by Solange Lopes | Dec 13, 2013 | Career
It’s year-end, and when you thought you could finally (maybe) get a breather, new projects are piling up on your desk. When you have multiple assignments to complete, many hats to wear, and a to-do list that would compete with the busiest out there, you need to subscribe to the right approach. Through my years in Corporate, and through many ups and downs (some days more downs than ups), I learnt to build my own-mini systematic approach to completing tasks and projects well and on time. It’s called the D.O.T, and nope, it’s no reference to the Department of Transportation…It’s three basic, easy questions that one should get used to asking before tackling any task or project at work. Not only will these clarify your assignment, thus facilitating its completion, it will also make you look like some organized, driven and results-oriented corporate sister (just in time for your upcoming year-end review):
What’s the DELIVERABLE? In other words, what would be the end result of the project? What is expected to be produced through and at the completion of this task/project? Do we have to turn in an analysis report, a summary memo, a Power Point Presentation, or just a simple email summary recap? Although apparently an ordinary, common sense question, it has eluded many at work, and has generated many a misunderstanding, wasted effort, or plain negative review. Some managers would rather obtain certain deliverables as opposed to others, and the level of detail or analysis required may differ from project to project, and from boss to boss. In order to carefully and accurately estimate the time, effort and bandwidth required to produce a noteworthy result, we need to know exactly, in no uncertain detail, what is expected of us.
What’s the OBJECTIVE? Simply put, what are we trying to achieve? What is it that this assignment will allow us to demonstrate? With a clear idea in mind of the direction that this project is headed in, and exactly what your time and effort will be geared towards accomplishing, it will be easier to wrap your mind (and had work) around the output to be produced. There’s an obvious difference in objectives between demonstrating a negative sales trend in order to offer a long-term remediation, and evaluating a company’s internal controls to assess regulatory compliance, and that needs to be established from the get-go to ensure optimal results.
Last but not least, what is the TIMELINE? Many are tempted to ask this question first. How much time do I have to complete this project? When does your manager need this report, Power Point presentation, or Excel spreadsheet on his desk or in his email inbox by? Timing is important, and right timing is crucial! Allowing yourself enough time to complete a task, while budgeting for obvious roadbloacks, downtimes, and other peoples’ schedules is a tricky task in itself. This is where you not only ask the question, but also independently take it upon yourself to challenge your manager’s response. And in doubt, better to allow yourself more time and deliver ahead of schedule, then keep yourself on a tight leash and struggle to meet the deadline…
Are you putting a DOT on your projects?
Sound off: How do you manage your projects and assignments at work? What are the essential questions (and answers) that help you turn a project into a success? Please feel free to comment, or email us at thecorporatesister@gmail.com? We always love to hear from you….
by Solange Lopes | Dec 12, 2013 | Career
MK Hamilton bag
We all know how much corporate sisters love their bags (please notice the plural)! You’ll catch us strutting down the street to or from work with our computer bag, regular purse, lunch bag, workout bag…etc. Well, for those of us who are chronic bag ladies (you know who you are), this Michael Kors Hamilton bag will make you smile, and potentially revisit your Christmas list…
It’s roomy enough to hold all your stuff (well, most of it), and you may even be able to stash one or two shopping bags in there (you know who you are)…
And for those of us who can’t just yet afford the Birkin bag (unless you have about $10,000 to shell out, and if so, please call), this is not a bad alternative. It’s currently priced at $358, but if you get it at Macy’s, you may be able to use up to a 25% discount coupon on it!
Have you seen a great, work-appropriate piece you’d like to share? Email us at thecorporatesister@gmail.com!
The Corporate Sister
by Solange Lopes | Dec 12, 2013 | Career
hm.com
For our lunch break shopping interlude, just to get away from these drab year-end reports, I’d like to make a quick fashion nod to one of the most understated yet most silhouette-saving accessories in the corporate wardrobe: Miss Belt!
Yup, if your Spanx is on vacation, or you happen to just throw on a loose sweater or dress, or even to jazz up your everyday winter coat, a beautiful belt will make any outfit pop! As for me, I swear by a good belt to help me chase and find my waist most days…
These days, H&M offers skinny belts for as low as $5.99 (nope, I did not forget a zero), up to $12.99! At this price, it’s really a cinch!
And for all the many ways to wear a belt, who else than our First Lady of Style Michelle Obama to give us a trick or two?
Have you seen any great, work-appropriate fashion piece that you’d like to share? Email us at thecorporatesister@gmail.com, and we’ll gladly post it!
The Corporate Sister.
First Lady Michelle Obama
by Solange Lopes | Dec 12, 2013 | Career
‘Tis the season of dropping temperatures and icy conditions outside…Between the cold, wind and snow, keeping up with one’s fashion is always a challenge, especially in a corporate environment when, as corporate sisters, we do our best to look polished and professional.
So how do we reconcile our fashion with the temperamental weather? How do we get ready to face unpleasant conditions while still looking the “corporate” part?
Invest in a STATEMENT coat! And when I say statement, I mean STATEMENT! Chances are you will be wearing your coat for most of the winter, day in and day out. So since this will be the piece of your wardrobe that will be most exposed, and that you will probably make the most use of, let it be an outstanding one. This coat from Zara has my heart melting, as it combines great style with great efficiency (it is 75% wool). And that belt cinching your wait? Just striking…At $269, it won’t be your most frugal purchase, but amortize it over the length of one (or two) winters, and you should definitely have your money worth…
Layer, Layer, Layer! The secret to always looking on point, even as winter storms and rains rage outside: layering! Remember that it is easier to take off layers than to literally
Ann Taylor – Photo: Anntaylor.com
suffocate in your woolly turtleneck sweater, or have the chills in your itty-bitty little fall dress. So get to investing in warm camisoles, lightweight sweaters, elegant sport jackets and dress shirts, which will all allow you to mix and match your clothes so that not only will you always be comfortable, but it will also make your wardrobe look effortlessly fabulous (and unending…)…. Ann Taylor, my absolute favorite, offers great layering options, as seen here with this combo pearlized collar shirt ($89), Park Stripe side zip sweater ($89), and modern tropical wool pinstripe trousers ($129). Just exquisite…
Mikusova Boot – Photo: www.aldo.com
Don’t forget to boot up! ‘Tis the season for elegant, yet sensible boots! Love, love my booties and boots at the office! And although I am a bit hesitant when it comes to sporting knee-high boots in the office, some tall boots and ankle booties are just to irresistible to pass on! For a professional, elegant yet sensible look, I favor a mid-heel boot or bootie in black or brown, with a stylish touch here and there. This season, I have a crush on this suede MIKUSOVA boot from Aldo. Loving the polished finish of suede, along with the chunkier heel that spells comfort for my poor aching feet. Prices range from $96 to $71.98, and it comes in black, dark grey, and a black and white combo. Can’t go wrong with this one!
Have you seen a great, work-appropriate fashion piece that you’d like to share? Email us at thecorporatesister@gmail.com! We’d love to hear from you…
by Solange Lopes | Dec 11, 2013 | Career
Musical chairs – Photo: kidsparties.com
I took part in the most interesting, and edifying of Twitter conversations yesterday evening. Black and multi-cultural women all over the Twittersphere came forward and bravely acknowledged that they sometimes did not feel it in themselves to support other successful sisters. That seeing another professionally successful Black woman did not always inspire pride, admiration or a sense of unity. Rather, some of the feelings that would surface would be more along the lines of angered pride, resentment, maybe jealousy?
And I could not help but grasp a clear reflection of myself in these tweet-testimonies. Faced with the success of our counterparts in an otherwise limited and limiting professional and corporate space, we often err on the side of disunion as opposed to unity…And we’re certainly not all to blame for it…
It’s like playing musical chairs: for one sister to find a solid corporate seat, another sister has to lose hers. Or such is the comparison that is very often drawn upon when it comes to Black women in most professional spaces…And then ensues the stereotypical, and largely inaccurate, perception that we are not supportive of each other…
It’s not until I started my own corporate journey, and noted the real and disheartening absence of corporate sisters, along with the scarcity of opportunity for women in general, and Black women in particular, that I started to understand better…Professional black women networks were not easy to find then, and still are not today, especially for some of us who don’t live in a big city like New York, Boston, or Atlanta…Mentorship for Black women professionals is hard to find, to the point of being almost non-existent. I mean, just finding a peer sister in the workplace that can understand some of the same concerns, struggles or achievements we share is as rare as can be…
When and if there’s not enough room at the top, or in the middle, or even closer to the bottom of the corporate food chain for that matter, we as humans turn to protecting the little we have. It’s not social science, it’s just survival. And to make matters even worse, many, if not most of us, are the breadwinners or main providers for our close and extended families. That’s survival times 10. In some cases, scarcity brings people together; yet when scarcity is endemic, economic and psychological, it’s a whole other story…
So what do we make of these too few chairs? Do we keep watching some sisters being left out while others struggle to stay in? Since the music is not going to stop playing for long, we may just need to reach out to each other and share a chair…Or even better yet, we need to learn to make new chairs so more of us can sit at the table and enjoy the music…
Do you think we need to create more corporate chairs?
The Corporate Sister
by Solange Lopes | Dec 11, 2013 | Career |
www.featurepics.com
One of the best pieces of advice I got from an influential executive at the conclusion of a presentation to senior management that I brilliantly managed to, for lack of a better word, totally “flunked”, is this: “Whenever you’re presenting something, anything, especially to senior management, you’ve gotta tell a story.”
It took me a while to really understand the magnitude of this single piece of advice. Did he mean I could go ahead and tell fibs to my superiors? Or possibly make up slightly inaccurate, yet favorable-sounding bits of information? Well, nope…
The art of storytelling is as ancient as Time, and has been a staple of many a culture across the world. As corporate sisters with strong African and African-American cultures, we should know…Because if anyone can turn a mundane, every day event into an Oscar-worthy, attention-grabbing, breath-holding story, it’s us…No matter how many times we tell the story of Uncle Joe (bless his soul) sticking (and abandoning) his dentures into his slice of pecan pie last Thanksgiving, we can always find a way to make it sound fresh, updated, and on point…
Well, this is a skill that may well serve us in the corporate space, as we communicate and exchange ideas, findings, and results across the organization. This is especially important as we address the higher-ups, the senior management, the “tone at the top”, which provides incomparable opportunities to be noticed, and I mean positively noticed. A Vice-President, Controller, or General Counsel has only minutes, if that, to hear what we have to say. And it is those precious minutes that we in turn have to capitalize on to pass on a message that is fresh, innovative, complete, yet concise. So how can we achieve that, and how in the world would this have anything to do with Uncle Joe’s dentures stuck into the pecan pie slice (please read above for reference to uncle Joe’s dentures)?
Say, you analyzed the company’s current quarterly sales report, comparing it to prior periods and future forecasts, and defined trends and patterns that could very well influence the way the company should do business in the future? And say, you have, about 10 minutes of an otherwise crowded meeting to present the results of your analysis and offer a recommendation, what do you do? Well, you remember Uncle Joe’s dentures, and you follow some simple, yet age-old and success-proven practices:
Use a hook! Ever been fishing…I’ve never been (and frankly have no desire to), but I’ve heard enough about the poor worm and the greedy fish to know that in order to attract your busy audience’s attention, you’ve gotta hook them to something…That something? Your promise to do something else that will benefit them. Whether it’s solving a problem, anticipating one, or increasing the executive bonus pool, the hook has got to sound good and promising, so you can get those remaining 9 minutes of attention to really show what you’ve got….
Make It Short and Sweet! Remember Miss Johnson in English class, and how we had to read and summarize an entire book into a few sentences. Well, it’s time to remember…Tell the story of your findings in a summarized, concise yet complete way. Your most important findings should take center stage. This is where you can use some of that wit and charm that won’t make these otherwise drab statistics sound, well….so drab! There go another 4 minutes, now you’re halfway through, and you should have all eyes on you….
Present your Proposal! This is where you really show what you’ve got. You’ve hooked your audience, talked about the current state of things, and now you get to tell them what you feel should/could be done to really improve on the current situation. Use examples and similar situations in real-life to make your plan of action more concrete and colorful, just like you would when you’d compare Uncle Joe’s dentures to those questionable Halloween costumes on sale at the dollar store…Really?
Last but not least, take back your hook! Now you’ve got about one minute left to remind everyone of the wonderful promise you made when you first started out 9 minutes ago…This is where you exit with a bang, and reiterate your promise, just like you would close Uncle Joe’s dentures story with the proverbial: “I told y’all this would make you fall off your rockers….!”
Do you think the art of storytelling can land you a great career?
The Corporate Sister
by Solange Lopes | Dec 10, 2013 | Career |
Photo: www.essence.com
Natural hair in the workplace has been the subject of much discussion in and outside of the blogosphere and media. Should we, as corporate sisters, allow ourselves to wear our hair natural in the workplace? Or should we take the “Hairy” hair issue out of the equation altogether and not draw additional attention to ourselves? After all, we are here to work, and not to make a statement of any sort, right? There are enough stereotypes playing against us, and enough prejudice affecting us as it is to try and add to the already unbalanced equation of race and power? Right? Well, I happen to think wrong…
When I went natural almost two years ago, my biggest fear, like so many among us, is that my decision was going to negatively impact my career. That I would be perceived as different, rebellious, and unprofessional. As I scoured magazines, blogs and websites on natural hair in the workplace, my fears and apprehensions kept growing. Yet I knew that this was bigger than myself, that it was a personal decision that I had to take for my own sake. For my own personal reasons that I won’t elaborate on in this post, I made the decision and never looked back. And as a corporate sister, I was ready to face the consequences, and most importantly, to defend myself against these, as a professional and as a human being.
Yet to my very surprise, things did not play out as I had imagined them. The movie in my mind did not reconcile with the reality, and I have to admit that I was the first one dumbfounded. Sporting my natural hair in the workplace actually gave me confidence, strength and power, much of it that I struggled to muster before. In my authentic self, I found compassion for myself and my struggles, and learnt to be more accepting of who I am; which in turn gave me the courage and boldness to aspire to bigger and better things, especially in the workplace. As one of the only corporate sisters out there, I did feel that my hair was making a statement, and that unlike preconceived notions, that it was a very much needed statement. The workplace, as every other place, is also a cultural space, where various personalities and cultures interact. Yes, it is mostly about work and performance, but the foundation of it all is people. And people come in all forms, shapes, colors and hair textures, and taking the hair out of the equation, with what Black hair has meant and means to us through time, history and culture, is also silencing an important part of the corporate culture.
As much as we are to respect every one’s choice when it comes to who they are and how they wish to present themselves, we also have to dispel the notion that the cost of expressing our authentic self is, or could be, exclusion from the professional sphere. Although this may certainly draw negative attention, and has actually unfortunately happened in many a workplace, there are also positive examples and happy endings to some of our hair stories. As I faced the obvious questions about my hair, through my own personal struggle to walk out the door every morning with hair that now had a mind of its own, as I learnt to stand tall in the “un-conforming” fullness of this wooly, curly, temperamental mane of mine, I also learnt to teach others about myself. And in the process, I learnt that regardless of hair texture or cultural origins, the human spirit is more responsive to authenticity than we dare to believe. That if you dare to present yourself as you are, while offering your best effort, and rising to the challenge as you are called, that you may actually succeed…That you will certainly face challenges and obstacles in your way, yet at the end of the day, you would have given yourself a unique, incomparable edge in the workplace, and everywhere else…
Do you think your natural hair can give you a professional edge?
The Corporate Sister.
