Share
Preview
TAKE THE LEAD THIS WEEK

Women's leadership news and advice, packaged to fit your life.

February 23rd, 2016: Edition 50

(Glad to see us in your inbox every week? Help us spread the word and build the movement by sending this to your friends - they can subscribe here!


IN THE HEADLINES


The Real You: Make Sure Authenticity, Confidence Are Parts of Leadership Brand

Of course we are not talking Michael Kors, Google or BMW. But we all know everyone who is managing a career has a personal brand. And we each need to cultivate and protect our brand as carefully as marketers for Coca-Cola, IBM or Facebook.

According to Joanne Tombrakos, creator of Your Digital You, you need to manifest your personal brand just as carefully as these megastar branding teams of global companies. To develop your brand, communicating your story beyond your bio, CV or resume is a must, Tombrakos advises.

Especially as a woman aiming for leadership. Make sure the message you are transmitting aligns with your career intentions and grows as keenly and deliberately as you do. Authenticity is important. Prepare your brand deliberately.

TELL ME MORE 

Diversity Simplified: Hire More Women in Leadership, Build Skills, Open Doors
It seems every major company around the globe-- and many not so major companies-- are taking notice of the inequities of their female employee rosters at all levels. All this talk of diversity and fairness, plus counting and publishing the percentages has not budged the numbers much for women in leadership. Women still fall far short in reaching the equity goal in most every arena from Hollywood production to tenure positions in academia.

Gender diversity in the workplace and leadership has been in discussion for decades with some progress, but we have not reached parity yet. Maybe we have been going about it the wrong way, some suggest.


Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, of 20-first, a global gender consulting firm, tells The Independent in the UK, “The issue isn’t recruitment – it’s retention and promotion. Getting women into leadership remains the biggest challenge.” To solve that problem, she suggests eliminating the old boys clubs completely and concentrating on building leadership skills for women now in the career pipeline.

 
All the Single Ladies: More Women Entrepreneurs Than Men Start Businesses

“Now put your hands up.”

A peach of a new study out of Georgia State University finds that more than men or married women, single women have the highest rates of entrepreneurship of all individuals. What makes a single
women start a company on her own more often?


Many predictable economic and time factors such as not having children and family to care for go into the decision to start a business. But one simple reason is single women think they will make more money on their own than they would working for someone else. Be the boss lady and you will earn  more green.


Catherine Clifford writes in Entrepreneur that living in an area where gender roles are more progressive also is a big plus. Think Silicon Valley. New York. Austin. Married women also benefit from a surrounding culture that would support their choices to be more flexible in their career decisions.ext to their powerful reigning husbands.



WHAT WE'RE READING



Hail, Madame President: Channing Dungey 1st African American To Head TV Network 
Making history and inspiration during Black History Month is Channing Dungey,  former executive vice president of drama for ABC,  who was named president of ABC Entertainment. This follows a dozen years of her working at ABC. The Walt Disney Company-owned network named her as the first black woman in that post. In the groundbreaking announcement, Ben Sherwood, co-chair of Disney Media Networks and president of Disney-ABC Television Group, said, “Channing is a gifted leader and a proven magnet for top creative talent, with an impressive record of developing compelling, breakthrough programming that resonates with viewers.” 
READ IT AT THE BUSINESS JOURNALS
      
Equal Noggins: Course Corrects Spatial Differences in Female Learning
This is good news in the equality department. In Nautilus, Ohio State University engineering professor Sheryl Sorby talks about her struggles with spatial cognition and the fallacy that women are genetically incapable of the same brain tasks as men. Then she developed a course that changed all that. Turns out the gap in spatial cognition may be real, but can also be fixed. And that means a great deal for not just science, but women leaders everywhere.
READ IT AT NAUTILUS 
 
Take A Trip To Compliment Island With Your Women Co-Workers 

The founder of the youtube channel, IISuperwomanII, and the documentary, “A Trip To Unicorn Island,” Lilly Singh, says too many women snipe, criticize and snarl at each other. Whether it’s in the workplace or anywhere, women from girls to mature ladies need to stop and give a compliment. Singh is the force behind #GirlsLove and she wants you to spread the word that not only do you look nice today but you are very smart, powerful and an awesome leader.
READ IT AT MOTTO
  

Whatever Your Politics, Now's Time For Women Leaders  

Gloria Feldt, Take The Lead co-founder and president writes in Fast Company that a smart political agenda supersedes gender, and that gender rights are human rights. But we cannot be gender blind if we are blind to the importance of gender in leadership.

READ IT AT FAST COMPANY | SPREAD THE WISDOM:


VIDEO OF THE WEEK



QUOTE OF THE WEEK


 “Interest in science is colorblind; it’s gender blind.. We need the full range of all the talents that we have to solve the problems of today.”

--Mae Jemison, speaking at Auburn University’s Women’s Leadership Institute on inclusion and diversity in education


GOOD STUFF FROM OUR PARTNERS
The OpEd Project's  Write To Change The World core seminars are coming up in Denver, Chicago, Detroit, New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Tucson and more cities. The day is about empowering you to find your voice and make a case for the ideas and causes you believe in—whether in print, online, on TV, before your board of directors, to potential funders or investors, or on the steps of Congress.



Did a friend send you this newsletter? Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox every week!

Thanks to our newsletter sponsor Michael Stars! 

Visit michaelstars.com or one of their gorgeous stores.

Follow for updates

 
 
 
Take The Lead, PO Box No. 20854, New York, NY 10023, United States


Email Marketing by ActiveCampaign