Tag Archives: creative

Why High Heels Are Still One Of Business World’s Most Powerful Symbols

4 Reasons Why Women Will Lead The Business World In The 21st Century

When you let women be women in the business world, they do better. That’s according to a recent report from the Harvard Business Review, which makes the case that traditional thinking – that women should be treated no differently than men in corporate settings – is simply flawed and regressive.

A major point the post makes is that only about 20 percent of businesswomen make partner. By expecting from women what you would expect from men, the corporate world is consciously and unconsciously excluding female leadership. That’s a very bad thing, according to many. For example, Kevin O’Leary of “Shark Tank” fame says that of his 27 companies, only the ones with female CEOS make him money.

“Women are good for business, so it follows that what’s good for your best women will be good for your bottom line,” says Debora McLaughlin, CEO of The Renegade Leader Coaching and Consulting Group (www.TheRenegadeLeader.com), and author of “Running in High Heels: How to Lead with Influence, Impact & Ingenuity.” 

“I’ve long advocated this position, and that symbols of female business identity, like high heels, are signs of a businesswoman’s ability to elevate business results, consistently providing a better return for stakeholders.”

McLaughlin discusses why women will be essential for leading businesses into a new paradigm this century.

• The old way doesn’t work. Since 1955, more than 90 percent of the companies on the Fortune 500 list have gone bankrupt, shrunk in size, become inconsequential, been mopped up by their rivals or closed their doors. Sixty percent of CEOs think their current business model is only sustainable for another three years. Sticking too closely to your old guns, including discouraging a woman’s nature in the corporate world, will likely involve your company in that 90-plus percent failure rate.

• The business world has already changed. While technology continues to revolutionize how we do business, it has also changed the workforce. Today’s employees are smarter, more innovative, more creative and full of potential – and it’s not only due to technology. As Generations X and Y emerge as tomorrow’s leaders, Millennials are proving to be very resourceful workers. Old models like “command-and-control” don’t fit with a company’s most precious resource, its people.

• Women are more social and excel in collaboration. We shouldn’t generalize to strictly regarding gender norms. However, it’s probably fair to say that women are more nurturing for in-group members. Much of the traditional management method centralized authority; a woman’s leadership is more prone to sharing influence and, perhaps, fostering a creative culture of collaboration.

“Of course, this is not a strict gender rule,” McLaughlin says. “But I think it’s the experience of many that women are, in the aggregate, more nurturing.

• Momentum will continue to build for women leadership. Momentum tends to build upon itself, and that includes social change. While that change has been slower in the corporate world, we’re already seeing signs and opinions of change, as exemplified by Kevin O’Leary.

“More importantly, if the Harvard Business Review’s post is an indicator, women in business will feel more comfortable being themselves in a professional environment,” she says. “Unlocking those invisible shackles from a woman’s high heels will be a game-changer.”

About Debora McLaughlin

Debora McLaughlin is the best-selling author of “The Renegade Leader: 9 Success Strategies Driven Leaders Use to Ignite People, Performance and Profits.” Her new book, “Running in High Heels: How to Lead with Influence, Impact & Ingenuity,” is a how-to leadership companion for women in business. She is CEO of The Renegade Leader Coaching and Consulting Group (www.TheRenegadeLeader.com). As a certified executive coach, McLaughlin helps business owners, executives and managers nationwide ignite their inner renegade leader to unleash their full potential, drive their visions and yield positive results, both in business and in life. 

Supplemental-  Top 10 Female CEOs & Influential Business Women of North American Companies

Hashtag Roundup App reaching 100,000,000 Twitter “Hashtag gamers” weekly

Have you been playing hashtag games on Twitter? Hashtag games are fun and free word games where Twitter users contribute funny or clever responses around a common theme, like #RejectedPrezCampaignSlogans or like #Things20SomethingsSay.
Rejected Prez Campaign Slogans Hillary
Hashtag games can often be found in the “what’s trending” area of Twitter but to discover all of them there’s a new app called Hashtag Roundup (www.hashtagroundup.com) that creates and hosts its own creative games, recruits comedians and Twitter celebrities to host live games, and aggregates the best trending games, making Twitter easy and accesible for everyone.

 The Hashtag Roundup app, now available for Apple and Android, provides game alerts, peer-to-peer awards, and exclusive leader boards to serve the rapidly expanding global hashtag gaming community. Hashtag Roundup is the leading creator, promoter, and aggregator of hashtag games in the US, Canada, and UK, with a cumulative weekly reach now exceeding 100 million Twitter users.

We ( @thesiloteam) had fun with a recent game called #MakeAFilmSkeptical
We ( @thesiloteam) had fun with a recent game called #MakeAFilmSkeptical

Hashtag games are word games where Twitter users contribute often clever or funny responses to a common theme. For example, a recent game promoted by Hashtag Roundup was #4BestWordsEver, and contributions included tweets like “Open bar, free food” (@2p2TrollCat), “School is finally out” (@trjx1d), “Mom got us pizza” (@Broganza16), and “You’re the best mommy” @darksidedeb).

Brands get in the game as well, with submissions like “We’re going to Universal” @UniversalORL), “No soup for you!” @Seinfeldtv) and “a dozen original glazed” @krispykreme). The “winners” are the ones with the most retweets and favorites. Hashtag games provide a fun diversion and creative outlet for individuals and a marketing channel for big brands.

Hashtag Roundup recruits comedians and Twitter celebrities to host and create games. Users download the app in order to see what games are running and what the best responses are. Hashtag Roundup shares both original games and trending games on Twitter.

Scott Fischler Cofounder HashtagGameHashtag Roundup is a joint venture of @TheHashtagGame and @absrdNEWS. In February 2012, @theHashtagGame was launched by Scott Fischler (@fastlaugh) and quickly established itself as the leading 24/7 hub of hashtag gaming. Meanwhile, @absrdNEWS and absrdCOMEDY.com were launched in February 2014 by Jeff Dwoskin (@bigmacher), immediately gaining recognition and followers for its sharp news parody and frequent, funny Top Ten Lists. Fischler and Dwoskin, both comedians, joined forces in 2014 to jointly develop the Hashtag Roundup app for iOS and Android. Hashtag Roundup delivers a consistently great Twitter experience, with engaging hashtag games and hosts.

“We love watching the hilarious and creative answers our fellow Twitter users come up with in hashtag games, but as hashtag addicts ourselves, we struggled to keep track of all the games, and all the responses,” said Jeff Dwoskin, founder of absrdCOMEDY.com.

“Hashtag gaming is rapidly becoming a significant marketing vehicle for brands, celebrities, major league sports teams… even political candidates. All are now frequently playing our games, and recognizing the massive positive exposure to new audiences that hashtag gaming provides,” said Scott Fischler, founder of @TheHashtagGame.

App  Download links

iPhone/iPad https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hashtag-roundup/id985741893?ls=1&mt=8
Android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.touchtitans.hashtag_roundup

Click to view on I-tunes
Click to view on I-tunes

Touching Is Our First Form Of Communication

Looks familiar? Uh huh. This image is reworked from the original LP Invisible Touch by Genesis on Virgin Records. CP

 

The moment we become parents we use our sense of touch to communicate with our brand new baby.  I will never forget that first moment in my each of my babies lives, when they started to experience and explore the world completely independently of me.  The first thing I did was reach out to my newborn and without exchanging a single sound, we were instantly familiar to each other.

The research that outlines the benefits of touch and infant massage is extensive.  Any expert will go on and on about how there is a fancy chemical reaction going on in my brain (central nervous system) that releases a feel-good hormone (serotonin) that counters stress hormones (cortisol) and that is why I feel that connection with my newborn.  What I actually experience in those first moments of my child’s new life is nothing short of magical.

This is not meant to imitate the many hundreds of articles that are already out there that outline the benefits of Pediatric Massage Therapy, but there is a little Massage Therapist inside me that cannot encourage you enough to explore it.   Children ages 0-99 can benefit from Registered Massage Therapy, but in the mean time treatment can start at home or even heart beats after birth.

 

Just a few of the types of baby massages. image: yogawiz.com
Just a few of the types of baby massages. image: yogawiz.com

 

 

After spending much time looking for a nursery rhyme that could incorporate a meaningful massage into its singsong format, I decided to write my own for you to try:

Bedtime Butterfly Kisses

Belinda the beautiful butterfly was bouncing on a breeze

Gracefully she glided to give my shoulder a squeeze

“How do you do?” Belinda sung so sweet.

“May I rest here while my heart slows a beat?”

She stopped but a moment before she began to explore

Hugging my arm she looked way down to the floor.

Three times she wandered from shoulder to finger

But I liked her so I indulged, and hoped she would linger.

Perched in my hand, she started stroking my palm

It tickled before I realized it made me feel calm.

She drew circles and hearts with her nose on my skin

Before she giggled and climbed back up to my chin.

With a fluttering kiss to my cheek she gently rubbed my head

And then softly she whispered, “Baby, time for bed.”

Though my eyelids are heavy I try to protest

To forget Belinda when I wake I’d deeply regret

Belinda’s wings push the air across my sleepy face

Like angel kisses made out of the most delicate lace

“Rest well little one,” She sings, “And think not of sorrow.

If you go to sleep now I can come back tomorrow.”

You can be creative and pretend your own hand is a butterfly.  I used an inexpensive IKEA  (Gulleplutt .99$ CP) finger puppet. Don’t let you imagination stop there.  As your child grows out of silly rhymes consider getting creative and making an imaginary pizza on your kiddo’s back, belly or palm. What about planting a garden and watching it grow?

I can give you more research that indicates why it is important to perform these treatments at the same time each day, in a calm space with a warm blanket and yadda yadda, but experience has taught me that even when my son or daughter is in middle of their wildest meltdown behavioral state; a nurturing touch with loving intent is the only cure. For the Silo, Jenny Tansley.

Jenny Tansley