The Kids are Alright
Recently, I went a couple of rounds (respectfully) with some readers on Facebook about my statement that I don’t think it’s productive for parents to tell their children that buying real estate is the “correct” path to wealth. I get that the real estate market sucks right now in lack of inventory, inflated prices, and that mortgage interest rates have adjusted upward. (My first mortgage was 11.85%. Either you can afford a mortgage, or you can’t. Rock bottom interest rates were never guaranteed. A decade of people got lucky, and that’s no longer the case. Get over it.)
The Role Of Allies (Part II)
I few weeks ago, I posted What is the Role of Allies? (Part I), wherein I proposed that Allies who are only mentors are coming up short. Continued economic expansion requires that Allies actively identify and recruit more women into senior leadership because, in a world that is increasingly older and female, women’s wisdom and identification with the consumer population is essential for growth.
What Is The Role Of Allies? (Part I)
It seems to me that we (still) live in a world where misogyny is the last acceptable bias. It’s crazy to me, growing up being told I could do anything I wanted to, if I wanted it badly enough, to know that my success is a threat to anyone.
We Are All In Sales
We’re all in sales. Day in and day out, we sell others on our ideas, recommendations, and our work product. The only difference between salespeople and non-salespeople is how they’re compensated. I’ve looked at sales compensation models and sales contributor success, slicing and dicing it every which way. And sometimes I think the “Hunter” archetype is overrated.
We All Should Have a "Forget You Fund"
A professional colleague felt she needed to ask her husband to use a $5,000 bonus to start her own consultancy. Her bonus. Her income. And she had to ask … her spouse? The issue for her was less about getting permission than assuaging her guilt for using her money on herself and not on her family. (Spoiler alert: Her spouse was completely supportive, so she did it, she’s wildly successful, and she’s never looked back.)
I'm So Excited!
Recently, a pundit referred to the “generativity” of President Biden. That immediately sent me to the nearest search engine. Turns out “Generativity vs. Stagnation” is the seventh stage of Erik Erikson’s psychosocial development theory. (I did not take Psychology in college, so this is all new to me. But say “psychosocial development theory” three times fast and Erikson may appear.)
My Favorite New Year Coaching Exercise
I got excited when I realized I’d be able to share my favorite coaching exercise with a large audience this year. I don’t claim originality for this exercise; I just know it works. It’s an amalgamation of multiple list-making exercises I’ve borrowed from people like Barbara Sher and Jack Canfield.
What Price Ambition?
It was a Sunday, and at about 7:30 a.m., I received a “Got a minute?” text from a protégé, client, and friend. I first met her when she was in her 30s and her kids were little. Now she’s 50, launching young adults, navigating a demanding, well-compensated career, and processing post-divorce trauma. (There’s something “magical”--note the sarcasm--about the two-year mark post-divorce. Maybe I’ll tackle that another day.) This woman—my friend--considers herself a hard-fought success.
Breakfast: The Most Important (Networking) Meal of the Day
As I wait for the clock to tick down on being able to mention the word “money,” it’s fun to do a brain dump of some of the wisdom I’ve accumulated from earlier careers.
We Are Informed By Our Parents ...
I confess that I remained haunted by Hurricane Jackie’s (mom’s) retirement. Dad was seven years her senior, and when they retired to Florida, she was 63, my current age. For three decades, she spent her days in the Sunshine State walking, playing golf, aerobicizing and socializing.
Umbrellas and Encore Careers
In the late 1990s, when I immersed myself in the study of coaching as a domain, I read two books by the late Barbara Sher. These books had such a profound effect on my life and work that the title of one book, It’s Only Too Late If You Don’t Start Now, has become a personal hashtag and mantra for me. The other book, I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was, also remains a seminal piece of thought leadership for figuring out what makes for a satisfying career and life.
Who Is Madrina Molly?
A client once called me “Hada madrina de buenas ideas financieras,” which translates to the “fairy godmother of good financial ideas.” Another client called me the “Good Idea Fairy.” I sensed a pattern.
Wage Gap, Time Gap, Wealth Gap
A week here on Earth (and I’m assuming anyone reading this lives on this planet) is 168 hours. It’s how many hours you and I have each week of every year we’re here. No more, no less.
Technically, This Is An OBA
A million years ago, when the earth’s crust was cooling and when college degrees were still etched in stone (just kidding, it wasn’t quite that long ago), I ditched my plans for law school to pursue a different post-graduate path and a career in the nascent high-tech computer industry. Before long, I realized I liked people better than electrons, and that led me to a position as a technical sales engineer, enabling me to call on prospects, provide technical demonstrations, and implement successful hardware/software business solutions.