Personal Development

In the world of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), we all know there's the ongoing issue of the gender gap. There are a lot of reasons why there is a gender gap - historical and cultural biases, “boys club” culture, parenting, family responsibilities and lack of maternity leave or support, underrepresentation in leadership, etc. It’s a complex issue with no singular cause or simple solution.

One thing that has helped women in male-dominated industries is women-only spaces …

We all know the basics of communication finesse: it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it. That’s something that people often miss when communicating normally. They just say what comes naturally, and think everyone else can understand what they mean because what they mean is obvious. Right?

Well, no, not quite. Not only do we communicate a lot with our tone, body language, over all presentation, there is also another layer to communication called Linguistic Style. I was floored by this article…

Ever have someone say something to you that made an idea click beautifully into place in your mind? Something that really struck me and changed how I looked boundaries is that according to her research, Brene Brown found the one thing that the most compassionate people have were strong boundaries. The first time I heard that I was dumbstruck. Brene found that compassionate people all had strong, clear boundaries that they enforce with all the people in their lives.

Boundaries are not arbitrary …

What future is your daily habits leading you to?

Self-improvement is a lifelong journey, and one of the best ways to achieve success is by taking a step back and evaluating your current habits and routines. We tend to get on hamster wheels and just keep plugging along. Taking stock of the things we are doing, our current habits. Then determining what those habits are giving us and perhaps what is missing allows us to internationalize our routines to get us better results. As Mahatma Gandhi fam…

When December rolls around every year, we tend to ask “how is the year already almost over?” Then we have to finish up projects at work, do magic-making holiday activities for our kids, office parties, family dinners, and all the other merrymaking things that come in between. Before we know it, it’s January and we’re back in the office starting our Q1 without having had a moment to take reflect and plan the new year.


Reviewing the past year and planning for the new one is an important part of un…

“Perfect is the enemy of good”

VOLTAIRE

Letting Go of "Perfection"

"Eighty percent is perfect," said the speaker at the front of the auditorium.

“But that doesn’t make sense!” A woman in the audience was handed a mic, “I insist that my staff dot every i and cross every t. We need to ensure the highest possible quality for our work, all the time.”

“Well,” said the man on the panel at the front of the standing-room-only crowd, “your business will die.”

This was at a conference I attended…

It’s February, the month of love - and what are you doing to love yourself? When we think of who to show our love to, we’re often at the bottom of the list. If you are like most of my clients, you have a long list of to-do’s for work, for family, for your partner. By the time you get to the end of your day there is just nothing left for you. So, you go to bed drained and get up the next day to do it all over again ad infinitum.

Being replenished and more fulfilled gives you the energy you need …

Melanie sat at her desk. How did she get here? She loved being a bench scientist. She so enjoyed solving problems with research. Her team liked her, and she liked them.

But since her last promotion she had a bigger team. She had no time for bench science anymore. Worst of all she had frequent interactions with Anthony the CEO. Dealing with him made her feel like a teenager filled with self-doubt.

She had a consistent goal since school to become a scientist, and never did she expect she would…

Withdrawing the application; how we doubt ourselves

At the Mass Conference for women a few years ago I had a conversation with Jane Steinmetz that completely validated my direction in my work. Jane is this amazing leader who is currently Managing Principal for Ernst and Young, one of the big four accounting firms. I was chatting with her about what I do, and what's important to me. I asked her, how did you get to your position? Very clearly, she answered, “it's a really funny story”.

She sa…