"Bossy" Is Only One Leadership Indicator

The "Ban Bossy - Encourage Girls to Lead" campaign is a super step forward for women and girls around the globe.  I'm excited (almost giddy) to see this level of engagement and visibility on the topic of girls and leadership - especially in partnership with Girl Scouts. I have a Girl Scout and she's the apple of my eye so I pay close attention to the messages that she's given about virtually everything - even from me. Okay I admit it - I'm an overprotective parent. Sue me! ;-)

We know that what we say is often interpreted differently by children than as intended so let's take "ban bossy" for a spin. If I'm a "bossy" girl, this statement tells me that I'm great and I have what it takes to lead. If I'm not "bossy", what message do I receive? Does it mean that I'm not a leader? After reviewing the site with my daughter and listening to her questions, it became clear to me that the message has to be expanded in order to be positively received by all girls. It's not just the "bossy" girls who have what it takes to lead.

The confidence gap starts early. Between elementary and high school, girls' self-esteem drops 3.5 times more than boys'

Bossy holds girls back. Girls are twice as likely as boys to worry that leadership roles will make them seem “bossy.”

Girls get less air time in classrooms. They are called on less and interrupted more.



http://www.banbossy.org

 

Alternative to "Bossy"

My daughter is a kind-hearted peacemaker. She was awarded her school's first Peacemaker's Award in 2012 for her brilliance in negotiating solutions between her classmates.  She abhors conflict and making peace is a natural part of her personality. She's not "bossy" yet she is a leader. I tell her often that she'll win the Nobel Peace Prize someday. She smiles and takes it in...

I absolutely agree that girls must be encouraged to lead and I wouldn't have it any other way. However, I think it's important to ensure that girls are also shown different types of leadership models so that they don't flip the script and turn this positive campaign into a negative reflection of themselves.

Take the pledge to "ban bossy" but don't stop there!

Technology's Devastating Impact on Women's Jobs

March 8th, tomorrow, is International Women's Day - a day for celebration of women's accomplishments.  The official UN theme for this year is "Equality for Women is Progress for All".

Before diving into the details about the pending challenges regarding women's jobs, take a look at the International Women's Day Doodle video for this year. Celebrate and acknowledge outstanding women. Ah hem - that would be ALL women.

Technology's Devastating Impact on Women's Jobs

 
Topics like are never pleasant to examine, but looking away from them won't change reality. Awareness is the first step towards change, right? Since the changes and challenges are already in progress, it's time to determine next steps.

As I reviewed the recent Oxford study which concludes that 47 percent of US jobs may become computerized in 10 or 20 years, I wondered about impacted demographics like as gender, age, and race - with a sharp focus on women. A close look at data tracked by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2010 (the same year used in the study) shows how devastating the reality may be for women if a fundamental shift in skills doesn't occur.

According to our estimate, 47 percent of the total US employment is in the high risk category, meaning that associated occupations are potentially automatable some unspecified number of years, perhaps a decade or two.

The Future of Employment: How Susceptible are Jobs to Computerization?

 C. Frey, M. Osborne; Oxford University (September 2013

Why my focus on women in particular? Well - because women's productivity is the backbone of the global workforce - clocking 66% of all working hours on the planet. Simply put women's productivity drives global economies.

Women perform 66 percent of the world’s work, and produce 50 percent of the food, yet earn only 10 percent of the income and own 1 percent of the property. Whether the issue is improving education in the developing world, or fighting global climate change, or addressing nearly any other challenge we face, empowering women is a critical part of the equation.

Former President Bill Clinton 

Clinton Global Initiative (September 2009)

...The challenges to gender equality just got a whole lot more complicated.


Disruptive Technologies Are Disrupting Women's Jobs

Disruptive technologies will impact the most susceptible occupations in services, sales, administration, construction, and transportation. Most of these jobs are currently performed by women.

• Services jobs are being replaced by personal and household robots at a pace of 15% to 20% per year.
• Sales and related administration jobs are rapidly succumbing to automation and software advancements.
• Industrial robots may automate 15% to 25% of tasks associated with jobs in construction, maintenance, and manufacturing by 2025.

And on the story goes...


A straight-across look at the percentages by gender and job category show significant challenges for women who hold a majority of roles in sales, office, and services occupations. As if the flags weren't red enough in general, they are particularly red for women.

 

SALES-OFC - Sales and office occupations

SVCS - Services occupations

MGMT-PROF - Management, Professional, Related occupations

PROD-TX-MAT - Production, Transportation, Material Moving occupations

NR-CONST-MNT - Natural Resources, Construction, and Maintenance occupations

Now what? It's time to retool for the knowledge economy.

The Economics of Intelligence and Creativity

Intelligence and creativity are the new economy - the knowledge economy.  Individuals who are able to adapt quickly and make use of technologies to build new solutions to old problems while helping to shape the future through innovation are the clear winners. The differentiators are 'what we know', 'who we know' AND 'how quickly we can adapt'. The combination of know-how, social media, and technology is lethal for individuals who are stuck in the industrial age.

Intelligence and creativity are driving the new economy at hyper-connected speeds where being average is no longer viable. Everyone has to step up and redefine their own 'How-To' in order to interact with this new world. Knowledge is the key.

Strong knowledge economies contain:

• Appropriate economic incentives and institutional regimes
• Skilled, flexible, and creative people
• Dynamic information structure
• Efficient innovation systems

Some tasks for knowledge workers include:

• Information gathering and data mining
• Data analysis and trend identification
• Understanding cause and effect
• Brainstorming or modifying strategies

Reinforcing the knowledge economy requires schools that are able to respond - and many traditional institutions are not even close.

...as Peter Drucker and others have demonstrated forcefully, workers at all levels in the 21st century economy will need to be lifelong learners, adapting continuously to changed opportunities, work practices, business models, and forms of economic and social organization. Education systems will have to adapt accordingly...

Building Knowledge Economies

Final Report of the Knowledge Economy Forum

World Bank and OECD 

Do schools kill creativity? Take a few minutes to listen to Sir Ken Robinson's humorous examination of this very serious topic.




If schools kill creativity, then Destination Imagination (DI) is the type of organization that brings it back to life. DI nurtures teamwork, creativity, and problem-solving which are essential ingredients in the knowledge economy.

Destination Imagination encourages teams of learners to have fun, take risks, focus, and frame challenges while incorporating STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), the arts, and service learning. Our participants learn patience, flexibility, persistence, ethics, respect for others and their ideas, and the collaborative problem solving process. Teams may showcase their solutions at a tournament.

My daughter is in her second year with DI thanks to a tremendous and tireless Team Manager. After watching her team work through various scenarios and serving as a tournament appraiser this year, I'm inspired to ask the question - 'should DI challenge elements be used to help screen job candidates?'

5 Ways To Increase Your InterNET Worth

Intellectual capital and intellectual property are compelling to think about, right?  We typically go about our lives educating ourselves, working hard, building families, and making a difference in the world without generally considering how much we’re truly worth.  Is this OK?  Sure it is - if we’re not interested in maximizing ourselves or our contributions. I challenge myself to ask better questions and to find different answers other than “that’s just the way it is” or “everyone needs to pay the bills”. Is that really just the way it is? There is overwhelming evidence to the contrary. We really can choose our destiny. Take a closer look.

In his essay titled The Nature of the Firm (Coase, R. H., 1937), Nobel prize-winning economist R. H. Coase (1910 – 2013) defined the legal concept of employee and employer as closely related to  the “master and servant” relationship.  He explored “...why a firm emerges at all in a specialized exchange economy.”  In this context the term firm refers to corporation or organized structure that controls and manages production of goods and services.

This is a complex subject made simpler by Coase’s flashes of insight about an individual’s desire to “...accept less in order work under someone instead of dealing with the stress normally laid on the advantage of “being one's own master.”  I suspect that this is the trap that many of us have fallen into and it can be difficult to get out - but hundreds of millions have taken the step.

According to an article by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM, 2012), the number of entrepreneurs in the world approached 400 million across 54 countries in 2011!  That’s right 400 million—or 5.7% of the world’s population!  Keep in mind that these figures are from 3 years ago.  Let’s break it down further.  Of the millions of entrepreneurs, 39% are Women Entrepreneurs, 40% are Young Entrepreneurs (18—25), and 17% are Innovators, and 4% are Global Entrepreneurs.  Undoubtedly these individuals are dealing with the stress of “being their own master” in order to maximize their contributions and their worth in the world.

Not clear yet what this all means?  Take a look at this INFOGRAPHIC.  What can you do to increase your InterNet worth?  Here are 5 steps that you can take.

STEP 1 - Know Your Industry: Is the industry that you’re currently in growing or dying?  When will major shifts occur?  Who is the competition?  Where are they located?  What do you read to stay on top of it?  Who do you know that can help you stay smart?  If you think these types of questions are just for the “bosses” or strategists, you’re wrong!  These are the types of questions that every person should be asking themselves in order to create winning personal outcomes.

Step 2 - Know Your Numbers: How many people are there in your industry?  Where are the majority of workers located?  Has there been a shift in the number of workers in a particular location?  Is there a clear migration pattern emerging?  What is the market rate for your current position?  What is the top role in your industry?  What is the market rate for that industry top spot?  Is that role in the private sector or public sector - could be either?  Explore it!

Step 3 - Know Your Outcomes: Are you where you want to be in your career?  If not, why not?  Are you in the right industry?  What is your ultimate objective - to make a difference, to make more money, to solve a social problem, to support your family?  What alternative paths have you considered?  How much time do you intend to spend where you are before making a shift?  Have you explored higher education as an option?

NOTE: Higher education is a must-have just to remain status quo.  Don’t believe me?  Check out the competition!

Step 4 - Know Your Support System: Who do you have in your corner that can help you get to where you want to go?  Expand your networks and circles of influence. Do you have mentors or coaches?  Are you on your own?  No one gets to where they want to go on their own. Build a substantial and influential support team.  Don’t wait until the last minute to ask someone to “be your mentor”. Actively seek out individuals who have what you need and borrow with pride. This is called modeling and it’s not a crime. It’s what human beings do.  We model others to learn.

Step 5 – Know Your InterNET Worth: Social media profiles are a great way to let everyone know who you are and what you stand for. Watch your traffic! One of the first things potential employers, business partners, or curious bystanders do is to “google” you to see who you are. Are you leaving a data footprint that you’re proud of?  If not, change course and mind your data!  Clean up what you don’t want to be seen and be proud to tell the world who you really are.  My social media preferences are Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn along with my blog and my website.  Social media profiles are the new “business card” and I’m leveraging the advantages offered to increase my InterNET worth.

Do you know your worth - InterNET or otherwise. If not, find out. You're WORTH it!

Social Media Is Not Just "Social", It's Big Business

Social Media is not just "social", it's business - BIG business!  Unless you've been sleeping for the last five years you already know this. The number of technologies, apps, and platforms supporting the engagement, measurement, nurturing, and conversion of contacts into employees, customers, partners, clients, acquaintances, and friends continue to explode. Women and men alike devour content as fast as it gets generated and still want more. The 'free line' has moved. The free line is the boundary between the amount of content products, or services that are given for free versus what customers will pay for. Companies scream louder and louder to get the attention of potential customers - and we've gone deaf. Or have we?


Social Media Intelligence Reports Crazy Growth

RPV (revenue-per-visit) continues to shatter previous records. Whether you're on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, LinkedIn or any other social media platform, you undoubtedly see an increase in the unique types of ad traffic that's designed to get your attention. Reviews of CTR (click-through-rate) or CPC (cost-per-click) provide insight into whether a shift in strategy is warranted. Goldman Sachs recently increased its valuation of Facebook ads due to higher confidence in Facebook's ad ROI (return-on-investment) and mobile strategy.

Social media channels are picking up steam and have their eyes on capturing a greater portion of search dollars. The real race will not be between social media channels, but between marketer's allocation of dollars across search, display, and social.

Social Intelligence Report

Adobe Digital Index Q4 2013 

Internet Ad Revenue Tops $20B at HY 2013

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report on internet ad revenue generated from more than 600 leading media and technology companies that are responsible for selling 86% of online ads in the US and is considered to be the most accurate measurement of revenue in this space. According to the IAB press release, internet ad revenues topped $10.7B USD in Q3 2013, a 15% increase over Q3 2012. Growth into 2014 and beyond is expected to accelerate.

Digital has steadily increased its ability to captivate consumers and then capture the marketing dollars that follow. Mobile advertising's breakneck growth is evidence that marketers are recognizing the tremendous power of smaller screens.

IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report

2013 First Six Months Results October 2013

Battle of the Sexes in Social Media

So what do we do with all of these social media outlets? You might imagine that women and men use them differently and you'd be right. Take a look at how the battle of the sexes plays out on social media platforms.  If you're planning on using the platforms for business or for pleasure, it's helpful to know who is listening.

Your Intellectual Capital Exchange Rate

OK - I'm about to sound like a professor to set the stage for this post. Here we go...

Intellect is of or related to abstract thought, understanding, communication, reasoning, learning, planning, problem solving, and the application of best practices.  That’s how I’ve defined it as part of I-Core Principles.  I’ve often wondered about the tangible value of intellect so I decided to investigate.  The categories that came to mind immediately were intellectual capital and intellectual property.


Our intellect is inherent currency that we develop through years of education, experience, exploration.  It is a way of converting what we know and can do into hard cash or market value through day-to-day transactions (ex. employee) or by unlimited multipliers (ex. entrepreneur). 

Question - what is your intellectual capital exchange rate?  Are you trading up or down?


Definitions of Intellectual Capital

• The amount by which the market value of a firm exceeds its tangible (physical and financial) assets less liabilities which consists of consists of human capital, structural capital, and relational capital (Stewart, T., 1998).
• Knowledge that can be exploited for some money-making or other useful purpose (WhatIs.com, 2007)
• Collective knowledge (whether or not documented) of the individuals in an organization or society (Business Dictionary, 2013)

Definitions of Intellectual Property

• A legal concept which refers to creations of the mind such as musical, literary, or artistic works, discoveries or inventions, words, phrases, symbols, or designs for which exclusive rights are recognized (Wikipedia, 2013)
• Property (as an idea, invention, or process) that derives from the work of the mind or intellect (Merriam-Webster, 2013)
• A work or invention that is the result of creativity, such as a manuscript or a design, to which one has rights and for which one may apply for a patent, copyright, trademark, etc. (Google, 2013)

Now that definitions have been level set, the next questions that came to mind are:

• Who benefits most from your intellectual output?
• How can you capture more of the capital from your intellectual pursuits?

Converting intellect to tangible capital in dollars and cents can be tricky.  However, consider this—you’re being paid a wage (hopefully a fair wage) based on the market value of your intellect in the position that you hold.  Is that all that your intellect is worth?  Of course not!
You are also bound by non-disclosure agreements and other legal constraints which make it necessary for you to leave behind any intellectual capital or intellectual property that you develop while employed.  This means that if you have an "Apple" or "Facebook" of an idea which gets adopted while you’re employed, it’s not really yours unless you play your cards right.


There's an ROI (return on investment) that the company will reap as a result of your intellectual contributions.  It’s up to you to know what that multiplier is and to make sure that you’re getting what you believe to be your fair share based on your intellectual contributions.


I'll continue to explore these concepts and actions that you need to take in a future post.

Now back to my regular 'voice' ;-)