Episode 101: Your Work, Your Private Life

“I’ve always been quite guarded with revealing details about my personal life as I wouldn’t really want that information to be out there, out of my control.”

— Marie, UK listener

“I don’t want to go out of my way to play mental games and think, how can I do my part to make sure this person is comfortable by my constructing a false reality?”

— Dorie Clark

dorie clark

The boundaries between work and home are fraying all the time. We spend work time doing personal stuff, and time at home working. We talk about our personal lives at work too, and vice versa. But some of us aren't comfortable sharing much about our home lives with colleagues - we like our boundaries. Yet not sharing can put us at odds with a world where everyone's connected on social media. My first guest Marie guards her privacy, but wonders if she's hurting her career by being circumspect. My second guest, Dorie Clark, has similar experiences, but a different take on openness at work.  

You can also read a transcript of the show. 

I want to hear from you after you've heard this one - as she says in the show, Marie is keen to get other people's takes on her situation. Please post below if you have any experiences to share.

Further reading:

Human Rights Watch issued a report last year on LGBT rights in Kazakhstan.

Here's a BBC report on the latest poll on Nigerian attitudes to same-sex relationships. 

And here's more information and a photo of that sign at the airport in Accra, Ghana. 

Episode 100: Owning It - an Interview with Sallie Krawcheck

“I could have dressed him down. What would have happened then? He would have been embarrassed. But so would everybody else have been. And you know who would have gotten the blame for it, right? Because he was their bud. So it would have been me.”

— Sallie Krawcheck

For years Sallie Krawcheck was one of the few famous women on Wall Street. She earned millions of dollars, had a huge office, and the use of a private jet. A few years ago all that changed when she made the switch to entrepreneurship.

Sallie Krawcheck

In this interview we talk about the relationship between her gender and her firing from Citibank, why she won't shut up about diversity, stodgy company cultures, and handling sexism at work.

Sallie is the author of a new book called Own It, and the co-founder and CEO of Ellevest, and investment platform for women. 

You can also read a transcript of the show.

Broad Experience Shorts: Going on Leave

“Too often I’ve heard from clients, ‘I’m not sure what’s gonna happen when I come back, what are they gonna expect from me? What are they gonna say about me?’ ”

— Rachael Ellison

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Rachael Ellison

In this week's mini-show Rachael Ellison is back to talk about leave. She says delegation plays a big part in having a successful leave, but more importantly, a successful return.

Whether you're going on parental leave or you suddenly have to take care of a sick parent, your exit can be fraught with uncertainty. Then there are the unexpected surprises that await you when you get back. Rachael talks about ways that employee, boss and team can work together to plan for a smooth absence. 

Rachael is working with the Center for Parental Leave Leadership. 

Do you have a story about leave you'd like to share? I'm particularly keen to hear from people outside the US, from cultures where a year-long maternity leave is normal. 

You can also read a transcript of the show. 

Episode 99: Hate to Delegate

“The women I work with are very uncomfortable with delegation...I think there’s a sense of wanting to do your best in every sphere of your life and wanting to control that outcome. ”

— Rachael Ellison

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Photo by Jason Truscott, used with creative commons license.

“Men are raised to believe that it’s okay to receive support, and women are raised to believe that they are the ones who have to give support. ”

— Jodi Detjen

A lot of women admit it: we have trouble delegating. How many times have you said, "It's just easier if I do it"? But you can't pull off a senior role - or avoid burnout - without giving some of your work to other people. In this show we look at the cultural reasons why women shy away from delegation, and how we can get more comfortable with it.

My guests are coach and consultant Rachael Ellison and management professor Jodi Detjen.

You can also read a transcript of the show. 

Episode 98: Leaning Back

“The majority of women want to capitalize on their educations, want to do something meaningful and interesting and lucrative, but they’re not willing to sell their soul for their professional life.”

— Kathryn Sollmann

Photo by Huntstock/DisabilityImages / Getty Images

Kathryn Sollmann

A lot of women dream of scaling back their careers after they have kids, even if it's just for a while. Some quit altogether and stay out of the workforce for years.

These days the conversation around women and work revolves around how to get to the top. But my guest says much of it is missing the point: most women still have no desire to attain those heights. 

In this episode I talk to Kathryn Sollmann of 9 Lives for Women about the pros and cons of dialing back your work life. Kathryn says one vital point often gets left out of the 'leaning out' discussions: the importance of long-term financial security. 

You can also read a transcript of the show.

Further reading: Here's that Atlantic series on women's ambitions that I mentioned at the beginning of the podcast. 

I'd love to hear from people about whether you've scaled back your career in some way over the years. Did you ask for flexibility and did it work? Did you leave to start a business you could manage around family life? 

Episode 97: Women's Work

“Even in these female-dominated occupations men are still over represented in leadership. And it’s even more glaring in those kinds of environments because the staff is largely female.”

— Marianne Cooper

We talk a lot on the show about being a woman in a man's (work) world. But lots of women are in female-dominated fields, and that can bring its own challenges. Meanwhile your boss is still likely to be a man.

Tune in to hear from listeners in two majority-women fields - Lucie Goulet and Kailah Carden - and from sociologist Marianne Cooper.

You can also read a transcript of the show.