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How to Make the Most out of your Mentorship: PART 2, Mentoring Resources

February 23, 2019 Susu Blog, Career development

Last month we shared some tips to make the most out of your mentorship. If you missed it, read it here. This month, we’ve compiled a list of resources to help with the journey- whether you’ve joined our Women Accelerator’s mentoring group OR just want to strengthen a mentoring relationship you already have in place, these links will help!

In many cases, a mentor’s advice and the mentor/mentee relationship has an impact that lasts long after the official mentorship ends. To preface the resources, we asked the Women Accelerators leadership team to share some of the best advice they’ve ever received.

“I try not to sweat over little things that are not that important. The other thing is I stop myself when I start becoming a perfectionist because no one is.”

“If you aren’t LOVING your current role, look around for the resources available to you within the organization – ask the question if you aren’t sure you can take courses. Take as many classes or accept as many opportunities as you can. Learn as much as you possibly can. Continue to work hard in your current role but exploring resources and learning may make you more qualified for your next role or ignite an old passion for your current position. ”

“Sometimes you will just not be a fit – for an organization’s culture or a specific role. That is OK. If you don’t get the job, walk away from a job or lose a job, it doesn’t mean you are a failure. Keep your head up and remember some of the best things in life are found after someone failed. Press on and find a spot that clicks – you’ll be much happier.”

“You’re mad because you suck and you don’t want to suck. You’re used to being the best. But you need to understand you’re going to suck for awhile and that’s OK. [in context of starting a new role and the learning curve that comes with it].”

“I used to get burned out very often. One of the best advice I have gotten is to “not lose sight in the current and always remind yourself of what you want” because work requests can be endless and some of them don’t necessarily lead to anywhere career wise. It is important to remember what excites you the most and follow that.”

Can you think back to advice you’ve received from a mentor that still impacts your life today?

Mentoring can be an incredible opportunity with SO much gained but it can also be SO much work especially if you don’t know where to start or what to ask. Check out the resources below to help guide you as you navigate through a mentorship as a mentor or mentee:

Mentee

Mentor

Want to learn more about our annual mentoring program? Find out more here.

Finally, remember that we are in this together. Empower, Engage and Elevate!

Do you self-promote enough?

February 15, 2019 Susu Blog

Remember we recently had a webinar with Melody Wilding on imposter-syndrome (See our blog post Tackle self-doubt: How to overcome imposter syndrome for more)? In the webinar, we learned that feeling like you’re not good enough or you don’t have anything important to say is a common psychological pattern amongst women.

But let’s be reminded: no one should feel that way.

And so our message continues. On Thursday, we had the pleasure to welcome Kim Meninger (pronounced Me-nin-jer!) to speak on Using Self-Promotion Strategies to Raise Your Visibility, Increase Your Influence and Advance Your Career. This interactive workshop encouraged fellow career-driven women to share their stories with each other and to take a step forward using self-promotion techniques and strategies.

Kim is a certified executive and leadership development coach empowering individuals and organizations to reach their full leadership potential (bio here). There is something about her that instantly invites you to open up. Perhaps it’s the business casual (vs the full-on corporate) attire styled-up with her warm smile. Welcome to the no-judgment zone. So tell me, she begins, “how many of you self-promote at work?” Still only 5 minutes into the workshop, the audience is shy and reserved. One hand goes up, and another slowly. Kim chuckles and nods: “Well, everyone at your office should know who you are and what you do. So promote yourself!”

Kim then asked the audience to turn to their fellow attendees (everyone is sitting at round tables) and ask each other, in what ways are you/am I self-promoting at work already? One person said “I sit in the front at meetings and try to ask questions”, another said, “I usually try to reach out to people from other departments to seek collaborations”. Few minutes into the group discussion, the room became gradually vibrant with audiences lending their ears and opening up to each other. “Let me ask again”, Kim said, “how many people are self-promoting at work?” This time, majority of the attendees raised their hands. Turns out, once the audience verbalized their experiences, they were able to recognize that they do self-promote. What does this tell us? Do we, women, need affirmation in order to feel comfortable or safe to self-promote?

Kim doesn’t miss a beat and poses to the group: Why is self-promotion difficult for women? One audience said she’s tired of the bad reaction she receives from male colleagues, another added, “you fear of negative labels by men so you’d rather not talk”. It’s as if self-promotion feels insincere to us and so you fear to act on it. Unfortunately, this tends to be the mindset that is taught to us women at a young age.

So let’s change that mindset!

Kim says “promoting yourself is actually a service to others because you’re letting them know what skills you have and how they can utilize you”. If you don’t feel comfortable self-promoting, remember to focus on your strengths, not the other way around which apparently we all tend to do.

With that in mind, Kim shared below key to success and strategies for self-promotion.

Keys to success:

Self-awareness – What is your strength?
Confidence – You must believe in yourself!
Courage – Be prepared to step outside of your comfort zone
Authenticity – Be you!
Consistency – This isn’t an annual practice, do it consistently throughout the year!

Key Strategies:

Get a weekly facetime with your boss. If not, proactively send her/him weekly updates, highlighting your accomplishments of the week.
Identify and own your expertise.
Speak up at meetings.
Offer to help/teach others.
Build strategic relationships.
Volunteer for cross-functional projects.
Take advantage of casual opportunities.

At the end of the workshop, Kim asked the audience to turn to their tables one last time and share what the takeaway from the workshop was. Many said, “I feel more confident”, one said, “you might think you’re under the radar but you never really are, you just think that”.

A common theme in this workshop seemed like the majority of the audience felt hesitant to self-promote in fear of negative perception in the workplace. But after the 2-hour workshop of verbalizing one’s strength and sharing stories, the audience appeared ever so vibrant and confident.

So perhaps it’s not that we don’t know how to self-promote but simply need to remind ourselves why we should.

After all, we’re all rockstars and must never shy away from that spotlight because we deserve it.

Do you want more? Here are some resources and follow-up notes from the event!

Using Self-Promotion to Advance Your Career Slides
Using Self-Promotion to Advance Your Career Post- Event Worksheet

Our next event is on March 7th, Thursday with Elaine Blais on 3 Secrets to a Kickass Life. We look forward to seeing you there!

How to make the most out of your Mentorship

January 27, 2019 Susu Blog, Career, Work/Life

First things first, what is a mentor and what does mentorship mean?

You’ve probably heard the word mentor AT LEAST 25 times in your professional life – if not more, but it’s possible the reference could have been made in a variety of contexts. For all intents and purposes, how I will refer to it in this blog is as “an experienced and trusted advisor” – straight from Merriam-Webster.

It is important to understand that a mentor is someone that provides professional guidance and advise to help a mentee evaluate their professional landscape and grow in that realm – even if they are a professional within a certain field, a mentor is not providing a mentee services to that end (ie. lawyer, doctor etc..). The mentorship is the period of time the mentor provides the mentee career and professional advice. The time period can vary from a very short period (a day to a few weeks or months) to years, depending on the relationship formed. The connection could be made through an informal or work connection or a more formal program, like our annual mentoring program (learn more here: https://womenaccelerators.org/mentoring-program/).

A mentorship can have a huge impact on your professional life IF you take advantage of what it can provide. In nearly all cases, a mentor is senior to a mentee and has a wealth of knowledge AND consequently, a strong network in a certain industry or realm. Most importantly, a mentorship is a relationship based on trust and respect. A mentor is someone, with experience, that you can discuss insights and issues. A space to discuss, without judgment, can help you sort through issues with a new perspective which can help you overcome those issues – reaching career heights you may not have thought possible before.

So you have a mentor, now what?

Take time for introspection

Take time to think about your ‘WHY’. The better you know yourself and your goals, the better you can navigate through the benefits of mentorship.

Think of this as a journey, if you don’t know the destination – how can you make it there?

To start, consider the following questions:

Can you summarize your current professional experience? Make a list of highlights.
What are your short and long term professional goals?
1. If you don’t know – check out this HBR article for extra considerations: https://hbr.org/2018/07/how-to-mentor-someone-who-doesnt-know-what-their-career-goals-should-be
2. Still struggling? Look at the career histories of people you admire or want to emulate, see if you can find anything that aligns with your passions and goals to use as a taking off point.
Is there an aspect of business/professional life that particularly intrigues you or you want assistance navigating?
Can you make a list of what you hope to achieve from a mentorship? (ie. are you looking for ideas to obtain skills, reach a new level, learn leadership tactics, increase your network etc…).
Consider what your personality type is, are you an extrovert, introvert or analytical in nature? And what kind of work environment or management style meshes best with your personality?
Try taking personality tests such as Myers Briggs, Insights Discovery,or a DiSC personality assessment tool, etc. for additional insight.
Think of anything else you may want to learn or know – professionally and personally.

Make a plan

As the mentee, unless your program dictates otherwise, you are responsible for driving the program.

Think of a few major topics you want to focus on throughout the mentorship and touch on them your first meeting.
Plan to bring your mentor up to speed as much as possible about your personality type and communications preferences.
Keep a list of things you are interested in discussion for quick reference.
Consider the timeline of the program and how many interactions or touchpoints are specified. If there is not a concrete schedule, draft one and have a discussion with your mentor to see if it works for them.
Pre-plan meetings! Have questions and topics ready before you meet with your mentor. Send them a note or email in advance with those topics to help facilitate conversation.
Write a summary of your discussions or key points, and plan for action items for the next meeting.

Take Action

Mentorships are WORK.

They take coordination and investment of both time and emotional capital from both parties. As the mentee, it is important to set the schedule in advance. Plan the meetings, follow up and facilitate the discussion. No one understands what you are seeking out of the mentorship better than you. Use the time wisely and act on the above guidance to make the most out of your mentorship!

We’re excited to see you grow and reach new heights – Be sure to stay tuned for more mentoring resources coming soon!

Finally, remember that we are in this together. Empower, Engage and Elevate!

3 ways to spot a glass ceiling BEFORE you take the job

November 21, 2018 Susu Blog, Career

According to a recent joint study from McKinsey and Lean In, progress towards gender equality in the workplace has not just slowed down but stalled completely. “Only about 1 in 5 C-suite leaders is a woman, and only 1 in 25 is a woman of color.” Contradictory to the typical arguments, women are earning comparable education and experience, asking for promotions and also staying in the workforce at similar rates to men.

So why is there still such a large disparity?

According to the study, the management of talent pipelines might be to blame. From day one in an organization, cultural aspects will impact how minorities and women are seen. But also how they are interacted with (potential discrimination), grow (access to senior leaders and/or mentorship/sponsorship), and feel included (are you the “only” woman in the room?). Many companies talk the talk but do not walk the walk. In other words, we need leaders to show and consistently act on promises to create a more diverse workforce. Check out the article and link to the complete study here: https://mck.co/2ORF0Ob

For women and minorities seeking career growth, lets even say – at the speed of their peers, it is important to be cognizant of the organization’s culture and how it impacts our personal experiences and opportunities. While some organizations do not have a culture conducive to growing and nourishing female leadership and inclusion, there is a lot that DO. The trick is deciphering between the two. To do so, you need to pay close attention to the culture and the pipeline that shapes employee growth.

It is important to remember that a job interview is more than just an evaluation of your skills and credentials, it is a chance for YOU to interview the company.

Here are 3 tips to spot a glass ceiling before signing the offer letter to join ranks within an organization:

1. Take time for introspection

Clearly define your expectations and needs within an organization.

What is most important to you in order to thrive? Opportunity, networking potential, and sponsorship/mentorship are common needs for anyone in an organization but what does that look like for an inclusive workplace? Some organizations are lacking resources for minority and female employees so it is important to decide what you desire and need. Do you want pre-existing organizations set up or is it enough to have diverse backgrounds in the organization? Some may argue lean in circles are important for female inclusion. Is work flexibility important? Many organizations create more flexible work environments to help increase the retention of female high performers but that might not be a breaking point in your job search. How does the organization recognize and give feedback to their employees? For some, and in larger organizations, if feedback or ratings are not explicit, the role and progression can be difficult to navigate or question.

The bottom line to remember is that all women have different “ideal” work environments. Understanding what an ideal environment looks like to you will help you start the search, figure out what questions to ask and refine what companies to apply to.

2. Do your homework

1. Dig deep into the organization’s public website. What information is available on the culture, mission, and vision? How large is the organization? Is anything listed about diversity and inclusion? If so, what does it tell you about the organization (statistics, business plan, action plan etc..)? Many organizations also have leadership profiles listed on their website, what does that tell you about the organization? If they do not have any diversity on the leadership team, that might be a red flag.
2. Look at job review sites. Like any mass anonymous review site (see yelp), it’s important to take these with a grain of salt. However, reading multiple reviews may at least help you develop a list of potential topics to probe. An issue mentioned across multiple reviews may be indicative of a cultural trend within a company, especially if respondents are from multiple departments or locations. Some good large scale review sites to check out are: indeed, glassdoor, career bliss. Another site for women by women: fairygodboss.
3. Reach out. This takes time. LinkedIn is a wonderful tool to find jobs and also to make connections. Before you even apply to a role, spend time finding a few current employees on LinkedIn. Reach out with a message and ask if they have a few minutes to speak to you about their job or organization- also known as an informational interview. While most people want to help, you likely won’t get a response to every message you send. Don’t get discouraged! If you aren’t getting any responses, adjust the message. It helps to be specific in your inquiry. Ask for what you want to learn about up front to shape the conversation but always remember this person may be a future co-worker. Tip: Find someone you have something in common with and you may get a better response rate. If you are able to speak with someone, ask them about their personal experiences. This genuine human connection will most likely provide more detailed insight than you can find online from any public site or anonymous review.

3. Ask the hard questions

*Certainly focus initially on questions about the role but don’t forget the important cultural and environmental questions! The formal interview is an opportunity for you to interview the employer too. Take note of how you are treated, how the office environment is set up, how employees interact and the body language between people.

What is the culture like here?
How is feedback provided or how is success rated?
What are the daily expectations for a time in and out of office? Any flexibility of schedule? (be careful of when and who you ask this question but do include if important to you)
Consider the environment of the office & ask to take a tour – are you comfortable with the surroundings/interactions?
What is the leadership team like?
How is inclusion encouraged within this organization?
Do you have any mentorship programs? Or networking groups?
Why is this position open?
What makes you stay at this organization

Although most modern day companies speak to the value they put on diversity and inclusion, it isn’t always as transparent as we might hope. Learning to listen carefully and being brave enough to ask the tough questions can help female candidates identify gender inclusive employers.

Finally, remember that we are in this together. Empower, Engage and Elevate!

Tackle self-doubt: How to overcome imposter syndrome

November 7, 2018 Susu Blog

On October 24th, Women Accelerators was thrilled to welcome Melody Wilding for a webcast on “Imposter Syndrome.”

Melody Wilding is a performance coach and licensed social worker. She helps high-achievers master the mental and emotional aspects of striving for a successful career and a balanced life. Her clients are managers and leaders at places like Google, Facebook, and HP. She helps them gain more confidence, assertiveness, and influence. That allows them to reach goals like being promoted twice in one year and doubling their salary. Melody also teaches Human Behavior at Hunter College in NYC.

She helped us learn more about imposter syndrome, something we’ve all heard about and most have experienced, if not, on a daily basis. More importantly, Melody taught us a few ways to combat imposter syndrome and thrive!

So what is imposter syndrome?!

Have you ever felt like you don’t belong? That you are not good enough or smart enough to be filling a role you hold? Imposter syndrome can also be thought of as imposter phenomenon. The feeling that you are a fraud and that you do not deserve whatever accomplishment, experience, role etc… is what imposter phenomenon refers to – and it IS real!

History

Imposter syndrome was first identified in 1978 by psychologists Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne Imes. They were doing research and noticed a pattern in successful women which they termed “intellectual phoniness.” They coined the term “imposter syndrome” which described the feelings they observed presenting most commonly in high achieving women. Further defined as, the crippling feeling that you do not feel you are worthy of the success you get. The phenomenon is marked by the inability to internalize your achievements although there is a lot of evidence to the contrary. Since the initial study, though still most prevalent in high achieving women, research has shown that everyone can experience the phenomenon.

While it was discovered by a pair of psychologists, imposter syndrome is not a clinical disorder. It does not appear in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental disorders (DSM) but can be a contributing factor leading to anxiety and depression. Fundamentally imposter syndrome represents an “inaccurate self assessment.” This may sound harmless but imposter syndrome can have detrimental effects on your daily life so it should not be ignored.

What does it look like in life?

Imposter syndrome can manifest itself in what may feel like anxiety or depression, which it is certainly related to, but in itself, imposter syndrome is more of a phenomenon or experience. It can be tied to a fairly predictable cycle (see image below).

Generally the feeling starts with a triggering event, this event could be a project or challenge generally related to work. That then sets off a chain reaction of habitual thoughts and feelings.These thoughts and emotions influence behavior. The reaction usually falls within two camps: over preparation & procrastination – generally individuals fall into one category but could be a combination of both. Then at some point we experience something good, a “success” and get a feeling of relief. Along with the relief, we get positive feedback but we usually ignore or push back this feedback, contributing it to effort and discredit it or say it was luck — then the cycle goes around again. How do we stop it?

What are the effects of imposter syndrome?

Of course, this constant cycle leads to a lot of self doubt.

But it can lead to a lot of other detrimental effects too. Things to watch out for:

– Reluctance to ask for help at work

– Turning down/avoiding the search for new opportunities (because fear of failing)

– Perfectionism and procrastination tendencies/distractions

– Negative self talk

– Triggering anxiety and depression especially if there is a predisposition to the conditions

How do you manage imposter syndrome?

Up to 70% of people will experience imposter syndrome at some point in their career. We tend to glorify success and feel the doubt or feeling with go away the more successful or higher you become within an organization but it is actually the opposite. For a variety of reasons, women are much more vulnerable – 2/3 of women experience imposter syndrome!

With the realization that you are not alone, learning tools to manage imposter syndrome can help limit its effects on your life. We do not want those feelings to go away but we want to manage them so we can go forward. Address the thoughts when they first pop up in the cycle!

UNTWIST YOUR THINKING!

Negative self talk is a hallmark of imposter syndrome. Up to 85 percent of the thoughts we have every day are the same, this applies especially to the negative thoughts. Which means that the negative thoughts become automatic when faced with a stressful event – called cognitive distortions (unhelpful thinking patterns). Types of cognitive distortions are listed in the table below:

Catastrophisizing	You expect disaster	What if I end up broke and in the street
All of nothing thinking	Things are black and white, good or bad.	I have to be perfect or I’m a failure
Overgeneralization	If something bad happens once then you expect it to always happen	I’m always screwing up
Mental Filter	You dwell on a single negative detail	You obsess over the one “meets expectations” on your performance review.
Emotional Reasoning	You believe what you feel must automatically be true.	I feel stupid, therefore I am.
Mind Reading	Without their saying so, you know what people are feeling and thinking	She didn’t respond to my email so I know she hates me.
Personalization	You hold yourself accountable for things that are beyond your control	The project failed. I didn’t spend enough time on it.

How do you fight cognitive distortions?

For the long term, work to change thought patterns.

Record your thoughts! What is your inner dialogue saying to you? What are your greatest hits?
Name the pattern (ie. mind reading) – psychology shows that once we label something – it actually helps us create emotional distance and lower the power the thought has over us.
Generate 1-3 facts to dispute the thought.

*Mood kit is a phone application that can help you do this real time!

For the short term,

Accept don’t deflect – be cognizant of the phrases that you may be using “it was nothing” “I just threw this together” start practicing welcoming in praise and not pushing it away- when you get a compliment, keep it at a tweet length response OR even better – just say “thanks.”
Create a brag file! It is a natural way to start to eliminate the bias we feel against ourselves. This provides a visible solution to start to have pride in your own accomplishments. Take stock in each day of what went well and what you’re proud of– make note of any outcomes/successes.
*Bonus: A brag file is good to have when you are prepping for an interview or updating your resume.
Go on the offense. It is helpful to practice more/exposure technique. Ie. if you are afraid of getting feedback asking for it more will actually help you build the tolerance to it more. When we proactively solicit feedback we find it more helpful. Confidence is a skill and like anything else it takes practice and failures will occur.
Seek a mentor or sponsor. Imposter syndrome thrives in a setting where we are lacking role models- seeking mentorship and sponsorship in your workplace or joining events & groups can help tremendously. Join Melody at melodywilding.com/community for a pre-established growing community for accountability, inspiration and a place to find advice as you grow in your career.

Want to learn more about Melody or sign up to work with her? Check out her site here: https://melodywilding.com/

Finally, remember that we are in this together. Empower, Engage and Elevate!

Happier At Work! How The Science Of Happiness Boosts Productivity And Joy

October 9, 2018 Susu Blog

When was the last time you looked back on your day and jotted down the good things that happened to you?
Are you paying attention to you?

Last week, we welcomed Pam Garramone for our very first fall event to speak on Positive Psychology – how to be happier at work. Pam is a Positive Psychology coach, speaker, and workshop leader largely with clients in academia. She studied Positive Psychology under Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar who taught two of the largest classes in Harvard University’s history, Positive Psychology and The Psychology of Leadership. Pam says Positive Psychology is simply rewiring your brain to go positive. Here are some fantastic tips we learned!

You define your own happiness.

Studies show that 50% of one’s happiness level is genetic (whoa!); 10% is affected by uncontrollable external circumstances; and 40% is affected by one’s thoughts and actions. So how do you maximize the 40% happiness dose with your thoughts and actions? Pam says, “how you look at life influences what happens around you” and that “happiness is an inside job that no one else can do it for you”.

Appreciate the good.

It’s no secret that a few years ago Pam found herself at a crossroads. Crossroads of whether she wanted to live her life filled with happiness or with emptiness. Despite all the good she had in her life at the time, she wasn’t happy! Pam recalled, “I thought, what is wrong with me? I have everything I could ask for”. That is when Pam decided to start a journal to write down 3 good things that happened to her in the last 24 hours.

“When we appreciate the good, the good appreciates.”
Pam’s longtime mentor, Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar said.

So pick up a pen and take a moment to jot down 3 good things that happened to you in the last 24 hours.
Write down the WWWs – What Went Well?

Love yourself a little more.

Halfway through the workshop, Pam had the audience pair up and give each other compliments. First, your partner will give you compliments. In return, you say “thank you”. Next, you give yourself compliments. In return, your partner says “Yes, you are!”. Pam then asked how we all felt. One participant said, “it felt more uncomfortable to give myself a compliment than to someone else”. Many other participants nodded and agreed. Pam says, “people are starving to be noticed, to be seen, to feel valued” that’s why giving a compliment feels good to the giver and the receiver. Yet, we need to own our strengths and notice the good in ourselves, too.

How can we accept and appreciate who we are?

This is when Pam asked us all to stand up and take a “power pose”. Research by Amy Cuddy, Associate Professor at Harvard Business School, showed that doing a power pose for two minutes reignites your confidence. For example, if you are giving a talk and are nervous, practice the Supergirl post will help you to gain confidence and gather positive energies!

www.pamgarramone.com

Yep, there it is.

At the beginning of the event, the attendees appeared to be quiet and subdued and we noticed the vibes transformed to happiness and full on positive energies after Pam’s presentation. Here are a few comments from the attendees when we asked them what they got out of Pam’s event:

“Pam was Dynamic!”

“Practical and Concrete Actions I can take!”

“Something New and More Human ;)”

“It was wonderful, Thank you, Pam!“

Now if you are ready to reevaluate yourself and be happier, try out a personality test at http://www.letitripple.org/education-search/personality-test-personality-assessment-via-survey/. Discover yourself from another perspective and learn to love yourself more.

Visit Pam Garramone’s website for more Happiness!

Be kind to one another and enjoy the beautiful fall!

Love,
Women Accelerators

*Don’t miss out on our next event – our very first webinar – on imposter syndrome with Melody Wilding. Details can be found at https://womenaccelerators.org/event/impostor-syndrome/.

Women Helping Women Lead, Grow, and Succeed: We need your help

September 7, 2018 Susu Blog

Female business leaders of today are helping the female leaders of tomorrow. Research from Catalyst, McKinsey, Gallup, and Credit Suisse demonstrates gender equity isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the profitable thing to do. Simply put, companies embracing gender equity outperform the competition. For seven years, the leaders of Women Accelerators have promoted and helped increased gender equity in the workplace. Now, with the business community at large coming to understand the importance of gender equity it’s time to expand.

And to expand we need your help.

Women Accelerators, a 501(c)(6) organization, promotes the advancement of career women. Years ago, we recognized glaring gender biases such as wage gender disparity, representation inequity, and under-representation of senior-level women in the boardroom. We set out to build a platform capable of reaching and shattering the glass ceiling holding us back.

Women Accelerators provides an active network and community where women can access resources tailored to their career goals. Through our educational programs, networking events, and mentoring efforts, we help women navigate work opportunities and nurture female leadership. Together, we’re building a community of goal-driven, high-achieving women who help each other thrive and succeed in the workplace.

We’re active.

Every two months, we offer educational and career-oriented events featuring discussions and Q&A sessions from nationally-recognized women leaders. Our mentoring program offers a five-month experience matching selected mentees to experienced mentors volunteering their time to help tomorrow’s women leaders. Mentees receive career guidance, salary negotiation suggestions, tips regarding communications with peers and supervisors, and advice on how to balance their work and personal lives.

With the amazing support of ambitious women in our community, as attendees, speakers or volunteers, we have been fortunate to have gained great momentum over the years. Currently, Women Accelerators receives revenue through small fees charged for each event registration and for the annual mentoring program. We believe that we can make an even bigger impact moving forward if we offer our community with more career programming that will help women better navigate their career paths and enhance their careers overall.

Our financial goal is to reach $5,000 by the end of 2018, so we can offer the following in 2019:

Six free educational/career programs in addition to our current programs
Quarterly networking events
A Job bank on our website that will list open jobs from corporate partners
Additional events and meet-ups for women to network with companies and hiring managers

Your generous donation will help our mission to Engage, Empower and Elevate the remarkable and talented women in our community by donating to our cause!

Bridge to Elevate Gender Equity Sponsor: $1000

Your sponsorship will provide two career workshops.

Free workshop participation for 10 attendees
Full page ad in the event handout
Rotating digital screen ad of your organization at the event
Permanent Logo placement and link on Women Accelerators website
Logo placement on the event page and on signage at venue
Introduce your company at the beginning of the event
Email campaign with logo and brief description and links to job postings for your company
Facebook shout-outs including a hyperlink to your business
Recognition in social media

Bridge to Empower Gender Equity Sponsor: $750

Your sponsorship will provide one career workshop

Free workshop participation for 5 attendees
Logo placement and link on Women Accelerators website for three months
Email campaign with logo and a brief overview of your company
Facebook shout-outs including a hyperlink to your business
Recognition in social media

Bridge to Engage Gender Equity Sponsor: $500

Your sponsorship will provide a networking event

Free entry for 2 attendees
Email campaign with the logo of your company
Logo placement and link on Women Accelerators website for two months
Listing on our website
Recognition in social media

Be our supporter and Contact us/ today or send us an email at [email protected]. Thank you!

Mentor Journal Entry 1: A Mentee’s Perspective

August 14, 2018 Susu Blog

Writen By Jan Heng, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School
Jan participated in our 2018 Mentoring Program as a mentee to Regina Au.

I was delighted to receive a circulated email in December 2017 via my Broad Institute account about the mentoring program offered by Women Accelerators. I was very impressed by the list of female mentors for 2018 with various leadership backgrounds in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and retail industries; team management; and academia. Due to the nature of my research, I wanted to meet a more formal mentor who could give me insights into entrepreneurship and the US biotechnology industry. I was matched with Ms. Regina Au, Principal, New Product Planning/Strategic Commercial Consultant at BioMarketing Insight.

Three mentees, including myself, had monthly meet-ups with Regina. There were a total of six meetings, and each mentee was given two sessions to discuss specific topics pertaining to their careers. At my first session, I wanted to seek feedback on the commercial utility of one of my research projects. Were there guidelines for me to critically assess my product and refine my ideas for the product (i.e., increase applicability of my product)? How can I learn about marketing my product? I also wanted to understand the requirements to start a biotechnology company, the recipes for success, and common pitfalls of young entrepreneurs.

Regina gave me a broad overview to critically evaluate my current research (and potential product) from an industry point of view. Specifically, I was given five pointers to ponder:

1) What is the current unmet medical need I am trying to provide a solution for;
2) How critical is this unmet need;
3) How is my product going to solve the problem better than current technologies;
4) What are my plans to penetrate the market;
5) What are my milestones and timelines to bring this product to market

To obtain an unbiased point of view, my assigned goal was to speak to at least five pathologists (i.e., potential customers) using open-ended questions to assess how critical the medical problem is, and whether my product addresses it.

We also discussed how important it is to gain work experience in various departments (e.g., research and development, manufacturing, business development, sales, marketing, and human resources) within well-established biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies. Having knowledge of the various departments will provide valuable skills to plan, set-up, and manage a start-up that is more likely to be successful. The most important component of creating a start-up is taking the time to critically plan the company structure, product, milestones, and timelines.

For my second session, I wanted to learn about staff management and roles in industry that I would be suitable for should I decide to transition from academia to industry. I also asked Regina to share her career experiences from being an employee to establishing her own consulting firm. Regina very kindly provided some staff management advice, especially the importance of setting boundaries. Surprisingly, she also gave tips on how to manage my team while on maternity leave. As this was my first pregnancy, it did not even cross my mind to have a plan while on maternity leave! This was extremely helpful a few months later when my research administration team inquired about how I was going to manage my staff while on maternity leave.

I gained valuable insights about working life in the US biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. My two other fellow mentees are also industry scientists. Together with Regina, they shared their love for their jobs and suggested the types of jobs that I might be suitable for. I was very thankful to Regina for sharing her career history on how she made her decision to start her own consulting firm, and find personal strength to continue her consulting business. She stressed the importance of a supportive network of family and friends.

Our mentoring program ended after six months. I attended the wrap-up meeting where I chatted with one of the co-founders of Women Accelerators, Ms. Susu Wong and other mentors. I was humbled and felt enormous gratitude to this team of women who selflessly give back to the community and enthusiastically support young women with their careers. Mentoring is a time-consuming and thankless job. I once asked Regina why she is so passionate about mentoring women. She told me that women are still underrepresented in a lot of leadership positions, especially minority women, and she wished she had a mentor when she was starting her career.

A mentor–mentee relationship is a two-way street. A mentee must decide what he/she would like to achieve during each session to enable the mentor to provide targeted advice and make the session efficient and successful. I had two goals when I joined Women Accelerators mentoring program and I achieved them with Regina. All in all, this program was exactly what I needed at a particular point of my career. I am thankful to Women Accelerators’ volunteers for organizing this amazing program to connect professional women from various industries. These female leaders have inspired me to help other women accelerate their careers. I enjoyed contributing to our mentoring sessions so much that I realized I might be ready to be a mentor. I was considering participating as a mentor next year when Regina gently reminded me, “Jan, you are having a baby.”

Personal Branding for Your Success

June 30, 2018 Kristen DeFrancisco Blog, Branding, Marketing

This blog is based on “How to Brand Yourself for Success (Without Selling Out)” event in May 2018

Personal branding is a concept that has become increasingly popular with the rise of social media, but what does it actually mean? And more importantly, how can you use it to be successful in your career and life in general?

Whether you recognize it or not, you are already a brand. You have certain characteristics that make you unique and establishes an image for yourself. Branding is a way of marketing to formally “claim yourself” as an individual, and not fall victim to stereotyping. This can be accomplished through social media, developing products, creating content, etc.

Now that you have an understanding of what personal branding is, grab a pen and paper and see if you can answer the following questions. This is a good starting point to build the foundation of your brand:

What are you passionate about?
Photo credit: http://www.resumesgood.com/4-5-personal-swot-analysis-template/
What are your unique skills?
Where do you see yourself in three, five or even ten years?
What are your goals in life?
What do the people around you currently say about you?
What does Google’s search results say about you?

SWOT Analysis

With the answers to these questions in mind, you can also do a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats. These are usually done for businesses but are easily applicable to an individual. What are you good at? What areas of your life could use some work? Where are the areas for growth and opportunities? And finally, what is your competition doing in the field you’re interested in?

Brainstorming exercises for your personal branding

All of this information may seem overwhelming, but these exercises are simple to make you think about what you want out of your personal brand and forecast where you want to be. Using the answers to your brainstorming exercises, check out these three steps to get started:

Choose your platform, whether that be Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or even starting your own website. Choose a medium that aligns with your personal branding goals.
Create original content and share it with the world. Take photos, write blogs, post videos, and make a name for yourself.
Engage with your community of influencers by sharing, liking, and commenting. Developing content for yourself is great, but if you don’t acknowledge what else is out there, then you will lose your competitive edge.

In a world comprised of billions of people, it’s too easy to blend in with the crowd. But there are numerous advantages to making yourself stand out among your peers or competitors. In an academic setting, branding yourself allows you to take advantage of great opportunities that may propel you in your career. The goal is to be eye-catching to employers. In a work setting, defining your individuality means you’re not simply a person in the workforce, but a colorful individual with deep passions and motivations. Let yourself shine for the rest of the world to see!

TedX Talk: The Risk You Must Take by Dr. Kristen Lee

February 25, 2018 Susu Blog

Dr. Kristen Lee studies human resilience—our ability to endure, heal, and grow.

In a visceral, relatable talk, she shares deep insights from her teaching and research—ones that helped her redefine authenticity, and encourage us all to do the same.

This TedX Talk shares the story of what fueled her writing process for her new book, Mentalligence: A New Psychology of Thinking: Learn What it Takes to Be More Agile, Mindful and Connected in Today’s World. To get more details on the book, visit What We’re Reading!

Engineering My Way Through a Career in Tech

November 25, 2017 Susu Blog

Dressed in all black casual attire, Tamar Newberger portrays a sharp Silicon Valley figure at first sight. But the second you engage in a conversation with her, her rhythmic speech and laid-back vibe puts one at ease of her accomplishments and the high-profile figure that she is.

We had the privilege to welcome Tamar Newberger as a guest speaker this week and her no-sugar-coating success stories were nothing but inspirational. Tamar is a computer scientist who has held executive positions and leadership roles in companies such as AT&T, Novell, SCO, and Catbird, a Silicon-Valley start-up. Also a diplomatic spouse and activist, Tamar lived in Prague for the past three years where her husband served as the United States Ambassador to the Czech Republic.

“Do what you love and don’t be afraid to take a leap.”

From a young age, Tamar was fearless and curious. She remembers a time during primary school when she spotted three boys in her class hovering over computer parts. “I walked right into the room and asked them all these questions about it. I didn’t know anything about computers but I was very interested,” said Tamar. While her passion for technology hadn’t bloomed quite yet, she came to a crossroad during the last semester of her freshman year in college. Being one credit short to finish the year, she decided to take computer science 101. What was supposed to be a credit-filler turned into her passion, resulting in her majoring in computer science. “Experimenting is important to find out what you love,” said Tamar,looking back at her decision at the time.

After graduating from Columbia University, Tamar joined the AT&T Corporation. As she was quickly climbing up the corporate ladder she later transitioned to Novell Inc. to lead the Unix System Laboratories (“USL”) team. Once there, Tamar suddenly faced a career dilemma. Novell had announced their sale of the Unixware division — which Tamar’s team had developed — to Santa Cruz Operation Inc. (“SCO”). With Hewlett-Packard (“HP”) being the leading licensed seller of Unix software at the time, Tamar and her team were asked to make a decision, to move to SCO or HP. “It was a very tough decision,” Tamar recalls, “everyone I looked up to and respected told me to go to HP,” because they valued the stability of HP over SCO. Tamar said this was the pivotal time in her life. “What did I want? Responsibility at a large firm? Or am I willing to take the risk of not having the security of working for a large firm?”

After much thought, Tamar had decided to join HP just as everyone around her had suggested. The night she gave her decision to HP, she thought to herself, “Something is not right.” The next morning, she woke up and followed her heart to join SCO, where she held an executive position until she joined Catbird. The lessons she learned were to not be afraid to try new things, and be fearless.

In 2014, Tamar left Catbird to move to the Czech Republic, where her husband served as the US Ambassador. Despite the need to give up her career in Silicon Valley, Tamar was enthusiastic for the opportunity to promote female entrepreneurship and empowerment as the Ambassador’s spouse. However, when they arrived, the circumstances were not as inviting of her ideas as she had expected. In 2015, Tamar came across a documentary on the gender and minority hiring gap amongst software engineers titled, Code: Debugging the Gender Gap. She then decided to make it her mission to host a screening at the US Embassy. When her original proposal was shot down, she engineered her way through negotiation after negotiation. Later that year, the US Embassy of Prague hosted a screening of Code and the event was covered by multiple media outlets including the Wall Street Journal. Tamar looks back on this experience with an important lesson learned: “Don’t give up, be nice, and don’t take no for an answer.” As a woman, we are expected to be nice naturally.

Here are some of the other nuggets of her advice:

Women who are seeking a career – Do some research at the hiring company and see if they have a track record in diversity, whether they have women in senior management positions or at their board. These are telltale signs of companies that value diversity in the workplace. They will be more likely to be successful than an all-male management team.
There used to be a five-year career plan – With technology and products accelerating, we now ought to think shorter term, such as a two-year plan.
Pursue a career that you are passionate about – It shouldn’t be just a job. We would be a lot more successful in our career if we do what we love doing.
When making a big decision – Ask for advice. Informational interview will help us to explore different fields and industries, and most people you ask love talking about what to do.
For working mothers – Tamar recommends the book “Healthy sleep habits, happy child”.

Tamar Newberger is no stranger to forging her own path. She is an innovator, engineer of female career development and a mother. She embodies every positive element we all aspire to have. Her message to all women navigating their way to success is simple: Do what you love and don’t be afraid to take a leap.

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Want to meet more inspiring female role models? Join us for our 2018 Mentoring Program. Applications will be open on 12/1. Check out https://womenaccelerators.org/mentoring-program/ for details.

Setting Boundaries: Say Yes and No with Confidence and Ease

September 19, 2017 Susu Blog

The Women Accelerators was created to “Engage, Empower, Elevate!” people in their careers and personal growth. We want to inspire and help people with their careers through our events and great speakers. That is the reason we invited speakers Amy Rebecca Gay, PhD, Deb Elbaum, MD, CPCC, CNTC, and Rachel Rice, MBA, EEM-CP to share their knowledge on how to effectively communicate while setting boundaries. It all comes down to the art of saying “Yes and No with Confidence and Ease.”

The event was full of engaging exercises that the speakers demonstrated to the attendees. It all started out with the “Wheel of Boundaries Exercise.” If you were to establish four different categories in your life that you need to prioritize, are you maintaining and setting boundaries for each of them under different challenging circumstances?

Amy presented the crafting Power of a “Positive No” and said that we have to reflect on our “Wheel of Boundaries” by rating our tolerance of our boundaries from 1-10. Determining what is challenging and comfortable about our own boundaries helps us to effectively communicate them to others. Amy asked the attendees about what’s challenging about your life? You may need to know where you are before you can respond. What are our most guarded values? Knowing what’s important for you will help us decide our wheel of boundaries. For instance, if you were to put two different items on the scale you need to have enough weight on each side to have an equal balance.

It goes the same for our lives, you need to give the same amount of attention on tasks at hand in order to maintain that balance. Quite often, we have a hard time saying “no” when a new project is given to us even though we already have a heavy workload. We have a hard time saying no because we are worried of losing our jobs and disappointing our boss.

Steve Jobs once said “It is only by saying “no” that you can concentrate on the things that are really important.” We often don’t know how to say “no” effectively while maintaining the relationship with the other person. The group did an exercise on how to communicate effectively on “Positive No” when it is outside our boundaries. We also wrote down what are the circumstances that we could say an affirming “Yes”, and with an invitation for a constructive way to begin a conversation on the topic. It is about making a proposal or negotiation that will meet our needs as well as their needs. Knowing when to say no with a “softer” no and say “Here’s what I value, how else can we work together?” is a diplomatic way of collaborating without coming across too rigid.

The event was full of tips, techniques and demonstrations that everyone can start implementing in their personal and work lives. The attendees not only learned how to say a positive “No” but also got to interact with people that are going through the same situations. From the beginning to the end of the event, the speakers gave the attendees a chance to reflect about themselves as well as gain new perspectives on how to approach setting boundaries. It’s a collaborative approach.

What am I worried about when asserting my needs?

Here are a few examples from the audience:

I’m worried that I’m going to do the wrong thing
I’m afraid I’m going to be fired
I’m worried somebody is going to take my response the wrong way
I’m worried if i say no, I will get sabotaged later
I’m worried that I’m not good enough.
I may damage my relationship with the person

When we are in the moment, we don’t want our emotions to get out of control and get the best of us. Sometimes we store our emotions in our acupuncture meridians, which creates blockages. Rachel said that the process of tapping, a.k.a. Emotional Freedom Technique, can release the emotional distress from our bodies. Emotional Freedom Technique is also known as energy psychology.

We did an exercise of naming our limiting beliefs or emotions and rating our distress from 0-10. Next we created an acceptance phrase such as: “Even though I’m afraid to get fired, I accept myself for how I feel. I really need to accept how I feel with my body and mind.” Tapping my palm and karate chops can calm my body. It gives you the feeling that you are not in a fight or flight mode like standing in front of a tiger. The tap points to release the emotional symptoms are: eyebrow, side of eye, under the eye, under the nose, chin, collarbone, under arm and top of head.

Finally, Deb said that we have to develop an action plan that will take us toward setting effective boundaries. We have to take baby steps by setting a time frame and not making big changes. We have to be accountable to ourselves. Writing it down and practicing this with a friend will help us to be more comfortable about saying yes or no with ease and confidence.

If you missed this interactive and informative event, or just want to learn more, please contact [email protected], Amy at [email protected], or [email protected] for more information.

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We also have another great event lined up in November. We invited Tamar Newberger on November 15th. She will be speaking about how she navigated her way through her career in the tech industry. Please subscribe to our newsletter or contact us for our future events.

Mentor Journal 3: Beginner’s Mud

August 27, 2017 Nicole Blog

Our 2017 Mentoring Program wraps up this August! Thanks to everyone – mentors and mentees – who contributed their time and insights. We’re excited to share our some of our successes and lessons learned!

Beginner’s Mud

My Mentoring Team met up on a sunny Sunday in July to discuss our progress and questions going forward. This was our second in-person meeting (the first one being in February) – and we had a Skype meeting in between. We had a lot to discuss and celebrate – it has certainly been a busy last few months for everyone!

I came into the Mentoring Program with an unclear sense of where my career was going. Even though I had friends and family sharing advice, and formal evaluation at work, I was missing the resources to fine-tune my direction and reach the next level. At our final meeting, our mentor described what we were experiencing as making it through the “beginner’s mud”. Those graduating from college may have a strong sense of confidence, accomplishment, and identity. When we enter the workforce, we need to re-orient to new environments and routines. Being in a new schedules and adapting to organizational politics may affect of our energy and identity. Throughout this process, we may lose our way: feel unsure what direction to go in, where to put our energy, and how to communicate effectively. We may get stuck in reactionary mode and unable to see the bigger picture.

It takes plenty of work to get out of the “beginner’s mud”. Throughout the six month program, I would often write to my mentor via e-mail with questions I had and frame the challenges I was running into. I kept track of how I felt: What types of experiences made me feel empowered, which types made me feel unsure of myself? Identifying those feelings and responding with actionable steps was key. Having an experienced professional — who was, in fact not in my same professional field — to help troubleshoot and clarify my thinking along the way, was a tremendous resource. I believe we as “beginners” (or not) truly need this kind of feedback in order to become polished and confident professionals.

Examine Your Writing

Our mentor mentioned that simply the way one presents issues and describe the context, can reveal how confident you are and how much direction you have. It is great to write out your goals and questions throughout the mentorship process, so you can track your growth: skills and mindset. Saving six months worth of communications can tell a great story!

Can your mentor, or anyone else, understand what you need help on, based on your writing? If you feel too overwhelmed to begin anything, can you write out everything you’re worried about?

My mentor and I looked at my first and final questions side by side, and the difference was clear. My first set of questions were vague and tentative, revealing how lost I was. The second set were very focused and full of context for where I am now and where I’m headed.

Success Stories

We were excited to hear back from our other mentees about how they are doing. Here are some things our mentees achieved in the past six months:

I went to a very good event offered by one of our group member’s employer

Landed new position – dream job!

I met some great women professionals and formed new friendships.

Knowing what I don’t want, and surviving in a toxic environment while realizing it isn’t about me. It motivated me to think about my career and what my goals are and to take action. I revert back to my comfort zone often and realized it’s finally time to take action and get out!

I personally felt like it was a great feedback I got from the mentor that I was able to apply it for my future position.

I affirmed myself more and gained more confidence.

Take the courage to actually seek help. though I am not very good at seeking help from others.

Understanding personality types and career choices

We discussed a lot of Meyers Briggs. I loved learning about how I can better communicate with folks with different personality styles.

Discussing managing people

Stuck with a very difficult situation to get to the next stage.

Replacing Yourself

We’re encoded to think that irreplaceable means that ‘I can do something that no one else can do’. But in fact, the most irreplaceable people are the ones that empower others to do something they couldn’t do before.

Developer Tea, episode “Developer Career Roadmap: Step 9 Replace Yourself“

This quote jumped out to me as just the other day I attended a webinar where the speaker asked the attendees to “write out the skills/qualities that make you irreplaceable”. It is often easy to default to our competitive nature, i.e. how much value we as individuals have compared to others. I love the way the quote above flips this idea, the shift of perspective is so supportive. Knowing everything and being able to do everything is not necessarily something we should endlessly strive for (what a relief!).

How can we continue supporting each other in our day to day careers? As our program concludes, we on the Women Accelerators team challenge you to take this idea into your career, whether you consider yourself a mentor or not.

Our next Mentoring Program will start in early 2018. Please check our website in late 2017 if you’re interested in participating.

Mentor Journal Entry 2: Mentorship Strategies

May 30, 2017 Nicole Blog

We are now halfway into our Mentoring Program! Between February and April, groups met for the first time. Many groups are now meeting virtually on Skype for their second and third meetings in late spring/early summer.

Soon after our first check-in with mentee participants, one of our mentors asked if there could be a check-in for them, as well. This made us realize that, while our mentors have more professional experience than their mentees, they could also use frameworks to support their efforts for our Mentoring Program.

What are some ways to ensure mentorship is successful? Are there activities mentor teams can work on together?

Regular communication is key!

We suggest groups connect every month. While the first meeting was in person, we encourage groups to meet via Skype to give more options for scheduling. Over the course of six months, it is possible mentees have graduated or moved for new jobs.

Even if all group members are in the same location, keeping consistent meetings throughout a six month period can be a challenge. The most important thing is to stay in touch. Some groups may use platforms like Google Hangouts or Slack, while others may prefer group e-mail. If mentors are willing, offer for mentees to reach out to you personally for one-on-one advice.

We suggest mentors lead with check-in questions via e-mail, such as

What are points/issues you’d like to discuss?
Any news/changes that have happened since we last talked?

These are helpful to send in advance of a meeting — so that there is an agenda to talk about — or in place of a meeting.

At the start of the program, mentors received PDFs with each mentee’s goals. Halfway through the program is a good checkpoint. What are a particular mentee’s roadblocks, if any, to reaching those goals? Some mentees may have achieved something they weren’t expecting.

Beyond checking in, what are some things groups can discuss?

Here are some words from our mentors, regarding activities/discussion starting points that help spark discussion:

To engage all in a meaningful way is important – so I usually start with something like: what is the best experience and/or worst experience you had in the past week. Is there something lodged in your head you keep on thinking about…Whatever discussion this sparks, leads directly to mentoring moments….and naturally develops a very engaged further discussion. I invite other mentees to ponder, suggest, or compare their own experience among themselves before I come in to “mentor”. Oftentimes, by offering hints, leading questions targeting specific issues etc….the mentees actually come up with various good solutions themselves. Those are the best/most valuable learning/mentoring moments.

We attended a women’s salary negotiation workshop together. Doing a group event/speaker/training was nice.

It is important to acknowledge life demands within the context of the goals they have set for themselves to get from this mentoring program. More than anything, those demands put stress on goal achievement. Helping them adjust the pressure they put on themselves to achieve “now” is helpful.

The Women Accelerators volunteer team put together the following additional list of activities:

Role playing scenarios in the workplace/laboratory/etc.
Resume and cover letter writing/editing session
Practicing salary negotiation
Practicing a job interview

Our mentees are growing to become our next leaders

As groups progress through the program, mentees are gaining experience which may help them be future mentors, or simply support their fellow mentees. We hope that our program will keep the cycle of support going. A couple mentors mentioned the following, regarding mentee contributions:

One of my mentees has stepped up to do more of the organizing. I think an articulation of these responsibilities, who holds them, and how they may rotate among the mentees would be helpful at the outset.

My approach is ‘peer’ mentor b/c most are not just out of school/post-doc

Mentors might also reflect on their own journeys to generate additional discussion points or storytelling opportunities for their group. Some guiding questions:

What was a time you learned a lot because it didn’t go smoothly?
Who was your best mentor and what did you learn from him/her?
What skills do you think are critical as a woman leader?
What was your proudest moment?

We hope this list of tips, discussion points, and activities will be useful to our groups, and wish everyone the best for the next weeks of the program! Later in the summer, we’ll share some final thoughts and concluding lessons on our 2017 program.

We are so grateful for the mentors who have volunteered their time this year!

Mentor Journal Entry 1: What is Mentorship?

March 31, 2017 Nicole Blog

Welcome to the Women Accelerators Mentor Journal!

We are one month into our Mentorship Program and many great discussions have begun. As I go through my work week, I’ve been re-reading a note I took at our first mentor meeting:

If coworkers are unresponsive, follow up. Ask for a meeting. Use phrases and words like “constructive feedback”, “smoothness” and “efficiency”.

I’ve put this idea into action a few times since I first met with my mentor in February. Advice like this — delivered via one-to-one relationships — is so crucial and nurturing in our competitive workplace. In this and three following blog posts (May, July, and September), we will be recording and sharing more great tips like this from mentors and their mentees.

A little background on our program: Our 2017 Mentorship Program session consists of 9 mentors and 37 mentees. Meetings are in a group session (in person or remote), with 3-6 mentees and one mentor. This is the fourth year of the program, with the largest attendance. In January, 45 women signed up for our mentor “speed networking”, where they had the chance to meet our mentors for five minute discussions. Matches were made the following week, based on their interests and personal preferences from our surveys and groups met for the first time in February and March.

To find out what our mentees and mentors are learning, and help in areas where teams are stuck, we are communicating with them more often than we have in the past. The result, we hope, will be a rich online discussion to help our participants and beyond!

All mentees are first time mentees with Women Accelerators. Some of our mentors are also new to mentoring. Given this fact, we thought it would be helpful to define the mentor-mentee relationship. One of our mentees asked: Is there any structure in being mentor / mentee?

We are encouraging all groups to meet at least once a month, to build their relationships and discussions. Some may be going through career transitions — finishing a degree program, finding a new job, etc. — so six months is a great arc throughout which transformations can be seen.

At the start of the program, we asked participants to state their goals and interests. This helped us identify the best matches for their mentor groups. Some of our mentees discussed their goals with their teams at their first meeting. Those initial goals are great to revisit monthly, or however often it seems appropriate.

Our hope is that mentorship can fill the gaps where support is missing in the workplace. There are a wide range of areas where mentors can help!

Navigating a workplace conflict/politics
Issues specific to women, which may be uncomfortable to ask about. For example, how can women get recognized for their strengths when they are less likely to speak up?
Providing personal stories about how they overcame challenges
Giving advice about how to buy a suit
Learning how to feel more confident
Escaping a toxic work environment

Mentees should attend meetings prepared with a few questions or scenarios to share. For example:

How can you communicate with someone who constantly changes their mind?
Why did I feel more confident in college, compared to in the workforce?
What is the best way to ask for a raise?

Being as specific as possible is helpful. It’s likely that others may have similar questions or experiences — when the mentor answers, others are encouraged to take notes and add on their thoughts.

Each group dynamic is bound to be different, and everyone has something to gain from their mentor and fellow mentees. Here are some great things our mentees are learning already:

The personal stories from the mentor but also the other mentees were very inspiring!

It might not seem super useful, but just knowing that others are feeling similar to me is very helpful to me. I have a lot of friends who seem to know exactly what they want out of their careers, but I’ve always been interested in so many things. It’s nice to know that others feel the same struggle sometimes!

Ways to tackle language challenges, personal stories about changing state of mind and shifts in careers

Network is important, try to get more interviews for practises

Confidence is the key to everything. Changing our mindset about time, money, presentation… can change how we are perceived.

It was great to hear from not just my mentor but also mentees as suggestions that can improve at workplace.

I really appreciated meeting other women who are in varying states of professional transition, like myself. We all have a lot of wisdom to share, which is very valuable.

Stayed tuned for our second entry of Mentor Journal! Next time, we’ll turn the focus back on our mentors. What are some ways to ensure mentorship is successful? Are there activities mentor teams can work on together?

“Checking” In on the Strong Female Life-Sciences Leadership in Massachusetts

January 28, 2017 Susu Blog

travissite Great blog of Life Sciences Discourse, by Travis McCready, CEO of Massachusetts Life Sciences. Travis wrote about the lack of women in STEM and the sector’s gender imbalance. Travis mentioned Susu Wong and the Women Accelerators:

https://lifesciencesdiscourses.com/2017/01/25/checking-in-on-the-strong-female-life-sciences-leadership-in-massachusetts/

Bonus Skills: A Conversation between Volunteers Leah and Kate

December 9, 2016 Nicole Blog

Written by Leah Brunetto

Have you ever picked up any skills without planning?

It can be hard to feel productive after you’ve been working on the same tasks for a while. Sometimes, we can be hard on ourselves for not moving ahead quickly enough, and of course, work can get tedious. Gaining a new perspective on ourselves can give us some more steam for our journey — today, we’d like to take a step back and tell you about some bonus skills we picked up along the way, and how they’ve transformed and connected us.

Working on a website at a nonprofit, I’ve been working on content updates and offering releases with marketing staff for three years. I knew nothing about marketing or content management systems when starting my job. At first, I was just to go-to person for technical purposes, but later I’ve taken on more of a role in other ways, such as communicating with internal clients, recording schedules, and becoming an expert on existing content and in house assets. I learned that I really liked all this, and it was something I was good at.

This experience gave me more confidence and inspired me to look for opportunities to write and help with communications outside my organization. I happened to be at a Women Accelerators event this spring, and there was an announcement that they were looking for contributors to their blog, to write about women’s career building topics. This really caught my attention, because I had been reading and listening to a lot of media about self-empowerment, and the idea of creating my own resources to help others got me really excited.

After getting involved as a volunteer, it wasn’t too long before I met fellow volunteer Kate, an account manager for a software company who also writes for the Women Accelerators website. Kate is very passionate about writing, and has so much hard-earned wisdom about work, so I was eager to hear more about her journey. We met up on a sunny afternoon in Kendall Square to talk about some skills that she gained on the job, and how they’ve unexpectedly shaped the career she has today:

LB: So, I’m very curious — when we first met over e-mail you mentioned you had a story about your unexpected growth in your role. What changed?

KH: It all started with my client meetings. Our company’s product is the same all the time, but the people you work with will all have different needs. As an account manager, I’m the go to person. If the client is having a problem, they call and mention things like “It would be great if your product could do this…” When clients come to you and say “I really wanna be able to do A, B, C, and D…” sometimes you think, “Well, our software does Z.” And when you’re in charge of the product, you can’t just change everything on a whim. You have to think: “Are there creative ways you can implement this without disrupting the way the product works? “

First, I’d just bring all my notes back and say “here are the problems” and my boss would come up with something. After doing this for a few months, out of the blue, my boss asked “What do you think?”

One time, he was traveling and couldn’t meet with me for over three days. I ended up thinking about a project the whole time and just made a decision. He told me that was I right. At this point, I knew more about the project than him! It was terrifying but exciting to realize, “I’m the only person who can do this!”

LB: That is amazing! But I could see that even being a little scary. When we start out, we’re used to looking to other people for all the answers.

KH: Yeah, that’s absolutely what’s happened for me! My boss hasn’t worked with as many biologists yet, and hasn’t done this complex of a data management setup yet. Whenever anything like this comes up, it goes to me.

LB: So you’ve become a specialist?

KH: Yes I suppose so!

LB: It’s so amazing to hear that after a short period of time, you made this great transformation, and it wasn’t something you could have really predicted. I know you started out studying chemistry, and I wonder if you could have ever imagined yourself as a software product manager!

KH: Right! We should feel comfortable giving ourselves permission to start and try something we’re interested in. So much of the time, people don’t even feel they’re allowed to do things, like try sculpting, and that’s just not OK.

LB: I totally feel that way with my job. My title isn’t “writer” or “editor”, and saying I want to try it feels kind of taboo!.Yet, here I am, interviewing you for an article and writing for the website!

KH: Yeah, I get a sense that people feel disloyal if they want to try out something new. Then, there is the whole issue of imposter syndrome: “But I don’t actually know what I’m doing…”, “What if it’s not good enough?”

LB: It seems like the key for us was just letting the transformation be gradual. We weren’t even aware of it at the beginning. Not to say that we weren’t making an effort — at the same time, this all requires a willingness to jump in and try new things. You could say, “Oh, well I was just thrown into this situation and had to adapt”, but we should definitely give ourselves credit, too. It sounds like you took a lot initiative with your project and really brought something new to it.

This was a very empowering conversation for me, and I’m grateful I had the opportunity to talk with Kate. I think our stories illustrate a few concepts:

Success doesn’t come all at once.
Skills are developed simply by doing them. As long as you’re doing it, you’re moving ahead even if you’re not doing “great”.
You don’t need to ask for anyone’s permission to learn a new skill, give anything you’re interested in a try!

Take a moment to name one thing you’ve learned or rediscovered in your current job. Next, imagine how you can use it in or outside your workplace in a new way. What greater role might this play in your career and life?

Own Your Own Football: Conflict Communication

October 14, 2016 Nicole Blog, Career, Career development, Conflict Communication

Figure out what drives your heart, then own it. And by God, they will let you play.

In the evening of Tuesday, September 27th in Cambridge, a group of about thirty women engaged in industry, academia, law, entrepreneurship, and more, gathered around a conference room table. They were there not just to hear Michele Whitham speak about how she came to “own her own football”, but to connect and share ideas about handling conflict in the workplace.

Michele Whitham is a powerhouse of a woman with a list of accolades and accomplishments that easily make her one of the most admirable women I have ever met: she is a lawyer that is heavily involved in social justice, activism, and community engagement, is a 2015-2016 Inductee into the National Association of Professional Women and the Association’s VIP Woman of the Year, was a co-leader to launch the inaugural Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts’ Women’s Leadership Initiative, and so much more. Even more impressive is that behind her stunning achievements, she is a kind, empathetic, insightful, and strong-willed woman with a story that so many of us can relate to.

Leaning into the table and talking to us like old friends do, Michele described how she discovered a love for football at five years old. She set her sights on becoming a football player, and would practice throwing the ball around with her father and her neighbor, Al Cowen, a well-known footballer in Texas. She started going to pickup football games, but time and time again she was the only girl, and she would never get picked to play. Undeterred, she continued to return to these games until a few years later, her father came home and surprised her with a gift: an official NFL football, signed by the one and only Cowen. The very next pickup game she went to, she proudly brought her own football, and not only did she get to play, but she got to be the captain.

The message of her childhood story was simple: listen to your heart and what drives you, be confident in it, bring it to the table, and the people sitting across from you will let you play because you are owning the part of yourself that put you there. That is the first lesson in conflict communication: practice the art of self-empowerment and cultivate your professional presence. Consider what you are aiming to achieve, and decide how you are going to approach a situation. Have confidence in your abilities to do all that you can do, and be committed to listening and learning as much as you can about the motivations and values of other people in the room.

There were six other points highlighted throughout the evening that sum up the most important nuggets of wisdom that Michele presented as the keys to her continued success in dealing with conflict:

Everyone deals with conflict differently; appreciate those differences.
Don’t take conflict personally; someone else’s reaction is not a reflection on ourselves.
Be willing to listen to what the other person is saying, and if needed, express that you need to step away to process.
Make an effort to maintain your credibility, to be mature, and to not let your emotions get the best of you. (Step away if emotions are running too high!)
Become proactive institutional anthropologists: observe and learn the motivations/desires of your colleagues even before conflict arises.
Cultivate a circle of key informants, or people that you trust to lend insights into how someone else may be conceptualizing the conflict.

By the end of the evening, more than half of us in the room had joined in with Michele’s pointers to ask questions, provide thoughtful insight, and share our own positive or negative experiences. Conflict is something that we all have to deal with, and none of us are in this alone. Approaching a conflict with maturity, a willingness to listen to others and a sense of your own self-are three important pieces to successful resolutions. And we must not forget to lean on each other for help when we need to see more sides to the story.

Nov 1: de la Femme’s “A Guide to Financial Planning”

October 13, 2016 Susu Finance

Join us for de la Femme’s event on November 1st. The topic will be Financial Planning.

Many people spend more time preparing for their dream vacations rather than their dream retirement. We all talk about what we want to do when we retire, whether it be pursuing a hobby, volunteering for a worthy cause, moving to a beachfront property, or the bucket list of vacations that we’ve been dreaming of. But, do you have what you need to retire comfortably and pursue these dreams?

Sometimes life and work get in the way of your financial planning, but remember time is your friend — the sooner you save, the more you will have saved up. Don’t delay!

Our event in November will be a guide toward educating yourself on financial planning. Scot and Briana will be on deck to answer some of the following basic financial questions:

What to prioritize first savings vs. investments?
What are 401K, IRA, Roth IRA?
What is a financial portfolio?
How can you diversify your investments?
How much should you set aside each month for saving?
What are a couple of approaches you can do daily to save more? Does it mean you need to cut down on your early morning coffee run?
What does it mean to invest in a tax efficient way? How can you approach it?
What are some available options for paying off your loans (student, car payment, etc.)?

These and many other topics which include ways to save up for rainy days will be covered at the event. This will be an interactive discussion about your questions on saving and achieving your financial goals without overstretching your budget. With our guest speakers Scot Reynolds and Briana Willander combined experiences in the financial planning field, they will cover ways to plan for your retirement in a way that not only fits your budgets but also gives you the knowledge you can take away to start your financial planning.

*****

Date/Time: Tuesday, November 1st at 6:00 PM.

Location: The Broad Institute, Kendall Sq, Cambridge, MA.

Appetizers and wine will be provided. Registration is required, sign-in upon arrival.

Registration: https://dlf-guide-to-financial-planning.eventbrite.com

*****

Scot Reynolds, CLTC Vice President assists families, businesses, and individuals in developing and achieving their unique financial goals. Since 2007, his mission has been to help his clients accumulate, enjoy, protect and distribute wealth in the most tax-advantaged way possible.

Scot has received many awards for his accomplishments in the financial services industry. Most recently, Scot was recognized by Boston Magazine as a Five Star Wealth Manager in 2015, recognizing the top financial advisors in Massachusetts. From 2012-2015 he qualified for four consecutive “Achieving Client Excellence” (ACE) Awards, for his achievements in Sales Management, including twice in the top 5 in the country. The ACE award is one of the highest honors that Signator Investors bestows on financial professionals within the national network.

Along with these prestigious accomplishments, Scot is a perennial Qualifying Member of the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT). MDRT is considered the premier and most exclusive association for financial professionals. It is an international network of leading financial advisors who serve their clients with a high level of performance and the highest standards of ethics, knowledge, service and productivity.

Scot is also an active member of the industry and community. He is a member of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA), a two-time past president of his BNI group the Middlesex Money Makers, and an active member of the Burlington Area Chamber of Commerce. Scot graduated from the University of Maine with BS in Business Administration.

Scot is originally from Falmouth, Maine and currently resides in Charlestown, Massachusetts. In his free time, he enjoys golfing, snowboarding and attending Boston sports events.

, Associate, began her career with Boston Partners Financial Group in 2015. Since then she has been assisting families, individuals, and small businesses achieve their unique financial goals.

Briana holds her Series 6 and 63 Securities Licenses as well as her Life, Accident, and Health Insurance Licenses. She graduated cum laude from Plymouth State University with a major in finance and minor in economics.

Through Briana’s affiliation with Boston Partners Financial Group Briana has access to John Hancock products as well as a variety of financial products and services from many other carriers. These services include Retirement Planning, Life Insurance, Asset Protection, Long-Term Care Insurance, and Disability Income Insurance.

Briana grew up in the small town of New Boston, NH and currently resides in Shrewsbury, MA. In her local community, she is an active member of Shrewsbury’s BNI Elite Referral Group. In her free time, she enjoys staying active, running, snowboarding, golfing, and spending time with family and friends.

*****

de la Femme (DLF) is a Massachusetts organization passionate about promoting the advancement of women and bridging the gender gap. This can be seen in the wage gap and under-representation of women in senior-level positions and the boardroom, from Corporate 100 to startups. Our mission is to provide a centralized network and community where career-focused women can access resources tailored toward their career goals. We provide resources and information to help women efficiently navigate work opportunities and to provide a supportive environment that will nurture female leaders. Our vision is to generate a community of like-minded, high-achieving women, who help each other to succeed in the workplace.

*****

*No refunds issued once registered.

**de la Femme is a volunteer-based organization striving to provide resources for women to achieve their career potential. Donations are instrumental in sustaining our mission, and any amount is greatly appreciated.

Seeing the Silver Lining in a Conflict

September 8, 2016 Nicole Blog, Career development, Conflict Communication

Written By Kate Hardy.

For most people, conflict is uncomfortable at best and downright nerve-racking at worst. I’ve met few people that genuinely like conflict, but since we all have different backgrounds, opinions and experiences, conflict is simply unavoidable from time-to-time. I don’t think it has to be a wholly terrible thing though. I know you may read that and think I’m crazy, but bear with me here for a minute: If we work to change our mindset about disagreements, they can become powerful learning tools.

I think about times that I’ve experienced conflict at work. There’s one instance in particular that really rises to the top for me, and it was a disagreement about how to handle a project for a client. I had one idea, and a colleague had a very different idea: I saw an opportunity to add a new feature into our software product that I felt would increase the value for our customer, whereas my colleague felt that we should not do any development work to the software until the customer had used it as-is and requested changes. The debate about which methodology would work best got a bit heated, and although there were no personal slights, I walked away from the disagreement feeling flustered and upset. I ruminated on this all day, and found that it had really gotten under my skin.

By the time my day had ended and I was at home, the distance from the problem had given me a shift in perspective. I had gotten upset that my colleague had disagreed with me, yet I had also disagreed with him. I considered the reasons why he felt his method worked better (no development time spent on what could potentially be a wild goose chase), and I had to admit that he did put forth some genuinely good insight. But then I also recognized that, as the person that worked with this client almost daily, I already knew what they needed at a bare minimum to finish the project, so it was up to me to put that into small, actionable steps that would both impress the customer and not be overly taxing on our developers. I started to form a new methodology over the course of my evening, and when I went into work the next day, I had resolved to walk into my colleague’s office and tell him I had considered his ideas, and I wanted to propose something new that took the best from both of our opinions. Turns out, he really liked my new proposition.

It obviously takes two to tango in a conflict. Sometimes the other person doesn’t play fair. Sometimes the other person can’t be reasoned with or wants to pull rank. Conflict isn’t always going to have a rosy, picture-perfect outcome. But if we consistently steel ourselves for the worst in a disagreement, we’re setting ourselves up for a painful situation. And oftentimes it can feel really good to be the person that is able to step back and say, “You know what? Your ideas are good, and here’s what I like about them. I also think I can contribute in this way.” Consider a time when you’ve been on the receiving side of someone offering an olive branch like that – it’s a relief, right? And if you’re like me, I can’t help but respect the person that a bit more.

Communication in conflict has as much to do with clearly explaining your position as it does with actively listening and understanding the position of someone else. At the end of the day, we all want to be heard. It helps me to remember that my experiences give me a unique opinion, and they are not the same experiences as someone else. By working together, a middle-ground path can make both people in a conflict feel heard and pave the way forward.

What does confidence mean to you?

May 24, 2016 Sze Blog, Career, Confidence boost

Written By Kate Hardy.

That was the question asked to a room filled with one hundred women and a few men on Wednesday evening at de la Femme. Deb Elbaum, MD, CPCC, APCC, a career and life coach, author, and speaker, was hosted by de la Femme for a workshop at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, MA. The topic of the night was, “Boost Your Professional Presence: The Art of Being Confident.”

Deb’s workshop is interactive, and her goal is to help women learn to believe in themselves and present their ideas with confidence both professionally and personally as they work towards their own successes. Everyone in attendance left with a new sense of empowerment and concrete ways to practice confidence on their own.

To many, confidence must sometimes seem like a difficult and challenging feeling to achieve. What makes one person feel completely at ease and confident may make another feel unsure and indecisive. But on this night, Deb made it seem so much simpler, with her thoughtful exercises and her tangible, actionable steps.

The central message of the night was simple and direct: A + B = C. Attitude + Body = Confidence.

Upon arrival, all of us were given a worksheet of thoughtful questions that we would soon be guided through answering. These questions were formulated to help us discover insights about ourselves. One of the first pairs of questions we answered were: what people, places, things, or events cause us to feel like our confidence is being sucked away, and which situations cause us to feel we are completely confident? And then, an extra challenge: Tell the person sitting next to you.

The thing is, as scary as it can be to tell a complete stranger these personal insights, the valuable lesson is that we’re all in the same boat. We all have things that make us feel confident, and we all have things that make us feel totally un-confident. Not to mention, what makes me feel completely paralyzed with self-doubt may have very well made my neighbor feel energized and on top of the world. “Wow,” I found myself thinking. “If she can have the attitude to feel confident about giving a presentation to 500 people, then maybe I can be that way, too!”

A bit further on in the evening, as we completed the other parts of our worksheets, we were instructed to finish statements like, “At home, I am really good at…” After this thought exercise, we created a personal purpose statement. This was a combination of words or themes that we felt captured us best from the statements we had just completed. Mine? I found that I was a motivated, goal-oriented communicator.

At first, that seemed kind of odd. “Am I really that way?” I asked myself. Sometimes I feel like my communication skills are lacking. I don’t always ask for what I need from other people to be successful, to feel nurtured, or to clarify a situation because I don’t feel confident enough to do so. But, lo and behold, I found that just moments before I had finished the statement, “At work, I am really good at,” with, “teaching and communicating.”

Deb explained how large an impact our own self-beliefs, our attitude, has on our overall confidence. We have this well of confidence within us, just waiting to be drawn from. If we learn to identify and question our negative self-beliefs, we will most likely find at least one confidence drainer. Once these are uncovered, we can work to correct them and replace them with positive self-beliefs. We are in control of our confidence by shaping our attitudes.

The second letter in our alphabet equation was B for body.

As it turns out, Deb taught us Amy Cuddy’s power pose, which was based on the coaching of Amy’s TED talk and work. Your body language not only translates to others, but it also translates to your own emotional state. When you position your body in a way of strength and freedom, your mind listens.

Next, we all stood up and learned how to power pose. We learned how to plant our legs firmly on the ground a little bit apart. Body straight. Head up. Eyes forward. Arms flung up in the air or Superwoman-style on our hips. And that is how we stayed for a full minute.

Right before these power poses, Deb had asked us to stand hunched, arms crossed, bodies curled into ourselves, eyes down. She asked us to describe how we felt: “Small.” “Nervous.” “Unsure.”

But when we struck those power poses, our reactions were completely different: “Powerful.” “Energized.” “Confident.”

Attitude + Body = Confidence.

Yes. How simple, and yet, how hard at times! Deb explained that confidence is a practice. It is a habit. She encouraged us to practice power posing every day. And to not stop questioning the attitudes that make us feel we are not confident. Because we are. All of us in that room had a well of confidence from which we could draw endless amounts of our own personal support.

Walking home from the workshop, my friend and I talked about how we had both learned insights about ourselves. She told me that sometimes she doesn’t speak up to her boss because she doesn’t want to step on toes. I considered this for a minute, and then pointed out that often times a group or organization is stronger for opposing beliefs. And that maybe her newer and less experienced views on her job may actually be innovative. Thanks to this workshop, she was learning to identify her negative self-beliefs and had tools to practice positive self-beliefs instead.

I’m sure I speak for almost all of the attendees that night when I say that Deb guided us to some valuable personal insights and gave us powerful tools to help practice and nurture those wells of confidence we hold within. We learned how to identify and question our negative self-beliefs, how to create positive self-beliefs in return, and how to channel positive energy with our physical bodies to channel pure confidence.

And as for my neighbor? I got a text message from her the very next morning that read, “My boss called me last night. I used my new confidence!”

Written By Kate Hardy.

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Written By Kate Hardy.

Written By Kate Hardy.

The second letter in our alphabet equation was B for body.

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