The future starts at an early age

I recently finished reading the book, The Confidence Gap, by Russ Harris, again.  Its advice needs to be shared with all women, girls and parents.

Rule 1: The actions of confidence come first; the feelings of confidence come later.

In 2013, we’re trying to figure out how to make a dent in the problem of the low numbers of women in corporate senior leadership positions. One theory of how to fix the problem is to increase the level of confidence in women, and especially in young girls.  The theory is that the more confidence we have, the more likely we are to compete, take necessary risks, and build skills and careers that are prone to advancement.

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Never let them see you puke!

 

This is the third instalment in the Family Olympic saga. We decided to watch the Canadian women’s soccer team play for the Bronze medal so we didn’t start our run until just before noon. It was about 32 degrees, no breeze, and no shade on the rural Nova Scotia road that served as our running track. About half way, my body decided to show me what it thought about me running in the heat. My stomach started doing Olympic-style somersaults.

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How often do you lead from behind?

The family Olympics continues and while I’m clear that I’ll never make a great runner, I am also clear that unusual circumstances bring out leadership qualities and talents.

As my boys ran ahead together, my husband stayed with me. What I noticed was that Hubby would often run behind me, letting me get well ahead, and then he would put in a good fast sprint so he would get a bit of workout too. He’d stay with me for a while, we’d chat a bit, and he’d fall back again. What I found interesting was that when he was behind me, I felt as though I was in the lead. I know I wasn’t really, especially with my boys so far ahead that I couldn’t even see them any more. But that didn’t matter. I felt motivated because I felt like I was making some progress.

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Inspired by a Champion

For many of us, the Olympics seem so surreal and so far away. But for my family, the London Olympics are very real indeed. Jenna Martin, 400 metre runner, is a family friend, and the sister of my son’s summer-vacation playmate. To see someone compete in the Olympics that you remember as a small child, is quite spectacular indeed.

While watching Jenna’s success, we were inspired to have our own family summer Olympics. My husband, three of our sons, and myself, all participated our own 5.4 km marathon. Ok, I know that isn’t officially considered a marathon distance, but since I’m not a runner and about as athletic as Frosty the Snowman, a run half that distance is a marathon in my mind.

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Youngest Fortune 500 CEO… What say you about Marissa Mayer?

 

I’m sure that women around the world cheered when Marissa Mayer was appointed CEO of Yahoo. Add one to the short list of women at the top. But what does this appointment mean to women like you and me, and will this help us in the long run?  I’m sure a lot of people will be watching her closely and scrutinizing her every move, including me.  Yes, I’ll even be paying attention to what she’s wearing, but hopefully I won’t read about it in the headlines.

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