A Woman’s Survival Guide to Success in Business & Life
By Marshawn Evans
Published by Wiley
December 2008;$24.95US/$30.99CAN; 978-0-470-38333-9

Description

In many ways, the business world is still a man’s world. Though women today have more income, more education, more opportunity, and more entrepreneurial drive than ever before, the glass ceiling still exists. But that’s no reason to stop competing. In fact, it should serve as motivation to level the playing field. It’s time to become C-E-O of Y-O-U.

S.K.I.R.T.S. in the Boardroom is a practical, motivational, and inspirational guide that arms a new generation of sassy yet sensible women with the strategies needed to combine confidence and compassion, style and substance, and beauty and brains for unlimited professional success.

S.K.I.R.T.S. stands for Sisterhood, Knowledge, Integrity, Respect, Tenacity, and Substance. These are the often-overlooked qualities that extraordinary women require to maximize their potential in business and in life. S.K.I.R.T.S. in the Boardroom shows you how to develop these qualities and unbeatable business savvy using personal stories, exercises, and real-life examples from author, entertainment attorney, and entrepreneur Marshawn Evans.

Evans provides the practical, real-world advice you need to take your career to the next level. And, she does so without forcing you into a masculine corporate mold. Filled with whimsical chapters and interactive career development assessments, S.K.I.R.T.S. in the Boardroom provides business-boosting insight on such topics as developing a purpose-driven career, personal branding, strategic information sharing, gender differences in communication, leadership styles, networking, understanding your emotional intelligence, and much more!

Simply wanting success isn’t enough. After all, WANT just means “Waiting, And Nothing Transpires.” This smart and savvy guide reveals how your attitude sets the tone for your relationships and how those relationships determine your ability to influence those around you—a prime ingredient for turning your dreams into reality. Packed with real-world professional guidance and entrepreneurial insight, this is the ultimate guide to being the boss in a man’s world.

Author Bio

Marshawn Evans, JD, is an entertainment attorney and founder of Marshawn Evans Unlimited, a corporate life-enrichment consulting firm focused on peak performance, diversity, workplace readiness, and dynamic leadership strategies for women. She is also President of EDGE 3M Sports & Entertainment, a national brand management and marketing agency that connects companies and causes with professional athletes and entertainers. She is a former Miss America finalist and is also one of the stars of season four of NBC’s hit show The Apprentice with Donald Trump. For more information, please visit www.marshawnevans.com.

Reviews
“Marshawn has developed a solid formula to inspire and empower today’s working women. This book gives women of all backgrounds the tools to not only succeed, but also to become leaders in their workspace.”
–Michelle Lemmons, founder and Chairman, International Speakers Bureau

“A must-have survival guide for women in any male-dominated industry who are trying to break the glass ceiling. I’ve worked in the finance and sports industries for many years and only wish I had access to this book when I began my career. Now that I do, I’m never putting it down!”
–Rama Mandadi, Senior Manager, Managing Properties, National Basketball Association

“Marshawn Evans knows how to dream big dreams and persevere in the face of an uphill battle. She knows how to learn the lessons offered by disappointing setbacks, naysayers, and obstacles that seem as permanent as a brick wall. In this book, she pours out what she has learned in a way that is approachable and friendly.”
–Valorie Burton, life coach and author of Why Not You?

“S.K.I.R.T.S. In the Boardroom is powerful, straightforward, and a must-read for all women. It addresses the core of what most women want, and it shows them how to realize their dreams without fear or compromise. Through Marshawn’s own experience and intellect, she shares how being mentally tough, spiritually centered, and properly prepared is a powerful combination in any boardroom! This book will make a difference!”
–Gwen Wilson, Director of Women’s Business Initiatives and Supplier Diversity, Verizon Wireless

“Marshawn just may well be the next Oprah! Her natural business sense and ideas address winning solutions for today’s marketplace. Her ability to design, develop, and deliver critical business solutions puts her in a unique class of entrepreneurs. Definitely a woman to watch!”
–Kenton Clarke, President and CEO, DiversityBusiness.com

By Phoebe Eng, keynote speaker at Linkage’s 10th Annual Summit on Leading Diversity in Atlanta, GA, March 16-18, 2009

Some of you may remember the 1985 hit song, “We are the World,” produced by Quincy Jones and an inspiring cast of musicians who sang about working together, past our differences. Or perhaps you remember the tremendously successful United Colors of Benetton ad campaign back in the 1980s, celebrating young faces of every color, signaling the look and feel of a world without borders. Media images like these showed us the world and nation, as we wanted ourselves to be — pictures and soundbites of many races cooperating, communicating, and sharing opportunity and fortune.

If only it were that simple.  Almost 25 years later, we are still struggling to make that vision real — in our business practices, in the running of our cities, and, now, in the context of great cultural, demographic, and economic changes brought on by globalization.

As 21st century leaders, you know that building, guiding, and sustaining truly diverse communities is tremendously difficult work. Over the last decade, city populations and workforces have changed faster than at any point in history — job relocation, mobile commerce and ease of travel have changed our cities’ demographics quickly and often. Immigrant and new communities continue to influence and change the culture of our cities. Young families and children supplant the aging baby boomer generation, again, changing the character and priorities of a community.

At the same time as we become a more diverse, more prosperous nation, our cities have also become more segregated. In fact, studies from SUNY Albany, UCLA, and the Harvard Graduate School of Education have reported that segregation of our children has worsened over the last decade, even as we live in more integrated areas. As newcomer groups grow in critical mass, so does the tendency to organize along racial, ethnic, or other group-affiliated lines. Changing demographics and the growth of ethnic enclaves have made race awareness and identity politics an effective means of voicing the needs of some of our cities’ otherwise marginalized groups.

Amid all of this, civic and corporate leaders are confronted with difficult choices every day. Worthy projects from different community sectors must compete for limited resources.  Appointments and commissions must be assigned in ways that satisfy all the interests represented in our constituency groups, assuring each of them adequate representation. From time to time, leaders also face crisis-fueled change, forcing them to guide their communities quickly through controversies.

Does this sound stressful? Indeed, scenes of a diverse community can be those of chaos, fiefdoms, even balkanizing, as some futurists and scholars predict. Alternatively, some see these times as momentous, opening the door to the grandest and most inspiring of challenges.

How does one lead a community, whether local or global team, in the midst of huge demographic and economic shifts? How do leaders create communities where all constituents feel included, counted and equally receiving of the opportunities offered by a community?  And how do we have difficult conversations that turn our best intentions into action and accountability, not only from our leaders, but from ourselves?

The answers to these questions are certainly many and varied, depending on a community’s specific composition and the issues it faces. Nevertheless, one of the most important skills of a leader through changing times will be a skill set of cultural fluency. This is not necessarily language fluency, as that term is usually used. Fluency is the skill set of understanding and being understood past apparent borders. To know one’s constituents and address their needs effectively, 21st century leaders must practice and hone their fluency skills.

Over the past few years, I’ve talked to many fluent leaders: opinion shapers, thought leaders in business and communities, artists, teachers, media creatives, all who understand that their ultimate success depends on how deeply and quickly they can identify common ground and transcend boundaries between their constituents. Fluent leaders are servant leaders who willingly assume the place of liaison, the diplomatic negotiator, the arbiter of compromise.

What are some of the qualities of a fluent leader? They understand the value of nuance. They readily deal with complexity, knowing that solutions to real problems require many levels of information and analysis. Every one of the fluent leaders I’ve interviewed is also insatiably curious. They are lifelong learners who have honed their vision and their life’s purpose through constant exposure to different experiences.

Perhaps most importantly, these leaders also understand that the practice of fluency is not a Pollyanna-esque, naive vision of the world, where a handshake, a kind word, or a dabble into a diversity program will suffice.  It is quite the opposite. Fluency work is hard “detail” work that requires courage. To be a fluent leader means having some enemies, crossing boundaries, and entering into the necessary struggles to challenge leaders and systems that benefit from  closemindedness, fear, and simple formulae.

As we work toward uniting our communities, we have shown that we want to trade together, learn about one another, work side by side, make money together, and even build our families —  across cultures and across our differences. Yet without knowing how to bridge what are often daunting chasms across race, religion, class, and culture, creating workable diverse alliances can often be impossible. Basic misunderstandings can thwart our earnest attempts at generating commerce and a vibrant exchange of ideas. Communications break down. Relationships fail.

In our quickly changing communities, the art of fluency becomes a crucial leadership approach for anyone wishing to become an aware global citizen and an effective global leader. And it is the only way forward if we are truly committed to creating a world, and a nation, where all can flourish to their fullest potential.

©2008 Phoebe Eng

Author Bio

Phoebe Eng is the Director of Creative Counsel and the 1000 Voices Archive, a national collection of leadership stories from cities across America.  As a strategist, she has presented to and advised a wide range of groups from the US Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, many Fortune 500 companies, chambers of commerce, and universities. Eng has worked with the Ford Foundation and the Ms. Foundation for Women and on several UN World Conferences. Eng will be presenting a keynote address at Linkage’s 10th Annual Summit on Leading Diversity in Atlanta on March 16-18, 2009.

Linkage’s 10th Annual Summit on Leading Diversity in Atlanta, GA, March 16-18, 2009, is the nation’s premier event on best practices in diversity and inclusion. For more information or to register call 781.402.5555 or visit  www.linkageinc.com/div.

I will start with two basic points that everyone can logically agree with: 1.) Every organization needs quality leadership to be successful in a highly competitive world, and 2.) Diversity is a reality that is here to stay, and its impact is increasing exponentially as our demographics continue to change. Further diversity’s impact will broaden via globalization as the world continues to shrink and flatten. As a result, there is an automatic interconnectedness between leadership and diversity, yet this relation between the two has not been adequately and accurately explored.

This leads me to my third point, which some may debate. 3.) In order to truly maximize the effectiveness and potential of ourselves and our organizations we must develop some solid diversity leadership competencies. This is true for all of us, regardless of our cultural background; because you cannot maximize your effectiveness as a leader in an extremely diverse society without understanding diversity. In short, you cannot lead what you do not understand.

Some may debate this by saying ” . . . America has always had diversity within its ranks and we’ve consistently been the leaders of the free world.” That is true, however what’s different now is that global competition is far fiercer; and our society is far more diverse than ever before. Additionally, the teachings and philosophies of every great leadership expert from Sun Tzu to Stephen Covey will confirm that the lion’s share of leadership is motivation; and every major study on culture has proven that different cultural groups are motivated by different things.

Management -v- Leadership

If you were to compile a list of the traits and skills that you most admire about great leaders like — Martin Luther King, Jr., Tony Blair, Mary McCloud-Bethune, Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Margret Thatcher, and others; odds are you would list things like moral courage, their ability to inspire; their mastery of language; how they helped ordinary people tap into their greatness, etc . . . Your list would not include the statement, “They were great managers”. Chances are they all are/were great managers; but in the end nobody cares. We don’t follow other people because of their management skills. We follow them because of how they make us feel.

The masses remember great people not because of their ability to manage; but because of their ability to LEAD! The reality is that people don’t want to be managed; they want to be led. They want to be inspired. They want to follow people that they connect with. The 21st century leader MUST have the adequate competencies to connect and build trust in an authentic way with people across a huge myriad of cultures and ideologies.

Diversity Management -v- Diversity Leadership

Management by nature deals with rules and policies. And let’s face it, that’s the easy part. Anyone can create a rule or write a policy statement. Leadership, on the other hand, deals with changing hearts and minds, and holding people accountable. This is a far more daunting and challenging task.

The unfortunate and regrettable truth is that we as a society have treated diversity like it is an inanimate “thing”; an object to be managed. But it’s not. It is a collection of people; living, breathing folks with minds and emotions. For the past 20 years or so, organizations have focused a lot of energy on diversity management, and understandably so. To their credit, these efforts have helped many organizations move past just counting heads, dealing only with representation. Some of these organizations are now re-directing a portion of their energy towards creating an inclusive environment that supports diversity. The point that I am attempting to make is that the diversity management approach is not incorrect; but it is incomplete. Managers tend to look toward the most expedient (and often temporary) fix; while leaders are more apt to look down the horizon for the actual long range resolution to the problem. This type of leadership is woefully missing as it relates to building fully inclusive environments that not only allow all types of people to flourish and maximize their abilities; but encourages, grooms and develops them to do so.

Many feel that leaders have failed to aggressively take the lead on diversity out of a lack of desire. However, I, on the contrary think this failure to lead on diversity has less to do with deficient desire, and more to do with fear. Fear of making a mistake and being “labeled”. The good news is that this fear can be eroded when leaders are equipped with some diversity leadership competencies that will build both their knowledge and confidence.

Trends That Make Diversity Leadership Competencies an Imperative

Developing these competencies is no longer a forward thinking innovation. We are actually running out of time. There are a large number of demographic and economic trends making the need to act an imperative. Among them:

* Labor Shortage — As Baby-Boomers retire, America faces decades of talent shortages. A report by Development Dimensions International, as reported in a recent article, The New War for Talent by Michael Gregoire, “one-fifth of this country’s large, established companies will be losing 40 percent or more of their top talent in the next five years.” Additionally, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statics further predicts a 10 million personnel shortfall starting around 2008-2010.

* Global Migration Patterns — As a result of the aforementioned talent shortage, the U.S. will need to increase its immigration numbers which will further increase our diversity, in the areas of race, culture and religion.

* Generational Issues — We will continue to have four distinctly different generations working side by side in our workforce. The tensions that exist may intensify. Due to our increasingly challenged economy, some older workers who had intended to retire will be forced to stay in the workplace for financial reasons. Simultaneously, many talented, impatient, “up and coming” Generation X’ers may start to feel some resentment toward these more matured workers who are now impeding their progress be refusing to leave these jobs that the Generation X’ers want; thus creating what is known as “generational conflict”.

A Few Required Competencies

In her book, Managing Diversity: Toward a Globally Inclusive Workplace, Michalle E. Mor Barak talks about how ancient Chinese tradition divides people into categories based on four qualities: Shi (scholars), Nong (farmers), Gong (artisans) and Shang (merchants). The belief is that to be a fully effective leader, one must acquire the ” . . . vision and ethics of the scholar, the appreciation and respect for basic human needs of the farmer, the creativity and drive for excellence of the artisan, and the ambition of the merchant (in order) to make a profit.” The concept to grasp here is that cultural competency is not about learning every little nuance about every cultural group. It’s more about learning the perspectives and big picture concepts that relate to various cultures. In short, diversity leadership competency is not focused on learning a long list of cultural “do’s and don’ts”. It is about establishing common ground with people from cultures other than your own by developing some simple tools. Some examples of these competencies are:

* Being aware of your own biases
* Developing cultural dexterity
* Challenging false assumptions
* Exercising moral courage
* Embodying trust and fairness
* Being consistent

Most of these competencies are not complicated or difficult to learn; and they tend to line up with our already accepted moral codes, and organizational values. All we have to do is put forth an effort until they become second nature.

In the words of leadership guru Warren Bennis, “Managers are people who do things right. Leaders are people who do the right thing.” Take the lead, step up and do the right thing.  Everyone will benefit; yourself included.

©2008 Al Vivian

Author Bio

Al Vivian is the President and CEO of Basic Diversity, Inc. (BASIC). BASIC is a full service cultural diversity training and consulting firm that has been operating nationally for 34 years. Al has provided diversity counsel to civic and religious leaders, political officials, and television news personnel. He has provided diversity commentary to CNN, FOX, NBC, PBS, Atlanta Journal & Constitution, Chicago Sun Times, and WSB News Radio.

Linkage’s 10th Annual Summit on Leading Diversity in Atlanta, GA, March 16-18, 2009, is the nation’s premier event on best practices in diversity and inclusion. At The Summit on Leading Diversity you will gain the practical solutions you need to build inclusive work environments and move your organization’s diversity initiatives forward to achieve bottom-line results. Learn best practices while networking with 1,000 diversity practitioners and line leaders. This year’s Summit will feature life-changing keynote speakers including Ruby Dee, Phoebe Eng, Juan Williams, and more. For more information or to register call 781.402.5555 or visit www.linkageinc.com/div.

By Peter Schiff,
Author of The Little Book of Bull Moves in Bear Markets

More than just a mere liquidity or credit crisis, the current financial storm represents the death throes of the old global economic order, and perhaps the birth pains of a new one. The sun is setting on the borrow and spend culture that has defined us for a generation. Our long ride on the global gravy train is finally coming to an end, and once it does nothing will be the same. The sooner we come to grips with this the better.

Despite the myriad of proposals that are coming from Washington and other world capitals, we must understand that this crisis cannot be cured by governments. In the United States, credit is gone because savings are gone. Our shallow pool of savings has been depleted through bad loans, and we can no longer entice foreigners to lend us their available savings. Given that we are already too loaded up on existing debt they we cannot realistically repay, who can blame them for not wanting to lend us more?

As a result, the free market is trying to put an end to our spending spree. Without savings or home equity to fall back on, Americans struggling with rising prices are finally being forced to cut back. This has terrified our leaders and is causing them to dismantle the remaining structure of our free enterprise-based economic system.

The intention of all these daily federal interventions is to keep the credit spigots open so Americans can go even deeper into debt to buy more stuff they can’t actually afford. This should be clear enough to anyone who listens to what our leaders are actually saying. When speaking about the need for an even larger fiscal stimulus package, Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said, “We have to prop up consumption.” He has it backwards. The government has been propping up consumption for far too long, and the best thing they can do now is remove the props so spending can be replaced by savings.

The sad reality is that we borrowed and spent our way into this crisis, and we are not going to borrow and spend our way out of it. Legitimate credit can only be supplied if there are genuine savings to finance it. Savings can’t be magically concocted into existence by a printing press, but can only be created by consumers who spend less than they earn. Efforts to fool the market will not work and will ultimately lead to a monetary disaster and runaway inflation.

Were the government to allow market forces to work, Americans would now have to pay cash for their consumption. That would mean no instant credit for new cars, plasma TVs, appliances, consumer electronics, clothing, furniture, etc. Unless buyers actually had the cash in their checking accounts these purchases would have to be deferred. From an economic perspective this is precisely what the doctor ordered. But for an economy based 72 percent on consumer spending, the medicine will go down hard.

Ultimately, a serious reduction in consumer and mortgage credit, combined with an increase in personal savings, would again provide a pool of needed capital for businesses to produce products and provide employment opportunities. However, the danger is that this potential credit could be completely crowded out by massive borrowing by the Federal Government. In addition, prices for such things as houses and college tuition will fall sharply, as the credit artificially propping them up disappears. People would still be able to buy houses and send their kids to college only they would pay much lower prices when they do.

However, if the government keeps creating inflation to artificially sustain consumer borrowing and spending, there will be no savings left to fund anything and prices will be so high that despite massive consumer spending there will be few goods that Americans could actually afford to buy.

©2008 Peter Schiff

Author Bio
Peter D. Schiff is President of Euro Pacific Capital, Inc., and one of the few unbiased investment advisors to have predicted the current bear market and positioned his clients accordingly. Schiff appears frequently on Fox News, Fox Business News, CNN, CNBC, and Bloomberg TV, and has been quoted in such publications as the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, the Financial Times, and the New York Times. He is also the author of Crash Proof, which is published by Wiley.

Editor’s Note: This entry is a little late, but better late than never.

Ft. Lauderdale, FL – September 15, 2008 – Spherion Corporation, a recruiting, staffing and workforce solutions provider, today premiered the second season of its popular Web series, The Temp Life, a scripted, short-form comedy about a crew of hapless temporary workers forced to endure a series of insufferable temp jobs under their agency’s clueless, scheming CEO.  The first episode of the new season premieres today at http://thetemplife.tv and will be syndicated across multiple video portals including YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, Funny or Die, Yahoo, Break, Crackle and Blip.

In its first season The Temp Life, created and produced for Spherion by CJP Communications’ digital practice, garnered over 100,000 views and was listed among Brandweek magazine’s top ten Bright Ideas of 2008.  For its sophomore season, The Temp Life has evolved beyond its initial format of singular, mock PSA-style “lessons” into a comedic serial with greater emphasis placed on story,  character development and production value.

Season two finds the character of self-proclaimed “ambassador of fun,” Nick “Trouble” Chiapetta as the new head of bankrupt Commodity Staffing after “accidentally” selling his startup social network for shoelace-makers to the temp agency’s CEO in a “multi-hundred dollar transaction.”  To keep his new company afloat, Nick contracts Commodity’s four remaining employees to a host of questionable “clients.”

“We are very excited for this new season of The Temp Life,” said Kip Havel, Director of Communications, Spherion.  “The Temp Life has allowed Spherion to grow its pool of candidates at every career stage by engaging them first with fun, entertaining content that essentially pokes fun at our own industry.  The situations these characters endure are scripted for laughs but our message is, we know there are bad temp jobs out there, but at Spherion we aim to offer better career experiences.”

New episodes of The Temp Life will post regularly through the end of the year with a third season planned for mid-2009.

About Spherion

Spherion Corporation is a leading recruiting and staffing company that provides integrated solutions to meet the evolving needs of companies and job candidates. As an industry pioneer for more than 60 years, Spherion has sourced, screened and placed millions of individuals in temporary, temp-to-hire and full-time jobs.

With approximately 700 locations in the United States and Canada, Spherion delivers innovative workforce solutions that improve business performance. Spherion provides its services to more than 8,000 customers, from Fortune 500 companies to a wide range of small and mid-size organizations. Employing more than 300,000 people annually through its network, Spherion is one of North America’s largest employers. Spherion operates under the following brands: Spherion Staffing Services Group for administrative, clerical and light industrial workers; Technisource for technology professionals and solutions; The Mergis Group for accounting and finance and other professional positions; Todays Office Professionals for specialty administrative personnel; and Spherion Recruitment Process Outsourcing. To learn more, visit http://www.spherion.com/.

How We Lead Matters: Reflections on a Life of Leadership

 “Whether you run a Fortune 500 Company, a busy family – or both – you’ll find inspiration, warmth, and wisdom on every page.”

– Neville Isdell, Chairman of the Board, The Coca-Cola Company

Marilyn Carlson Nelson is the chairman and former CEO of Carlson, one of the largest privately held companies in the U.S.

The parent company of Radisson, Country Inns & Suites, Regent, Carlson Wagonlit Travel and T.G.I. Friday’s, Carlson employs 160,000 people in more than 150 countries.  Working Mother magazine has listed it as one of “The Best Companies for Working Mothers,” Fortune magazine has included it in its list of “The 100 Best Companies to Work For,” and Forbes magazine has regularly named Marilyn Carlson Nelson one of “The World’s Most Powerful Women.”  She has chaired a bi-partisan advisory council to the President of the United States, and co-chaired the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting.

But she’s also cared for her son through a liver transplant, butted heads with her father over the family business, and faced the devastation of a daughter’s death.  On top of these personal challenges, success and acceptance didn’t come easy to Carlson Nelson.  When she started working, she had to sign her name M.C. Nelson to disguise her identity as a woman.  One of very few women to be asked to serve on a board of directors, she quickly discovered there was no women’s bathroom on the board room floor. She was delighted to hear that she was getting a private office until she learned it was because she was pregnant and her employer wanted to hide her “condition.”  And while she has more than proven herself as CEO and chairman of Carlson, she had to fight hard to get that job since her father wanted a man in the role.

In her new book, How We Lead Matters: Reflections on a Life of Leadership (September 2008, McGraw-Hill), Carlson Nelson brings all of these experiences together into a moving collection of tales from her time as a CEO, mother, and grandmother.

Through anecdotes that illustrate the breadth of a leader’s life, Carlson Nelson confides in her readers and testifies to how even those who are publicly thriving suffer the same vulnerabilities and negotiate the same complexities as those of us not in the public eye.  In the end, she says, it’s about whether each day is one to which you would proudly sign your name.

The book began when Carlson Nelson’s teenage grandson asked her, “Were you alive during segregation?”  Immediately, she saw that although they had spent scores of treasured moments together – family vacations, hockey and soccer games, and numerous school events – in many ways, he did not know her.  She decided to compile the stories most meaningful to her, and to share them.

How We Lead Matters bears the intimacy of a conversation with a grandchild and the scope of Marilyn Carlson Nelson’s life of leadership.

For more information, visit www.HowWeLeadMatters.com.