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Wednesday, January 2, 2013

New Year, New YOU!

A new year always brings a fresh start, so what are you going to do with yours? I find planning goals for my life makes achieving them more attainable.  Big goals can seem overwhelming without a plan to achieve them. Focusing on what you want to accomplish will help you break down the ways to get there. Goal setting can also help relieve the stress and pressure that come with wanting to "be" someone great or "do" something big. Additionally, defining goals will help you stay accountable, especially if you share these goals with someone else. Defined goals will provide you with a framework for evaluating your progress throughout the year. Accountability partners can help you with this! There are many benefits to planning goals for yourself personally and professionally. So... how do you go about making goals? Here are a few tips!

Consider Franklin Covey's Productivity Pyramid - Start from the end or bottom of the pyramid. What are your foundational or governing values?

Sunday, December 30, 2012

The New Pink Collar

I recently read an article in Time magazine which encouraged the retirement of the term "Pink Collar," but I kind of like the term (in case you didn't know).

To provide perspective, you can read the entire Time article here, The Term “Pink Collar” Is Silly And Outdated — Let’s Retire It.  For those who don't want to read the entire article, here are a few points it makes. The term pink collar was coined to describe the jobs traditionally filled by women - nurses, teachers, secretaries, etc. Like the terms "white collar" and "blue collar," the term "pink collar" evokes a sense of separation. The article also states that the term is outdated, because males are now also filling jobs that were traditionally under the "pink collar" umbrella. In fact, it states 33% of male job growth between 2000-2010 was in "pink collar" career fields. It claims the male job growth in traditionally female career fields is not a result of women migrating to different jobs "pinkifying" other career fields, but instead is a result of a growth in demand for these positions.

While these facts may be true, I can't help but disagree with the author's conclusion that the term "pink collar" is outdated and should be retired.

Welcome to my blog!

I'm thrilled to be writing my first post in The New Pink Collar BlogSpot after a year in the making! I know, I know. A year in the making is a tad bit excessive, but honestly, it took me a year to finally muster the courage to create a blog. In a world where your status seems to be determined by the number followers you have on Twitter (I have exactly 27 btw...), the thought of having no one following my blog was a bit crippling. When I was finally over my self pity party, I was able to focus on what it was I really wanted to accomplish with this blog.  Drum roll please... My goal is to support leadership development of my fellow female professionals. I am fortunate to have some wise women in my life who have supported me along the way, and I want to give back to you what they have given me. I hope to do this by  sharing lessons learned, offering words of inspiration, posting articles from the experts, highlighting successful female professionals, and facilitating thought provoking discussions. In return, I hope you will also give back to the women in your life.