This is not an April Fool’s joke: Women are more stressed than men at work now. Maybe that is not even a surprise.
Yes, the stress you feel is real and most everybody in America right now is feeling it at work and home—it is just apparently affecting women more. Denying the stress is counterproductive; how you handle it is key to reducing its impact on you and the entire workplace culture.
Read MoreWith days to go on Women’s History Month, the theme, “Moving Forward Together,” celebrating "Women Educating and Inspiring Generations" fits perfectly with Take The Lead’s suggested list of books by women authors writing about history.
Even with the trend of banned books and the threat to reduce funding to public libraries, the habit of reading (and listening) to books is high in this country, with more women consuming books in all forms—ink on paper, ebooks and audiobooks—than men. There is also a trend of more women publishing books than men—a gender gap worth applauding.
Read MoreShould you stay or should you pivot?
The current climate is complicating the career paths of millions due to the factors of unpredictable layoffs, economic uncertainty, hiring freezes, pay reductions, and a general fear of culture changes enforced by a DEI-resistant administration.
How that plays out for leaders, managers and colleagues on different career trajectories, industries and levels of progress on a management ladder varies widely. But it is remarkably different from the Great Resignation sparked by COVID-19, that also enveloped many with a sense of possibility for entrepreneurship rallies and pivots into daring careers.
Read MoreA newly pervasive culture of shouting matches at school board meetings, city council meetings, citizen meetings with elected officials, youth sports, union meetings, public protests, board meetings, diplomacy meetings and even televised negotiations from the Oval Office have all normalized yelling, name-calling and bullying.
But this behavior is neither normal nor productive. So how do you change the momentum of the moment when you are in a work environment and someone shouts, yells, screams or causes chaos to erupt?
Read MoreAt the close of Black History Month, which began in 1915 in this country, and was made into law in 1986, Take The Lead salutes 10 Black women leaders across industries and influence. Diving into their contributions and keen advice for leaders today, there is so much wisdom to glean that moves far past one month of the year. And into forever.
In spite of Google eliminating its visual salute to the month and the Department of Defense declaring it erased—as well as Women’s History Month and National Disability Employment Month—Take The Lead acknowledges the depth and breadth of Black women in business, entrepreneurship, education, media and all of American culture far past the calendar mont of the year.
Read MoreYou cannot escape the impact economics has on every aspect of your life. Understanding the rapid changes today in employment trends, tariffs, labor, opportunities, consumer needs, inflation, behavioral economics as well as the laws of supply and demand in the U.S. and globally will make you a better leader and wiser entrepreneur.
“Economics has something to say about whatever you are talking about,” says Professor Kim Holder, managing director of the Center for Economics Education at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Read MoreTake The Lead is 11 years old this week on February 19. Eleven years ago, Gloria Feldt and Amy Litzenberger co-founded the organization with the bold mission of society reaching leadership gender parity across all sectors by 2025—this year.
For the past 11 years, Take The Lead has been working towards achieving gender and race equity in leadership across all sectors and industries. In that time, Take The Lead has been making enormous impact affecting hundreds of thousands of women in their careers and lives.
Read MoreThe historic and ongoing tech workforce gender gap is replicated in the Generative AI field, with the latest introduction of global giant DeepSeek competing with Chat GPT and other players. Today, only 22% of the AI workforce is women.
The possibility is that as GenAI expands its reach, access and innovation, the roles of women in AI leadership can blossom to equity.
Read MoreA movement by any other name would be just as crucial.
New presidential assertions claim diversity is immoral and has led to reverse discrimination, so the D word for diversity is banned.
The recent White House executive order calling for the elimination of Diversity Equity and Inclusion efforts, programs and initiatives in federal agencies, as well as foundations, businesses, the U.S. Airforce, corporations, universities, legal and medical associations, non-profits and more organizations and companies across industries has prompted different largescale responses.
Read MoreIt’s the signature of Susan B. Anthony that Ellen Snortland cannot replace, along with so much else lost in the devastation brought by the California wildfires that destroyed her home in Altadena.
But it is the support and comfort she has received from her friends in her 50 Women Can Change The World in Media & Entertainment, a Take The Lead cohort in 2017, that uplifts her.
“The 50 women should be called 50 angels,” says Snortland, a journalist, author, actor, writer, producer, director, lawyer, coach, advocate and counselor. After her home was completely destroyed, Snortland says, “They stepped right up, with Nancy de Los Santos leading the charge; They Venmo’d me a nice chunk of cash immediately.” De Los Santos is a screenwriter and member of the 50 Women cohort.
Read More“The pace of change is greater than ever,” says Christie Smith, Ph.D., founder and CEO of The Humanitiy Studio, and co-author with Kelly Monahan of Essential: How Distributed Teams, Generative AI and Global Shifts Arte Creating A New Human-Powered Leadership,
“Technology is outpacing leader capabilities. The paradign has shifted dramatically. There is a skills scarcity,” says Smith, whose more than three-decade career including leader Global Talent & Organization consulting at Accenture, after her role as Managing Principle of Deloitte Consulting, and developer of the Deloitte University Centers for Inclusion and Community Impact.
Read MoreDemi Moore in her recent Golden Globes acceptance speech for best actress for her performance in “The Substance,” said: “In those moments when we don’t think we’re smart enough or pretty enough or skinny enough or successful enough or basically just not enough, I had a woman say to me, ‘Know you will never be enough, but you can know the value of your worth if you just put down the measuring stick.’”
As a leader, it is crucial that you do not do that to yourself or to anyone on your team. Whether you are an entrepreneur working solo, or a colleague leading a team, it is important to know not only your worth, but the worth of building, supporting, maintaining and uplifting a broadly inclusive team honoring equity across all categories. Each person is enough and offers valuable contributions, so together it is an equation for success.
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