in my career!”, “I can’t seem to find a job!”, “I have so much to offer, but it seems no one is interested”….and so on and so forth…
Faced with dire economic circumstances and a scary economic state, professionals are doubting both their abilities and futures. And understandably so…Especially among millenials, the levels of career-related stress are abnormally high, as shown by a recent American Psychological Association’s study. Professionals, and especially professional women, are harboring significant fears and anxieties about their professional futures, as career paths are becoming more uncertain, less defined and definitely more biased.
While changing the economic outlook and circumstances of our lives and environments may require much time and effort, altering our mindsets can prove to make a difference. By turning our anguish into motivating fuel, we can learn to take responsibility for our careers and strive for better:
- Find solutions! A very inspiring big corporate sister of mine used to tell me “Always strive to bring solutions, not problems, to the table.” This approach has proved very successful in my career as in the rest of my life. Yes, there are problems, all bigger than the next. And yes, we must acknowledge them and address those career roadblocks standing in our way. Yet when it comes to taking action, there should only be room for solutions! Are you experiencing difficulties finding a job? Make more professional connections, send more resumes, volunteer more, be everywhere you may be needed, and watch opportunities come up! Dealing with an unbearable work situation? Look for alternative, lateral opportunities that will look good on your resume. Think out of the box, find conventional and unconventional solutions, make it a point to find a way!
- Listen up…take some advice! Nothing like a fellow corporate sister or brother’s learning experience to get you thinking and acting about yours in different and better ways. So do not just listen up to the good advice that gets sent your way, but actually go ahead and actively seek the guidance you need! Have you been eyeing an inspiring corporate sister to be your mentor? Muster the courage to ask them for their support and guidance. Have a question on your mind? Speak up, ask, and listen to what others have to say.
- Cherish your failures! The great Michael Jordan always said that he is so successful because he failed a lot…Every time I have to start over, or fall on my professional bottoms, I remember this quote. I remember that while successes may feel great for a while, we learn most from our failures. So cherish those setbacks, value those mistakes you made along the way, because without them, you would not be who you are! Learn from it, and vow to yourself that every time you enter a room, you’ll make it the best experience you possibly can!
Are you using your career stress to your advantage?
The Corporate Sister.
by Solange Lopes | Feb 10, 2014 | Career
Ever felt like there is no way you can possibly ever contain all your professional awesome-ness on an 8.5 by 11 white piece of paper? Have you caught yourself staring at your resume, not knowing how you could make it look more professionally appealing? Been there, felt that…
Yet whereas your options were limited before in terms of what you could do to improve your professional “life sheet”, today there is…Sumry!
This new, dynamic resume building service can not only tell your unique professional story, but also make you stand out from the crowd. How so? Well, this tool will literally deck out your resume in one of 6 available design options, with the option of downloading it on PDF or view it as a web page, in a browsable timeline format.
To boot, it can personalize your resume by adding sections about your interests, website and portfolio links, profile photo, and even social media profiles!
And even if you’re not the next genius painter of this century, you can still craft a resume that will give you an edge anywhere…
Sumry’s not free, but with a free 7-week trial, and an ensuing monthly fee of $15/month, you can’t go wrong!
Give it a try HERE!
To Your Success,
The Corporate Sister
by Solange Lopes | Feb 10, 2014 | Career
Blocked Hem Shirtdress – $149 – Talbots
It’s Monday…again! And to brighten up the mood a bit, we are loving this nautical-inspired, blocked hem shirt dress from Talbots. It has a light spring feel, while still being classic enough for work and for all seasons. We may be anticipating a big on spring (wishful thinking), but who wouldn’t love an easy-breezy shirtdress? It comes in pink, brown and black.
Four our pick, we selected the black one, which I can see accessorized with chunky gold jewelry and perked up with a colorful pair of pumps. It’s $149 at Talbots.
Seen a great, work-appropriate fashion piece you’d like to recommend? Please email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
The Corporate Sister.
by Solange Lopes | Feb 10, 2014 | Career
blindie.com
Happy Monday! Need a boost to start the week?
There’s one thing that Dear Hubby has been telling me for years since I entered the corporate workforce, that I never pay much attention to. Yet lately as I’ve faced some of my most important, and most life-altering career challenges, I’ve realized that after all, he was right all along.
As corporate sisters, it’s no secret that we tend to not toot our horns as much as our male counterparts in the professional sphere. Generally being dubbed as caretakers and nurtures, many times we tend to give credit to others, or to the team, for our hard work. As we are striving to change the corporate landscape to make more room for women, and especially for minority women, we must teach ourselves to value our work and contributions, even before others do, and even if others don’t…And this is why it is crucial to remember that for a host of different reasons (some funnier and more obvious than others), YOU are the smartest woman in the room:
- Chances are, YOU may be the ONLY woman in the room, and probably the only minority woman in the room: According to the Catalyst, although women’s representation among senior executives grew between 2013 and 2014 from 16.7% to 21.7%, in many a corporate setting, women, and minority women in particular, are still standing alone among their male counterparts.
- Your emotional EQ ranks you higher than you think: While men are better at compartmentalizing their emotions, women tend to have an edge when it comes to perceiving emotions around them and tuning into these. Although this may be perceived as weaknesses, it also empowers women to sense the emotional energy in any room and directly attune their response to it. It is also a crucial factor when it comes to identifying needs of stakeholders and customers alike, and tailor their responses in uniquely effective ways.
- Last but not least, we make others feel like the smartest people in the room: Great leaders do not present themselves as the smartest people in the room, although they may very well be. Instead, women leaders try to inspire through collaborating with and helping others. As a corporate sister, your empathy, collaborative spirit and efforts to inspire others are never wasted, as they definitely show your leadership.
Do you feel like the smartest woman in the room?
The Corporate Sister.
