The Real Road to the C-Suite
Shoma Chatterjee
There’s an image many of us have of who makes it to the C-Suite: Think square-jawed, 6’4″ tall, Ivy League educated, followed a linear road to success. No mistakes. Right?
Well, not exactly. According to a study of 18,000 executives who were finalists for C-Suite positions, conducted by GhSMART, a New York-based executive advisory firm:
- 45 percent got there after surviving at least one big career blow-up.
- 33 percent took a giant leap that they didn’t feel ready for. “They went through all the imposter syndrome gremlins that said, ‘You shouldn’t do it.’ But somehow, they did; and that was the pivotal moment for them,” said GhSMART’s Shoma Chatterjee.
- 66 percent started small—beginning their own business, or taking on a project in another country or region where they could see a business through end-to-end.
How to Reach Your Full Potential—with Sally Helgesen
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Do you ever feel that something is holding you back from achieving what you’re truly capable of? Chances are that it’s one of the 12 habits identified in a popular new book co-authored by renowned women’s leadership expert Sally Helgesen. Tune in to learn what they are and her 4-step process for overcoming them.
Scroll down for an infographic about breaking the 12 habits that can hold you back in your career!
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Tired of Feeling Invisible? Here’s How to Be Seen and Rewarded
“Do you feel sometimes like there’s a person inside that’s screaming to jump out?” asks leadership expert and executive coach Charmaine McClarie. “I want you to let that person out because that person is really the truth of who you are.”
But to be recognized and rewarded for who you truly are, it’s essential to use the language of leadership that makes people turn their heads and listen, says McClarie, who says her strategies have helped 98 percent of her clients be promoted within 18 months.
Here are her top five: Read More
Confident Women Do These 5 Things Well
By Trish Foster, Senior Director, Gloria Cordes Larson Center for Women and Business at Bentley University
The gender confidence gap between men and women is real: compared to men, women are more deeply impacted by self-doubt. Numerous studies show that women experience unease regarding their career and job performance at a significantly greater rate than men. Women tend to apply for jobs only when they meet 100 percent of the qualifications while men feel confident to apply if they meet about 60 percent. Likewise, women have more trouble visualizing themselves as leaders than do men. And still more research suggests that women’s confidence wanes with experience while men’s grows.
But our confidence deficit is not the real news. The story that should matter for women is what erodes our confidence and, even more importantly, how we can fix it. Read More
The Mindset That Wins: Strategies of an Elite Champion Runner
If anyone knows persistence and how to stay motivated, it’s Desiree Linden, last year’s winner of the Boston Marathon in the women’s category and the first American to win in 33 years.
Here’s a peek into Linden’s winning mindset.
It starts with a no-regrets attitude.
Linden had success as a college athlete, but she wasn’t one of those stars that everyone was watching. Still, she decided to pursue her dream of going pro.
“For me, it was worth the risk of answering that ‘what if’ question,” Linden explains. “I felt like I had the ability, and if I just put in a little bit more time, maybe I could do something special. There were no guarantees that I could even make a living, but I didn’t want to look back in 10 years and go, ‘What if?’” Read More
What Women of All Races Need to Know about Success
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While only 1 in 5 C-suite leaders are women, only 1 in 25 are women of color. What can women of all races do to change that? In this episode, Michelle Gadsen-Williams, award-winning author and Accenture North America’s managing director and inclusion and diversity lead, shares her ideas and experiences about finding your voice, being seen, and “the bold-faced lie of having it all.”
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New Talk: Shawn Achor on YOUR Big Potential
Every month in 2019, we’re highlighting one top-rated 2018 Conference speaker.
Meet our March Speaker of the Month: Happiness researcher and attendee favorite Shawn Achor. He’s recorded a brand-new talk just for you, available here after the premiere on March 20 at 12 pm EDT. Check it out:
Get Achor’s latest book on the power of connection at independent Austin bookseller Bookpeople.
And please send your questions for Shawn in to our new Facebook page—he may answer you during his Facebook Live Q&A on March 26 @ 1:30 pm Eastern / 12:30 pm Central / 10:30 am Pacific.
Want to Advance? Set up Your Own Personal Board of Directors
By Deb Pine, Executive Director, Gloria Cordes Larson Center for Women and Business & Bentley University Executive Education
As experienced and trusted advisors, mentors can have a significant impact on your career trajectory. Research has shown that people who have mentors are more likely to get promotions and are more satisfied in their jobs. When Indra Nooyi became the CEO at PepsiCo, she credited the mentoring she received for helping her break glass ceilings in business, “If I hadn’t had mentors, I wouldn’t be here today.” Read More
3 Facts About Ambition That Will Help You Succeed
Hana Schank
When careers don’t go as planned, what went wrong—and how do people adjust? Seeking to find answers that would help them navigate their own paths, Hana Schank and Elizabeth Wallace interviewed all of their sorority sisters who graduated with them from Northwestern University in 1993. What they learned was “life-changing,” Schank says, because it gave validity to their choices, and she saw “I wasn’t just flailing here and there.”
But you don’t have to be going through a midlife crisis to be helped by their findings, which they published in The Ambition Decisions: What Women Know About Work, Family and the Path to Building a Life. Here are three key facts about ambition that every woman should know: Read More
Handling Setbacks and Building ‘Resilient Muscle’
By Patricia F. Brown, VP Underwriting Global Retail Markets, Liberty Mutual Insurance
I am often asked two questions: “What has led to your success in the commercial insurance industry?” and “How have you overcome setbacks/challenges?
My personal experience of growing up in the South, having parents and siblings who experienced Jim Crow and being the daughter of a Tuskegee Airmen set the foundation of who I am today. The richness of my childhood experiences and my belief systems have had an undeniable impact on me both personally and professionally. Moreover, my professional journey as an African-American woman has included both lows and highs. Read More