By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City) This year on The Glass Hammer, a topic we’ve discussed frequently is passion – why uncovering your true passion about your work can help advance your career and can make you happier. The value of passion really comes down to being “authentic” – when you’re doing what you [...]

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By Jenny Chen (Washington, D.C.) Recent studies on women in the boardroom reveal that women are getting seats at the table at an unfortunately slow rate. In fact, calls for more women on boards have been more vocal in Europe and the UK. For example, Britain just announced that companies would have to announce to [...]

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By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City) One of the turning points in Claire Ross’s career was realizing the benefits in taking big risks and moving out of her comfort zone. Ross, Head of Customer Service Delivery, Outsourcing at Mercer, explained, “I realized that men go for bigger roles, even if they don’t think they [...]

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Contributed by executive coach Ann Daly PhD I was worried after my most recent coaching session with “Rina.” We had been prepping for her performance review as a top-level financial advisor, and I didn’t have much time to make a few key points. Rina was talking about her hard work and hurt feelings rather than [...]

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By Robin Madell (San Francisco) “‘Nice’ has never really been the word to describe me in 
the workplace. However, I do think I am an effective leader. I honestly 
don’t know if being ‘nice’ would have gotten me further along more quickly 
or not. Sometimes I think it might have.” -Nikki Gastineau Johnson, Vice President [...]

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By Robin Madell (San Francisco) “People working for me have loved me; peers have resented and hated me. For years, I was the top female executive in my area in a very male-dominated industry, but I’ve grown tired of trying to be someone I am not, just to be perceived on a personal level as favorably as [...]

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By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City) “There really is no silver bullet to winning and achieving,” began Carolyn B. Lamm, Partner at White & Case. “It’s absolutely hard work and maximal effort. It takes a long time to figure out that the way to win a case is working very hard to develop the [...]

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Contributed by CEO Coach Henna Inam It’s the end of the year. You’re scrambling to make the numbers, completing performance reviews for your people, finalizing business reviews so plans for next year can be fine-tuned. Sound familiar? For each of the last 20 years of my corporate career, as each year drew toward a close [...]

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By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City) Anne Izzillo, President of the Financial Women’s Association, believes sincerely in the power of networking – in fact, she said, that’s how she got involved in the group in the first place. “I lived and worked in London for 14 and a half years and I came back [...]

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By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City) Karen Wimbish, Director of Retail Retirement at Wells Fargo, refers to herself as a “second half champion.” Having been in the industry for over 35 years, and worked in several functions, she saw her career pick up significantly after her kids were high school age – and she [...]

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