Blog Archive - 2015

I know I need it. Lots. Most of the time, I have some in stock. I just reach into my mental pantry and grab a jar of “Hey, I got this”. Or a whiff of the idea does the trick. I glimpse evidence that some part of my life is OK and get the needed boost. This is why I love having a clean kitchen and a stocked fridge.

It is impossible to overestimate the value of mothers as leaders. As the poet, William Ross Wallace, wrote, “The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.” And we are all familiar with this quote from Abraham Lincoln: “All I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.”

When I married at 20, I knew I was making the right choice for me. I had found my best friend, and I wouldn’t let him go. I had one year until college graduation, and he had three. We started our life together as your typical poor, struggling college students, but we had a plan.

In many ways am a walking billboard for young Utah mother stereotypes. I met my husband in high school, we married when I was 20. I spend my days taking our two daughters, ages 2 and 4, to playdates with friends or story time at the library. We frequently attend Sunday dinners and group birthday celebrations.

Her job is supposed to be a part-time gig, but there’s nothing part time about the way she does it. She works seven to eight hours a day, including Saturdays. On weeknights she’s often in meetings, which is what happens when you belong to 33 boards and committees around the valley.

I typically responded to the first with a fake laugh to avoid giving an actual answer. No one really wants to hear the long answer, that I inherited my mother’s petite frame, and most of my meals were consumed standing up. I also have the mad skills of making one peanut butter sandwich last for hours.

For many people, the beginning of a new school year is a good time to make resolutions, start fresh, and improve habits. As a 7th grade teacher, I see girls and boys come into my classroom with varying degrees of trepidation, and some come with enthusiasm. They don’t have to sign their names.

If anything, men tilt toward overconfidence—and we were surprised to learn that they come by that state quite naturally. They aren’t consciously trying to fool anyone. Ernesto Reuben, a professor at Columbia Business School, has come up with a term for this phenomenon: honest overconfidence.

One day I stumbled upon an online community of women and discovered my situation was far from unique. With their examples and support, I began to look outside the home for things that would help give me a sense of purpose. As I began to do so, I felt recharged. I found that I truly enjoyed the process of solving a problem.

The elusive nature of confidence has intrigued us ever since we started work on our 2009 book, Womenomics, which looked at the many positive changes unfolding for women. To our surprise, as we talked with women, dozens of them, all accomplished and credentialed, we kept bumping up against a dark spot.

When I was five years old I decided I wanted to be a “pony doctor.” While other children my age watched cartoons when they got home from school, I watched a TV show on Animal Planet called Emergency Vets, which documented the various cases seen at Alameda East Veterinary Hospital in Denver, Colorado.

When I was just a young kid, I remember expressing to anyone that would listen what I wanted to be when I grew up. Every time I told a new listener what I wanted to be, I added preposterous new desires to my list of possible careers. Even after I graduated, I still had no idea what I want to do as a career...

Developing leadership is a lifelong journey, one in which we grow sometimes incrementally and sometimes by leaps and bounds. Learning from each other gives us the opportunity to shape what we become and to see more clearly how to refine our own capacity to contribute.

Very few people succeed in business without a degree of confidence. Yet everyone, from young people in their first real jobs to seasoned leaders in the upper ranks of organizations, have moments — or days, months, or even years — when they are unsure of their ability to tackle challenges.

Studies continue to report that diverse and inclusive leadership teams produce more creative and innovative results. Diversity enhances creativity. It encourages the search for novel information and perspectives, leading to better decision making and problem solving.

Women tend to exhibit different leadership characteristics and attributes than men. These are not necessarily better or worse, merely different. Sometimes male attributes are needed; sometimes female attributes are preferred, and often both sets of attributes can add value to a situation.

Research clearly shows that CSR activities have a positive impact on an organization’s reputation, and as the authors of one report stated, “Companies viewed as ethical or good corporate citizens were more likely to have more women board directors than companies without those reputations.”

One retail company discovered that when their store employees matched the demographic profile of the community, it had increased sales. Since women constitute the majority of consumers today, companies are finding that it makes sense to have more female employees who better understand the needs of female consumers.

A series of recent studies has shown that organizations that have more women in management and on boards, on average, attain better financial results than do other organizations. Companies with the most women board directors out performed those with the least on return on sales.

Our counselors would interrupt our AP class periods to beg us to take the AP tests, dusting the $90 price tag under the words “class exempt” and “step ahead in college.” But when we were asked to indicate how many of us were actually planning on going to college, about half of us raised our hands. Half. In an AP class. Why?

Research demonstrates there are a host of benefits and strengths that accompany having women in management and leadership roles. But it’s not unusual in Utah or beyond for managers and top leadership teams to not fully realize the value of having women in key positions, not as the only leaders.

Did you know that engaging women in leadership positions provides a host of benefits to companies and organizations? Research points to a variety of benefits and advantages that come to companies and organizations when they include women in leadership.

A leader helps others do more than they thought they would do and also become more than they thought they could become. Look for the strengths in others and help mentor them. Sheri told of a time when she was new to a leadership position in which she was required to speak often.

The brief provides insights gathered from a group of women, many of them college students, who attended a presentation about confidence at UVU in September. For many of the participants, it was an eye-opener that renewed their courage and gave them confidence they didn’t know they had.

When I first heard of Deedee Corradini, circa 1988, Zions Bank President Ron Hanson had taken me to the Alta Club for lunch. His eyes lit up as he whispered to me, “Well, Deedee Corradini just walked in.” An impressive first introduction. The furniture backed up against the wall and all the men’s heads turned her way.

Wall Street 24/7 recently published an article titled “The 10 Worst States for Women,” using rankings from various sources on gender wage gap, percentage of women in state legislatures, percentage of women in management positions, poverty rate of women, and infant mortality rate.

When I was in 8th grade, the PTSA club I was a member of took a field trip to the State Capitol. At the time, the Capitol was undergoing renovations and the House was meeting in the basement of the west building. After meeting with our district’s representative, he introduced our group of students to Representative Becky Lockhart.

Women are more than just bodies! Yet the messages we’re bombarded with in the media tell us differently. Digital manipulation of celebrities, vast amounts of advertising for cosmetic surgeries, and unrealistic ideals being flaunted in the entertainment industry all give a false impression of women.

As important as confidence is evidence shows that girls and women struggle with confidence more than men do. They experience more anxiety and self-doubt. Women judge themselves harder and assume the blame when things go wrong. Women don’t let go of failures as quickly as men.

Women tend to care about developing others around them, which makes them particularly powerful mentors for women and men alike. Many of these traits make women effective in leveraging talent. Women contribute to increased productivity and higher team performance.

Research has shown that most managers and top leadership teams do not fully realize the value of having women in key positions, and this is the case across all sectors, including business, government, political, nonprofit, K-12 and higher education, religious, and community. Depending on the entity, this may include women in both paid and unpaid roles ranging from positions such as supervisor, coordinator, and manager, to school principal, council member, CEO, and board director.