It is time For Femsy’s annual performance review. Boss schedules a one-hour meeting to discuss performance. Femsy believes she had a very good year with significant achievements. She is not convinced that Boss is fully aware of all her accomplishments. Femsy believes she deserves a pay raise. She hopes Boss will bring this up.
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By: Anja Uitdehaag
“Scared is what you’re feeling. Brave is what you’re doing.” – Emma Donoghue
Women quite often have doubts about their capabilities. Research shows that men in comparable positions are much more confident in their capabilities than their female peers, even when they are no more competent. A prime example is that if a man can fulfill 60% of the requirements of a job description, he will apply, while if a woman cannot do the full 100%, she will not.
Self-confidence is a make-or-break attribute. Success correlates just as closely with confidence as it does with competence.
To become more confident, stop thinking so much and just act.
Believe that you can do it! If you are constantly thinking that you are not good enough or that you will never make it, that is what you will believe and that will become your reality.
By matheen
Over the years, I’ve kept myself to myself. I was focused on two things: raising my only son and my career. My son and my job in Vancouver kept me busy at all times — I literally had no time to think about anything remotely romantic. But don’t get me wrong — I live a full life! I concentrate on taking care of my son’s needs and myself. I work hard on weekdays; I focus on personal growth on the weekends. I travel with my younger sister; I watch movies on my own or with our Mom; I do fun activities with my son and his cousins; I go to restaurants and dine alone. I also went back to school and took writing classes. Continue reading
What happens when you realise your path is entrepreneurship rather than employment? Lindsay takes up the challenge and shares an account of her journey as it unfolds…
So, one Friday afternoon, I got a call from a guy I happened to have been sitting next to on a flight to London a few weeks back. As we chatted, I discovered that he is the CEO of an agricultural business with projects in southern Europe and Africa, and I’d obviously told him about Mirror Mirror. He’d wanted a brochure, which I’d sent through afterwards.
Anyway, he was calling to say that his team in London were about to get some funding and embark on a growth phase. He wanted to set them up to succeed and thought Mirror Mirror would be a great way to do that.
By: Francine van Dam
The other day, I was asked to perform at the opening of an exhibition of two male artists from Curacao. I packed my cuatro ( small Venezuelan guitar) and prepared some old songs in Papiamento ( the Creole language from there).
Femsy is slowly but surely growing in her role. Her communication style though, differs greatly from the assertive style from her male peers and subordinates. Billy strongly suggests her to start every sentence with “I” (“I think”, “I believe”). In this way she will come across much more confident.
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by matheen
I couldn’t agree more when C.S Lewis said: “You’re never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream.” That is a fact. The only constant thing in this world is change. Not only is change — a way of life; but change is healthy for us. We need to embrace change and be able to adapt to where life leads us every single day. And change means reinvention. Every time, a major adjustment occurs in our lives —losing a job, moving to a new place, separating from a partner, getting sick — we must be in charge of who we will become when such a major shift happens in our lives. We need to go with the flow. We cannot resist change or we will be miserable and unhappy in our lives.
Femsy is attending an off-site leadership training. Most participants are more senior than she is. Participants take turns introducing themselves: Femsy introduces herself as: “I am just the sales manager of a small region in an Art Company called “Colors”.
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by Lindsay Uittenbogaard (you can find previous parts of Lindsay’s story here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6)
My ex-colleague, James had introduced me to a guy called Jeremy, who runs a Leadership Development consultancy in London. I went over to meet him and outlined the basic concept:
We want to find out what team members think is important and why, so that Team Leaders have a better handle on how people understand about their context. With that, the Team Leader can organise more effective engagement and teamwork.
He was keen. “Context, yes. That could be the missing piece. Sounds good. Let me know when you’re further down the track.”
Good. We have interest from a potential partner.
And now it’s August. Continue reading
by Lindsay Uittenbogaard (you can find previous parts of Lindsay’s story here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5)
I’d have to start earning again in about 4 months and was desperate to get something moving. I’d put my CV out with some interim agencies – just in case (all my own work fell apart – I had to simply ignore that possibility) but I just couldn’t envisage getting enthusiastic about ANOTHER project with the same old challenges, the same old inefficiencies, and the same old difficult leaders. This had to work. Plus now I’m even blogging about it (is that wise?) so it HAS to be a success story! Continue reading
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