International Women’s Day: When & Where to Celebrate

This exciting day is right around the corner. Now, more than ever, there is a strong need to press forward and progress gender parity. In honor of this year’s theme, Gild Collective has created a Press For Progress workshop. We would love to help you celebrate the women in your organization.

How to Celebrate the Women in Your Life

Regardless of whether or not you have special plans for February 14th, why not also take time this month to celebrate all the amazing women in your life. Maybe that’s your mom, sister, aunt, coworker, neighbor, or best friend. Whoever it is, the females in your life deserve to be celebrated, so here are a few ways to show them some love.

Building a Successful Women’s Initiative

We surveyed the roundtable participants across industries and roles within their companies to understand the challenges their women’s initiatives were facing, because we knew that breaking down these barriers was the best way to achieve success for each women’s initiative.

International Women’s Day: Who Should Celebrate?

International Women’s Day is not just a day for women, nor should it be. We need all genders rallying together to support one another, and for that enthusiasm to continue well beyond one day in March. This is the only way that we will drive true change and Press for Progress as this year’s International Women's Day theme demands.

How to Bring Your Whole Self to Work and Life

Work-life balance. That ever-elusive goal we are all working towards achieving. We hear all the time at our women’s initiatives workshops how this obsessive pursuit can be exhausting, frustrating and alienating. What we at Gild have come to realize is this: We are not alone. Successful women in workplaces everywhere struggle to find the right balance. We have to ask ourselves, does it even exist?

What I’m Reading: Blindspot

I had the opportunity to hear Mahzarin Banaji speak last year at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio and it was one of the most eye-opening talks I have heard to date. The concept of unconscious or implicit bias is what Mahzarin and her research partner, Anthony Greenwald, have been researching for decades and they have distilled it into a surprisingly easy-to-consume book.

International Women’s Day: How to Celebrate

If we acknowledge the fact that it will take 217 years to reach gender parity, we know that one day of commemoration won’t expedite the process—but International Women’s Day is more than just one day. It is a moment to look back at the progress we have made and be proud of that, then it is time to get to work.

Why Workplace Gender Diversity Matters

Most managers, executives, and organizations agree that gender diversity is a great idea, but not all will follow through and take the steps that are necessary to improve gender parity. Here at Gild, we believe that diversity, and more specifically gender diversity, matters and we have first hand experienced the power of women in the workplace.

International Women’s Day: Why We Celebrate

International Women’s Day is a global day to celebrate the achievements of women and to continue making the call for gender parity.

Let’s break that down.

Empathy: A Female Leader’s Greatest Superpower

We all know the stereotype: Successful leaders are rational, assertive, linear and in complete control of their emotions. But who said empathy wasn’t a necessary skill to be successful?

We are obviously huge fans of Wonder Woman here at Gild. In Wonder Woman: The Art and Making of the Film, Patty Jenkins reflected on the greatest superpower of all: "...to be strong enough to love in the face of darkness is the thing that sets Wonder Woman apart from so many before her.” Empathy was Wonder Woman’s greatest superpower.

The Many Hats We Wear

Working in the field of productivity and organization, I encounter and counsel women every week who are overwhelmed, stretched thin, and desperately seeking the elusive “work-life balance.” In all my conversations with friends, colleagues, mentors and professional women over the past 10 years, I have yet to find anyone who feels they have achieved the perfect balance.

Many women no longer work traditional hours in traditional office settings. Therefore, setting the expectation to fully take off your professional hat at the end of the day, and put on your personal hat, and to spend equal time in both areas, is not realistic. In fact, I no longer talk about work-life balance; instead, I encourage women to seek work-life integration.

Stimulating Personal Growth for a Purposeful New Year

We’ve all heard the saying, “in this world, you’re either growing or you’re dying,” and while personal development comes naturally to some, for others it’s uncomfortable. Or, maybe we just struggle to make time for ourselves. Whatever the reason, here at Gild, we want to empower women to lead life with greater confidence and passion. Here are 10 ways you can stimulate personal growth.

Use the First Hour of Your Day to Set the Tone for Success

Successful female business leaders understand how you spend the first hour of your work day can dictate the productivity level for the the rest of the day. Before chaos ensues and your brain is here, there and everywhere in between, use that crucial bucket of time to shift your focus and prepare yourself to crush your to-do list and end your day feeling like the strong woman you are.

Morning Habits of a Successful Woman

We’ll start with what we have found to be a recurring theme for many successful women: The morning ritual. Regardless if you are a night owl or morning person, we all start our day at some point, albeit a little differently. And while we realize no routine is a one-size fits all, we can learn a lot from the morning habits of highly-successful women.

Women's Energy Network

On Thursday, the group created a collaborative vision board, outlining the vision and goals for the WEN chapter in the new year. On Friday, each board member had the opportunity to focus on their own personal vision and goals for 2018, with the creation of a personalized strategy map and a morse code necklace.

How do I handle sensitive topics at work?

One of the things we often hear is that people perceive the women’s initiative to be a place where everyone goes to complain. What we know, is that this is far from true, and that there are impactful, uplifting, and empowering conversations at every gathering of these initiatives, and we can’t allow those perceptions to keep us from addressing the challenges that individuals are facing at work, even the sensitive ones.