Authenticity Is Key: Bring Your True Self To Your Leadership

”Why not bring your authentic self?”

Sandy Ko, founder and principal of Customer Contact Week Women, says her background as a South Korean immigrant shaped her leadership style and gave her permission to “exist loudly.”

“Growing up in the 90s, in my second corporate job, senior leadership was the Boys Club of all white males.” She adds that she found, “There is power in connecting outside of your wheelhouse.”

After moving with her family to New Jersey when she was six, she found, “Everyone had a network. We didn’t have any family here. It was difficult to find Korean communities.”

23 & You: 12 Monthly Lessons To Make This Your Best Year Ever

It seems everyone starts the new year with a sterling list of goals aimed at making this a shiny year of professional successes. Some are reachable, some are aspirational, all seem plausible in theory.

To make this year 2023 truly monumental and to zero in on actively achieving the goals you assign yourself, it is important to be realistic about where you are in your career, who you are and what skills and resources you have at your disposable—and can acquire.

Take The Lead has a bounty of instructive and inspiring content, resources and courses available for you and your team to make these goals a reality and to see that 2023 is your best year ever in terms of reaching your heights as an entrepreneur, leader, innovator, manager and colleague.

7 Lessons to Help Keep Your Power of Positive Intention When You (or Your Country) Are Attacked

Issue 156 — January 10, 2021

Were you eager to leave 2020 behind?

Surprise. The first week in this brave new year has tried our souls even more than the year we thought we left behind. Whoever said the past is never really past knew what she was talking about.

The SumGloria FeldtJanuary 10, 2021Leadership Advice, Trauma, Government, Power to Change ConversationsComment

Big Wisdom From Small Companies: 10 Women Biz Owners Share Their Keys To Success

October is Women’s Small Business Month, so Take The Lead honors the 11.6 million women small business owners in this country who are earning $1.9 trillion in revenue and employing 9.1 million people. Every day 825 women launch small businesses in the United States.

Yes, the numbers tell a story of perseverance and success. One quarter, or 20 % of all companies with $1 million in revenue are women-owned, with 39 % pf all small businesses owned by women. The fastest growth areas are Florida, Georgia, Texas, Michigan and South Carolina.

Clean Up Your Zoom Act: 5 Ways To Avoid Virtual Conflict

Never mind your cat crawling over your keyboard or a partner walking behind you in pajamas—or less. But the new realities of working from home and zooming for most of your business day present challenges. And not just when you get the alert that your Internet connection is unstable.

When body language is literally unseen, and all someone can ascertain from you are facial expressions, business communication is fraught with possible landmines—and it is particularly perilous for women, who are judged more harshly on their appearance, their responses, even tone of voice.

The Right Moves Now: 5 Tips For Hiring, Retaining For Gender, Racial Fairness

Gender discrimination in the workplace has been affecting women and underrepresented minorities for decades, but has become even more critical today as racial disparities across multiple systems are at the heart of global protests.

About her 2016 book, Women Matter: The Why and How of Gender Diversity in Financial Services, Daralee Barbera, co-author, tells Forbes, “A persistent obstacle is that our profession is primarily white, male, and older.”

Beyond Optics: How To Create Allyship In An Anti-Racist Work Culture

It’s better to do good than to just look good. Non-optical allyship is the goal.

The protests, violence and disruptions of the past weeks after the murder of George Lloyd --whose name is added to the perpetual roster of Black men and women killed in this country as a result of racism-- are symptomatic of the larger systems and infrastructures that must change in business and far beyond.

Fierce Is The Word: President’s 5 Predictions for 2020 Workplaces

Stacey Engle, president of Fierce Conversations, understands perfectly the double meaning of the word. “Fierce to me is what you think of when someone is fiercely loyal, passionate, caring, courageous and getting to the heart of something.” She adds, “Someone can also interpret fierce as aggressive or too intense.” The two interpretations offer the opportunity to address what it means to be effective.

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