Amy Cuddy's TED talk on 'power posing'

October 16, 2012

I just watched this TED talk on body language and halfway through I was itching to post it here. It's relevant to men and women, but as Cuddy says in the talk, more women tend to use body language that makes them look small, where they shrink into themselves and often guard some part of their torso with their arms. Her message is an inspiring one, and not just because of what she herself had to overcome to get where she is today (details in the talk). She urges us all to practice a few 'power poses' before we go into a stressful situation such as a meeting with the boss, a talk or a job interview. I've already started to talk myself into faking it even when I'm terrified inside. After watching this, I'm even more convinced it's a good idea. 

Women and office politics

September 24, 2012

At this time of incessant political coverage I'm opening up another political topic: work policitics. I just read this piece by Della Bradshaw in the Financial Times. It's about the number of young women who embark on business careers versus the tiny number that ultimately make it onto company boards. But the most interesting thing for me was the comment at the bottom of the piece by someone using the name 'manticore'. I've no idea if this person is male or female but what stuck out was the comment that women hate the 'status games' and 'dominance-submission games' at big companies and that is why so few make it to the top. 'Far better to go out on your own' he/she finishes. 

This was part of what I discussed in my talk at Sarah Lawrence at the weekend: that women - in general - hate politics but that you have to be at least somewhat political to rise up the ranks. I myself have found office politics so distasteful I've ignored them, but I think that was a mistake (if you don't schmooze, you lose). But then a woman in the audience asked a very sensible question: why should women have to mold themselves to the male way of doing things? Why can't companies change the way they think and the way they do things to accommodate the more collaborative female mindset? I am interviewing someone tomorrow who specializes in this very thing - encouraging companies to appreciate and try out male and female ways of doing business. Given McKinsey's research on this (they found many women who did not aspire to the corner office said a loathing of politics was the reason) surely we need to look at this more closely? I am a case in point. I have always rejected the idea of having power or 'getting to the top' at a company, whatever that would mean in my case, because to me the process seems inherently unappealing. The climb often appears to involve horrible behavior, back-stabbing, meanness, generally trampling all over other people, simply behavior I have no stomach for. I want to examine this topic in an upcoming episode. Because if the reason so many women are opting to go out on their own is that they can't stand corporate culture, it doesn't just show the failure of companies to work with their female employees. Surely nothing will ever change within corporations if the motivated women keep quitting? Who's going to push for the kind of change many women would like to see? Thoughts?

Mothers and Good Girls

September 7, 2012

I didn't hear the whole of Michelle Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention the other night, but I was there for the 'mom-in-chief' comment. I sighed but didn't think too much of it (exasperation explainer: as a non-mother, I often feel totally left out of society's concerns/interests, while motherhood is seen as the most important thing any woman can ever do). But the First Lady's emphasis on her maternal role has spurred a lot of comment on blogs and listserves as women go back and forth over whether Obama should have played up her past as a professional woman, including one who was originally her husband's boss. This piece on WNYC's Money Talking discusses the controversy and the current state of affairs for working women.

Also on the topic of motherhood, this Economist story irked me slightly, even though I see their larger point. It states that the main reason so few women make it to top positions at work comes down to motherhood. I have resisted weighing in on my home page about motherhood's role in women's (relative) lack of advancement because I think it's one of many factors that contribute to this, albeit a big one [since writing this I have changed the text on the homepage]. Still, approxmiately 20 percent of women in their early forties and above don't have children. Surely, this being the case, there should be a susbstantial number of non-mothers running companies or making partner at law firms. But there isn't. There are so many other reasons why women aren't well represented in leadership roles, from lack of confidence to wanting a sane, balanced life regardless of whether or not they have kids. Also, the Economist piece totally ignores the father's role in raising children. It has a somewhat condescending tone, making me, at the risk of being sexist, suspect the author is a man. (Then again, virtually all Economist articles sound like they're written by smug, middle-aged, white British males!)

Earlier today I interviewed author and journalist Lynn Povich about her new book, 'The Good Girls Revolt'. It's a rollicking tale of the Mad Men work era and the first female-led class action lawsuit, brought by Povich and others against her then-employer, Newsweek, in 1970. Newsweek had a tradition of having men as writers, women as researchers, a tradition the magazine was happy to honor until Povich and her colleagues took their (white) gloves off and filed their suit. Although much of the story looks back at a particular point in the history of the women's movement, it also asks how much has changed for women in the workplace since then. I'll release 'The Good Girls Revolt' episode of The Broad Experience early next week (update: it's out now).

The Broad Experience debuts in Miami

August 7, 2012

WLRN, Miami's public radio station, is about to start airing The Broad Experince once a month, beginning tonight during All Things Considered. Thanks to programming director Peter Maerz for taking an interest in the show - I'm thrilled it's being aired in such a great market. If you're a WLRN listener, please let me know what you think of the program in the comments section below.