September 2010 Archives

5 Easy Ways to Kill Your Business

Starting and growing a business is not for sissies! Some of the gutsiest women I know are the ones who have taken an entrepreneurial Do-Over! If you missed my recent teleseminar for women solopreneurs, I thought I'd offer you a chance to listen to a recording. What you'll hear is my conversation with Renee Belbeck (from the National Association for Women). We'll help you avoid those five common pitfalls on your way to success!

 Click here to listen to "5 Easy Ways to Ruin Your Business"

PS--There is only ONE spot left in next Thursday's Flying Solo coaching group for women solopreneurs. Click here for details and online registration.

Getting Ahead in Business as a Woman

In today's New York Times Roxanne Rivera offers great advice for women in business--even in traditionally male-dominated industries such as her own: construction. In the Business section's Preoccupations column, she shares her own career story and provides a few pointers for young women aspiring to industries where women are still a relative novelty. Rivera is the chief executive of the Associated Builders and Contractors of New Mexico and the author of There's No Crying in Business: How Women Can Succeed in Male-Dominated Industries.

Here are Rivera's main takeaways. Consider what one thing you can do this week to strengthen your own career positioning, no matter your age or your industry:

1.  "When you demonstrate outstanding performance and communicate effectively, your male colleagues will admire you, and you are more likely to flourish."

2.  Focus "on establishing solid relationships with male colleagues. Relationships are more important than ever in business, and women tend to fare better when relationships and relationship-building skills take a front seat."

3.  Get your hands dirty. "Nothing helps you succeed like knowing a company from the ground up."

4.  Develop a thick skin. "When a woman works in a business dominated by men, a sense of humor is vital. Joking and teasing is often part of the culture. [ . . . ] To defuse crude behavior, I nipped it in the bud. I would simply say, 'that is unacceptable,' and move on."

Even though Rivera suggests that this is a great time for women to enter fields like construction, she also acknowledges that patriarchal culture is deeply embedded. Only when more women enter male-dominated fields will the workplace really change.

7 Things about Fear

When I hold my "Ask the Coach" parties (the next one is at BookWoman bookstore at 7pm on Tuesday, Oct 5), the question I'm most asked is about fear. What to do about the fear?

I wish I had a magic wand to wave away each and every one of our fears. Alas, I don't. What I can offer are a few observations and a reference:

1. Everyone feels it.
2. It's not going to ever disappear from life.
3. It's a sign of growth.
4. It takes more energy to manage fear than to do what you fear doing.
5. At the bottom of every fear is the mother of all fears: "I won't be able to handle it."
6. Fear paralyzes us when we refuse to acknowledge it.
7. So . . . "Feel the fear and do it anyway."

For further reading: Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway by Susan Jeffers PhD.

Photo by Jordan Pérez Órdenes

The Three R's According to Terry McMillan

Author Terry McMillan (Getting to Happy, the new sequel to Waiting to Exhale) appeared on GMA today, talking frankly about the Do-Over! she took after her bitter divorce. At 51, she reminds us about the fundamentals of a midlife Do-Over!: Recovery, Resurrection, and Reinvention. The big takeaway: When you recognize that only you have power over your well-being, then you can take responsibility for who you are and who you're going to become.

Where to Find Ann Daly . . . in September

I'll be hosting a free teleseminar, continuing my career advice column, and spreading the word about my new coaching group for women solopreneurs.

ON THE PHONE
Call in to my teleseminar: "Five Easy Ways to Ruin Your Business." Part of the Entrepreneur Power Series sponsored by the National Association of Women, it's free, and interactive! Register here.

ON THE GLASS HAMMER
Check out my new "Ask-the-Career-Coach" column for The Glass Hammer, a terrific online community for professional women. Email me with the burning career questions you want me to answer.

ON FACEBOOK
Keep up with what's happening out at my beloved Wimberley retreat. Friend me.

Photo by by Peat Bakke