“Women receive fewer promotions than men because they are less likely to have mentors who are also advocates for them” according to the article “Why men still get more promotions than women” by H. Ibarra, N. Carter and C. Silva in Harvard Business Review (Sept. 2010).
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.
(Click on the pictures to see them in full size)
Continue reading
Nowhere is an art studio / gallery that has sprung up in the quaint neighborhood of Tonle Bassac, Central Phnom Penh. Femflection speaks with co-founders Syahrulfikri – nicknamed Ajin – and Lolli Park on their personal journey, what moved them to set up Nowhere, and what their plans are for 2017.
What is Nowhere, and why did you set it up?
Ajin: Nowhere is an art studio, gallery and collaboration space for artists. For two years, I embarked on a learning travel that brought me from Kuala Lumpur to Spain by land. I spent significant time in China, Romania and Europe, during which time I learned Continue reading
In her book “Lean In”, Sheryl Sandberg talks about “office housework”, administrative tasks that help but don’t pay off. Women are often expected to take care of such tasks, bringing in the cakes for a birthday, making coffee, training and mentoring junior staff or taking notes during a meeting.
Women often step up for such tasks because they fear that saying no will get them branded as a non team player.
FEM-PROFILE:
Jahrat Adib Chowdhury is Chief Legal Officer at Banglalink, a Vimpelcom Group company. She is a Barrister-at-Law of Lincoln’s Inn, UK and an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. Jahrat speaks with us today about her formative experiences, what it means to be a senior leader in one of the country’s leading telecommunications and digital companies, and how she fulfills her personal and professional duties.
What made you decide to become a barrister and corporate lawyer?
I grew up in a small town called Moulvibazar where my father used to run his law chamber in the front room of our house. He had several junior lawyers in his chamber, including two of my male cousins. My father inspired all of his four daughters to follow his legal career and eventually take over the chamber. However, we grew up listening to jokes from my cousins that we would never be practicing law as we were girls, so they expected to inherit the chamber along with my father’s huge collection of law books. Without really understanding of the depth of their jokes, I became angry.
A few years ago, I was part of a Management Team that was commencing its turnaround of a big ICT company. We wanted to set ourselves up to be more outward-oriented, agile, and always at the forefront of customers’ lifestyle needs. We had big plans of being the market leader, and this change in direction required a strong leader who was consistent in institutionalising the Company’s new resolve, at the same time who had the tenacity to see that all parts of the Company actually did move toward the right direction.
As our new CEO was on-boarded, all employees were cautious about how the ship would sail. From the onset, we observed that he did not mince his words, and he so very firmly announced zero tolerance for lack of integrity.
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…
Last week, if you had shown me the top 10 tips for how to make the best use of your time, I would have told you I was already doing them. Setting goals, writing lists, bundling work into tasks, starting with the most difficult thing first… piece of cake.
When I was younger, if I told my mum I didn’t have time to do something, she’d say, “Well make time!” So, I did. At one point, a few years ago, I had 2 young kids, I worked full time, acted in a play, and wrote a full film script among other things – like working full time. When I saw people wondering how I did it, I would share the secret: hard work pays off.
If you are anything like me, you probably believe your work should speak for itself.
Women, more often than men, believe that hard work will be recognized and pay off and do not do enough to network with their organization and self-publicize their achievements. When a more senior position opens up, they assume they will be considered based on their accomplishments and credentials, despite having been reluctant to voice them.
During the weekly team meeting, work progress of a special project is being discussed. Billy is unable to complete his part of the project due to vacation. Femsy – not happy – replies “Well let me handle it”. Boss is making clear that Femsyis not managing her team; she is “mothering” the team.
(Click on the pictures to see them in full size)
A great leader:
How to best handle the situation:
Sit down with your team member to understand the specific problem. Break down the tasks into its components and determine what can be achieved within the required timescale. Agree how the outstanding work will be completed and make sure that your team member is still held accountable for full delivery even if he/she cannot perform the work him/herself.
Reflect on how you lead your team. If you have a tendency to take care of your team and put their personal situation ahead of the tasks that they need to perform, you will not get the desired performance and achieve results. Change your style to be more authoritative. Set out clear goals with your rationale for why these are important. Give individuals personal accountability for delivery and give them balanced feedback on how they are doing.
Learning suggestions:
Femchallenge:
Femcommunity tips:
We welcome your thoughts, experiences and comments on how you would deal with such a situation.
Find more on our website Femflection.com
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…(you can find previous parts of Lindsay’s story here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10.)
The Mirror Mirror concept had started out in July out as 3 slides before growing into a bigger slide pack, and then into an actual Descriptive Pack, the one we circulated to our Alpha expert test group for comment some time ago (much like a new born being passed around to some doctors for examination). It had survived their tests.
To recap from the last blog: Mirror Mirror is a structured way of capturing how people in teams perceive the internal and external context in which their team operates, including how each team member’s values and preferences tend to shape their perceptions and the way they respond. The combined data is reflected to the team in one whole picture, providing powerful insights that lead to improved engagement, teamwork and business unit performance.
By 
by 
Help you to succeed in life and work 