Category Archives: English
Nasty or Nurture?
This title sums up Monday’s New York Times article by Mickey Meese called A Workplace Civil War: Women Bullying Women. Her article talks 
about the increased stress levels in the workplace due to the economic downtown. As a result of this stress, studies from the Workplace Bullying Institute (WBI) have found that there is an increase in “Yelling, scheming and sabotaging: all signs that a bully is at work.â€
In fact this “Workplace Civil War,†as Ms. Meese describes it, is more prevalent among women targeting their own gender. Some stats and thoughts on the women bullying women are: 40% of bullies are women. Women prefer ‘their own kind’ 70% of the time when selecting a target. Lots of thought-provoking arguments on why bullying exists in the workplace. Check this out for more information.
Appalled is my first reaction, but sadly I’m not shocked having personally suffered from this lack of sisterhood during my tenure in corporate America.  After so many years of struggle to achieve an equal footing with men in the workplace how did we get here? This nasty behavior is counter to the nurturing DNA women possess. How do we, as women in the workplace, turn the nasty into nurture? Or do you believe that today’s workplace culture is so toxic that we are beyond hope?
Diamonds Aren't Forever
One needed to look no further than the Vicenzaoro international jewelry show to see the world economic crisis is truly profound.  Held in Vicenza, Italy the show brings 1,400 exhibitors from around the globe to show off their amazing and quite expensive designs to jewelry buyers.
I attended the event on its last day.  Needless to say I was impressed by the sheer size of the exhibition hall, the elaborate display booths of each of the producers and of course the brilliance of the gems. I have never seen so much gold and diamonds in one place and at one time!
A recent Wall Street Journal article polled 52 economists and 73% of that group did not see recovery for another 3-6 years. New York Times columnist Keith Bradsher wrote a story about how cargo ships are stacking up in massive numbers off Singapore.
I can report that the Vicenza show was missing one major element…buyers. The corridors of the Fiera di Vicenza were almost vacant. Exhibitors were either milling about or vacantly staring off into space . One Italian vendor told me this was the worst show that he had seen in 25 years.
If the elite from around the globe aren’t buying diamonds, what can this mean to the rest of us? How long do you think it will take for economic recovery to arrive?
Building Your Business Wings
“Sometimes you just have to take the leap and build your wings on the way down.” This wisdom came from Kobi Yamada and reminds me of the 
courage it takes to spread your wings and fly as a woman entrepreneur. After almost a decade in business, combined with turning 50, my reflection button is pushed on this topic. Therefore, as a way of honoring courageous women business owners the Women@Work series will launch this month.
To frame this discussion, the U.S. Center for Women’s Business Research found that:
- Three-quarters of all businesses are majority-owned by women (51% or more) for a total of 7.2 million firms employing 7.3 million people, and generating $1.1 trillion in sales
- Women-owned businesses (50% or more) account for 40% of all privately held firms.
- 1.9 million firms are majority held (51% or more) by women of color in the United States employing 1.2 million people generating $165 billion in revenues.
These are no doubt amazing stats which beg the question, “Where do we go from here?†Malcolm Gladwell would, of course, challenge us to follow the consumer for the next tipping point.
One tipping point idea came from the May 9, 2009 Le Monde edition of the New York Times article, “Ideas for a Small World.†Companies were cited that are tapping into consumer habits and changing the way business is done because of these. Examples included: the desire for smaller grocery stores to cut down on wasted time in long lines , replacing those paper-wasting catalogs with USB pen drives ( thank you Christie’s), and cutting down on packaging to address environmental concerns (e.g. Wal-Mart has been pushing this with their vendors).
How is your business ‘shrinking the world’ by finding that next hot trend? I would love to hear from you.
A New Word Every 98 Minutes
This past Saturday’s La Repubblica in the R2 section had a fascinating story
about how frequently new words are created in a vocabulary, with English leading the way with 999.5 million words a year or one every 98 minutes. The Italian language was equally innovative with 300,000 annual additions.
Last year, along with our partners at ABK International, we created a new entry to the Italian vocabulary called “thrivare”. The word is dynamic in nature and speaks to a business’ need to develop and grow.
Despite the difficult economic times, what are you doing to move your company forward and “thrivare”?
Business Lessons from the Swine Flu
The onset of swine flu has shrunk the global landscape at a frightening pace. Yet stepping out of the health scare shadow entrepreneurs have a chance to learn from this experience.
Here are two business 101’s:
1) Communication is central. According to the World Health Organization, “Epidemics and pandemics can place sudden and intense demands on health systems. They expose existing weaknesses in these systems …†Just go to the WHO website to understand their communication strategy as one way of buttressing weak health systems. Their Media Centre is filled with daily briefings, white papers, podcasts, press releases and relevant content.
LESSON: Use all types of communication techniques with your customers that feature relevant content. Regularly update your website and blog that will create a revolving door for your customer’s return. Issue timely press releases and by all means pick up that phone for real-time conversations.
2) Strategy still reigns. WHO has joined forces with local governments, the CDC and public health agencies worldwide to create an active network of response and information exchange.
LESSON: Business strategies bear fruit when they are actually used instead of sitting on a shelf. Dust off those business plans and hone in on your services.
What lessons have you taken away from the Swine Flu epidemic? How are you going to put them into action?
