DM Coaching and Development

Are You a "Crackberry" Addict?

Many of my clients work in the I.T. industry and when I am presenting to an I.T.network or at an industry conference, the coffee breaks are always the same - women whipping out their blackberries for a bit a catch-up with work. Amazingly, the average blackberry user processes 2500 e-mails and 1200 phone calls on them each year. While they are incredibly useful for staying in touch, I do believe every technological advance has it's limits.

I had a male colleague tell me how annoyed he was to be out to dinner with old friends while the man continued to blackberry over the meal until my friend eventually sent him an e-mail saying "Are you joining us for dinner?" In my own downtime I recently read a piece in the Canary Wharf City Life magazine which detailed "blackberry addiction". It seems odd to discuss blackberries in the same vein as alcoholism or drug abuse, but the symptoms are the same -

1. Interference with your social life? Does it cause arguments with partners or provoke illegal behaviour (texting or phoning whilst driving come to mind) to sustain the habit?
2. Inability to focus on conversations around you whilst blackberrying? And an increased desire to use your blackberry whilst you are meant to be concentrating on other things - current discussions or meetings?
3. Feeling panicked or vulnerable when you are unable to send a message or make a call?
4. Decreased time intervals between needing to check for messages?

Do you recognise yourself in any of these? If so, remember that face to face conversations are the best at building relationships, which is the cornerstone of any successful and sustainable business. Think about what you might get from switching it off more frequently - and therefore what you might be able to give to those who are actually around you.

American Science Departments Talk Title IX

Until recently, the impact of Title IX, an American law forbidding sexual discrimination in education, has been limited mostly to sports. Background: women's sports teams were given a boost of funding to equalise the playing field as women's sports were traditionally given a pittance compared to the funding for men's teams. But now, thirty years later, under pressure from Congress, NASA and the National Science Foundation have been looking at a new area for equality: science departments in universities that receive government funding. The are looking at the possibility of introducing affirmative action measures to increase the number of female professors and lecturers - again to try and level the playing field. And now the country is in an uproar about what this means for the "quality of science" in the future. You can read John Tierney's opinion piece in the New York Times or read up on the rebuttals on many sites including the Fairer Science site. Reminds me of how they thought the sky would fall when Norway introduced mandatory quotas for the number of women on executive boards.....

Why Does Women and Entrepreneurship Matter?

Women are creating and running businesses around the world, contributing to economies that represent more than 70% of the world’s population and 93% of global GDP (2007). Women’s entrepreneurship is a key contributor to economic growth in low/middle income countries, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean according to The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2007 Report on Women and Entrepreneurship released by The Center for Women’s Leadership at Babson College. The study found no gender difference in the survival rate of women’s businesses versus those of men in high-income countries.  Women who are employed and have built a social network of entrepreneurs are more likely to become entrepreneurs.  Do you want to find out more? Read on below...

Use Humour to Combat Office Politics

I think that in many instances where women face gender-related tension from male colleagues a bit of tongue- in-cheek humour is never amiss. Men respect a woman who can give back to them as good as they get when it comes to banter. I am in the process of interviewing successful women in a variety of male-dominated fields and one marketing executive within a major global accountancy firm reported that a smile and a bit of humour has always helped her to diffuse potentially contentious situations. She explained that "charm doesn't harm" which I thought was a great way to describe her approach.

Additionally, I often use humour during my coaching sessions which is really great for moving people on and getting people to question their assumptions – clients have sometimes told me that they are surprised that the “hard work” of career and confidence development can be so much fun. A few months ago, I blogged about Jill Edwards, a comedienne and trainer who helps people use humour in the workplace. At the time I couldn't find contact details for her, but she recently got in touch with me to share her new website. If you are interested in how you could turn up your "charm offensive" through humour, visit her website at www.jill-edwards.co.uk   

Women Grads Expect To Earn Less

A new American study featured in Business Week, found that of recent graduates, women expected to be earning less than their male graduates. The research found that "Of the women polled, 51% said they expect to be earning $30,000 or less in the upcoming year, compared with 35% of the men. Only 12% of the women expect to be earning more than $50,000 in their first job, compared with 24% of the men. Meanwhile, the gap in salary expectations widens as the graduates look three years ahead. The study found that 38% of the females expect to be earning more than $50,000 by the end of that period, while 59% of the males expected to make $50,000 or more."

What is interesting as the difference was less marked when looking at business students, who have a smaller anticipated gender gap. The story continues "... among business majors, 56% of female students expect to be earning over $50,000 in three years, compared with 67% of male students." The researchers found that this was less about a "glass ceiling effect" and more to do with the subjects women chose to study, which tended to lead to less well paying fields. The difference would suggest that women who choose stereotypically male dominated fields such as business, but perhaps also engineering and computer sciences would expect a smaller pay gap - which may be reason enough for many young women to consider these fields. 

Hours Worked by those on Overtime Has Increased

In the UK, while the number of people overall who are working overtime has decreased, the number of hours worked by those who do work over their contracted hours has actually grown over the past year. According to The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies research, more than one in 10 workers are putting in between 10 and 20 hours of overtime a week, while just over 2% of staff do between 20 and 30 hours over their contracted weekly hours. And the numbers putting in more than 30 hours extra has increased to 0.5% - which equates for an extra 150,000 people across the U.K. 

Not surprisingly, the majority of those working 10-20 hours of overtime per week were senior managers and those putting in the most hours reported an increase of stress-related symptoms over the past year. With stress leading to bad habits such as smoking and a poor diet it is no wonder it has been directly related to increased heart attacks - further illustration that working longer hours is a short-term solution in emergencies and should never be viewed as the status quo. In fact, many of the 100 Best Companies found that their most productive people worked fewer hours and that it was sustainable practise and loyalty which made them deliver the best service to their customers. 

Maternity Coaching and Retention Programmes Needed to Keep Retain Working Mums

I coach as an associate for the coaching company Talking Talent, which specialises in maternity coaching for working mothers. I enjoy the clients I have through the maternity groups, but am dismayed when the press talks about how such programmes may be cut in the face of an impending credit crisis. The time when companies are issuing redundancies is precisely the time when they need to be investing in supporting the people who stay. Motherhood is difficult enough, but being a working mother in a senior role is even tougher - and rare it seems. 

Lynda Gratton, professor of management practice at London Business School, recently surveyed senior women in business - all team leaders earning more than £100,000 a year - and found that 52% were childless and most of the other 48% had only one child. By contrast, only 4% of senior men did not have children. It is a shame if women feel they need to choose between career success and a family, but we should support those women who do combine them. We otherwise run the risk of creating and reinforcing two career tracks - one for mothers and one for non-mothers, a choice that according to the survey above, men clearly don't have to make. For more about the need for maternity coaching and what it means in this economic climate, click here.

You Are not "Stuck"...You are Scared

How often have you heard people talk about how they are "stuck"? Feeling stuck in a job or a relationship or even a certain country. There is no such thing as stuck, there is only fear. Fear is what freezes us and keeps us from moving. In fact, it is often when you are most stuck that you most need to let go and take a chance on something new. "Stuckness" is inertia, or lack of forward movement and ironically the only cure is to take a step forward. People talk about being trapped by "golden handcuffs" - a well-paid job they hate, for example. However, it is not the circumstances, but the fear, that keeps people trapped.  This is the time to listen to your intuitive desire for movement instead of unhelpful ideas about what is practical and feasible and trust that you can make your movement practical and feasible if you take the first step.

1. What do I need to have in my life to feel deeply satisfied?
2. If I am honest with myself, what is keeping me from feeling satisfied?
3. What situations do I stay in and choices do I make that are no longer serving me?

"Hell is For Women Who Don't Help Other Women"

At a Microsoft and Women in Technology event where I was speaking, I heard a quote that I had not come across before, but just loved. It's was Madeline Albright's "There is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women". As in many things, Madeline was very right. I meet lots of women who would appreciate a guiding hand - perhaps through career advice, or a bit of insider knowledge or just plain old mentoring to help them climb another rung in the corporate ladder. But I also often hear of other more senior women seemingly pulling up the ladder after them. I often wonder, what are those who are already at the top afraid of? That there is only room for one token women in the boardroom? It's funny - it's almost as if we accept that there might be only one or two spots at the top for non-white, non-male faces, quicker than we accept that that "tradition" needs to change. What have you done to help other women in your career? How have you been helped by women who have gone before you?

Why So Few Women in ICT?

At the Blackberry Women and Technology Awards, I met Dr Elisabeth Kelan, a Research Fellow at the Lehman Brothers Centre for Women in Business. She pointed me in the direction of an article she had written "I Don't Know Why - Accounting for the Scarcity of Women in ICT Work" in 2007 in the Women Studies International Forum. As explained by Dr. Kelan "the article explores how men and women working in information communication technology (ICT) work explain the lack of women in their profession.  Most interviewees started their response with "I don't know", indicating that people lack a clear-cut explanation for the scarcity of women in ICT work. They then went on to use explanations such as this was not due to the company, socialisation, biology and women's disinterest in technology to account for women's underrepresentation in ICT work." Follow the link to the full article if you are interested in learning more. What do you think are the reasons?