Language in letters of recommendation can hold women back

Language in letters of recommendation can hold women backLanguage in letters of recommendation can hold women backWhen a job application asks for a letter of recommendation, the expectation is that your letter writer will sing your praises. But a recent study published in the Journal of Business and Psychologyfound that these letters are not always positive and can actually hold applicants back if they are women.When researchers from Rice University,Hunter College and CUNY Graduate Center, and the University of Houston analyzed 624 actual letters of recommendations for 174 men and women applying for eight assistant professor positions, they found that letters written for women were mora likely to have doubt raisers that questioned an applicants aptitude for the job.How doubt raisers raise red flags on female job applicantsThe doubt raisers came in many shades. The most obvious was negativity, or an overt weakness of the applicant, that the recommender directly pointed out in red flag s like does not have much teaching experience or a look at applicants publication record will show that she has not published a huge amount.Then came the more insidious forms of doubt like hedging where the author admitted uncertainty about a candidate, or the backhanded compliments of faint praise. As one tepid compliment for a female applicant stated She is unlikely to become a superstar, but she is very solid.Regardless of who women picked to be their all-star reference, their letters were more likely to put them at a disadvantage because of these doubt raisers. Both male and female recommenders were using more negativity, hedging, and faint praise in letters of recommendations for women compared to the letters written for men.We are able to pick up on this doubt and respond to it.When the researchers got about 300 university professors to rate letters of recommendation, they found that negativity and hedging caused professors to rate an applicant more harshly on their research s kills than otherwise identical applicants.Its a reminder of how bias can creep into language with even well-intentioned efforts and can still cause lasting harm to careers. We know that letters of recommendation are supposed to be heaped with praise when a letter lacks this level of enthusiasm, we notice it.Letters of recommendation are usually so positively skewed to begin with that a doubt-raiser can stand out in a sea of positivity, Mikki Hebl, one of the authors of the study, said. Also, recommendations are made all the time, even if theyre not in letter form. Its so important to think about the ways language reflects subtle biases, as these spoken subtleties also may add up over time to create disparities.For female job applicants, fighting bias means carefully picking and coaching your chosen reference to make sure how you see yourself aligns with how your reference sees you.But ultimately, it takes a group effort to root out bias in hiring. For institutions in academia, stopp ing subtle bias means raising awareness of how it happens into the selection process. The researchers found that when writers were asked to explain their ratings, they showed less gender bias against applicants.

Managing Continuous Change

Managing Continuous Change Managing Continuous Change Its been more than 20 years since the human side of organizational change became the hottest topic in management training circles. Its still the top organizational challenge today.Why is organizational flexibility still keeping CEOs up at night when theyd rather be worrying about revenue growth?The answer is that change has, wellchanged.The corporate world has gotten better at coping with incremental changes and even the occasional large-scale transformation. But change is different todayits more like a flood of continuous, overlapping and accelerating transitions that have turned many organizations upside down. Managing people through that kind of change requires all the communication and leadership strategies we learned in the past and then some.Most people and processes are set up for continuity, not chaos. The shift from a change to constant change has upset the status quo we are by nature inclined to defend.The pace of change is intense, and it shows no sign of abating any time soon. With that in mind, here are some suggestions for managing people through continuous change.Realize that resistance to change is inevitableand highly emotional.Weve all seen this in action, but do we all know the cause? Its a very real result of our neurological make-up. The part of our brain that processes change also is connected to the fear circuitry that controls our fight-or-flight response. Each of us is wired for the psychological disorientation and pain that can manifest in anxiety, fear, depression, sadness, fatigue, or anger. Being aware of and responsive to the emotional component of change is now a prerequisite for effective leadership. This task is extra tricky in todays climate of constant change, when employees emotions are often dealing with multiple transitions at once.Give people a stabilizing foundation.In a constantly changing organization, a leader can help employees embrace instability as positive by cl early and passionately articulating what the organization is trying to achieve. Create stability by emphasizing your corporate identity and collective focus of purpose, and by keeping your companys history, present activities, and vision for the future fresh and clear in everyones mind.Help your staff/team/department understand that change really is the only constant.Never let people assume that once any single change is completed, the organization will solidify into a new form. Instead, help them understand that even as we adjust to a change, we should be getting ready for the next one.Champion information access and knowledge sharing.Transparency can be a powerful catalyst for change. Even by sharing simple data that is already widely known in the company, you can demonstrate a willingness to share, to listen and to encourage conversation.Encourage employees to mingle.Relationships and collaboration are increasingly vital in change management. Employee social networks based on mut ual trust, shared work experiences, and common physical and virtual spaces can enhance your peoples change-readiness and creativity. Do whatever you can to nurture these mutually rewarding, complex, and shifting relationships.Give up the illusion of control.No one likes change that is mandated, but most of us react favorably to a change we help create. Executives who expect organizational flexibility should loosen their grip in order to align the energies and talents of their organizations around change initiatives. As above, transparent communication with all levels of employees is critical if you want employees to understand the economic realities of the business, the real driving forces behind change, and how their actions impact the success of change initiativesThis article is reprinted from the website of the American Management Association at www.amanet.org.Most people and processes are set up for continuity, not chaos.

Why Meditation Is One of the Best Time Management Tools

Why Meditation Is One of the Best Time Management ToolsWhy Meditation Is One of the Best Time Management ToolsWhen you feel like your working mom life is too chaotic its time for more than just a mommy timeout. Its time to decompress and meditate. Most of us know meditation is good for you but stopping and sitting seems impossible. Theres just too much to do Lack of time is the problem that meditation can solve. Let me convince you that investing in meditation practices is the best time management tool. Heres what happens when you dont meditate When youre running in a non-stop marathon your brain can become unbalanced from stress or anxiety. One side of your brain is working harder than the other and then the two falls out ofsync. Meditation allows your brain to become balanced again. For example, lets say you stay up late trying to solve a problem. In the morning you magicallythink of theanswer You think to yourself, Why couldnt I figure this out last night? What happened while you were asleep is that your brain found its center. It became balanced again. Meditation can give you the same results. When you are juggling many tasks or decisions, you make it worse by stressing about resolutions or trying to organize your life better. If you stop what you are doing and relax, itgives your brain a chance to balance itself. Sitting still can be the hardest part Sitting still in silence is glorious, isnt it? Your marathon or sprint interval training ends. You sit comfortably with your eyes closed ready to retreat to tranquility. No need to watch children jump around or play referee. You give yourself permission to release the pressure of working on your to-do list, emails, or chores and you just sit still. This may be the hardest part How can you give yourself permission to stop when theres so much to be done, constantly? Lets say you are walking downstairs with a laundry basket and you think Im so tired but Ill just do one more load of laundry, and then Ill f eel good. Youll feel accomplished but still tired. Thats notlagelage really good. Youll get to check something off your to-do list but how does that make you feel good in the long run? In five years from now will you remember how good you felt from folding clothes? Change your perspective about your priorities Make meditation a priority. To help you change your perspective on meditation think about how this practice will this make you feel five years from now. After meditating answer the question, Do I think this would change how I live my life? Think about how much time you spend on negative emotions like worry, stress, anxiety, anger, or guilt. If you spend time meditating you are lessening these emotions and as a result will spend less time dwelling in them and more time in a relaxed state. Meditation leaves you feeling released of something. It leaves you feeling a bit more peaceful. How to start meditating Let the family pick from the wrinkled clothes in the morning and choose to sit still. You always have a choice. Make a choice to sit then take a few deep breaths. Think about how your body is moving while you inhale and exhale. This is meditation in its most basic form. Thoughts will come into your mind, they always do, but you can chose to decide that they dont matter at the moment. The only thing that matters is your breath. It doesnt matter how long you meditate for initially. Try not to stress about how long you sit for. Give yourself permission to not feel guilty about sitting still. The itch to move may happen but with practice it will subside. Keep with your meditation practice to discover for yourself how you feel afterwards. The effect of meditation may pleasantly surprise you. In five years from now you may be a different person and your family will love you for it.

Principles of Adaptive Leadership in the Workplace

Principles of Adaptive Leadership in the WorkplacePrinciples of Adaptive Leadership in the WorkplaceIn a traditional geschftsleben structure, actions and direction come from the top down. The CEO makes decisions, tells her direct reports, and the decision is filtered down to the people who do the work. This chain of command style of leading works just fine in an unchanging world or with an all-knowing CEO. Thats not the world you live in, so youll want to look for a different style of leadership. What about adaptive leadership? Dr. Ron Heifetz and Marty Linsky at Harvard University developed adaptive leadership as a way to work within the fast-changing landscape of todays business world. What Is Adaptive Leadership? There are four dimensions of adaptive leadershipand they create a leadership framework for you to pursue Navigating business environmentsLeading with empathyLearning through self-correction and reflectionCreating win-win solutions Using these principles, leaders can f ind methods to respond to their environments in a way that promotes creativity and solutions. No one person can come up with the solution to every problem, and thats one of the big failures of top-down leadership. Adaptive leadership utilizes all employees and customers in order to find solutions that work. Heres how. Navigating Business Environments With Adaptive Leadership When you do the same thing over and over, you can expect the same result. When eventsare not going well, you need to change what youre doing to make the situation better. But, just how do you do that? You need to become flexible and embrace change. You need to think about approaches other than the way its always been done. This is more difficult than it seems. You can find situations where people resist change at all costs- we did it this way in 1992, and by golly, it worked then, so why change? One of the great failures,when a company failed tonavigate the business environment correctly, is Kodak. You may r emember film that you put in a camera. It was big business. When digital technology came on the scene, Kodak felt secure that digital would never become better than film. They were wrong. When was the last time you bought film? Kodak didnt adapt to the rapidly changing business environment. Leading With Empathy Through Adaptive Leadership If you cant understand where your employees and customers are coming from, you will have a difficult time meeting their needs. If you cant meet the needs of your customers and employees, they will leave you and go elsewhere. You need to treat employees with empathy and compassion to ensure they stay and help you foster business success. Employees today arent happy just coming to work and doing repetitive tasks and collecting a paycheck. Customers want products and services that are new and helpful. Behold the rise of the Instapot. This is an electric version of the pressure cooker your grandmother once used, but the creators understood that the modern kitchen was looking for a modern solution to getting a healthy meal on the table. An employee could have said, Heh, pressure cookers already exist. We dont need this Instapot. The employee would be right, but it was what people wanted and what made people feel better about making dinner. Empathy led to a huge success. Learning Through Self-Correction and Reflection Through Adaptive Leadership No one gets it right every time. All leaders make mistakes. An adaptive leader realizes this and is willing to make corrections to the course. This also means that in adaptive leadership, you accept failure as part of the process. You can say we know this works, so we will keep doing this, but the business world changes rapidly, so what worked yesterday may not work today. And even if it does work today, it may no longer be the best solution. You have to try new things. This means accepting feedback as well. What are your employees saying? What are your customers saying? Do surveys and actually look at the data. You cant just ask and ignore. You need to reflect on what works and what does not and take the risk to change it. Creating Win-Win Solutions Through Adaptive Leadership Whats good for you is good enough, right? Well, if you want to stay in business for a very short time, this works. When you can come together with solutions that work for multiple organizations, youll find a lot more success. This dimension of adaptive leadership can feel strange if youre used to operating strictly as a competitor, but what if you and your competitors could actually help each other out? If you want an example of this, go download a few independent podcasts. Youll find that people who are technically competitors are promoting and praising each other. What happens when they do this? It turns out that people who enjoy hearing one true crime podcast also enjoy hearing others. Instead of cutthroat competition, this group is creating win-win scenarios for each. Josh Hallm ark created Two Pods a Day to create win-win scenarios for podcasters. You can do the same for your business. Look for win-wins instead of divide and conquer situations. If you want to become a great leader, try adopting these four principles of adaptive leadership and witness the new life your new behavior can breathe into your organization. - Suzanne Lucas is a freelance writer who spent 10 years in corporate human resources, where she hired, fired, managed the numbers, and double-checked with the lawyers.

How to Handle Winter Weather Disruptions to Your Job Search

How to Handle Winter Weather Disruptions to Your Job SearchHow to Handle Winter Weather Disruptions to Your Job SearchIs your job search being impacted by winter storm Juno? Learn how to weather the storm.Whether youre in the northeast or traveling to or from the area for a job interview, chances are your plans are about to change.Here are three tips for how to handle the winter storms disruptions without disrupting your job search.IMAGE The Weather Channel Reach out immediately.Email or call your main point of contact as soon as possible and find out if the company is still open for business. If youre planning to fly in for a meeting, check the airlines website your flight may already be impacted by the impending storm.If youre unable to travel to the office, let the HR person know. Have your schedule handy so you can propose dates and times to reschedule the appointment. Try not to reschedule for the very next day, in case the storms aftermath is still wreaking havoc on transporta tion. Find out if there is anything you can do or send to them in the interim to get the tanzabend rolling. They may be able to send you forms you can fill out at home.Prepare for alternative interviews meetings.If your power or internet is still intact, the company may want to conduct a virtual interview. Make sure you download and test out the appropriate software ahead of time and find a spot in your home thats quiet and clutter-free. If the interview will take place over the phone, have your cheat sheets available for referencing during the call. This could include a copy of the job description, talking points about your compatibility with the job requirements, prepared questions for the interviewers and so forth.Take advantage of the extra time.Make good use of this opportunity. Practice your talking points and anecdotes for responding to interview questions. Spend more time researching the organization and its company culture. You can also use this time to work on other job s earch activities, such as cleaning up your online presence. Add your former colleagues as connections, ask for recommendations (which are always easier to obtain when youre no longer in the job search), and update your online profile and resume to reflect your new job.The bottom line is to be prepared and use your best judgement. Stay warm and be geldschrank

Gossip, Lies and Tutoring Resume

Gossip, Lies and Tutoring Resume Tutoring services also typically require at the very least a bachelors degree and could prefer candidates who have attended an extremely selective university. Students acquire all the needed skills to supply safe and sound care in their function for a nursing assistant. To find out more on what it requires to be a Tutor, have a look at ur complete Tutor Job Description. Tutoring is a huge freelance company, and can be an extremely lucrative one. The plan procedure welches clarified. As a way to develop into an effective Tutor, you should have sufficient experience receiving instruction from different teachers also. Virtus training is needed. In the event that you were a teachers aide, for instance, you can concentrate on the classroom skills you learned there. The school or the center already has a very clear idea on the sort of candidate required for the job. In just two quarters you are able to be all set for an entry-level position for a phlebotomist in a clinical workplace. To have the capability to successfully track down a means to set yourself over the majority of the locally offered individuals to do the specific same job wont be straightforward. Have a look at the following links to begin browsing for exciting job positions in your region.This donation is sufficient to provide 100,000 meals for men and women that are food insecure in the Tampa Bay region. The majority of people today realize resumes and work software cant be trustworthy. Most of the folks seeking a tutor are ones who arent learning like they should with the normal curriculum. Youre learning already, so might also use it in order to make some money also The sales are a few of the the critical tasks in just about any organization. For salespeople and agencies who supply social media solutions, locating a proposition prepared for the customer ought to be a significant part your own workflow. Because your clients are young, you can work t o assist them strengthen their general study abilities and develop self-confidence. They want to know you aced the subjects they need help with. The 5-Minute Rule for Tutoring Resume The info on your resume is a significant component in landing you your dream job, and thats why you should learn the best advice for writing a great resume. Consider the duration of time youve worked as a tutor and what number of papers youve workshopped in that moment. Our tutor resume samples will be able to help you compose the ideal document. Unfortunately, in the majority of instances a private tutor is a short-term fix for a very long term issue. Only then are you going to know for certain that the student has fully grasped your content. The teachers are anticipated to cover enormous amounts of material in a brief time. If you observe tutor resume samples, you will observe that people utilize a selection of formats. Utilize our tutor resume samples to boost your likelihood of locating a d esirable position. It can be beneficial to review a good example of a cover letter for a social networking job, to allow you to formulate your own letter. Protect letters are written for the bulk of forms of project to have a supplement into the restart. The cover letter is a rather important nutritional supplement which might help to make your abilities and knowledge stick outside. Firstly, its a truly formal type of letter writing compared to the usual cover letter. What to Do About Tutoring Resume Before It Is Too Late The Schools official bookstore is MBS Direct, where youre able to determine what books youre going to need for your classes and the numerous selections that are available to you. The resume objective is among the main paragraphs in a teachers resumeif not the most significant. Instead, its an indication of the little number of students to whom we currently are in a position to provide Direct Admission. Proceed to the source the teacher.

7 Steps For Moderating a Panel + an Agenda Template

7 Steps For Moderating a Panel + an Agenda Template (Thats me in the photo, moderating a fireside chat with my former boss Arianna Huffington)Ive sat on a lot of panels and now Ive started moderating them. Moderating is a lot ofwork, but I like it because I get to spend time going deep on who my panelists are. The hard part is before the panel starts, when youre trying to line up the right questions for the personalities you need to amplify to the audience. Thats the only way to have a good panel - know who your subjects are, what questions theyll run with and how to weave everyone together.A month ago I did a monster panel (elend because of the people but because of its size). It was called Meet The Resistance and it was to introduce movement leaders to members of the Democratic National Committee. It had nine people on it, yes nine, from the cofounder of Black Lives Matter and the co-chair of The Womens March to Hillary Clintons email director and now the leader of Run for Somethin g. I was honored to be asked to moderate, but it was terrifying. How would I keep the panel flowing, give everyone enough speaking time and be able to respond with counter points? This is what I did, and what I recommend any moderator does 1. Compile panelist bios - do your research first.2. Write questions for each panelist, yes each panelist (I did this for nine people, you can do it for the normal 3 person panel).3. Call each of your panelists and pre-interview, pre-interview, pre-interview. I cant tell you how many times Ive done a panel where the moderator never took the time to call me. I wasnt offended (hey, I liked not having to take another meeting), but the flow of the panel felt off because they only knew me from my bio. And group calls dont work. People rarely speak up enough and you cant target questions appropriately. 4. During the pre-interview you should ask panelists the questions you have for them. Youd be surprised by how much youll want to change your questions a s the pre-interview moves along. Some people might ask if giving the questions before hand is cheating or whether it kills the spontaneity. Um no. A panel is a presentation where participants should never feel blindsided. If you have tough questions to ask that they might not like then thats fine. Just give them the heads up that youll be going there. The goal isnt to make sure youre giving anybody softballs, but rather its to ensure the conversation flows and the audience gets what they came for. Structure sets people free and allows for more spontaneity in the end because thats what happens when people are comfortable and prepared.5. Once youve interviewed everyone over the phone for about 20 minutes you should compile one doc with all notes and questions that only you will use. 6. Make a separate docto share with the paneliststhat shows everyones questions as well as the agenda and any critical details. Below is a sample agenda template. If youre like me, youll need to either pri nt your notes in huge font or write out questions on post-its. I actually like rewriting questions by hand so it sticks in my memory. 7. Enjoy yourself. If youve done the prep then all will run smoothly (we hope). Oh, and join one of our future PowerToFly panels. You can find our schedule here.