Summer Book Review #26: Smart Women Embrace Transitions

A red-haired expatriate hippie with a beard and a business suit sat on the floor across from me in a Japanese restaurant in the middle of Sao Paulo, Brazil.   Think Jerry Garcia meets Howdy Doody.  Lincoln, a former Peace Corps volunteer, was regaling myself and a friend with stories of his escapades in Latin America.  I vaguely remember him talking about starting a business importing condoms.  He was concerned about the quality of those available in country.    It was unclear if his interest was driven by humanitarian or by personal reasons. Continue reading…

Summer Book Review #25: Meeting at the Crossroads

“I can’t say anything,” said a long-time friend as she shared with me her opinion of a decision facing a mutual friend of ours.    She was catching me up on the news of this friend whom she sees regularly.   Her silence was triggered by an issue related to a child.   The child’s parents disagreed on an educational decision.   You couldn’t possibly say anything?  I was stunned.  Shouldn’t she offer a perspective or talk our friend through some options?  I realize that I’m more confrontational than most…but silence?  Really? Continue reading…

Summer Book Review #24: Smart Women Don’t Retire They Break Free

‘It’s not easy to think about what I really want….for as long as I can remember it’s been achieve, achieve, achieve,’ I said to a friend of mine who joined me for lunch early in my transition.  The concept piqued her interest.  It engaged her.   She’s a financial services entrepreneur.  Her dream had been fashion design.  And yet she found finance and accounting.  A detour?  A revelation? A necessity? Continue reading…

Summer Book Review #23: Odd Girl Out

“I couldn’t get a job,” said my sister-in-law as she was relating her story to a sympathetic audience at a recent family event.   She sent out resumes.  She interviewed.  It didn’t go as she’d planned.  Road block.  Full stop. Continue reading…

Summer Book Review #18: Dancing on the Glass Ceiling…

I got a terrible feeling as I extended my hand to introduce myself.  We were meeting at a hotel restaurant for breakfast.  It was St.  Louis or Atlanta.  I can’t  remember which.   I was screening him for a senior role on my team during my tenure at a large IT outsourcing company.   I had been coached not to make instant decisions about candidates.  We chatted.    ‘Let the data make the decision,’ I kept repeating to myself.   For some reason I was glad we were in a crowded hotel lobby.   I couldn’t put my finger on this feeling I had.   Ever been there?  Continue reading…

The universal barriers of transition…

“I wish for my son the exact same thing that I wish for my daughter,” I said in response to a question posed by an audience member at a WITI event that I spoke at last spring.   The woman asked me ‘what I hoped for’ for my daughter.  “I want them to have the confidence to follow their heart, early.”   From the get go.  No deferrals. Continue reading…

Transition and Steve Jobs…shared learnings?

Merriam Webster’s Online defines prolific as, “marked by abundant inventiveness or productivity <a prolific composer>.”  I turned to this query after completing Walter Isaacson’s, Steve Jobs (Thorndike Press, 2011).   Prolific, although not a descriptive used by Isaacson, came to mind as I finally closed the book.  Yes, I admit I read a physical version of the book despite the tech infused visionary at its core.   Prolific.  How else can you describe someone who served as the catalyst for a list that includes…the Macintosh, Pixar blockbusters like Toy Story, Apple Stores, iTunes, the iPod, the App Store, the iPad? Prolific? Continue reading…

Those elusive 21st century female role models

Is anyone else entertained?  Can you recall any male executive who was held accountable amidst all of the hoopla surrounding the global financial crisis in 2008?  We had a crisis that resulted in the collapse or near collapse of large financial institutions, like Lehman Brothers or AIG; the federal bailout of financial services and large industrial companies, recall TARP and GM; downturns in the global stock market and the housing market; and widespread unemployment that reached and still remains at historic highs.    Now answer this:  is there anyone in America who can’t tell you who Ina Drew is? Continue reading…