Washington Post: "Fixing the Economy? It's Women's Work."

Gotta love that companies with more women in leadership positions are doing better financially! Are you able to stretch a dollar like no other?! What are your tricks & tips?

Thanks to our friend Frances who told us about this story in the Outlook section of today's Washington Post! Turns out women might be the one to save the day in these troubled economic times. What do you think? Will it be women who save the day? What do you do in your own life to save money and deal with the economy? We'd love to hear from you!

Washington Post article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/10/AR2009071002358.html

Discussion: How Do Your Photographs Show What You Value...And How Does That Translate Into Your Leadership Style?

What do your photos say about you and your leadership style?

As I was writing about the differences between men & women's photo albums and how they related to leadership styles, I started thinking about what has meant the most to me in the places I've led. My essay painted a picture that certainly holds true for me (i.e. my leadership style focuses strongly on the people) but I wonder what I may have missed...what may be different for other women.

Many of my photos are of special moments in my life...trips, achievements, summer barbecues on my patio. But the setting isn't what's most important to me...I always try to get pictures of the people who are sharing the memory with me. More specifically I try to take pictures of myself WITH the people who are sharing special moments with me. I have a thousand pictures of "me & someone" that I took with my own outstretched hand (and for the record...I've gotten pretty good at it!). Sometimes I get an offer by a passer-by to help take the picture...but I tell the person, "That's ok...this is sort of my thing!" I don't know why I do this...but in the moment it feels like I'm sharing that occasion with one person (or a few) who will be able to look back and remember that instant. If not in a memory, then when they see the photo that we took of ourselves to commemorate the moment!

The way this translates into my leadership style is that I try to create special moments for those that I lead. Sometimes it’s remembering a birthday and having a little celebration. Sometimes it’s a made up PowerPoint certificate of achievement for a silly thing that happened on a big project (“Baker of the Best Baked Goods Ever” and “Busted While Busting a Move” come to mind). Whatever it is, I try to let the members of my team know that I value them, that what they’ve done is special or important to the team, and that I do recognize their hard work…which I’m hoping for more of it in the future! And of course, I always have my camera poised to capture the moment on film!

What about you…are your photographs mostly of people and sentimental events? How does that translate into your leadership style? Or perhaps I missed the boat all together when I said it was only men who typically value titles, outcomes, and things as evidenced by their pictures of motorcycles and boats...and you feel like you belong on that list? Or maybe you’re on the list that seems to provide common ground for us all and you have pictures of the one thing you value most…your dog?!

Whatever the answer, we’d love you to share! So tell us, what do you value and how does it show up in the way you lead?

How to Lead Like a Girl through your Camera Lens

Photos tell us a lot about what people love...AND about how they lead!

What we value says a lot about how we lead. I was reminded of this the other day when a few friends posted photo albums on facebook, the subjects of which were a compilation of “my life” and/or “things I love.”

The first album I saw was posted by a male friend of mine. It had 24 pictures in all, only four of which included people. And in those pictures…the people appeared to be there merely to highlight the things they were next to. Not that the things they highlighted weren’t nice…they were. But the majority of the pictures were of inanimate objects that pointed towards my friend’s status as an owner of them. The album included pictures of two boats, a big house (complete with mini-bar, which warranted its own photo), a pool, a car, a motorcycle (which was labeled “one of my children”), a 55” TV, and a few pictures of aircraft that were part of a past life in the army.

Oh, and there was a picture of his dog.

The second album belonged to one of my girlfriends. This is an ever growing album titled “things i heart” and is currently up to 29 photos. Of those, only five do NOT include people. Her photos include her husband, her sister, a picture of her with her dad, her new niece, her sisters-in-law, her cousin, her friends, a photo from one of the Muslim embassies on Embassy Day with her wrapped in a makeshift headdress, and a lovely shot of her next to Kermit the Frog in the Smithsonian. Even the photos that did not include people had clever captions. They weren’t just pictures of things…they really told a story about this girl and what she loves. They included a lovely bell tower in Puerto Rico, a fine example of German engineering (I know because the caption told me so), a rain storm she got to watch from indoors rather than being in it, a pink martini from her birthday dinner, and an old floppy disk with the caption:

“i heart finding REALLY OLD random floppy disks in the desk drawers at work!! this reminds me, i also heart the 80s!!!(ps, this is just about the actual size of this thing...it's HUGE!!)"

Oh yeah…and she also had quite a few pictures of her dog.

The difference in these albums really made me wonder how that tied to the way men and women lead. If these albums are any indication, it seems that men are more focused on the mission. Stuff. Titles. Outcomes. Having something to show for all the hard work. Did we get a check in the “W” column or was the project a failure?

Women on the other hand often find their value in relationships, experiences and what happens on the journey. Maybe the project didn’t go as well as it could have…but the team got along fantastically and built camaraderie for the next big project. No need to hold off celebrating until the end of the project…let’s find a way to make the milestones fun events in themselves!

Neither of these leadership styles is right or wrong…and truth be told, most teams would benefit from a little of both. But in our haste to sometimes strive to fit into a “man’s world” let’s not forget all the value women bring as leaders.

So celebrate people’s birthdays. Take a long lunch to pat your team on the back for reaching a big milestone within a project. And take pictures of the people. The events. And yes, even the achievements themselves!

Remember the personal photos you keep in your office say a lot about you to your team and co-workers. Our pictures reflect what we love. What we love reflects our values. And our values strongly influence how we lead.

But no matter what we value, be it our achievements or our teams, we can all agree on one thing. Everyone values their dogs!