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Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant on Why Women Stay Quiet at Work

YEARS ago, while producing the hit TV series “The Shield,” Glen Mazzara noticed that two young female writers were quiet during story meetings. He pulled them aside and encouraged them to speak up more.

Watch what happens when we do, they replied.

Almost every time they started to speak, they were interrupted or shot down before finishing their pitch. When one had a good idea, a male writer would jump in and run with it before she could complete her thought.

Read more from the NY Times.

Have you ever wondered why even though women are more prone to share and engage with brands on social media, female thought leaders still don’t receive the recognition they deserve? Just take a look at conference speakers and you’ll find plenty of male leaders – but WHERE are all the social ladies? In my podcast, “All The Social Ladies,” I interview females at the fore-front of social media and how they use it both personally and professionally. This is the first of many in a series of interviews sharing key insights from these successful women in which I’ll share their experiences and advice.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/carriekerpen/2014/09/26/why-women-in-business-should-take-risks-thoughts-from-sallie-krawcheck/

Here’s a great article taken from http://venturebeat.com/2014/09/06/women-are-the-great-disruptors/

Our world will continue to be driven by technology, and we simply cannot afford to leave women out in the cold. Women bring unique talents and perspectives to the table in any field, but they are particularly vital to a world of invention and innovation shaped by technology. What amazing products, processes, and bold leaps of thinking would we all miss out on if women couldn’t choose to disrupt the status quo? What if we were forcing some of our most brilliant minds away from technology? I personally do not want to live in a world created entirely by men!

Though it might be lonely and scary, here are three good reasons for disrupting yourself:

1. If, in the deepest part of your nature, you know that you must disrupt and you don’t, you’ll die just a little inside. Hence, what we call the Innovator’s Dilemma — whether you innovate or not, you risk downward mobility.

2. The odds of success are six times higher (up from 6 percent to 36 percent — so you still might fail, but the odds are tilted significantly in your favor) and the revenue opportunity is 20 times greater when you pursue a disruptive course.

3. As a woman, you have a disruptive edge. When conducting research on why women changed jobs more successfully than men, Harvard Business School professor Boris Groysberg learned: “Women build networks outside their organization that remain intact when they leave. … Not because women set out to [do this], but because they are often marginalized, left out of the internal power structure … they build external networks out of necessity.” In other words, women instinctively know how to play where no one else is playing.

Bottom line: If you want to unleash innovation, hire a woman. Better yet, invest in or start up a woman-led company.

According to a Dow Jones study, successful venture capital-backed companies have, on average, two times more women in the highest ranks. Indeed, these companies have a greater chance of either going public, turning a profit, or being sold for more money than they’ve raised.

We give a lot of airtime to building and buying disruptive companies. But I believe that harnessing this powerful mindset begins with the individual: Companies don’t disrupt, people do.

If you really want to disrupt the status quo, follow the advice of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and “go ask a woman.

Read more:  http://venturebeat.com/2014/09/06/women-are-the-great-disruptors/

Recently, I began to do some work with the The Hormone Project – and the more that I dug around the more that I realized that most women do not know very much about their hormones – or menstruation.  So, in coordination with QSXX (quantified self women’s meet-up) and Bridget’s Botanicals, I put together a short presentation.  I have uploaded the slide deck to this blog post.

Please take a look. If you have any questions feel free to contact me at [email protected].

If you are interested in joining the New York QSXX meet-up group check out the group page here.

If you are interested in reaching out for proper herbalism help contact Bridget here.

Presentation here: Hormones 101

Journalists Katty Kay and Claire Shipman, the authors of a new book on self-assurance, on how we can all boost our confidence.

Check out this helpful article from LeanIn.org:

http://leanin.org/news-inspiration/8-ways-to-boost-your-confidence-what-no-one-ever-tells-you/

 By Candice Helfand

Though more women are making it to the higher rungs of the corporate ladder, only recently are companies recognising the benefits these appointments bring. For the first time, figures are available that can quantify the extent women contribute. Globally, women are responsible for over $20bn in spending, and that is likely to rise to $28bn by the end of the year.

Continue to read here: http://www.europeanceo.com/business-and-management/2014/04/female-entrepreneurship-pays-how-women-are-spurring-the-economy/

I just read the Globe Magazine on Women and Power, which listed the top 100 women-led businesses in Massachusetts.   Here are some of the comments from the interviewees on why women still face the glass ceiling.

WILLIAMS:  “I see men in the workforce bonding better than women. Men will reach back, they’ll go out together, they’ll do things together. Women, for a variety of reasons, either have to go home to our families, or this, that, and the other.”

GERTNER: “The workplace is not family-friendly. We see this as an individual woman’s choice, how to combine work and family, rather than a societal choice.”

ZECHER: “Women don’t promote themselves enough. We tend not to network as much as men do. We tend not to leverage our networks.”

Here are some of the suggestions from the women executives:

1) Get more women participate on company boards

2) Make the workplace a family-friendly environment by offering flextimes and opportunities to come back from family leave

3) Make networking an essential part of your career growth

4) Reaching back and helping to pull women up the ladder