Rethink Your Elevator Pitch
I recently attended a swanky little speed networking night hosted by Amherst’s Emerging Business Leaders. Drinks in hand, we circulated around tables, a sparkling crew of young, Buffalonian professionals. During the formal speed networking time, we were given 90 seconds to “network” with each person. 90 seconds. Have you ever tried to authentically present yourself and your experiences, to make a real connection with someone, and to listen well and ask questions – all in the time you spent microwaving last night’s leftovers? 90 seconds is NOT a long time. But by...
Read MoreWhat to Do When Your Iceberg Melts
This week in the world of MBA 647 Organizational Change & Leadership, we’re reading John Kotter’s “Our Iceberg is Melting.” For this book, Kotter has taken winning principles from his Leading Change and Heart of Change, two books that focus on leading teams to success through periods of inevitable change. “Our Iceberg is Melting” synthesizes these ideas in the form of a fable, where one ingenious penguin named Fred goes for a swim. When he does, he sees fissures, bubbles, and a water-filled cave: signs that the colony’s indestructible iceberg...
Read MoreFit is Key in Finding Your Dream Job
There’s a secret that Google, Zappos and Facebook all know – the secret that makes them Dream Employers. It’s not just the swanky in-house lunches or the mythic indoor slides. The real secret behind these famously fun and wildly successful workplaces isn’t the perks, it’s a Human Resources practice called “hiring for fit.” Employers who hire for fit look beyond the resume, understanding that educational background and career experience aren’t the only indicators of a successful candidate. They look at an employee as a whole person,...
Read MoreHow Leaders Build Community
It’s the feeling we all had on September 12, 2001. For a few days or weeks, when we looked at one another, we saw more than just another face. We knew what those in our community were thinking, knew how they were hurting, knew that we could make their day better by lending a hand or an ear. We were all vulnerable together, hoping and working for the same things – peace of mind, security, understanding. That’s a sense of community – and it’s magic. In her lecture at Canisius last month, executive consultant and author Eve Berry shared a career’s worth of insight explaining just...
Read MoreHow Women Can Battle the Leadership Double Standard
This Tuesday men and women from around Buffalo came together to learn how to close the leadership gender gap. We learned that though women actually comprise the majority of the United States’ population, they hold only 17% of the nation’s legislative seats and 3% of executive positions in Fortune 500 companies. One of the panelists who helped shed insight on this topic shared that though she has always wanted to run for Congress, she knows the struggles she is up against as a woman. In the film Miss Representation and in Tuesday’s discussion after the screening, we...
Read MoreThe Ugly Stereotypes of Women in Leadership
In real life, women are amazing leaders, though they don’t have enough changes to prove it. Women make companies more productive. They bring variety, insight and new ideas to the table. So why is it, as we’ve explored in the past few weeks, that women are 50% of the population but only 17% of the national leaders and 3% of the CEOs? You can’t be what you can’t see. The Geena Davis institute on Gender in Media recently found that in G and PG movies, very few female characters have any occupation whatsoever. These are the films targeted at the youngest members of our society,...
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