October 29, 2007

Taking care of business
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 12:10 PM

The 2007 World Champion Boston Red Sox absolutely belong here in the Job Blog.

Why? Because they showed us how to get the job done. And how to love your work, and how to love your colleagues and have a heap of fun while you're at it. From Baby Boomers Henry, Lucchino and Werner to Gen X'er Epstein to Gen Y'ers Ellsbury, Lester, and Pedroia, no cross-generational issues here - all happily working/playing together.

It didn't matter who the competition was or where they came from, either - California, Cleveland, or Colorado - they were just crushed.

It does indeed mark a New Era for Boston Red Sox baseball (or maybe a return to our roots at the beginning of the 20th century). If 2004 reversed the curse, 2007 makes a statement about a whole new team - owners, players, and management. And it feels good, doesn't it? A little hard to get used to after 86 years of being on the other end - losers, that is. But I think we can find a way to adjust to it, can't we?

And pretty much what I said in 2004 about the transparent organization holds true, top to bottom - take a trip in the time machine, if you like.

I do have one bone to pick. As a deep RSFS sufferer, I woke up groggy and bleary-eyed this morning after yet another game-shortened night, and promptly slammed my foot into a table leg as I was heading for the bathroom at 6 am. OW! Broken toe. For any fellow sleep-deprived idiots, here's the treatment (not much).

That's OK. I'll gladly take one for the team. Just look for the smiling guy with the limp at the Rolling Rally tomorrow. And. . .

GO SOOOOOOXXXXX!!!!

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October 27, 2007

Revenge of the fembots: happy to be child-free
Posted by Diane Danielson at 8:19 PM

First the Today Show hit a new low a few weeks ago with their episode on “Fembots.” Apparently, if you don't have kids, and instead, focus on your career, there is a good chance that you are "emotionally unavailable" and therefore a fembot.  But, wait, these "working women" (an editor from Marie Claire, a psychologist and a Today Show interviewer), didn't mean "fembot" in a negative way ... huh?  While if you really listen, they don't classify "all" working women with no kids as fembots, but you really have to listen to figure that out. 

Unfortunately there are too many bad inferences in this piece including the fact that "unmarried" is a mental illness; and that men who don't marry are simply "bachelors," but women who don't marry are either spinsters or fembots?  Neither one is flattering.  I'll have to admit, after watching this, I'd have a hard time ever reading Marie Claire or watching The Today Show again.

Where's Elizabeth Hasselbeck on this one?  She loves to throw other women under the bus.

http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-us&vid=73e42da6-7131-47d0-bc91-e3f0e3784bfe

But, wait, life as a fembot might not be that bad …I caught this other story on the Forbes website about a survey where childlessness seems to bother men more than women.

Koropeckyj-Cox speculated that some women may not be choosing motherhood because of the burden of how difficult the dual roles of mom and working women are. "Other studies have documented that men tend to experience pretty strong economic and social rewards from being a dad, whereas women experience more of the pressures and more of the demands of the immediate day-to-day reality of parenting and juggling work."

Click here to read the full story.

This is not too surprising coming on the heels of all the "happiness gap" stories. But, hey at least if you’re going to be a fembot, at least you get to be happy about it!

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October 23, 2007

Career skills learned on the playground
Posted by Diane Danielson at 10:16 AM

I caught an interesting article from Penelope Trunk called "Thriving Careers Start Earlier Than You Think."  In the article, she looks at a few life skills that your children need including:

1. Perserverance
2. Making decisions when you may not have all the information
3. Teach your kids to be positive thinkers
4. Teach frugality
5. Realize that you have limitations and your child is living in a different society from the one where you grew up.

Click here to read the full article.

These all made complete sense to me, so I found it striking that there was vehement opposition to some of her recommendations.  Clearly people mistook her #2 suggestion to say "don't research ever."  The point she was making was that most of the time we have to make decisions where we don't have and will never have all the information.  Perhaps the people who read her advice and see such an "extreme" all or nothing, need a few "positive thinking" lessons to be more accepting of the fact that not everything is black or white, but mostly in-between.

There are only two things I would add to her list: 

1. Resilience.  We need to teach our kids that sometimes bad stuff happens to good people, sometimes we lose, and sometimes life is just not fair.  I'm a big fan of children playing sports for this reason. On a side note - as it's impossible to not mention the Red Sox this week - this new generation of kids in New England has no idea what it's like to stand behind a team during rough times. As a sometimes coach, I'm starting to wonder whether it's harder for some of them to comprehend that not everyone gets to play or root for a championship team all the time.
2. To take responsibility for their actions.  Too many kids (and adults) are being taught to blame  others for their problems and are unable to take responsibility for their actions.  Yes, the dog may have eaten your homework, but who was the one to feed it to the dog in the first place? Or may have forgotten to feed the dog, so that he was hungry? Or left the homework on the floor where the dog could get it?  And, the likelihood that the dog specifically ate your homework just to get you in trouble ... not likely.  Although, if it was a cat ... that could be a possibility. 

My last example may sound silly, but we've all heard the excuses before (especially the teachers!).  Flash forward 10-15 years, and what happens when your child is in the office claiming he couldn't get the assignment done because someone else didn't give him the information, or she wasn't given proper instructions, or didn't have time because he had all these other crises, and the absolute worst excuse of all time, because "the rest of the team is out to get me."  Any of you bosses out there heard any of those lately?  Any of you then had parents call in to defend their children? 

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October 22, 2007

You may have. . .RSFS
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 11:31 AM

Of course you stayed up to watch the end of Game 7 last night - who didn't? You've watched your home town team all season long, the ups, the downs, the ins, the outs, the sideways. And now, coming back from being down 3-1 in the ALCS? Any fan worth their weight in peanuts just had to see Coco make that dramatic, body-jarring, final out deep in the center-field triangle and witness the Sox winning the American League Pennant.

And, oh, by the way, what time was it? Close to midnight? And the celebration - which you also had to see - pushed it into the wee hours of the morning. On a school night.

Yes, a school night. Or for many a work night. So today you feel as follows:

SYMPTOMS:
-- Scratchy eyes
-- Slight headache
-- Heavy-feeling body
-- Mind tends to wander from the task at hand
-- Vague sense of euphoria
-- Willingness to talk to just about anyone about last night.

DIAGNOSIS: If this is you, my friend - and there are millions of reported cases out there - you are a victim of RSFS - Red Sox Fan Syndrome. The symptoms are well-known and widespread, going well beyond Greater Boston and New England. And there are no signs that they will abate any time over the next week to 10 days.

RECOMMENDED TREATMENT: Sleep when you can, preferably on the off-nights and not on the job. Do not nod off in meetings or behind the wheel. If caught daydreaming about baseball, find an appropriate time to surf the web or share your thoughts and emotions with others in a manner not overly disruptive of normal business activities. In severe cases, just hang out at the water cooler and wait for any passers-by to chat with or, if so moved, call your local sports talk show. If watching games at home, consider cladding yourself in pyjamas sometime in the later innings for a quick trip to bed at game's end.

And keep your Sox on.

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October 19, 2007

Second acts
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 2:46 PM

Al Gore's naming as co-recipient of this year's Nobel Peace Prize has prompted Globe columnist Ellen Goodman to consider later-in-life career paths for the boomer generation:

. . .Gore is its poster child, the model for what Marc Freedman calls the "encore career." The head of Civic Ventures, a think tank promoting civic engagement as the second act for boomers, Freedman says, "Gore found himself by losing himself - literally losing - and being liberated from ambition, the idea that there's a particular ladder you have to scurry up and if you don't make it to the top it's all over. Essentially he found a different ladder."
- - - - -
As a country, we are at the beginning of an enormous transition. Under the old compact, sixtysomethings were supposed to get out of the way and out of work. They were encouraged by financial incentives and prodded by discrimination. Now we are drawing blueprints for people who see themselves more as citizens than seniors.

As a boomer approaching the big 6-0 (well, I've got a couple of years) and as author of the Globe's Transitions column, I am pretty highly attuned to these issues. But it is certainly true that lengthening lifespans occasion some real soul-searching about "What the heck do I do with the rest of my life?", regardless of one's income needs: if you need money, you gotta work; if you don't, you still have to do something with all those years and all that energy and experience.

More anon - this is a big topic and an ongoing discussion. For now, you can start by reading (Pulitzer) prize-winning columnist Goodman's piece.

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October 16, 2007

Eight signs it's time to change jobs
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 3:25 PM

Do you ever get a knot or sharp stabbing pain in your stomach, like you're developing an ulcer? Or do you have trouble sleeping on Sunday night because you just dread going in to work on Monday morning?

Well, not only are you not alone, says FORTUNE magazine's Anne Fisher. You are probably experiencing some of the signs it's time to change jobs - before you get fired.

Here's another sample from Fisher's list:

6. You are excluded from meetings your peers are invited to. Sound familiar? If it's painfully clear that your ideas aren't valued, why stick around?

If this rings sad but true, you may want to check out the full list, as seen on Yahoo!

If it is time to look for a new job, you're in luck. We can help. Start here.

(Thanks to astute reader Erica for the tip.)

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October 15, 2007

Not your father's MBA
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 4:50 PM

We all know Boston is a hotbed of higher education. Many also know that a number of institutions in the area also have a presence in and a commitment to management education.

But the times they are a changin' in the b-school world:

Autumn in the Boston area means leaves turning, students returning and, this year, the leaders at business schools churning.

A new crop of educators, including a high-profile power broker and pair of Bay State natives coming home from Philadelphia and Silicon Valley, are working to re-brand their schools and reshape business education in an increasingly competitive market.
- - - - -
Their approaches vary, from bringing students into the workplace to customizing MBA programs to training global teams in corporate responsibility, but all struggle to remain relevant at a time of rapid economic change. "Schools are trying to redefine what business leaders need to know," said Rakesh Khurana, associate professor in organizational behavior at Harvard Business School.

Read the full piece from Sunday's Globe.

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October 14, 2007

Lighten up (your hair) if you want to succeed
Posted by Diane Danielson at 12:07 PM

Elle magazine actually had an interesting article about how beauty standards affect the women who deliver our news.  It starts with the focus on a young reporter who was told to "lighten up," i.e blondify her hair if she wants to move her career forward.

"most of us would be outraged if a boss (any boss, but particularly a man) made such a suggestion, but she accepts - if not exactly embraces - the realities of her industry, one of which is that blond hair just might make her more successful."

Now, I fully expected the article to back away from that sentiment and start recommending hair color products, but the writer, Maggie Bullock, hung in there and had a pretty thorough discussion about the fine line female professionals walk between being pretty enough to be thought intelligent, but not so pretty as to detract.  She even references a study where "smiling" will lose women IQ points, while it raises it for men.  While the focus was on anchorwomen, the article was broad enough to cover all professional women who face this dilemma although in much subtler ways.

Of course, in true women's magazine fashion, the next article that followed was about the benefits of liposuction.

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October 10, 2007

Hollywood east
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 9:55 AM

Have you noticed a lot of movie stars around Boston recently? Like Meg Ryan and Candice Bergen, seen here?

Well, there's a reason - they're working:

If there is one factor driving the current influx of "Access Hollywood" types, it would be the tax-incentive package passed by the state Legislature in 2005 that gives filmmakers a 25 percent credit on their production expenses here. The impact on film budgets has made shooting here an attractive alternative to locales such as New York and Toronto. Wherever movie crews go, movie stars follow. It's not a complex formula, but it can raise the heat index for a city like Boston, which has been traditionally regarded as more a net celebrity exporter (think Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Denis Leary, Jay Leno) than an importer or destination point.

For more on why there has been a parade of stars streaming through the city, read the article from today's Globe.

While you're at it, check out this photo gallery of celebs at work in and around town.

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October 9, 2007

Needed: boat builders
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 1:57 PM

Today's Globe reports on the famed boat builders along Maine's coast - and how their 400-year old industry is in trouble due to a severe shortage of skilled workers:

...[T]he future of [Maine's] storied boat building trade, a proud tradition here for four centuries, is in jeopardy, industry leaders say, because of a critical breakdown in the supply of skilled labor. Maine's small, aging population is part of the problem. So is the remote geography of its coastline, which makes it hard to recruit employees from other places. Homegrown labor is also hard to find, as more young people leave the state for college or to find work.

And so it goes, another story of the movement from the hand-crafts, manufacturing, and industrial, goods-making economy to the service economy of today.

But the state is not sitting still and has taken a number of steps to address the concern:

To change perceptions and attract workers, a coalition of concerned organizations is establishing scholarships, beefing up apprenticeships, boosting the industry's visibility at career fairs, and offering tuition reimbursement to employers who send workers for advanced training. Supported by a $15 million federal grant for economic development, the groups are also developing a boat building curriculum and training instructors around the state to teach it, in hope of permanently widening the labor pipeline.

Part of the problem, industry insiders and state officials admit, is that they are battling the broader perception that all hands-on, blue collar work is not attractive these days as a longer-term career option:

A partner in the state's recruitment project, the 29-year-old boat building school [The Landing School in Arundel] is sending teachers to train new instructors in far-flung parts of Maine. And in a bid to attract students who are drawn to boat building, but also to college, school leaders will ask the state Legislature to approve the school's first two-year, associate's degree program in boat building.

Read the full piece.

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October 4, 2007

Till work do us part
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 3:49 PM

TIME magazine reports on a growing social phenomenon: commuter marriages, in which couples live apart from each other for long stretches of time - and distance:

How's this for a 21st century romance: Dr. Laura Minikel met Bent Balle on an airplane in 2000--she returning to the U.S. from practicing medicine in Africa, he escorting his parents on holiday from their native Denmark. Minikel and Balle chatted throughout the 11-hour flight and later met for coffee near her home in San Francisco before Balle returned to Denmark. They fell in love (through e-mail) and married in 2005 (in person), celebrating in four cities with friends and family. Are they happy? Yes. Are they together? Not exactly. Minikel, 37, remains in California to practice obstetrics and gynecology, while Balle, 44, an electronics technician, still lives in his homeland 5,500 miles away. She gets to work herculean hours at a job she loves; he gets to help raise his two teenage kids.

Read the full piece.

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Professionals downshift careers
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 2:47 PM

From NPR, National Public Radio:

Morning Edition, October 3, 2007 · Many white-collar professionals are swapping their power suits for aprons. Glitzy, upscale baking is the new fad in the trend-making culture of Los Angeles. So mid-career professionals are leaving behind corporate, high-stress jobs for passions they've had on hold.

To listen to the segment, visit this page on the NPR site and click on the "Listen" button. Segment running time: just under 4 minutes.

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October 2, 2007

Alumni tap college career advisers
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 3:01 PM

Now there's another reason to go back to school - after you've already graduated:

Dozens of colleges and universities have begun offering career-counseling services not just to recent graduates but to thousands of alumni.
- - - - -
The idea of helping alumni is not entirely new. Many schools offer at least some career services to alumni, such as listservs and job banks, and a few have long-established programs offering comprehensive services like one-on-one counseling and assessment tests.

Read the whole piece from today's Globe.

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