Monthly Archives: August 2013

Summer Book Review #32: Composing A Life

Posted on August 30, 2013 | 1 comment

“I want to do a portfolio of things after graduation,” stated Nelson, a classmate of mine at the Harvard Business School.  We were road tripping to New York City where we each had interviews set up in hopes of post-graduation jobs.  Or so I thought.   Through the conversation I learned he wasn’t interviewing.  He was holding a series of meetings about projects.  Interests.  I remember being fascinated by his unbridled approach.   I loved the concept.  But I quickly dismissed it.  I turned instead to mentally prepping for my interviews.  A singular focus. Continue reading →

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Summer Book Review #31: Listening Below the Noise

Posted on August 23, 2013 | 2 comments

“Nothing at all.  Silence.  That’s the gift I’d offer,” shared a former executive who participated in the Research Jam last spring.   We were talking about creating a gift bag for women just beginning transition.   Silence came up again and again during our conversation.    She also shared a question that she’d grappled with early on in her transition, “Who am I if I’m not me?”   For her silence served as a catalyst to answering that question.  What is your relationship with silence?  Is it an unaffordable luxury?  A welcome guest? Continue reading →

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A decade’s lesson: maintain relationships

Posted on August 16, 2013 | Leave a comment

“I figured out how the guys do it,” screeched an exasperated friend following a conversation with a former colleague.  Over the course of the call my friend learned about a common practice in the financial services industry…parking certifications.  It seems that if a person leaves a large firm to ‘work’ in a consulting capacity said professional can hold onto their certifications.   Not so if that person simply becomes unemployed.  ‘That’s how the old boys network does it,” she fumed.  “They park someone’s certs and say they are ‘consulting.'”  She was beside herself.  From her perch….this ‘parking’ courtesy wasn’t often extended to women regardless of their vocation after leaving a large firm.  Continue reading →

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Transition’s initial step…..

Posted on August 9, 2013 | Leave a comment

“Don’t do that when I’m not around,” said my eight year old son.   “I like to learn when you’re on the phone,” he continued.  We were talking about what I do when he is at camp.   I told him that I held conference calls almost constantly while he was gone.  His comment surprised me.  I always perceived my work as an imposition on our time.  In fact I try desperately to manage work around my children’s schedules.  In a million years I wouldn’t have guessed that he would arrive at such a place.  Powerful concept. Learning. Continue reading →

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Summer Book Review #30: Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success

Posted on August 2, 2013 | 1 comment

“Part of me has been taken away,” shared a bright energetic woman during a 1:1 interview I conducted for Novofemina’s Research Jam.  We had pivoted to her personal story after she had agreed to share some transition observations from a women’s economic development organization where she worked.   A career change. A new husband.  A first child.  Mixed in with these life events I heard isolation and failure, or something that resembled it.  Her reaction?

Continue reading →

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