Welcome to our weekly career, entrepreneurship, lifestyle and fashion news roundup! Think of it as your online watercooler/work gossip station/coffee break spot for now…Want to add anything to our list? Email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
Happy Black History Month! Ellevate Network shares with us a few inspirational quotes from women of color;
News Alert! Beyonce just broke the Internet with the news of her (double) pregnancy. Essence shares with us the scoop!
Performance review time is in full swing! Workology lists 4 reasons to replace performance reviews with frequent feedback;
Recruiter gives you some pointers on how to explain why you left a toxic work environment;
Don’t agree with your boss’s advice? The Muse advises you on how to respond;
Got a job, a side hustle, and a workout routine? Ellevate Network tips you off on making it work without losing your marbles;
Our Wear to Work feature presents workwear for business and professional women in a range of styles and prices. Please note this post contains affiliate links.
There’s something about a smart sheath dress that just makes the day a lil’ brighter…And if you add to it an elegant colorblock pattern trimmed with retro-chic grosgrain ribbon, and a hint of goldstone hardware, you may just be going from desk to dinner in a happy cinch…
Loving the “classic with a twist” look of this dress that can easily stand on its own, worn with minimal jewelry and simple shoes. It’s $315 at Nordstrom.
Very often, we think that what we must do in order to succeed in our careers boils down to one single, powerful and highly celebrated word: Work! Work hard, work overtime, work until you no longer need to be introduced. Work yourself to the bone, work, work, work! And that’s exactly what we do, setting out to “pay our dues” (or hefty student loans), struggle, work late nights, early mornings, through lunch and through the most fun parts of our lives…
Which is all good, until we hit a wall and the hard work no longer pays off. When a switch seems to have gone off, and we’re not quite sure which switch it is, and how to turn it back on, or even if we should for that matter…Or in simpler terms, when we’re “stuck”…
That’s how I, like so many other women in my generation, generations before and surely future generations, come to feel at some point or another in our lives and careers: “stuck”. It’s that “stuck” switch that comes on, apparently all on its own, in the middle of our careers and lives, and leaves us wondering what to do next.
My girlfriends and I talk every day on Whatsapp, and the same word very often comes into our conversations: “Stuck”. We’ve known each other since high school, and are all in our thirties now. While we’ve taken different career paths and are spread all across the globe (from Paris to Senegal, through Italy and Colombia), the resounding message from all of us is pretty much the same: “We feel stuck”!
There are many reasons why we can feel “stuck’ in our careers, from lack of balance to negative office politics, to our own personal choices. Yet whatever the situation we may be in, it almost always requires some sort of a mindset change to get through to the other side of the “stuck” switch, whatever that may be.
For some, the “other side” is simply a new attitude or perspective. For others, it may be a new job, an entirely new career, or some time off seeking their own truths somewhere between Bali and the Himalayas. But in the “in-between” time, we must recognize and learn how to manage that mindset change.
It’s very rare in our college curriculums, or corporate trainings to have the topic of “mindset” discussed or even referred to. Most often, we’re way too focused on work, results, and deliverables. Or on who’s doing what, how office politics affect us and why the glass ceiling is not breaking, falling apart or disintegrating any faster…Besides, who has time for mindset and other woo-woo concepts when there’s already so much work to do?
The problem is, work, as dedicated, devoted and even perfect as it may be, is not always enough. Actually, it rarely is. I mean, how many times have you seen talented, extremely hard-working people put in countless hours in the office, only to reap very limited rewards, if any? And how many more times have you witnessed less hard-working (and frankly less talented people, no shade intended) make it to the top of their fields? Not to mention the crazy number of women stuck in between, struggling to make their careers’ ends meet, only to make two steps forward and five back every other day…
There are a number of qualitative factors that come into play in our careers, and that cannot necessarily be translated into quantifiable terms like the amount of hours worked, the results produced, or any other kind of productivity metrics. It’s the intangible stuff that fills up the empty corners of our careers, those that work alone cannot fill. Things like relationships, politics, exposure, and other less palpable factors we don’t always realize the importance of as we navigate throughout our careers, especially as women. Yet the most important of it all, as I’ve come to realize at my own expense, is your mindset.
The same mindset that allows us to see our worth independently from the actual amount of work we’re able to produce (or coffee we can gulp down). And not to have that worth attached to a position, a string of accomplishments, or to a specific career path.
So many of us women at work believe we’re only valuable because we have a great job, because we’re recognized at work, or because we finally snatched that promotion. Conversely, even more of us are paralyzed, not just at work but also in our lives, by the fact that we’re not recognized at work, are unable to grow through the corporate ranks, or can’t seem to score that promotion or raise.
Most importantly, it’s a mindset that allows us to believe in developing our own talents and abilities, as opposed to constantly striving to appear smart and competent, whatever the amount of sacrificial work and attitude it may take. This is the “growth” mindset that Stanford University researcher Carol Dweck describes in her hit book, “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success“, and contrasts with what she calls the “fixed mindset”:
“In a fixed mindset, students believe their basic abilities, their intelligence, their talents, are just fixed traits. They have a certain amount and that’s that, and then their goal becomes to look smart all the time and never look dumb. In a growth mindset students understand that their talents and abilities can be developed through effort, good teaching and persistence. They don’t necessarily think everyone’s the same or anyone can be Einstein, but they believe everyone can get smarter if they work at it.”
Basically, Dweck’s research has proven that your success really depends on whether you believe your abilities can be developed, or are fixed and already pre-determined. And really, how many of us women bet on what we believe to be our limited abilities while men bet on their potential instead?
How many times do we see women refrain from applying to a given position because they don’t believe they have all the required qualifications, while a man with the same credentials will go fo it, betting on his potential to learn along the way instead?
I love that one of the most treasured career values over at leading airline company Southwest, is known as “the warrior spirit”. In a November 2013 interview published in Forbes magazine, Ms. Hardage, the airline’s Chief Communications Officer at the time, describes it as “being fearless”. What a powerful concept!
Imagine walking into work with that pep in your step, that renewed energy and determination, that “warrior spirit”…instead of the frequent sense of overwhelm and busyness that haunt so many of us, if not most, every time we think about work. And what if it were as easy as… changing our minds?
The biggest lesson I’ve learnt, mostly from my failures and setbacks, is that career success is first and foremost a mindset. One that some may acquire from their upbringing, or prior experience maybe. One that others may struggle with at first, not having been exposed to it or taught about it. But what I also learnt is that career success is not a mindset reserved to a select few, as I initially believed…Like the Mikes of this world…
Let me tell you about Mike, whom I met when I first started in Big Corporate and remained in my career memories for a long while after…
Mike did not need to network; he was the network. The second Mike would step in the meeting room, he’d manage to get to know everyone, from the staff auditor to the partner on the job. By the time he left the meeting, he’d know what everyone was working on, and be recommended on most of the high-profile audits for the year. Mike was the epitome of Big Corporate savvy.
He knew how and when to speak up, could approach a partner as easily as he’d befriend the staff on the team, and could network his way into a promotion, strategic move or stellar recommendation like nobody’s business. In other words, Mike was the opposite of me back then.
As an introvert starting out in Big Corporate, the extent of my corporate battleground was the furthest left corner of my desk. I was perfectly fine tucked in to my own little corner, doing my job, handing in my assignments, and moving right along… Although I was ambitious, I just didn’t know then that I needed more than the resolve to work hard, or a new job whenever things would not work out my way.
What I needed was a new career mindset, one that I could get from stretching and developing my current mindset, however challenging that may be.
AT THE ENDof the day, mindset is a muscle. One that you can develop, and even change, in the course of your career and life. Your success at work doesn’t depend on what others do, or whatever circumstances pop in your life, or however you may think you may be, but rather on the “growth” perspective and mindset you adopt through it all.
Want to read more? Get my e-book “Girl, Take Back Your Career: 7 Steps to Reclaim Your Power at Work“, available on Amazon!
After weeks of anticipation and Internet-scouring, I finally left the kids with their dad, fixed my ‘fro, and went on a girl-movie-date with my sis-in-law to see “Hidden Figures“. I have to say, I was both excited and a bit apprehensive. There comes a point when, as a Black or minority person, you get slightly weary of watching anything reminiscent of your community’s suffering and challenges. Yet, at the same time, you have this yearning at the pit of your stomach to honor the stories of those who went before you and make them part of your own…
And Hidden Figures doesn’t just succeed at making the stories of three pioneering African-American whose work for NASA contributed in several historic space missions part of my own. It also accomplished the amazing feat of successfully telling many of our own untold stories…
The movie recounts the stories of Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, who in the 1950s, literally calculated by hand the launch of astronaut John Glenn’s trajectory into space. Based on the book of the same name by author Margot Lee Shetterly, it tells of extraordinary willpower by amazing women in the midst of a gut-wrenching struggle.
As a result of Virginia’s strict segregation laws at the time, African-American women computers worked in their own “colored” building in the reputable Langley Center. At the time, the U.S. was desperate to beat the Soviet Union in the “race to space”. It’s in this highly heated context that Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), a mathematics genius in her own right, gets assigned to the illustrious task group in charge of sending the first American man to space. As the sole Black woman in the room, she faces blatant discrimination, even as she produces work of outstanding quality.
On the other hand, Mary Jackson, played by Janelle Monae, is one feisty sister battling racist bureaucratic hurdles to become the first NASA woman engineer. Dorothy, played by the fabulous Octavia Butler, is a dedicated, generous to a fault, group leader fighting for an overdue promotion, while facing the risk of her entire team being replaced by a new IBM machine. Against all odds, Dorothy teaches herself the art of programming, and becomes NASA’s first African-American manager.
There were many moments in the movie that grabbed me by the throat, threatening to make me break into the “ugly cry” all over my over-buttered popcorn. But it’s three of these moments that hugged my Black working woman’s conscience tighter than spandex leggings on a diet cheat day:
That moment when Katherine finally discloses to her boss (played by an ever-charming Kevin Costner) that her long, daily absences are due to her having to run over 4o minutes across the Langley Center to the only “colored” bathroom, and stands up for herself by denouncing the blatant racism around her, including the dingy coffee pitcher with a “colored” label on it reserved for her;
That time when Mary goes to court to request the right to attend night classes at the local segregated school to become an engineer, arguing to the judge that just like he had been the “first” in his family to become a judge, she was looking to become the “first” NASA woman engineer too ;
Finally, that moment when Dorothy expresses her ambivalent feelings about Katherine’s successful assignment to the task group, outlining that despite the fact that “upward movement for one of us is movement for all of us”, discrimination still remains the norm for many others.
Hidden Figures tells the story of real women who are not just brilliant, but also extremely generous with their intelligence, their time, and their patience, to serve a common, patriotic goal. It tells the story of women like you and I, fighting to get ahead against the established status quo. Women who give much, sometimes too much, even when there’s not much left of themselves to give away. Women who stand up for themselves and their sisters, even when it means putting themselves and their careers on the line. Women who watch these sisters rise up, and celebrate while wondering when their turn will be.
I was weary of watching yet another movie rooted in racism and discrimination, but was glad that Hidden Figures turned out to be a heart-soothing, light, and even hopeful affair. While I have as much of a clue about aeronautical formulas as I do about neurosurgery, the film was rooted in such a human spirit of connection that it didn’t matter. What it wasn’t trying to do was romanticize the concept of racism and pretend that it’s been solved. Instead, it was a realistic take on a tough subject matter that needs to be talked about more…
All in all, Hidden Figures lends a powerful lens into what it means to be a talented woman shut out of opportunities on the basis of the color of your skin. But it also sheds an all-too-important light on the impact of sisterhood, community, and the sheer power of having the audacity to believe more for yourself…
Enjoy the trailer below:
What did you think of the movie? Please share your insights in the comments below…
Welcome to our weekly career, entrepreneurship, lifestyle and fashion news roundup! Think of it as your online watercooler/work gossip station/coffee break spot for now…Want to add anything to our list? Email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
In MAJOR news this week, BBC News reports Serena Williams beats her sister Venus in the 2017 Australian Open to make history ! #blackgirlmagic
It’s the week-end! Well, Business Insider urges you to stay away from these 11 things that unsuccessful people do on week-end;
No degree, no problem? Glassdoor lists 14+ companies that no longer require degrees (and Google is one of them);
Workology shares what’s new in diversity hiring in 2017;
The Muse shares 5 simple ways of saving money this year;
Speaking of money, tax money more specifically, The Corporate Sister tips you off on different types of work expenses you can deduct from your tax return this year;
Already burning out at work and it’s only the first month of the year? Read on these three ways to overcome it from Ellevate;
Superbowl is right around the corner! Acouplecooks shares healthy Super Bowl recipes that will wow your friends;
PopSugar shares this amazing line of cosmetics offering an inclusive range of complexion and color cosmetics for women of color.
Anything you’d like me to add to the list? Email me at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
Our Wear to Work feature presents workwear for business and professional women in a range of styles and prices. Please note this post contains affiliate links.
Nothing says fun workwear quite like this Toyshop spot ruffle flute dress. Loving the playful energy of the flowy fluted sleeves and girly ruffles. It’s perfect to take from desk to dinner, under a blazer like this two-button beauty, or this elegant camel coat. This dress is $90 at Nordstrom.
In the same style, I also like this Valentino short-sleeve ruffle front A-line dress from Neiman Marcus.
Seen any piece you’d like to recommend? Email me at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
We’retaught so much that we can do it all, and we can do it alone, that we tend to forget that others play a crucial role in our careers too. It may take a village to raise a child, it also takes one to grow one’s career. So why are we so afraid to use the guidance and mentorship of more senior colleagues and executives to teach us those skills and tidbits they don’t really talk about in college? The stuff only long, hard experience teaches. The stuff you can only get by asking, probing, and getting closer to those “in the know”…
As a matter of fact, not only should you not be afraid of asking for that guidance, you should actively, even aggressively, seek it. Start with your manager and openly inquire about ways to advance your career in the department and company at large.
Stop by that executive’s office before or after-hours, and politely ask if you could pick their brains about your career path.
Send them a quick email telling them how much you admire them, and if they have a minute out of their busy day, you’d love to ask them a couple of questions.
Your best professional resources are the people around you, so use them! Not in an opportunistic, “let-me-step-on-everyone’s-toes” kind of way, but in a smart, strategic, always respectful way. In a way that says: “If you’ve done it, then you can pass it on and teach me how to do it! I want to learn!”
This is also how you form strategic alliances and fruitful friendships to take you to the next level… Remember, if you don’t ask, the answer will always be no…
And once you’re in front of that high-power executive, keep in mind these words from one of my mentors, whom we’ll call Ann for the time being:
“Ididn’t go chit-chat about the weather. I remember standing there, at 20-something years old, in my boss’s boss gleaming office, earlier than most would consider even getting out of bed. And asking him one simple question, one question that would change the course of my entire career: “What do I have to do to get to the next level? Give me a list of deliverables that I canwork on.”
Iasked this same question every month or so, when I would pop in to his office at the crack of dawn, notebook and pen in hand, fierce ambition in toe. I’d give him an update on the deliverables he instructed me to work on the previous month. And every month, I would go back with the same list now filled with checkmarks and questions, asking what’s next. That’s how I kept going to the next level, and the next level, and the next level…”
How many of us, like Ann, would dare to come up to leaders in our departments and companies, and ask for guidance? Not just vague, indirect guidance. But rather pointed, direct guidance with bullet points and deadlines and the whole career kitchen sink. The stuff that not only makes us accountable for our own progress, but also makes others accountable to follow up and deliver as well.
From talking to Ann and observing countless successful men and women from different walks of life, experiences and backgrounds, in various fields and professions, I learnt building a successful career is quite similar to playing a game of chess.
It’sabout knowing how to move and sidestep your way to success, while still remaining true to who you are and where you want to go in life. It’s about taking all the pieces of your life’s work and creating your most productive and fulfilling picture.
According to the marketing classic “Positioning: The Battle for your Mind” by Al Ries and Jack Trout, the concept of positioning can be described as “ what you do to the mind of the prospect”. At work, it’s what you do to the minds of others, whether it be colleagues, executives and higher-ups, to get visibility across your organization. It’s what you do to gain access to the information and networks that can positively impact your career.
In their article “Gender and Career Success: The Facilitative Role of Political Skill”, authors Pamela Perrewe and Debra Nelson write about women’s disadvantage when it comes to this access:
“Women lack both access to important organizational information and effective positioning. Positioning involves getting into positions to take advantage of opportunities when they are presented, as well as helping to create opportunities.”
In this sense, it’s also what you do to capture your professional essence, and package it in a way to positively influence others around you as your grow through it. And it can come down to zooming in to a few select aspects of your professional persona:
Find Your Value Proposition.
Most of us hate talking about ourselves, let alone describe our accomplishments.
One of my managers once explained this simple concept to me: “In Big Corporate, people have to know who you are.” In order to build the relationships you need, you must promote yourself.
Does it mean you have to go around bragging about your latest accomplishments? Or interrupting every meeting to report the last project you’re working on, or how fabulous your work ethics are? Not necessarily…
And maybe that’s the problem with the whole self-promotion thing. Maybe it’s not a one-fits-all kind of strategy. Maybe it’s not meant to be a strategy at all, and instead should be tailored to who you are and how you prefer to interact with others at work.
After years of struggling with the whole “toot your own horn” thing, and growing less and less comfortable with the entire concept, I finally came to terms with it. For the slightly introverts, bragging- adverse people like me, I suggest replacing self-promotion with self-awareness.
Know what you’re really good at, and how you’ve shown your expertise and talent through the various projects you’ve been involved in. Now take that self-awareness and use it to help others and advance the goals of your organization. Not only does it take away that uncomfortable “me-me-me” edge, but it also extends your accomplishments further than your own work, into others’ goals and objectives. That’s not just self-promotion, that’s defining your value proposition.
It’s really about knowing what sets you apart, the unique way you perform and deliver your work, and how that contributes to your department’s or company’s goals. For instance, if your “secret sauce”, your “mojo” is coming up with great, unique strategies that help your team save significant time and effort producing results, then that IS your value proposition.
Establish Your Power Network.
IN OTHER WORDS, who’s in your “Who’s Who” list? Not that you should play “Corporate Groupie of the year”, but knowing and being known by the cream of the crop in your team, department or company does open up a world of opportunities, knowledge and wisdom for you.
But how do you get to know the who’s who, the cream of the crop, when you don’t report directly to them, and have literally no work interaction with them, other than seeing them on the Intranet’s front page day in and day out? Do you just crash the Director’s office on a random day with a smile and a thousand questions (please don’t)?
There are ways to go around the “I don’t know all these high-powered people” problem. Start by seeking one or multiple mentors, which is nothing more than asking someone you highly admire in your team, department or company to share their experience and show you some of the Big Corporate ropes. Most high-powered executives have themselves had mentors who helped them further their careers through networking, opportunities and oodles of corporate wisdom. And most would be happy to send the elevator back down…
JOINING PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS AND GROUPS, as well as attending professional conferences and events, is also a great way to meet and network with high-powered execs in your field.
EVEN IN YOUR day-to-day interactions and meetings, pay close attention to the individuals you come in contact with. Networking doesn’t have to be this formal exercise in meeting other human beings. And it doesn’t have to be restricted to after-hours venues, or golf courses for that matter. It could be as easy as sending an email to someone you may have come across to ask for advice, or pick someone’s brain in the hallway at the end of a meeting.
ALL IN ALL, it comes down to purposely and consciously leveraging your professional interactions, whether they happen in the hallway at coffee break time, or in a more formal professional event, or even from afar with someone you greatly admire.
You don’t have to pick between competition and collaboration.
NOW THIS IS A TOUGH ONE. We’re told to stand out, to position ourselves in a unique way, to rise to the top of the Big Corporate ladder (and annihilate the competition in the process, right?).
Yet we’re also told to collaborate, build a team spirit, and help each other meet our respective goals. And when it comes to career women, the less of us there are at the top, the more we (and society in general) are tempted to believe the hype: that there indeed isn’t enough room for all us at the top, and that the best shall win…
Yet, in most cases, collaboration is an innate skill for women. According to an August 2013 research working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research, women were found to be more inclined towards team-based compensation than men. And in general, women are simply expected to be more nurturing and team-oriented than their male counterparts. But the real question is: how much of it works to our advantage? And how much quietly backfires in our lives and careers?
Maybe the mistake many of us corporate and business sisters make when approaching this collaboration vs. competition thing, is to pick one over the other. What if the right mix of both is what we really need to push ourselves to success? What if allowing our natural collaborative gifts to shine while maintaining some level of healthy competition is really the best way to go about it?
But how do we go about measuring the right dosage? If we were to make the perfect “Collaboration/competition” cake, how much of each one of these main ingredients should we add in to the mix?
Asone of my mentors once told me, as a general rule, we should be collaborative enough to get the job done, but competitive enough to clearly distinguish ourselves.
Now that’s powerful positioning…
What are your thoughts on positioning yourself in your career?
Welcome to our weekly career, entrepreneurship, lifestyle and fashion news roundup! Think of it as your online watercooler/work gossip station/coffee break spot for now…Want to add anything to our list? Email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
This post is an excerpt from my e-book “
After weeks of anticipation and Internet-scouring, I finally left the kids with their dad, fixed my ‘fro, and went on a girl-movie-date with my sis-in-law to see “
