Monday Memo

Quick, actionable career advice for women

Monday Memo: Work Life Balance for Earth Day

April 22, 2013
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Monday Memo: Work Life Balance for Earth Day

Happy Monday. Here’s a work life balance tip for Earth Day. If you’ve been thinking about asking for some flex work arrangements, today’s the day. Studies show telecommuting can have a positive impact on the environment. In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency quotes one report that estimates, “$23 billion could be saved in transportation, environmental, and energy costs if there were a 10 to 20 percent increase in telecommuting.” Marissa Mayer may have her reasons for calling Yahoo’s employees back to the office, but you’ve got a good reason to stay home. In addition to the environmental benefits, there are productivity benefits to be gained too: fewer interruptions, more control over your schedule, no commute. Now that’s sustainable! Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/donkeyhotey/5679642883/

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Monday Memo: Get in the Game

April 15, 2013
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Monday Memo: Get in the Game

Today’s Monday Memo is inspired by the Boston Marathon. We thought it was appropriate  to share this bit of inspiration from Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to run the Boston Marathon as a registered runner. In this interview for the PBS series Makers, Switzer talks about how her father inspired her to get in the game. “Life is to participate not to spectate,” he told her. And he encouraged her to start participating one mile at a time. What do you say ladies? Can you start with a mile to today?

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Monday Memo: Laugh

April 8, 2013
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Monday Memo: Laugh

Today’s Monday Memo is fun: laugh more. Are you dealing with a challenging situation at work? Are you getting more and more frustrated? Try laughing. Erma Bombeck, the humorist and writer said, “If you can’t make it better, you can laugh at it.” That advice can be applied to your career. Laughter has been known to diffuse a stressful situation, lower blood pressure, lessen depression symptoms, and create connections with other people. So this week, try to find the humor in the stressful situations.  

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Monday Memo: Find Your Voice

April 1, 2013
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Monday Memo: Find Your Voice

Since I am going to interview Sallie Krawcheck, past President of Merrill Lynch, U.S. Trust and Smith Barney, during the Simmons Leadership Conference tomorrow, today’s Monday memo is inspired by one of her recent posts on LinkedIn. Krawcheck writes about finding her voice and why that’s important for all women. “There is plenty of research that shows women are less likely than men to speak up in business meetings or state their opinions; many report that it is because their upbringing conditioned them to not stand out and to wait their turn,” she writes. “But sometimes the meeting is over before their turn comes.” I can certainly relate to that last part. If I had a dime for every time I thought of saying something in a meeting but hesitated and then either  a man said it first or the meeting ended before I spoke up, I’d have enough money for a Starbucks coffee. Speak up! Don’t hesitate. You can find your voice by using it. Just once this week during a meeting, I encourage you to give input or ask a question without self-editing. If what you say is off-the-mark, people will forget about it. And if what you [...]

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Monday Memo: Link In

March 25, 2013
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Monday Memo: Link In

Quick tip for a busy Monday: keep your LinkedIn profile current. In the era of personal branding, LinkedIn is the perfect platform to project your professional self. Here are a three quick things you can do to maximize your profile: Customize your LinkedIn url – it will make it easier for people to find you. Do this by viewing your profile, then clicking on your public profile right below your picture. Make sure your professional headline lists your skills, not your current job. This too, will help you show up in searches that are relevant to your unique experiences. Use the status update. Share conferences you attend, articles you read and link to interesting infographics. This will keep you on people’s front page.    

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Monday Memo: Go to Lunch

March 18, 2013
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Monday Memo: Go to Lunch

Happy Monday. I’ve got something for you to look forward to this week: the lunch you’re going to schedule with a friend. After years of eating my lunch at my desk because, “Who has time for lunch,” I’ve started booking at least two lunches outside the office each month. I schedule these lunches with a friend from outside my company who is in a similar place to me career-wise or life-wise. There’s no agenda; these are social lunches, not business, but I find the midday social hour helps me at work. - It’s always helpful to talk to someone who understands my world, my stresses, my opportunities. - It’s great to get perspective from people outside my company and my industry. - It’s a natural way to build a network without the forced feeling and  awkwardness of “networking.” - As a working mother, it’s easier to socialize during the day than after work. - It’s helpful to know I have something fun planned during the week when I’m in the middle of  a tough assignment or frustrating meeting. So if your in Boston, “let’s do lunch.” Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/amandabel/2311166849/ Related articles Monday Memo: Don’t Help Monday Memo: Use an Agenda Monday Memo: [...]

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Monday Memo: Use an Agenda

March 11, 2013
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Monday Memo: Use an Agenda

Running a meeting? Use an agenda. Chairing a meeting without an agenda is like piling your coworkers and or clients into a bus and taking a trip without a map. That’s only productive if you’re goal is to see who is a back seat driver, who gets motion sick, and how many blue cars you spot along the way. Most of the time, when you gather a group of overworked, pressed-for-time workers, it’s for a more meaningful reason. If you don’t have a clear reason, don’t have the meeting. If you do, make it clear with an agenda. Your agenda should: - define the objective of the meeting - identify who will speak, on what topic, and for how long - serve as the road map for the meeting - be circulated in advance of the meeting so participants can prepare. Agendas are so important, especially for women leaders who report being ignored or marginalized in meetings.Use an agenda to your advantage. It only takes a few minutes to create.                

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Monday Memo: Don’t Help

February 4, 2013
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Monday Memo: Don’t Help

Happy Monday. We’ve got some career advice today that may seem counterintuitive: don’t be helpful. Not all the time, of course, but in certain situations some of your better qualities can do you a disservice. Successful women are usually raised to be good girls. Most likely you learned to get ahead by pleasing your parents, your teachers and your bosses. So chances are it comes naturally to you to be helpful in most situations. That’s great, except when it’s not. Notice the dynamic where you work. If your male peers aren’t playing the supporting roles, you shouldn’t either. Definitely know how to do every job and how to use all the technology. Definitely jump in and be team player when the team is in crunch mode.  But be mindful about not setting up or cleaning up the conference room for meetings and team lunches. Don’t be the one who offers to take notes at every meeting, order the food or book the conference room. Most likely the guys aren’t doing it so what message does it send if you are? You want to be valued for your quality contributions, not just the support you provide. One of my first bosses, [...]

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Monday Memo: Dress for Success

January 28, 2013
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Monday Memo: Dress for Success

At the risk of sounding as old as I am, today’s Monday Memo is all about dressing for success. Back in the 80s, I used to read Cosmo and one piece of career advice Ms. Helen Gurley Brown dispensed was to dress for the position you want, not the position you have. It’s still great advice, especially as the workplace becomes more and more casual. While it’s great that many workplaces have figured out a worker in jeans is a happy and productive worker, it creates more room for error. Need guidance? Look at how the women senior to you are dressing. Chances are they  are not wearing leggings or sporting nail art. Right or wrong, image matters, so err on the side of professional and safe.

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Monday Memo: Volunteer

January 21, 2013
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Monday Memo: Volunteer

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, today’s Monday Memo is focused on service. Volunteering can be a great career boost. It can expand your professional network, build your skill set, fuel a passion, serve as a team building activity and renew your energy and focus. Plus, it’s the right thing to do. Why not schedule some volunteer time for the coming weeks?    

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