Most Recent Posts
Are Women Better Leaders Than Men? Exploring the Leadership Gender Gap
Are women better leaders than men? The answer is a paradox: research says that women display more positive leadership characteristics than men but that most people believe that good leaders act more like men. Exploring these contradictions paints a fascinating picture...
Can you get to the top without playing office politics?
Office politics is as much a part of work as drawing a salary. And yet, I don’t know anyone who wants more of it. In fact, many clients come to me because they feel stymied in their career advancement goals because they perceive “office politics” to be getting in...
Career Coaching Tip: The Limits of Empathy
Early in my career, empathy was my ace-in-the-hole management technique. I was all business when it came to helping my team on technical, process and performance issues, but if they had an emotional reaction or issue, I reverted to empathy because it was the easy...
Daydream Stress Reduction
To kick off Stress Awareness Month, Dana let her mind wander and this is what came out. – InPower Editors I’ve been working hard lately and last week I hit a wall. My brain couldn’t take another step and it took me 20 minutes to write a two paragraph email simply...
Does Women’s Emotional Intelligence Help Us Get Into Leadership?
Is women's emotional intelligence (EQ) likely to help you or hurt you when you're on the leadership track? How well do you handle your emotions at work? Too many women and men read that question as a damnation of women who can’t control their emotions in the office....
Dear Dana Career Advice: Can I Change A Toxic Corporate Culture Or Should I Leave?
Welcome to “Dear Dana”, our weekly column to give you career and workplace advice/coaching. Please write in and tell me about a career challenge or frustration you’re facing at the office! – Dana Theus Dear Dana, I loved your article on why my dream job isn’t a dream!...
Popular Posts
How to Prepare for a Performance Review or Job Interview
One thing I love most about the InPower Community and other forums where I take part as an expert is answering people's questions. One of the most popular topics on people's minds is how to prepare for a performance review, followed closely by queries about how to...
Want An Executive Job? 4 Tricks To Get Out Of The Weeds
In a previous post about job interview tips, I outlined the findings of several research studies about advancing your career – especially for professional women in leadership who want to land a C-suite executive job. The research basically pointed up the...
10 Biggest LinkedIn Mistakes Most of Us Make
Do you ever wonder what the "best practices" are for LinkedIn, whether you're looking for a job or not? Check out this wonderful post by Henna on common LinkedIn mistakes most of us make for some good advice. We've already done a little LinkedIn profile update after...
Leadership
Can you get to the top without playing office politics?
Office politics is as much a part of work as drawing a salary. And yet, I don’t know anyone who wants more of it. In fact, many clients come to me because they feel stymied in their career advancement goals because they perceive “office politics” to be getting in...
Career Coaching Tip: The Limits of Empathy
Early in my career, empathy was my ace-in-the-hole management technique. I was all business when it came to helping my team on technical, process and performance issues, but if they had an emotional reaction or issue, I reverted to empathy because it was the easy...
Soap vs. You: A Leader’s Guide to Branding
Back in the old days, companies did branding and people did leading. Not so today. Now-a-days if you want to get into, or stay in, leadership and other positions of influence you must have personal branding. In our overwhelmed world, brands – both personal and...
Mentoring
Sponsor vs. Mentor – 3 Tips for Attracting a Sponsor
Is “Executive Sponsor” is the New “Mentor” for Women Leaders? The missing piece in women's advancement strategies into leadership? Mentorship helps us be effective, but it’s not as helpful at helping us get a job as sponsorship is. Dana takes a look at what is means...
Building Successful Mentorship Programs: What You Need to Know
Mentorship is an important part of any leadership development program. But should you formalize something that is often most powerful in its informal state? Having participated in and supported many different styles of mentorship program over the course of my career I...
Why Mentorship Isn’t Enough To Help Women Get into Leadership
We hear a lot about how, in addition to mentors and mentorship, women need assistance to get into leadership. They need sponsors to help make it into the executive ranks. But how do you learn what a sponsor wants? Dana turns it around and invites you to start...
Interviews
Change Management Secrets: Leading (and Surviving) Large Scale Change
Large scale change, a new software system, a culture change initiative or a new business investment can create havoc for those unprepared and major opportunity for those who seize it. In this discussion with Brand Transitions expert, Donita Prakash she shares some of...
How to be an Ally to Women of Color, and All Women
I so appreciate this conversation with Saundra Gilliard and the powerful women who participated in my interview with her. We discussed the complexities of setting up true and impactful alliances across racial lines between women. It turns out that the answer to the...
Getting a Promotion is SO Yesterday
Podcast/Audio Getting a promotion has never been so hard. The economy is in constant flux and burnout is running high, especially among women. One question many are asking these days is, "Do I even want a promotion? And if I'm unsure, why should I stay here?" These...
Career Advice
Dear Dana Workplace Advice: Career Planning in the Age of Digital Disruption
Welcome to “Dear Dana”, our regular column to give you career and workplace advice/coaching. Please write in and tell me about a career challenge or frustration you’re facing at the office! Today's topic is career planning! – Dana Theus Dear Dana: You wrote a post...
How To Psyche Yourself Up For Difficult Conversations
By: Mary Schaefer What do you do when you’re really ticked off A client asked me for coaching to help deal with having difficult conversations a colleague. The colleague made false accusations, talked about him behind his back and micromanaged. Overall he made him...
Assertive or Aggressive? There IS a Difference (in Leadership Communications)
"The minute I express my opinion clearly, I get labeled as aggressive." This may be the most recurrent refrain I hear from the women leaders I coach when discussing leadership communication styles. They report that if they hold back or are soft-spoken, they get run...
Women in Leadership
Are Women Better Leaders Than Men? Exploring the Leadership Gender Gap
Are women better leaders than men? The answer is a paradox: research says that women display more positive leadership characteristics than men but that most people believe that good leaders act more like men. Exploring these contradictions paints a fascinating picture...
Can you get to the top without playing office politics?
Office politics is as much a part of work as drawing a salary. And yet, I don’t know anyone who wants more of it. In fact, many clients come to me because they feel stymied in their career advancement goals because they perceive “office politics” to be getting in...
Does Women’s Emotional Intelligence Help Us Get Into Leadership?
Is women's emotional intelligence (EQ) likely to help you or hurt you when you're on the leadership track? How well do you handle your emotions at work? Too many women and men read that question as a damnation of women who can’t control their emotions in the office....
Diversity & Inclusion
Cultural Change: An Update on Workforce Diversity
As I’ve begun to explore the interpersonal dynamics of workplace discrimination more closely, I have gone back to update my own understanding of workforce diversity data and what it tells us about the the demographic makeup of the modern workforce. I have been...
The Woman Effect: TEDx MassAveWomen Video & The Research Behind It
On December 3, 2012 I had the honor of speaking to a group of powerful women in Washington DC at a TEDx event, TEDxMassAveWomen. I’m very excited because I’ve long wanted to distill down what InPower Women's about, into a simple but powerful video, and this gave me...
What’s Wrong With Women’s Empowerment?
What’s wrong with women’s empowerment? Nothing and everything. - Click To Tweet At its best, women’s empowerment programs are an organizational (or social) recognition that cultural barriers diminish women’s chances to succeed and make an attempt to counteract those...
