Are you happy at work?
The 4 Hours Work Week by Tim Ferris- why you should read it?
Do more even when you don’t have enough time
Why is there a lack of female PM's?
It has always been discussed why there is a shortage of women in certain industries, more so in project management .
Of course most interviews I have read about have more than often say- its true but I have been very lucky and haven’t encountered it personally. Sure- because those few chosen women are lucky, so you interviewed them in the first place.
This is always not perhaps true with 60 million working women (in America alone), it’s strange why women are not seen in lead roles. The Glass ceiling report found 95-97% senior managers of the Fortune 1000 Industrial and Fortune 500 were male.
Factors that you cant avoid and women in the work force encounter everyday:
•Glass ceiling effect- During 1991 to 1996 the Glass Ceiling Commission studied how the barriers applied to women and minorities for real.
•The discrimination against women at the workplace result in a lack of career progress, inappropriate job assignment and training opportunities available for women. The discrimination is not only against women but race comes in most cases. Though most women face the glass ceiling, how it effects women depends on the race as well.
•It’s well known that trying to balance work and home is always a women’s job and the difficulties of combining work and family are obvious in most women’s life.
•Low level of motivation, self-confidence, and career aspiration are also considered as reasons why women don’t get to the top of the ladder.
So, to get over the hindrances, there is a Genderless possibility of new leaders who should possess the following traits:
• Speaking and Paradoxical ways–these leaders are consistently tough and empathic, flexible and orderly, patient and timely, diplomatic and candid, competitive and collaborative.
• Community builders-promote interactive leadership; create a strategy to bring people together, believing that an organization without weaving unravels into dysfunction. These leaders believe power is to be shared. It is power within-not power over.
• Holistic thinkers-are adept at building trust, and understand it to be a key element for creating a productive and creative culture. They see beyond the obvious and connect the dots between important issues.
• Relational intelligence-they hold themselves and others to high ethical standards, and believe the integrity of relationship is paramount. Third possibility leaders demonstrate relational intelligence by being sensitive to context, expert at clarifying issues, but willing to be confrontational and compassionate as necessary.
I know it all sounds so serious, I am just glad I live today, in this age- were at Least I have a fair share of chance to come extent. The glass ceiling still exists but when someone at least tries to break it, you know, I know- we women know there’s new hope and a chance for all of us there.
So, thank you to all women and men you there, who have made our job easy and paved the way for us and shared the responsibilities at work and home to create a happier space, so that we can do our job and ask for a raise.
The Style Quotient
Why some people make it and others don’t?
Hows your team doing today?
When your teams down what can you really do? Pushing harder might end up creating more mess, instead why not help them go through this.
I work with a small team of 3-4 people and an extended team of some more and like all of you I always know when they are down. You can feel it- in their work, the way they respond, how easily they loose their cool…..
You cannot sort out their problem, however you can help them to overcome it in your own way- is that not what leaders do? You inspire to bring out the best in others.
I simply start with the basics and work upwards-
- Is everything alright? Most people don’t want to come up with their problems at work and will rarely confide when asked first.
- Help them with more breaks, a partner to work with or some time to cool off. If is still persists, dig deeper.
- Ask them if they like what they do. Do they want to try out something else? Have they been doing the same thing over a long period of time that work doesn’t interest them anymore- no thrills, no challenges, same drab work. No one likes that.
- Thankfully I work in an environment which is flexible and we try to be happy with our work, create challenges and keep up to them. I encourage learning something new, delegating a new work to break the monotony and give a chance to think about something new. This helps them love their job not because of the paycheck but something more.
- They don’t suddenly become experts in their chosen new trial field, however they have the chance to do what they do and try out something new. If they want to change departments after a while, we encourage that as long as you can prove you are good at it and have learned the skills
- If there’s one thing I ask- it is to come to work every day the way you came in your first day. It not always very realistic, but closer we are to our first day emotions, better we will be.
(Pic Courtesy)
Automate and Schedule More
- Have a schedule and you’ll be surprised at how much you can get done within a day.
- Keep a diary, paper anything; I recently got a planner for myself. I write down my thoughts, ideas for blogs, something I have to read and to do list so I don’t forget and get it before time.
- You will notice you will do more and be more active when you have things written down.
- Repeat your schedule that you have set for yourself and it will become second skin to you. It can be anything- going to the gym, writing your blog, planning your book, calling 2 friends everyday. If you know what needs to be done and when you will start doing it.
- Every day you think- how do these people get so much done within the same 24 hours, the funny thing is you can too! Get into the rhythm of your schedule and you will not only enjoy it but get more done. Your friends will be surprised how much you are doing at the same time.
- You will stop giving excuses before you know. You suddenly realize how much can be scheduled and done because you have just minimized the planning and confusion phase.
- You will enjoy your work more. You not only know what you are doing, your are planning it along the way. So, things just happen but its part of the path you want to follow. You are achieving more because when we sit down quietly and plan, we plan good things.
- Achieve things you always wanted to. This year be strong and do something you wanted to do.