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"But the pressure and responsibility come with opportunity. My higher self tells my sometimes stressed-out, scared self, "You are up to the task. You can do this. You can be a better leader, listener, mentor, patient collaborator." |
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Founding Editor's Blog SUCCESS DO'S AND DON'TS Posted on May 1, 2008
I had the chance to meet some smart students during a talk this week at Duke University, and I can report that our future is in the hands of very capable young women. A couple of them, Dana Rosenberg and Victoria Woodbury, started the Duke Association for Business-Oriented Women, the group that invited me to speak.
The women students in the group realize what I didn't at that age – that learning about business will benefit a woman regardless of the career she chooses. They also realize, earlier than I did, that they'll need to define themselves or risk being defined by peers, parents and professors.
And we talked about how defining success is even more important than achieving it. (You can't reach your goal if you don't know where you're going.) For PINK, "success" has more to do with authenticity and doing what you love than it does with pay, position and power – although all that is nice too! (Aristotle said, "Where your unique talents and the needs of the world intersect, therein lies your vocation.")
Once they've figured that out, they'll need to overcome persistent gender barriers – a growing pay gap and declining numbers of women in line for the jobs that lead to the corner office. In that vein, I shared six success Do's and Don'ts, and they asked me to post them online, so here goes.
DO ask for what you want. If you don't ask – for a raise, an opportunity, better health, a better relationship – you won't get it. And you'll have no one to blame but yourself. Besides, as we say at PINK, "asking is free."
DON'T take "no" for an answer. Most of the very influential women featured on PINK's covers (especially in the early days) declined at first to be interviewed. But we convinced them that PINK was a good bet, and they have all thanked us for the incredible responses they got from the publicity. Another example: Our recent marketing position ad on Career Builder generated 400 résumés in 24 hours. But we offered the job to a young woman who showed up and insisted on working at PINK (even for free) so she could show us her stuff. She was the only one who wouldn't take no for an answer. That's the person I want to hire.
DO tap into your network. Each of us has a bigger network than we realize. I'll bet if there's someone you want to connect with, if you don't know her, you probably know someone who does. Too often women don't connect with the network they have when it comes to business.
DON'T miss a chance to help another woman. When one of us succeeds, all of us succeed a little bit more. Besides, what goes around comes around.
DO focus on relationships. I wish I had been more politically and socially savvy early in my career. Get to know those you work for. It makes work more fun, and if your boss cares about you (and thinks you care about her), you may get promoted sooner.
DON'T be afraid to take action. This is what separates those who win from those who don't. It's one thing to have a good idea. It's quite another to actually act on it! (After explaining this, I asked the students if they wanted one of our way-cool PINK T-shirts. (Find them at "Shop PINK" on our website). They all just sat there, very politely raising their hands. Finally, one woman got up out of her chair and took the shirt! I'm betting on her.
Cynthia Good is the founding editor of PINK magazine.
To comment on this blog, e-mail blog@pinkmagazine.com and enter "Cynthia Good" in the subject line. . . . . . . . . . .
THERE, IT'S OFF MY CHEST Posted on April 7, 2008
During a family dinner this past weekend at a favorite local steakhouse, I asked why I had never seen a woman server. "Because we want to be like an exclusive club," I was told. Apparently the establishment does not hire women! The reasoning is that "men like to come to dinner together without the wife's worrying" they'll be cozying up to women who work there. (A similar argument has been used to keep women from working on Navy submarines.) Besides, the maitre d' added, "the waiters have to walk up and down the stairs, carrying heavy trays." Last time I checked, women didn't have any problem walking while carrying trays.
Ironically, our dinner conversation occurred at the same time the world-famous Masters Tournament gets underway in nearby Augusta, Ga. The Augusta National club still doesn't accept women members. And still, despite the discrimination, it retains major corporate sponsors, many of which are blue-chip companies whose primary customers are women. Augusta is a private club, so it's legally allowed to exclude women. Yet, under pressure, amid much criticism of discriminatory admissions practices, the club finally began accepting male African-American members back in 1990 – 18 years ago!
The fact remains that today the same private clubs and popular public restaurants that still refuse women would make front-page news if they refused to hire or admit a person because he was Jewish or black or didn't speak English. Such practices that exclude women continue now in the 21st century at many private clubs in Georgia and elsewhere across the United States. If you look for it, you can see signs of exclusion everywhere. I wrote in a recent issue of PINK that a pet peeve of mine is looking outside my office window and seeing the "Men at Work" construction signs. Seems to me it's either not true (women work there also), or if women truly don't work on a site, well, they ought to have the opportunity to do the job.
I do love that women and men have distinct differences. The fact that individuals from different cultures and belief systems are different from each other is exciting and adds to any situation (the workplace included). Such distinctions ought to be celebrated. But to exclude someone because she is different – whether it's a job opportunity, or a raise or a chance to play a round of golf – just isn't right.
To me, the prevailing attitude that permits these discriminatory practices carries over into all facets of life – business being no exception. We have a ways to go before we live in a world where women are treated based on their character and capabilities rather than their gender.
To comment on this blog, e-mail blog@pinkmagazine.com and enter "Cynthia Good" in the subject line. . . . . . . . . . .
WHY I BANNED BLACK . . . AND THEN ATE MY WORDS
There were endless management strategies I hoped to implement once I finally got the chance to have a business of my own. I would do all those things former bosses didn't do. And avoid the mistakes they made. I would do it differently. I would give opportunities to those who wanted them. I would let each employee shine in her or his own most radiant way. I would lavish my employees with praise. I would create flexible schedules for those with kids. I would really listen. And I would never let my own fears distort the way I dealt with others.
I thought I'd be pretty good at it; after all, at my last job, my staff (consisting of six unpaid interns) stayed with the company longer than 95 percent of the actual employees. Yet – it isn't as easy as it looks.
I'm learning to choose my words more carefully. "Never feature a woman wearing a black suit in this magazine," I remember saying. "We don't feature 'men in skirts.' And furthermore," I added, "I really don't want to see any of us wearing black either!" I would eat my words the very next day. On day one of our recent conference series, most of the 750 women attending showed up wearing – you guessed it – black. All of our panelists (some of America's most influential women in business) wore black head to toe. Almost my entire staff wore it too – including me! (To her credit, PINK Art Director Jennifer Tyson did not wear black. In the staff photo we took that day, you'll see she stands out quite well in her white suit. Check out the "Meet the Team".) As for the rest of the women in black, I should point out that not a single outfit resembled a man's stilted attire. These threads had obvious feminine flair; there was lace and style – even a hint of cleavage.
It's easy to get bogged down by things like negotiating contracts, dealing with high-demand clients, answering two ringing telephones at once, replying to 320 e-mails a day and so on. Your employees' livelihoods (as well as your own house) are on the line. And the deal is – despite all the pressure, you aren't allowed to be a stressed-out b---h!
But the pressure and responsibility come with opportunity. My higher self tells my sometimes stressed-out, scared self, "You are up to the task. You can do this. You can be a better leader, listener, mentor, patient collaborator."
Part of my goal with PINK has been not just to create a magazine that empowers readers to have a beautiful career and a beautiful life, but also to create a company that reflects this same mission.
We try to live our values: Freedom, Courage and Beauty. To me this means the freedom to have the work and the life you choose, the courage to ask for what you want and need to create it, and the ability to live a beautiful life however you define it.
Whether it's managing a $6 billion P&L or being one of many on a nonprofit team working out of a garage, we each have that chance – to relish a life filled with purpose, joy, meaning, passion, love and hope.
I'll close with this thought for you: If you were in charge, what do you imagine you would do differently? Or, now that you are in charge, what's the silliest thing you instituted and had to take back – or wish you could take back? Cynthia Good is CEO and founding editor of PINK magazine. To comment on this blog, e-mail blog@pinkmagazine.com and enter "Cynthia Good" in the subject line. . . . . . . . . . . MY FULLY INTEGRATED LIFE I'm on the airplane reviewing a proposal from a PR group to promote PINK. It's stapled to another page that I must have printed at the same time – my mom's zucchini recipe. And I realize how much I love my fully integrated life. I glance at my 11-year-old son, Julien, sitting in the window seat beside me. He got up with me at dawn to watch me tape a segment on FOX & Friends. "He can come in," the guy at the door had said. "He's her bodyguard." I know how lucky I am to have been able to create this kind of life. It hasn't always been (and won't always be) like this, which makes my eyes well up with gratitude for this moment.
I try (and sometimes fail) to keep things in perspective, so when, for example, a major sponsor has a concern about how we interpreted data, or the supporting interviews for our cover profile all fall through, or when an author is upset because we didn't run her book review, or when (due to a printer error) 16 pages have disappeared from inside our last issue (I still don't know how many copies!), or an e-mail overload shuts down my system – I try to remember what's most important to me: my relationship with my husband and our kids and dear friends, and the chance to have this canvas of PINK to show what we all can do to make work and life better for women.
Now it's back to editing the stack of copy in my bag and putting out fires on the BlackBerry. I like the challenge of it – to come up with solutions when there doesn't seem to be one. There's always a solution, and it rarely has to be expensive or painful. I've tormented my staff with my belief in this. I tell them, "There is no such thing as 'no.' It may be 'no,' but just for right now."
For instance, the fabulous Ariel Capital Management President Mellody Hobson repeatedly turned me down (or at least her handlers did) for a PINK cover two years ago. Again, recently her handlers formally declined. But less than a week later, they phoned us to say, "Yes"! Thrilled with our story and the response to it, Hobson asked us if she could be one of our panelists at our conference lunch series this fall.
When one door closes, well, there are lots and lots more doors. A PINK employee once complained that she had tried enough. "I called four times!" she announced. I reminded her that Walt Disney contacted 302 banks before he got what he wanted (a loan to build Disneyland.) I even resorted to fining employees one dollar for saying that four letter word 'can't.' It seems to have worked. Today our team is extremely positive. And now more than ever we seem to have the force to accomplish our goals.
I now have tears streaming down my cheeks (I swear it's not that time of the month) . I'm reading Della de Lafuente's wonderful holiday feature for PINK on top career women's most meaningful gifts (you'll have to read this one). Luckily no one on the plane sees me, and there are no questions from my bodyguard, who is watching out the window – mesmerized – as a sparkling New York City gets smaller in the distance.
Cynthia Good is CEO and founding editor of PINK magazine. To comment on this blog, e-mail blog@pinkmagazine.com and enter "Cynthia Good" in the subject line. COMMENTS It's so good to find you! As a journalism student at Wesleyan College, the first women's college in the world, I was first introduced to your Atlanta Women magazine a few years ago from one of our alumnae and the founder of Mori Luggage, Betty Mori. I was so shocked to find there was such a magazine in Atlanta that the following week during my spring break, I came up to interview for an internship. I believe it was too early in the magazine process for interns but I never forgot your name or magazine.
Fast forward a few years and I stumbled upon PINK at the local grocery store. Wow! Flipping to the Masthead to see where the editorial was based, I was excited when I I spotted your name and the Atlanta address. I don't know where I've been these last three years but as a fellow women embarking on her own career and business, I'm excited to have found you all again and will be sending in my subscription.
In addition to all the wonderful women that you cover in your articles, please don't forget that you have two, dynamic women's colleges in your backyard teaching tomorrow's pioneering women.
Keep up the fantastic work!
Chris M.A. Young
Dear Cynthia: READ THE ART DIRECTOR'S BLOG>> READ THE ASSOCIATE EDITOR'S BLOG>> |
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