A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read allIf the Shoe Fits posts here
Are you really a more competent leader than the woman founder who you beat out for funding or do you just think you are?
Research says it’s the latter, i.e., all in your mind.
Results show that when all leadership contexts are considered, men and women do not differ in perceived leadership effectiveness. Yet, when other-ratings only are examined, women are rated as significantly more effective than men. In contrast, when self-ratings only are examined, men rate themselves as significantly more effective than women rate themselves. From the abstract of a paper by Samantha C. Paustian‐Underdahl (number 5 on the list; the full text is available upon free registration)
Is it true that software development has no future once you get to a certain age such as 40, and one should pursue to steer his development career towards management?
Do you pride yourself on being part of the bro culture? Do you agree, publicly or privately, with what White_N_Nerdy wrote on Reddit?
“I’m honestly trying to understand why anyone says that females are ‘needed’ in the tech industry.” He continued: “The tech community works fine without females, just like any other mostly male industry. Feminists probably just want women making more money.”
If, in the deepest, most private place in your mind, your response is ‘yes’, then consider that the women you degrade and perceive as troll bait are someone’s sister, mother, aunt or cousin.
And that somewhere/somewhen someone will do the same to your sister, mother, aunt or cousin.
And someday, when you hold your newborn daughter or son, know that this world you helped build is the world they, too, will eventually face.
It’s amazing to me, but looking back over nearly a decade of writing I find posts that still impress, with information that is as useful now as when it was written. Golden Oldies is a collection of what I consider some of the best posts during that time.
It’s been three years since I wrote this, but crowdthinking has increased geometrically, while independent thinking, let alone deep thinking, has decreased in proportion. You have only to consider the questions on Quora and the crowd’s actions/reactions at any political rally to see just how bad it’s become. Read other Golden Oldies here
What do you think?
Do you think?
Or perhaps the question is ‘how do you think’ around the clutter and the noise.
“Nobody can think anymore because they’re constantly interrupted,” said Leslie Perlow, a Harvard Business School professor and author of “Sleeping With Your Smartphone.” “Technology has enabled this expectation that we always be on.” Workers fear the repercussions that could result if they are unavailable, she said.
Of course, there is the alternative of ‘why bother thinking’ when one can just ask and receive crowdsourced thoughts on any subject imaginable; from where/what to eat to raising your kids to how/when to die.
But what happens to the crowd when everybody stops bothering to think?
At that point the old saying, everyone has a right to be stupid, but some just abuse the privilege, kicks in with a vengeance.
Rather than joining the crowd, take time to think; you may be one of the few left who do.
First, a disclaimer: this post is in no way a recommendation for the University of Phoenix. In fact, I have long been against for profit education, especially UP, which is not only the largest, but one of the worst.
That said, I’d like to strip the logos from the new ad running on national TV and make it required watching for every boss in every business, whether large or small.
A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read allIf the Shoe Fits posts here
Why is it that we assume the people in our own little bit of world see/do/think as we do.
Think about it.
Do you assume that when faced with choices they will choose as you would?
Do you assume the visions presented by your leaders are honest, true and in your best interest?
Do you assume your religious leaders practice what they preach?
Do you assume your spouse/partner/friend will like the movie/book/people that you like?
Do you assume your team will tackle work/projects in the same way you do?
Think about it.
For any of these assumptions to be true, the people involved would have to have exactly the same MAP and life experience that you have—which is impossible.
So the next time you find yourself assuming stop and remind yourself that they are not you.
The Gates Foundation has pumped $4.6 million into a startup called MicroCHIPS, which has developed an implant that is capable of delivering steady, regular doses of hormones to control fertility for up to 16 years. When a woman is ready to start a family, her doctor simply disables the implant remotely, and then restarts it when she wants to prevent additional pregnancies.
This could be a Harvard case study of what happens when an idea is funded without thinking through the possible hitches, glitches and repercussions.
In short, contraception is both a religiously and politically charged concept and everything is hackable. (Read the article for the details.)
The thing for entrepreneurs to remember is that what sounds great late at night after a few beers, among a group of like-minded folks whose excitement and enthusiasm feeds off each other or like a flash of genius or an epiphany may not stand up to cold logic and due diligence—not to mention possible ethical implications.
I’ve worked with hundreds of bosses and entrepreneurs over the years and there are two concepts I do my best to indoctrinate them with.
The first is a basic principle without which you can’t lead.
Leadership outside-the-box starts inside your head.
The second is a corollary and acts as a guide anytime change is necessary.
To change what they do, change how you think.
The point is that every boss in every organization at every level will lead/manage based on the way they think, what they think, how they think, and what they believe.
Or the kind who makes your money from an anti-societal app, with essentially (IMO) no redeeming characteristics?
Your legacy probably isn’t of primary concern when most of your life is still to come, but knowing that anything you say or do will exist long after your body has turned to dust should make you think.
Thanks to brain imaging scientists now know that your brain keeps growing as long as you’re alive.
Quite a difference from the old view that your brain stops making new neural connection around puberty.
Another new idea is that your brain needs just as much exercise as the rest of you, especially as you age.
Thinking is essentially a process of making neural connections in the brain. To a certain extent, our ability to excel in making the neural connections that drive intelligence is inherited. However, because these connections are made through effort and practice, scientists believe that intelligence can expand and fluctuate according to mental effort.
And a simple way to do it, thank to some of the leading brains at Stanford and, what else, but a startup.
Now, a new San Francisco Web-based company has taken it a step further and developed the first “brain training program” designed to actually help people improve and regain their mental sharpness. Called Lumosity, it was designed by some of the leading experts in neuroscience and cognitive psychology from Stanford University.
The following quotes are from an interview with Charlotte Beers, former chairwoman and C.E.O. of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, and meant specifically for women leaders.
As usual, I find that such insights and advice focused on a certain demographic is applicable to a much broader audience.
Don’t let someone tell you who you are. Keep your own scorecard, and it has to include the good, the bad and the ugly.
This is a humongous insight that qualifies as real wisdom.
Too often our perception of self is, in reality, a reflection of how our various worlds see and treat us; worse, that perception is often colored by negative experiences that happened to the person we were years ago and bear no relationship to who we are now.
Sometimes a company’s culture is a big influencer in how you see yourself, and you have to sift through that and see if it’s a fit. Part of it is knowing yourself so well that you know where you fit, and knowing yourself so well that you know why you work.
I would disagree and say that all of it, “it” being anything you do/try to do/want to do, is knowing yourself (the good, bad, ugly and inane).
Company culture as an influencer is more than sometimes, it is all the time. Culture is the atmosphere you breathe and the values by which you work. If you are not at least synergistic with the culture going in you will either leave or be co-opted into its vision of values.
Beers also talks about what she looks for when hiring.
I’m trying to understand how they used the power to hire and fire and promote and make those kinds of invisible choices that really affect other people’s lives. If they don’t have some generosity of spirit and some quality of teaching, I worry that they’re not going to bring along a strong culture.
I’m trying to find out if they have confidence about the things that matter, their own ability to think and to get to the true center of things.
The importance of these traits to a potential manager pales in comparison to their importance to the individual.
Understanding these things about yourself in conjunction with your scorecard provide a firm foundation on which to tweak the you-you-are, as well as to build the you-you-want-to-be.
Take a minute and read the entire interview—it’s well worth your time.
Entrepreneurs face difficulties that are hard for most people to imagine, let alone understand. You can find anonymous help and connections that do understand at 7 cups of tea.
Crises never end.
$10 really does make a difference and you’ll never miss it,
Words are incredibly powerful.
Are you really a more competent leader than the woman founder who you beat out for funding or do you just think you are?
Thanks to brain imaging scientists now know that your brain keeps growing as long as you’re alive.
