Ladies Its Your Right to Define Leadership on Your Terms

Ladies It’s Your Right to Define Leadership on Your Terms The following is a guest post by Morag Lucey.  Her bio follows. As a female executive who has been through her fair share of triumphs and trials, I have a burning passion for cultivating strong women in the workplace. And as a woman who once served as a company’s only female executive VP, I know what it’s like to work in male-dominated cultures. More importantly, I know the immense value that female leadership brings to these kinds of environments. I’ve had the awesome privilege of working with some of the most inspiring women in the tech industry. I know what it’s like to mentor and be mentored; to teach and be taught. I know what it’s like to have humble and perhaps even unusual beginnings, considering how I got to where I am today (if you haven’t read my personal story, I encourage you to  here). For those who don’t know, I initially began my career in tech as a demonstrator at trade show events. In other words, my job was to gain the attention of males to promote a company’s product or service. This was a sexist environment back in the 80s. Needless to say, I never imagined I’d use that opportunity as a platform to one day become a thriving female executive. While I’m grateful to everyone who supported me along the way, it was women who specifically helped me identify my career path and determine what kind of leader I wanted to be, starting with my mum. Watching women, good and bad, in action helped me determine how I wanted to be perceived in the workplace and how I wanted to manage teams. What Does Success Look Like to You? (Hint: There’s No One Answer) But what exactly is success? The answer to this question will often depend on whether you’re asking a male or female. In fact, a study conducted last year concluded just this. The results found that while men defined success by their level of income and professional achievements, women defined it by the  quality of their relationships. Not surprising to me, the study also found that men were more likely to be C-level executives. This isn’t to say that men never define success by quality relationships or that women don’t correlate success with income. This certainly isn’t to say that women must inherit a male’s mentality to gain a seat at the executive table. Many people mistakenly believe that if you’re an executive, you must take on a certain styleâ€"the way you behave and actâ€"as opposed to just being yourself. As a successful female executive who is unapologetically herself, I hope I help prove otherwise. You can’t deny, however, that success is defined differently in a man’s world compared to a woman’s world. It’s vital women understand that this doesn’t mean their definition of success is wrong. There’s no end-all definition of success; rather, success is defined on our own terms. It’s not only OK but encouraged to define success outside of work. It’s OK to define success in the relationships we have as daughters, mothers, sisters and friends, and it’s also OK for us to define success by our income or personal achievements. Success is a highly individualized concept, and it’s important that it be respected as such. There’s No Better Time Than Now to Make a Difference In my opinion, there’s no stronger force than women banding together and owning leadership on their terms without any preconceived notions. Now is the time for established females to make it even easier for other women to be successful in the ways they want to. For some women, this may mean finding a way to acquire a position of leadership. For others, it may mean finding a way to make more of an impact in their day-to-day jobs while preserving work/life balance. I want to make it clear that this isn’t about pitting males against females. Rather, it’s about acknowledging the fact that (just like men) there are some things that women inherently excel at. Rather than mask those for fear they’ll be perceived as vulnerabilities, we should proudly capitalize on them and the value they bring to the workplace. To me, success means you’re empowered to do what you do best, and you’re respected by the organization you’re in. As a female executive with her own wisdom to impart, it brings me great joy to be giving back by pioneering key initiatives here at Avaya alongside other successful female leaders to help women define success and deliver value in their roles. Recently, and in partnership with my colleague and  Avaya General Counsel Amy Fliegelman Olli, we launched a Women’s Leadership Forum to inspire and work with female Avayans to reach their full potential through personal and professional growth. To cement its success, we’re creating a mentorship program, which will be available to men and women at Avaya, to help: Develop talent and leadership qualities Foster a stronger culture of open dialogue, collaboration and engagement Create a more compelling diversity story in our workplace The Power of Team When I take a good look at the women in my life, I’m always struck by the ones who are lifting each other up. Lighting another person’s flame does not diminish our own, but rather helps to illuminate the world even more. We’re in this togetherâ€"I hope you’ll join me in shining bright! Morag Lucey Morag Lucey is Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and a member of the executive council at Avaya. In her role, Morag leads the Global Marketing team.  She is responsible for a variety of marketing disciplines, including distribution channel management, marketing communications, branding, and articulating the customer experience to drive increased demand for Avaya solutions worldwide. Morags career spans 30 years in marketing, sales and general management in the technology and telecommunications space. She is a distinguished leader with a proven history of increasing brand impact.   Morag has held top marketing positions with a variety of companies, including BAE Systems, Convergys and SAP. She also has extensive experience leading product management and strategy and MA functions in prior roles.

Writing Experience in Resume

Writing Experience in ResumeAlthough you are well-versed with the basics of the job market, your resume is still an important aspect of your search for a new job. As such, making sure that you have all the qualities that would make you a perfect candidate for the position that you are seeking would be most important to ensure that you are able to land the job you want.In order to make sure that you have made the proper edits to ensure that you have the best possible formatting and layout, there are certain tips that can go a long way towards creating a great resume. The tips here cover four things that you will need to make sure that your resume has. After reading through these tips, you should have a good understanding of what should be included on your resume.Your resume is not just about you. While it is a necessity to include your specific work experience, it is also important to include information on the accomplishments of others who are in your same career track. If you find t hat others have performed a similar job as yours, include this in your resume.Always make a clear reference in your resume to your education. This should be written as a word or phrase in your resume. Education refers to any kind of training that you have received such as formal or online, from schools, colleges, or trade schools.Each career includes its own jargon. Therefore, it is important to know the difference between these different words and their definitions. Make sure that your resume has an accurate and up-to-date definition of these words.A good resume should have a professional background. There are several things that you can include in your resume that would help to give you a professional appearance. Having a photograph of yourself or a business card can be very helpful as can a history of any leadership positions that you have held.One of the most important things to remember is that your resume is not just about writing experience. Since you are looking for a job, i t is also vital to list all of the other areas that you have expertise in. List these on your resume, under appropriate headings that include your work experience. For example, if you have written articles on various topics, include this in your resume under a 'content writer' category.Each different types of employment has its own benefits. Try to focus on the advantages of your current job in order to highlight how you would benefit your next employer.

Fun Resume Writing Activities to Help You Stay Focused

Fun Resume Writing Activities to Help You Stay FocusedFun resume writing activities will help the writer to stay focused. This is very important because most resumes will be filled with nothing but the applicant's real life experience. But even though it is important, it can become boring and mundane when it is filled with nothing but education from high school to university.You should try to be creative in your resume by using short paragraphs. Try to keep the information brief but to the point. Don't over write it just because you want to make it unique and interesting to your readers.You should also create a layout and formatting that will catch the eye of the reader. The way you format the information should reflect the type of job you are applying for. For example, if you are applying for a marketing position, you will probably need to be concise. In this case, try to use only the most essential information for the job.Using pictures will make the resume more interesting. If you are going to use them, make sure that they are easy to see and that they clearly indicate your abilities and qualifications.It is also important to have a good format for the actual information. You need to have your contact information clearly and concisely written. Also, make sure that your accomplishments are properly written as well.Information that relates to your hobbies and interests is also important to include. Also, writing about your hobbies and how you can relate to the job is a great way to keep the reader interested.Remember that you can customize your resume in various ways. It doesn't need to be long and wordy. In fact, some people even feel more professional with their resume if it is really short and to the point. But remember, the goal of a resume is to land the interview and get the job. Keep this in mind and try to develop your resume in a way that will make it very appealing to the reader.

How Exactly Do I Change My Career - Kathy Caprino

How Exactly Do I Change My Career Of all the thousands of career questions I receive from my readers and followers, this one is the most pressing and popular: “Kathy, I know I need a career change, but what’s the best way to go about it?   How do you know exactly where in the new industry or field you fit?   How specifically do I make the change and how do I know exactly where the glove fits? Heres my answer to that great, probing question on my Forbes blog today: A Step-By-Step Plan to Change Your Career To Something You Love If youre ready to change careers, take these steps, in the order theyre listed, commit yourself 100% to it, and youll find that new doors will open, powerful mentors will appear, great opportunities will emerge, and your path will be cleared for more success, happiness and reward than you thought possible. (For more about career change and growth, visit www.kathycaprino.com, my video blog Work You Love, The Amazing Career Project, my new Career Success Training program, and my book Breakdown Breakthrough).

Something Embarrassingly Romantic for my Husband, on our Third Anniversary

Something Embarrassingly Romantic for my Husband, on our Third Anniversary Three years ago, I married the love of my life, and it was the best day of my life. Today, I decided to do something embarrassingly romantic record our First Dance song, Grow Old With You on Lucille. I havent worked on this song with my teacher or anything, so some of the transitions and the strumming is a bit shaky, but I dont care. I think its imperfect yet lovely and adorable, just like My Babe and I. Props to the bro-in-law/best/man/rock star Zak Ward for playing this live at our wedding, and even writing a custom verse for us. I cry just thinking about it. - Need gorgeous new business cards? Who doesnt! Come and comment on my Minted giveaway and you can win a $75 gift certificate!

Writing a Football Coaching Resume

Writing a Football Coaching ResumeWhen searching for a new job, the first thing you must do is begin writing a football coaching resume. It is imperative that you are able to offer a concise, meaningful, and unique job description. If you can do this, it will show that you understand the responsibility of the job and that you are up to the task. This means that you need to ensure that your job description is appealing, interesting, and beneficial for the job.One of the reasons why a lot of people fail when they write a football coaching resume is that they do not come across the job in a completely appealing light. The football coach has to be able to show you why the position is important. The job description should also give them a clear idea about how the job would benefit them. So, it is crucial that the position description is specific. In addition, you need to remember that it should not be too long.When you first begin writing a coaching resume, make sure that it includes what you do, who you work with, and what your past achievements were. There is nothing worse than putting down your teaching career as a coaching assistant. So, if possible, begin this section by telling the world exactly what you do.Coaches are very well-respected in their profession and have a high level of power when it comes to the quality of their teams. So, it is best to get on the same page with the team. Remember that your coach or someone within the coaching staff knows what works best for your team.A lot of coaches understand that there is a big difference between working with youth and adults. Youth players will learn a lot more and be able to grow as individuals. It is these players that will be more likely to excel in the professional ranks. If you have a very experienced youth team, you will not necessarily need to write a full coaching resume for them. However, it is still important that you have a resume, as the main purpose of writing one is to secure employment.Do not underestimate the importance of being aware of the world of soccer when it comes to coaching. Many younger players are getting their first exposure to the game. You need to be able to explain to them what the game is all about, how to use it, and what it can do for them.This is not just an athletic coach. There are many different types of jobs that can be done by those who teach and coach a certain sport.

When Office team-Building Activities Go Overboard

When Office team-Building Activities Go Overboard Q: My office team-building activities are getting ridiculous. Can I opt out? I’ve been in my office for about 10 months. When I initially joined, we had a weekly event called Friday Fitness, where each week a different person would lead a quick 15-minute workout. Everyone in our office thoroughly enjoys Friday Fitness because it breaks up the monotony of our office desk jobs and is a great team-building activity. Unfortunately, the success of this event has prompted my manager to start initiating new team activities. Today at our staff meeting, our department head mentioned that she would like us to think of team activities that we can do on a weekly or monthly basis. One idea was a weekly Show and Tell where one person would bring in an item that was very important to them and would explain its meaning. Another manager suggested that once a month, we each bring in two photos from our childhood and then our office coordinator would put together a slideshow that we would watch while eating popcorn. When these ideas were being floated around, I almost fell out of my seat! All of my childhood photos are in a different state and even if they were easily accessible, I don’t think I’d want to show them to my coworkers. Only one other coworker and I raised objections. I said this was beginning to feel a bit like summer camp and all of these team activities were becoming burdensome. In response, I got very pointed stares from all of the managers in my department. Are these events a bit weird? Or is this just something I should get used to since it’s the office culture? Since I am one of the only people objecting, I’m pegged as not being a team player, and I don’t want that to affect my manager’s perception of me. A: It’s weird and it might be something you have to get used to if it’s part of their culture. Lots and lots of people would find this stuff off-putting, a little invasive, and a waste of time. You aren’t weird in feeling that way. And I’d bet that your manager would be hard pressed to explain exactly why she thinks these activities will be helpful, and/or that she’d have vague language about building camaraderie that she wouldn’t be able to back up with anything more specific. To be clear, there are people who enjoy this kind of thing. The issue is that there are also plenty of people who don’t and who find they do the opposite of building team spirit … and there are just so many more effective ways of team-building that it makes no sense to invest in thinly justified activities that are likely to feel inappropriately invasive to at least some people on any given team. Good managers build strong teams by having people work together on projects with clear goals, clear roles, and appropriate feedback and recognition; creating opportunities for people to get a deeper understanding of each other’s work; and giving people the chance for meaningful input into the direction of the team. It is (usually) helpful to create ways for your team members to get to know each other better, but you do this through stuff that’s voluntary and low-key and which (a) doesn’t take huge amounts of time away from what people are actually there to do, (b) doesn’t violate anyone’s privacy, and (c) recognizes that what’s fun for some people is misery for others (public performances, athletic events). It doesn’t require delving into anyone’s childhood, and it definitely doesn’t involve pointed stares at people who raise questions about doing it at all. However, if this is the culture there, then this is the culture. Especially as a relative newcomer, there might not be a lot you can do about it, at least not without really jeopardizing your relationship and standing with your manager. But if you’re sucked into participating in this stuff, you can often covertly change the assignment to be something more palatable to you. For example, if you’re told to bring in childhood photos, just don’t â€" explain that they’re all with your parents (or wherever) and so you’ve instead brought in this photo of your dog/camping trip/niece/whatever you are willing to share. If you’re asked to bring in an “item that’s important to you,” you can bring in something relatively impersonal â€" the pistachios you’re addicted to, or your Twilight DVD, or whatever else you’re willing to spend two minutes talking about. But yes, know that you’re not alone in being annoyed by this. (Also, I really hope those Friday Fitness activities are voluntary and no one is shamed for not participating. Some of us prefer to start our Slothful Saturdays early.) Q: How do I announce a firing to the rest of my staff? Can you please provide me with an email script to inform my employees that someone has been dismissed? A: “Unfortunately, Jane’s last day with us was today. We wish her the best of luck, and we’ll be moving quickly to hire a replacement. Until her replacement is hired, please see Fergus with questions about teapot research and Lucinda for any other questions.” Your staff will generally understand that you’re not going to share every detail with them in cases like this. The real key, though, is to ensure that your staff understands how performance problems are handled. After all, you may know that you had multiple conversations with Jane before letting her go, and gave her warnings and opportunities to improve, but since her coworkers probably weren’t privy to that, you don’t want them worrying that people get fired out of the blue. That means that it’s important to be transparent with people about how you handle performance problems in general, so that they understand there’s a fair process in place and know that they’d be warned if they were in danger of losing their job. These questions are adapted from ones that originally appeared on Ask a Manager. Some have been edited for length. More From Ask a Manager: I’m being penalized for not participating in monthly athletic events at work Is there a best time of day to fire someone? Should I offer to take on admin work to help my boss?