by Solange Lopes | Sep 28, 2014 | Career
Happy Sunday! I hope everyone’s having a great week-end! Dear Hubby and I went on a wine tour and tasting yesterday at the Newport Vineyards, and had a wonderful time (and I’m glad I didn’t have to drive after that
Weekly news update – Photo credit: http://drshannonreece.files.wordpress.com
…). As we’re relaxing and getting ready for a new week, here are the headlines that made me smile, laugh and straight up shake my head:
- So Wall Street may be a boys’ club, Bloomberg BusinessWeek tells us about five Wall Street companies with great paid leave;
- Yes, tomorrow is Monday, again! Fast Company tips us off on how to turn Monday into a day you actually enjoy (yes, it is possible);
- HuffPost Business asks the question: “Is your office space yoga-able” (and yes, unless you work in a shoe closet, it’s doable);
- Refinery 29 writes about how one woman is revolutionizing things for new moms in the start-up world;
- HuffPost Women lists 9 qualities of confident women (and #1 is my absolute favorite);
- PBS News Hour reveals black college grads face greater student loan burden than whites;
- Mashable answers the empowerment question for women and girls everywhere, and technology seems to be the key;
- Worried about which college to attend? Lifehacker compares colleges based on graduate salary;
- WhoWhatWear shows us 5 perfect pants to complete our work-to-week-end look;
- This week saw the return of our favorite Gladiator Olivia Pope, and The Corporate Sister was all over it with the Scandal fashion collection at The Limited.
Happy Sunday!
by Solange Lopes | Sep 26, 2014 | Career |
How to get away with murder – Photo credit: nydailynews.com
Sooo it’s the end of the workday, and as you’re sitting back on your stiff chair as the clock is ticking 5 o’clock, you realize you have done NOTHING, NADA, ZILTSCH…..I mean, if there ever were an illustration of unproductivity, this would be it! Not one of your meetings has been productive, you haven’t gotten any answers to your questions, you’ve had to deal with work interruptions all day, and 99.9% of your to-do list still remains, well…to be done. Now you may not be able to get away with murder like Viola Davis, but there are chances you may just be able to get away with a totally, I mean, absolutely, unproductive day at work.
1. Apply the rule of ONE! Do ONE task, and possibly cross it off your to-do list! It doesn’t matter whether it’s a 5-minute, low impact task or a much more important one. Just get ONE done! It’ll make you feel better, and give you something, no matter how small, to work with.
2. Hack your procrastination! Whether you bet colleagues money (or coffee) that you can complete that audit on time, or you resort to the Pomodoro technique, decide to face the problem head on!
3. There’s always tomorrow! Sometimes, you just have to look to the future and commit to do better the next time. So learn from your mistakes, re-assess your unproductive episodes, get a good night’s sleep and move on to a better, more productive day!
How do you get away with an unproductive day at work?
The Corporate Sis.
by Solange Lopes | Sep 25, 2014 | Career
Handling work interruptions – Photo credit: work awesome.com
Have you ever been head down, deep into the task at hand, when a team member, co-worker, or even your boss just popped their heads in to ask something? At which point you probably used your Super Powers to lift them off the carpeted office floor, Brooks Brothers non-iron shirt and all, and made them fly away? Ok, maybe not…I digress…again…After all, isn’t doing your work and checking tasks off your unending to-do list more important, and more rewarding?
Actually, work interruptions don’t have to be all that bad. That is, if they are managed efficiently:
1. Slow down, take a moment to asses the importance of the interruption! If it’s your boss interrupting you, fixing your frowned face may be a good idea. And if it’s the team broadcaster, breathe and count to three before you dial your desk phone from your cell phone (there is a speed-dial option for that);
2. Help and be helped! Interruptions are sometimes heaven-sent. If you’ve been looking at the same spreadsheet for an hour, or have no idea how to start the quarterly audit memo, you may need to step away and hit your mind’s “Refresh” button. So go ahead and welcome the break!
3. Offer a plea deal! Refusing to help is never well seen within a professional environment. So use your bargaining skills for something else than buying vintage shoes! Offer an alternative time to discuss and help out, all while you’re giving yourself an inner pat on that astute and oh so diplomatic mind of yours!
What do you think? How do you handle work interruptions?
The Corporate Sis.
by Solange Lopes | Sep 22, 2014 | Career
If you were even so much as passing by on social medial last week, you would have heard about the (absurdly) incendiary New York Times article, depicting writer Shonda Rhimes as “an angry black woman”. And if you stayed long enough, you may have enjoyed some of the boomerang responses from the media, such as this one, and this one, oh and this one too!
As a Black woman, a professional, and a huge admirer or Ms. Rhimes, of course I went through the initial stages of “No, she didn’t”, and “What? ooh….”, all accompanied by regular eyebrow-raising motions and a few upwards glances for mercy every now and then. And like most women, Black or of of any other race, who read this piece, I also quickly understood this article was not just about Shonda Rhimes.
According to the Department of Labor Women’s Bureau, women accounted for “57.2 percent of the working age women population in 2013, compared to 69.7 percent participation for men. And although the number of women is expected to increase, women are projected to represent only 46.8% of the labor force in 2022. That’s less than 50%!
When a woman makes a significant contribution through her work, it uplifts all of us, regardless of race. It gives little Black, White, Asian and multi-cultural girls something to look forward to.
Do you think little girls with a passion for music walk around wondering if Alicia Keys is more Black than White? I have yet to hear a toddler comment on Doc McStuffins, by saying “Oh she’s cool, but she’s Black”. And if it ever happened, they would have probably heard it from the mouth of an adult. Because what does it matter, really, the color that Excellence, Talent or Achievement comes clothed in?
Yes, I’m not oblivious to the fact that race matters, for having experienced it first-hand, in and out of work environments. Yet what matters most is the legacy we leave behind, the rock we add to the structure of women’s, all women’s rights.
As women at work, whatever our careers, calling or line of work, don’t we face enough obstacles as it is? Aren’t we plagued by enough stereotypes to add to the dimension of our struggle?
And most importantly, haven’t we realized yet that when we criticize, demean or belittle other women, we hurt all women, ourselves included?
The Corporate Sis.
by Solange Lopes | Sep 17, 2014 | Career
Photo credit: pinterest.com
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So this past week-end, I took dear daughter to the Disney on Ice Frozen show. And while my baby girl was belting out the tunes of the Frozen song (that I’ve only heard about a zillion times and one so far), one lyric in particular struck me. That would be when Elsa proudly declares “the perfect girl is gone”. Of course, as my daughter’s eyes were lit from wonder and amazement, my eyes were ready to pop as I made the oh so unconventional (yet oh so very me) connection between a kids’ show and…feminism!
Don’t get me wrong, I like Elsa. I think Elsa in all her glittering cartoon cuteness, is a feminist. What’s even better, her budding, revolutionary feminism is born on-screen before our very eyes, as she decides to let go of that perfect girl inside and assume her ice power queen self. And if Elsa had a corporate job, she’d be the revered, quirky leader of a company with products targeted to independent, strong, kick-ass women.
And why, or how, could that be? Because at some point, it clicked in Elsa’s head, as it should in all our pretty, independent, driven women’s heads, that our inner good girls gotta go! That in order to fulfill our potential, we must not only take stock of ourselves, but also of our careers. That we must accept that our unconventional traits, different leadership styles, right down to our weirdest habits (or powers for that matter) are also our strongest assets. After all, hasn’t weirdness become a pre-requisite of leadership these days (think Facebook’s Zuckerberg or Zappo’s Tony Hsieh, now that’s effective weirdness).
Bottom line: if you want to be successful on your own terms (is there any other way to be successful), you must silence the quiet, self-compromising, people-pleasing inner good girl and awaken your true self. You know, the one who can turn anything into gleaming ice, and bring success out of anything she puts her mind to…So go ahead and be weird all you can…
Oh and as for me, I’m going to wait a bit to give dear daughter the whole spiel on Elsa…I can hear it already: “What’s a feminist, Mommy?”
“You’ll see, baby, you’ll see…”
The Corporate Sis.
