The Gaslight Effect
Amira is an ambitious professional in Chicago whose commitment to her career has paid off. Now in her mid-40s, she has quickly moved up the ladder in a Fortune 500 company. After almost a decade at the firm, Amira began doubting her abilities and feared that her job was in jeopardy. She arrived at her first counseling session with me anxious and suffering from low-level depression she attributed to her problems at work. As Amira began to describe her anxieties, I noticed an all-too-familiar pattern to her story. About a year ago, Amira’s coworker Julia was promoted to senior vice president. Amira had always admired Julia, just two years her senior. After Julia’s promotion, the two remained good friends, openly praising each other’s work, with Julia promising to throw more challenging, high-profile projects Amira’s way. Amira’s satisfaction at work was at an all-time high; she loved feeling validated by Julia. Two months after her colleague’s promotion, however, Amira was  getting p...
Author: Robin Stern

5 Opportunities to Immediately Improve Your Productivity
People used to believe it was impossible to run a mile in less than four minutes. It was called the “Four-Minute-Mile Barrier.” For many years, athletes tried to break this barrier, and no one could do it; in fact, there was a multitude of scientific evidence to support the fact that it couldn’t be done. Then in 1964, Roger Bannister, a British medical student, broke the barrier. As you’d suspect, it was a huge deal and made headlines in the world of sports. Guess what happened after he did it? Yep—a lot of people started doing the very same thing—several athletes that year. Why? Simple: he had shown them the possibility and encouraged them to break through their own limitations. When you believe that something is impossible to do, you don’t even try, or you do it half-heartedly. So when it doesn’t work, given your low level of effort, you do what? You say, “See, I told you I couldn’t do it.” “It’s impossible! I knew it was!” This is the famous self-fulfilling prophecy. If you think y...
Author: Laura Stack

Don't Worry, Be Happy
Happiness is the illusive desire of every human being on earth. We seek happiness through the doors of religion, philosophy, psychology, medicine and even government.  In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote “We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal: that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." What does the pursuit of happiness mean? Are we guaranteed happiness in our lives? Of course not. Isn’t it interesting that 229 years ago, happiness was considered a “right” by our founding fathers. We have a “right” to be happy. Most Americans in a recent Time Magazine poll said they are happy 78 percent of the time. We were an optimistic country seeking happiness when the Declaration of Independence was written in 1776 and we seek happiness now more than ever .  Happiness has moved from a guaranteed right of our government to the forefront of scienti...
Author: Kathleen Hall

WBENC National Conferences
Annual Women In Business Conference In June 2008, WBENC will hold its 9th annual Women In Business conference in Atlanta, GA. More than 3,000 attendees and 400 exhibitors are expected to attend the event. Conference sponsorship levels range from $75,000 to $5,000. This event is the largest of its kind for women's business enterprises. During the three-day event, WBEs, senior corporate executives, supplier diversity and procurement professionals, and government representatives will foster many business opportunities by participating in an ambitious agenda including networking activities, workshops, key note plenary sessions, special events and Matchmaker meetings. JAne Austen Society of North America 2008 Annual General Meeting, Chicago, Illinois "Jane Austen's Legacy: Life, Love, & Laughter" 30th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Jane Austen Society of North America in Chicago during October 2-5, 2008, at the Westin Michigan Avenue Hotel.  
Author: Site Contributor

Learn to Ask for What You Need
Requests are powerful. Truly. While no one request is guaranteed to change the course of your career, business, relationships or life, any single request can. Requests have the potential to make a profound difference to the quality of your life and your ability to achieve the success you want. Sure, just because you ask for something doesn’t guarantee that you will get it.  But not asking for it does guarantee you won’t!  Would you really prefer the certainty of having your needs unmet over the possibility of having them met? Surely not?! As someone dedicated to helping people fulfill their full spectrum of needs, I often find myself surprised at how few people actually ask for what they really want and how even fewer ask for it in ways that maximize the chances of getting it.  So I’m curious: Right now, as you read this article, what needs do you have that are going unmet and are causing you to feel resentful, frustrated and unappreciated because, whether you are conscious of it or ...
Author: Margie Warrell

How to Work a Room
Do you find yourself stuck in awkward silences with members of your own family? Whether you want to improve your social skills in your business or personal life, Susan RoAne, keynote speaker and best-selling author of the newly revised How to Work a Room (Collins, 2007), can help. In this LifeScript exclusive, RoAne gives the low-down on how to feel at ease, meet new people and form new relationships – no matter what social situation you find yourself in. The Benefits Savvy social skills are essential for business executive women who attend conferences and high-powered meetings. But those in the workforce aren’t the only ones who can benefit from networking know-how. Whether you’re at a wedding, birthday party or casual barbeque, working a room with charm and pizzazz will ensure everyone remembers you. You’ll have a blast meeting new people, and you’ll make new friends and contacts along the way. Prepare Think of it as studying for a test: Your work begins before you show up to the...
Author: Carly Young

Going Bold
I’m at the midpoint of my life, but there’s nothing halfway about how I want to live right now. How many of you are feeling the same way?  It really doesn’t interest me to look back at where I’ve been or stress about what lies ahead. I’m pumped to live more boldly right now and pull out all the stops to make this moment as big and juicy as it’s meant to be.    And as I look at the world now, it calls for bold talk, bold acts and for women with big, bold hearts to make a difference. We’re hungry for women’s ways of resolving conflict, finding common ground and building peaceful communities. When just one of us steps out to express our energy and passion, the entire world gets a bit bolder, saner and more alive.   Recently, I knew, without a doubt, that I had to go bold. My soul strutted every time I thought of going to Africa to support African women in their climb out of poverty, growing my soul in the journey. So I spent time with the amazing women of BeadforLife in Uganda, refug...
Author: Susan Skog