Tag Archives: Courage

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by Anja Uitdehaag and Mine Batiyel

“It takes courage to become who you really are” – E.E. Cummings

Living your dreams mean “knowing who you are, then, do what you need to do in order to have what you want.”

This might sound easier said than done.

Sometimes you may lose your way toward your dreams or even feel like you never had a path in the first place.

Did you ever feel like you were unsure about who you are? What you want? Not brave enough to be who you are or make your dreams happen?

Finding joy in Being You and Belief in Yourself determine how you will make your life journey.

The more often you are brave enough to express who you are, the easier it gets…

We believe that every woman can be successful in what she does if she can generate the courage to give it a go.

We are excited to announce the launch of FEMFLECTION.COM, a creative and inspirational personal development website for professional and dynamic women in business and arts of all ages and cultures. We combine motivational leadership with the inspirational creativity of art.

We believe that Art is a language and like any other language it is a vehicle of communication, i.e. self-expression of ideas and most inner/deep feelings. Art provides ample opportunity for imagination and creativity; as such it also turns out to be a wonderful way to tackle important work/life issues and share (self)-leadership lessons, thoughts & experiences.

It is our goal to help professional women to build their courage and put it to good use through reflection, overcoming self-limiting beliefs, gaining self-insight, identifying potential areas for development and pointing out critical success factors. We encourage you to dream big and take practical action to live a life that matters to you!

When you have a few minutes, take a look around at our web address Femflection.com and let us know what you think.

If I Were A Boy: I KnowWhen I Deserve A Raise And I Will Ask For It!

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According to Carnegie Mellon University economics professor Linda Babcock, co-author of “Women Don’t Ask”, men are four times more likely than women to ask for a raise.

When women do ask, they typically request 30% less than men do. In a study of 78 masters students, she also found that just 12.5% of women negotiated for their starting salary, versus 52% of men.

Despite attempts to debunk the wage gap statistic, women only earn 77% of what men earn for the same job or amount of work. At this rate, it could take a full 45 years before the wage gap disappears.

Women are paying a high price for our stereotypes about how men and women should behave.

If I were a boy I was expected to be confident, opinionated and assertive. I would ask for what I deserve!

Anja Uitdehaag

Lindsay’s In Business: Hanging in the Universe

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by Lindsay Uittenbogaard

All sorts of ideas, old and new came up during that phase of excitement and discomfort:

What about an app that provides more detailed user ratings on local services than the usual ‘5 stars’, so that people wanting a prompt and tidy DIY guy (rather than the cheapest one), or a reflexology-based pedicure (rather than just great nails) can find exactly what they’re looking for?

What about helping Line Managers with team communications: a notorious requirement coming out of most employee surveys that never quite gets the attention it needs?

What about an art website with pre-set titles based on feelings, like frustration, excitement, anger? Artists could upload works created for those titles; they could be shared on social media with people liking the ones they most identify with, then judged, sold, merchandised…?

What about a home PA by-the-hour service? Imagine all those busy, dual income parents who would love to get a bit of help with running errands, searching for holidays, sitters for houses/pets/children, even getting presents for nieces and nephews – they’d want to call just a single number. Continue reading →

Believe In The Power Of The Reality You Want

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by Anja Uitdehaag

“Everything is energy and that is all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality. It cannot be no other way. This is not philosophy, this is physics.” – Albert Einstein

We are what we tell ourselves we are. When we are talking to ourselves, we are talking to our subconscious mind. If I continuously tell myself I am stupid, unworthy, and ugly, then I am placing these ideas into my subconscious and making it believe these ideas are true. They become a confirmation. Imagine what happens if I focus my subconscious mind on positive outcomes? I can shape my own destiny and achieve marvelous success and happiness… This is called “autosuggestion”. Continue reading →

Deborah A. Bailey, “Think Like an Entrepreneur: Transforming Your Career and Taking Charge of Your Life”

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Reviewed by Femflection

Deborah A. Bailey is a sought after expert to discuss entrepreneurial and workplace issues. After over twenty years in the corporate world, Deborah graduated from Coach U and transitioned into entrepreneurship. She’s the author of of several novels and non-fiction books, in addition to a short story collection, a speaker and the host of “Women Entrepreneurs – The Secrets of Success,” an internet radio talk show where she provides candid discussions with today’s top entrepreneurs, authors and industry experts. Continue reading →

Lindsay’s In Business: Running

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by Lindsay Uittenbogaard

I’d run my own business before.  In fact, it was the first thing I did when I finished University. I started the UK’s first city-to-city car pool agency for students in 1992.  Crazy actually.  No concept awareness, no funding, no experience, no internet (but we did get a fax machine – woo!) I loved the novelty and the challenge of it. But after 4 years, 17,000 members, EU funding, 7 voluntary staff and sponsorship from Vauxhall Motors – at 10 pounds membership a year, it just wasn’t viable. I was exhausted and oh so disappointed.

After that, I went from small-business marketing in Australia, to a general management position in Scotland, and then someone said, “Hey, I need someone for a communications consultancy job in the Netherlands and you could be that person!” So off I went to start work at Shell in 2001. As I set out on what was to be a fascinating whole new life, I started discovering what large organizations were really about. Continue reading →

Workplace Bullying

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by Anja Uitdehaag

Let’s have a look at some – shocking! – statistics:

According to a 2010 online poll by the Workplace Bullying Institute (WBI), a Washington state think Tank, workplace bullying

  • affects more than 1/3 of employees;
  • 56% of employees reported that bullying came from bosses;
  • 33% said bullying came from coworkers;
  • 11% said bullying came from the bottom up, employees to their superiors;
  • 69% of bullies are male, and 57% of the time they have female targets;
  • 31% of bullies are female, and 68% of the time they have female targets;
  • Early results from an online WBI survey revealed 87% of employers reacted by denying, defending, discounting or rationalizing the abuse.

As the above statistics show, workplace bullying is happening everywhere. Continue reading →

Lindsay’s In Business: The Starting Point

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by Lindsay Uittenbogaard

So I’m finally sitting in a meeting room with my boss. I hadn’t been able to talk with her for a few weeks now (which was getting pretty frustrating), so what I wanted to get out of the discussion had been changing quite a bit. She waits for me to take the lead. I decide to take a meta-level approach.

“I’m glad we have chance to talk. It feels like we’ve been… kind of … at odds with each other,” I confessed. “Maybe it’s me – I’m so keen to see progress and push forward in a ‘dynamic’ way that when the brakes go on, it’s difficult to understand. Then, at the same time, it seems you’re holding things back to prioritise ‘excellence’ in our work. Should we be rethinking those values together?” Continue reading →

I Am Feeling Vulnerable!

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by Anja Uitdehaag

At work, we are programmed to act as if we know what we are doing, even in moments when we have no clue.

Managers and employees often act from the shared belief that being vulnerable at work is not acceptable, that it will result in perceptions of incompetence, lack of confidence and consequently a poor performance review.

We are often afraid to be vulnerable because it is associated with weakness. However it is a commonly experienced human feeling. None of us are exempt from feeling vulnerable at times. Continue reading →

Self Confidence: More Important Than You Think!

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by Mine Batiyel

How do I define art? Art is a language and like any other language it is a vehicle of communication i.e. self-expression of ideas and most inner/deep feelings. Language is an important aspect of any culture and cultures tend by nature to limit one’s freedom in one way or another. Here is where art comes in – it provides freedom of expression without any limitation or boundaries and provides ample opportunity for imagination and creativity. It is hence highly therapeutic.

However, like in business life, in art we also go through the same ups and downs, the good days and the bad days, disappointing end results and great ones. The good old “competencies” of the business life will either ensure you pull through or you give up. Continue reading →