Advancing Women Podcast

Tidings of Comfort & Joy

In the winter nature rests. Yes…even Mother Nature rests in the winter. Nature is resting, sleeping, taking it easy – it’s not worrying about blooming – it’s just being. We need to take a lesson from mother nature. For most women…we get busier…much busier in the winter. We feel more stressed with all the holiday prep that so disproportionately drains women of our time and our calm. Of our comfort and our joy.

Too often we as women subordinate our comfort and joy for others. We feel like if we don’t do the things…all  the things…others will have less, be disappointed, things will fall through the cracks…so we do everything in our power to mediate that. At great personal cost to our comfort and joy. WE, YOU, are worthy of comfort and joy. Especially this time of year.

So, this episode is focused on YOUR comfort and joy. For how much you consistently care and do for others, you deserve some ease, pleasure, and happiness. Sometimes that takes being intentional in terms of our mindset and our actions. Learn more this episode about the Danish practice of Hygge (coziness & comfort) and the art of joyful living. You my warrior friends are deserving of comfort and joy.

Resources:

Website: https://advancingwomenpodcast.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/advancingwomenpodcast/

Books & Articles:

Joyful: The surprising power of ordinary things to create extraordinary happiness by Ingrid Fetell Lee

The Joy of Less: A Minimalist Guide to Declutter, Organize, and Simplify

The Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World's Happiest Country by Helen Russell

The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living by Meik Wiking 

The HYGGE manifesto https://medium.com/10-bullets-100-words-book-summary/10-bullets-100-words-book-the-little-book-of-hygge-by-meik-wiking-3656e2b8035c

Tug of War Bias, Tokenism & Queen Bee Syndrome

Bias against women creates conflict among women. If there is only one slot for one woman to advance (tokenism) women, of course will feel like they must compete against each other. This is just one example of how gender bias in the environment fuels conflict among women.

With so much of the social media messaging focusing on women empowering women and women supporting women, how do we explain Queen Bee Syndrome – that phenomenon where high ranking women in positions of authority treat the women who work below them more critically than their male counterparts and even that they can oppose or hinder the advancement of other women.

This episode addresses these difficult issues and identifies the biases that contribute to it. What do lobsters in a boiling pot of water have to do with women’s advancement – find out in this episode and learn what we can do to interrupt bias patterns that don’t serve us.

We challenge the narratives that perpetuate the image of women being difficult to work for or with or out of place in senior leadership roles. Narratives that preserve a gendered status quo that just does not work for women. Finally, we discuss what organizations need can do to interrupt Tug of War Bias patterns and reward the behaviors that create supportive environments and keep Queen Bee Syndrome at bay.

Maya Angelou famously said do your best until you know better than do better. That really sums up the purpose of the #advancingwomenpodcast. That more of us can KNOW…and that knowing will help us all DO better.

Learn more at https://advancingwomenpodcast.com/

Email me to share ideas or feedback @ drdesimone@advancingwomenpodcast.com

Connect on Instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/advancingwomenpodcast/

Connect of Facebook https://www.facebook.com/advancingwomenpodcast/

Gender Inequity: It’s not your fault but it is your problem ©

Imposter Syndrome

Women in the workforce, consistently report a very real sense of disparity and otherness. But it’s more than just otherness, we have problematized and even pathologized women to individualize the reasons for gender inequity. Blame the women…Fix the women…rather than address the societal, cultural, and organizational norms that create the barriers.

And one of these problems women are constantly told WE must fix is Imposter Syndrome. This episode addresses the three main themes in the imposter syndrome: 1. Not believing you deserve the success you have achieved. 2. A feeling of fraudulence about that success. 3. A feeling of dread that you will be “found out”. But we will also consider context when we are discussing imposter syndrome. Although research has shown that both men and women can experience the phenomenon – it is women, who tend to be the focus of the advice, workshops, books, and professional development initiatives aimed at overcoming the problem.

It is unfair to make this a women problem, BUT we should consider how women and persons of color disproportionately experience many workforce biases that HAVE contributed to the problem. Research shows that imposter syndrome is magnified by societal and organizational influences, and it is creating a culture of belonging rather than fixing women that is needed.

Organizations need to “lean in” to creating true belonging and rethinking organizational "fit". When we as women feel imposter syndrome it isn’t inherent to our gender it is amplified by the many biases we talk about here at the Advancing Women Podcast: stereotype threat, ideal worker norms, prescriptive gender stereotypes, think leader think male bias, tightrope bias, prove it again bias, in group/out group bias, and lack of fit, all which create the feelings of lack of belonging that perpetuate imposter syndrome. As Tulshyan and Burey note in their Harvard Business Review Article Stop Telling Women They Have Imposter Syndrome “Imposter syndrome directs our view toward fixing women at work instead of fixing the places where women work.” In short, more focus on fixing the structural and organizational problems, less focus on fixing the women. #impostersyndrome #genderequity

“It’s not your fault, but it is your problem” ©

Learn more at my website: https://advancingwomenpodcast.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/advancingwomenpodcast/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/advancingwomenpodcast

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-desimone-phd-mba-ba00b88/

Reference:

https://www.ted.com/talks/jodi_ann_burey_the_myth_of_bringing_your_full_authentic_self_to_work?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

https://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_may_shape_who_you_are?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

https://hbr.org/2021/02/stop-telling-women-they-have-imposter-syndrome

Powerful Women Unite: Rise of the “Sheconomy”

Tis the season…to flex your consumer power and help support women and women’s advancement. This episode encourages us all to think intentionally and strategically about the choices we make with our dollars and how our choices can impact gender equity.

We talk about the inequities women face in every episode of the Advancing Women Podcasts and an important part of that conversation is the economic consequences women face because of those workplace inequities. We also talk about a gendered power differential that exists unfairly in most public and professional domains...but there is one domain where women indisputably hold a great deal of power. Consumer power. The “Sheconomy”.

Women make up half of the U.S. population, but control or influence 85% of consumer spending and so we need to think strategically and intentionally about how our considerable consumer power can encourage - demand even- that companies think differently about prioritizing gender equity to help close the gender leadership gap.

Learn how to invest in women, and support women by pushing for corporate social responsibility in an intentional way which demands – with our dollars – that companies get on board or suffer the economic consequences of not doing right by women. #togetherwerise #supportwomen #sheconomy #womensupportingwomen #supportwomenentrepreneurs #supportwomeninbusiness

Gender Diversity Index https://www.equilar.com/reports/74-q1-2020-equilar-gender-diversity-index.html

https://www.workingmother.com/working-mother-100-best-companies-2020

https://www.nbcnews.com/select/amp/ncna1260044

The Meritocracy Myth

Everyone loves the idea of a level playing field. This expectation of fair competition underlies assumptions that the workforce is a meritocracy. A meritocracy is a system in which power, growth and advancement are vested in individual people based solely on talent, effort, and achievement…that advancement in such a system is based solely on performance as measured through objective criteria and demonstrated achievement. 

Meritocracy principles are built on assumptions that evaluations in the workforce are objective, but we know that as humans we are NOT capable of being completely objective. And if we know that, we can be realistic about the limitations of meritocracy principles in organizations where much of our evaluation in hiring and promoting is NOT based on purely objective criteria, despite our utopian belief and desire for this to be the case.

This episode holds the idea of meritocracy and women’s advancement up the scrutiny of the scientific knowledge of human behavior, biases and blind spots and the erroneous assumptions that guide meritocratic ideologies which ultimately serve to hinder women’s advancement.

Meritocracy can lead to framing the bias against, and resulting exclusion of, women in top-level positions of power pay and prestige as a failure to measure up. It suggests the problem lies outside of the organization and structural issues placing the blame directly on the shoulders of warrior women and that needs to be acknowledged, and interrupted. We’ll do just that in today’s episode of the Advancing Women Podcast, where empathy meets pragmatism…

“It’s not your fault, but it is your problem”™

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meritocracy

The Advancing Women Podcast Advancing Women Podcast

50/20 Vision: The Wisdom of Warriors

We've all heard the adage “Hindsight is 20/20”. It's an expression that suggests it's easier to understand something after it has already happened, that we have a level of clarity when we look back at a situation event or decision.

Today's podcast is my 25^th episode on my 50th birthday and it is about the wisdom and clarity of fifty. What my 50-year-old self wishes my 20-year-old self knew. I invited my two best friends, my most trusted warrior tribe to this group mentoring session. It’s a combined 150 years of experience in navigating the world’s biases and barriers as warrior women.

We talk about choosing what serves you and leaving the rest behind, embracing fear, holding on loosely, learning versus unlearning, having an “AND” mindset versus either or, and so much more. “Be humble enough to learn the rules, thoughtful enough to evaluate how the rules serve you, and brave enough to break the rules.”

Come celebrate my 50^th with me today! Whether you’re in your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, or beyond, you won’t be disappointed!

Website: https://advancingwomenpodcast.com/

Instagram: @advancingwomenpodcast

Facebook: @advancingwomenpodcast https://www.facebook.com/advancingwomenpodcast

Email: drdesimone@advancingwomenpodcast.com

The Ambition Penalty

With special guest nationally recognized money expert, Stephanie O'Connell Rodriguez

Too often women's success is attributed to luck rather than hard work and ambition, and even worse, if women are acknowledged for their ambition, it can be seen as aggressive.

Ever feel like ambitious men are meant to be celebrated while ambitious women too often are criticized and experience backlash? Or that women are told to always negotiate and speak up more to close gender gaps, but when they do, they face consequences? You don’t want to miss this episode of the Advancing Women Podcast https://advancingwomenpodcast.com/

Learn more about Stephanie O’Connell here at

https://stefanieoconnell.com/

Learn more about the ambition Penalty at

https://ambition.bulletin.com/

Global Equity for All Women

Warrior Women…Together we rise! This means ALL WOMEN.

There are still many societal structures, norms, and even laws that inhibit women’s opportunities, advancement, and economic potential. We see it here in the United States, but it exists across the globe, and it is much worse in many parts of the world

The United Nations has called Gender Equity the “unfinished business of our time.” Women and girls represent half the worlds population, therefore also half it’s potential. When women do better, economies do better. This means all women.

It is on all of us fighting for gender equity to see it as a global imperative, not just here, but everywhere. We must heed the call to dismantle barriers for women and girls’ full participation in the socio-economic development of their countries. Eliminating financial bottlenecks allows women to participate in decision-making which can transform families and communities. “We know that when women are empowered, they immeasurably improve the lives of everyone around them – their families, their communities, and their countries” (Hillary Clinton).

To that end I am extremely excited to talk in this episode about a true win-win opportunity for us to help enable some of the world’s poorest people to work their own way out of poverty helping them start successful businesses to build independence and financial resilience.

Mother Theresa said, “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” So, tune in to this episode to see how you can help “cast a stone across the water” to help empower the women of #Africa so they can improve the lives of everyone around them while benefiting from coaching that will create impact in your personal and professional advancement.

Resources:

Find out more about how the Microloan Foundation has helped hundreds of thousands of women living in poverty across the globe https://www.microloanfoundation.org.uk/about-us/

Learn more about the Women Leaders Association (WLA) Coachathon 2021

https://www.microloanfoundation.org.uk/events/wla-coachathon-2021/

On Wednesday November 17^th hundreds of coaches around the world will be participating in the #wlacoachathon2021 in partnership with the MicroLoan Foundation offering 45-minute individual leadership coaching sessions in exchange for a minimum donation of $35 to the MicroLoan Foundation. 100% of each donation will support women in Africa by providing the skills and tools needed to start a small business, generate income, pay for healthcare, and/or send their children to school.

This is a great opportunity to invest in your own professional or personal development while contributing to an important cause.

Change your life and the life of a woman facing extreme poverty. Learn more here:
https://lnkd.in/ggSb2_iC 

my link: https://lnkd.in/gYjfU9vp)

Today's Guest: Certified Executive Coach Denette Suddeth 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/denettesuddeth

Does Gender Neutrality Mean Women & Girls Lose?

How does gender neutrality differ from gender tolerance, and what does that mean in a culture of androcentrism, where male is often seen as the default? Simone de Beauvoir, the writer, and philosopher said “humanity is male, and man defines women, not in herself, but as relative to him. She is not regarded as an autonomous being. He is the subject. He is the absolute, she is the other.”

Don’t think so? It is everywhere, even in your everyday shopping experiences. Ever notice when you’re shopping that there are “razors” (the default, found in the men’s aisle) then “women’s razors” (usually pink, found in the women’s aisle)? Or how the blue t-ball set in the toy section is the “t-ball set” while the purple t-ball set is titled the “girls t-ball set”? “He is the absolute, she is the other.”

Our history of androcentrism is well entrenched. If we say men, that also means women, but if we say women, we do not mean men. When we hear all men are created equal, that means people (both men AND women). But if we hear all women are created equal, that means women only. Only one is seen as the default. The other is not. Men means everyone. People. Women…means women.

What happens if we incorrectly believe that gender neutrality is the same as gender equality? In this episode we talk about gender neutrality, gender tolerance, and gender norms and the potential  unintended consequences of gender neutrality when we don’t also consider gender tolerance in terms of devaluing traits considered feminine.

Caroline Criado-Perez notes in her book Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men that much of our recorded human history is one giant data gap whereby the lives of men have been taken to represent the lives of humans overall. If gender neutrality represents the absence of gender, does that really mean it will represent men and the male experience (the male default)? If we emphasize gender neutrality instead of gender tolerance will femininity and all who express it lose? This is a timely conversation we need to be having to ensure that unintended male bias that attempts to pass itself off as gender neutral does not sneak into our efforts to create a more gender equitable world.

#genderequity #gendertolerance #genderneutrality #androcentrism #

Reference:

https://advancingwomenpodcast.com/

Guest: Industrial Designer Erica Golub https://www.linkedin.com/in/erica-golub/

Criado-Perez, C. (2019). Invisible women: Data bias in a world designed for men. Chicago

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-58879461

https://www.today.com/parents/new-california-law-mandates-gender-neutral-toy-sections-stores-t233945

New California law will force retailers to have ‘gender neutral’ toy sections

Antifragility, Resilience, & Grit

In this episode I talk about Antifragility, a powerful concept introduced by Nassim, Nicholas Taleb in his bestselling book, Antifragile: Things that gain from disorder. Think the oppositive of fragile is resilient? Nope! Fragile is negative and resilient is neutral. The oppositive of a negative is a positive, so the opposite of fragile is antifragile. Antifragility is increasing in capability and thriving because of stressors, shock, and volatility. As Nietzsche (and Kanye) have said…that that don’t kill me…can only make me stronger…”

Antifragility is more than resiliency or robustness. The resilient maintains under stress or pressure…the antifragile gets better.

Antifragility, resilience, and grit are pragmatic as they relate to combating gender inequity so we can transcend and thrive. Despite the host of inequities, biases and barriers that create an unlevel playing field for talented, highly qualified women, it is possible that WE can have the last word in the end if we adopt an antifragility mindset. We can become stronger, better, more proficient, not despite, but  because of these inequities. And that is a mindset shift that can serve us.

Do not miss this episode to hear more about how to harness your emotional intelligence superpowers from adaptability, to empathy, to excellent communication. We know that women must consistently be mindful of monitoring and adapting in response to biases. Although this is unfair and inequitable, there can be tremendous growth to our skillset if we have the right mindset.

As Taleb states “the wind extinguishes a candle and energizes fire.” This episode is about harnessing the wind and being the fire that is energized. #antifragility #grit #resilience #robus #transcend #thrive

Reference

The 4Ps Advancement Model™

https://advancingwomenpodcast.com/4ps-advancement-model-problem-patterns-process-proficiency/

Website: www.advancingwomenpodcast.com

Instagram @advancingwomenpodcast

email drdesimone@advancingwomenpodcast.com

Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2014) Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder. Random House Publishing