Dear Kathy, I’m a 42-year-old female Executive Director, and have had some great success in my field (financial services). But I still struggle every day with the communication styles and behavioral approaches of my colleagues, and how they clash with my own. I’m in a predominantly male office, and I feel bypassed, not really listened to, and marginalized because of the way I speak, present and pitch my ideas...

In 2014, I worked with Deloitte on a survey that assessed the state of millennial leadership across the globe. We quickly learned that millennials were not the kids anymore. Instead, fully half of our respondents consider themselves leaders, with decision-making authority and direct reports. And they want to do things a bit differently than their predecessors. When we asked millennial professionals about the most importa...

I once was feeling sorry for myself… I was on Facebook one day and saw all of these pictures of people at parties where I wasn’t invited. So I was feeling a little sorry for myself, and I told friend of mine about how I was feeling… And she said to me… “So when was the last time you had a party and invited people over?” Me: “Well, um….never.” My Fri...

A vast majority of us have, at one time or another, purchased a greeting card to share message with loved ones, friends and colleagues. And spending just a few minutes in front of any display of cards, you’ll learn a great deal about the dominant culture we’re immersed in, as well as less dominant and minority cultures, all of which contribute to the beauty and richness of our world. As a global greeting card...

Ageism is defined by the online Cambridge Dictionary as “unfair treatment of people because of their age.” By and large, of course, that refers to discrimination of “older” people (although there is a smaller sub-set related to young people). Ageism in the workplace rears its ugly head in all too many settings. As a result, career success can and often does suffer the impact of ageism and employer hi...

In my 18-year corporate career culminating in my role as a Vice President, I personally experienced every managerial and leadership behavior you can think of, from the most evolved and progressive, to the most archaic, backward, and damaging. I’ve also personally hired, collaborated with, and led a good number of both men and women to support my various employers’ work and visions. What I’ve witnessed f...

I had a year-long Triber ask me what I thought of an article about discrimination towards the unemployed. He is a skilled, experienced tech person who has been unemployed for a year and curious as to what I thought about President Obama’s efforts to make the unemployed a protected class (which was successful in some capacity in some states in the US). My answer? I don’t pay attention to it and I think f...

I recently conducted some research on gender differences in the workplace and learned that the same behaviors that were praised in men were often criticized in women. In particular, women who were more assertive, or confident in expressing their views, were often perceived negatively. Assertive men, on the other hand, were viewed as strong and competent. A colleague pointed me in the direction of this Fortune piece by Ki...

As you know if you’re a frequent reader, I often hear complaints that members of the millennial generation are entitled, lazy and narcissistic. The pervasive stereotype, often perpetuated by the media and late-night TV, is that young people today are all coddled trust fund kids with nothing better to do than whine while posting selfies to Instagram. While there are some millennials who conform to this stereotype, t...

Women are paving the way for a new style of leadership that is confident, authentic, and highly effective. And yet, CNN Money reports that only 25 out of 500 companies in the S&P 500 have women CEO’s. Thankfully, the comprehensive picture looks more promising. The presence of women in C-Suite roles is certainly important but I am encouraged that more women are leading in other transformative ways. Leader is not jus...