Tuesday, October 1, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

CONTACT: Joyce Hoff (856)751-6141

www.pachter.com



There has been a lot of buzz lately about women in the workplace, caused to a large degree by Sheryl Sandberg's recent book Lean In, which encourages women to "lean in" to their ambitions and to speak up so their voices are heard.

According to Barbara Pachter, who has conducted hundreds of women's seminars and coached numerous female executives, "Many women could benefit from "leaning in."

As the author of 10 books, including her new book, The Essentials of Business Etiquette: How to Greet, Eat and Tweet Your Way to Success (August, 2013, McGraw Hill) Pachter continues, "Many of the career-limiting factors that I began speaking about in seminars more than 20 years ago are still evident today, in a new generation of young women."

Pachter provides the following examples that highlight how women can restrict themselves and/or their careers through their own actions.

• A newly appointed vice president who said that she had never thought about becoming a CEO until her mentor told her, "You could be running this place in a few years."

• An unmarried college student who decided not to become a physician (her career choice for many years) because she wanted to "have a life." She hoped to marry and have children, and decided that she couldn't have a successful family life and a career as a physician.

• The young woman who became all-but-invisible in her office because she rarely voiced her opinion, and when she did say something, she spoke so softly that no one heard her.

• The (formerly) successful businesswoman who said, "My husband does very well. I don't have to work." Yet she was bored at home and missed the challenges she had encountered at work.

Before women can take control of their lives and their careers, they have to recognize what they are doing to handicap themselves. Here are Pachter's suggestions to help women advance in the workplace:

1. Don't set limits on yourself. Be open to opportunities. Aim high. More and more women are advancing in the workplace. You can be one of them. The vice president cited above noted that once her mentor expressed the possibility of her advancement, she began thinking that she could become the CEO of her company.

2. Don't limit your options based on an unknown future. No one knows what the future will hold. There will always be obstacles, regardless of your choices. If you are smart enough to advance, you will be smart enough to find solutions. There are a number of career women, including physicians, who successfully balance having children and a career.

3. Appreciate history. Learn about the struggles of women in the past. Had it not been for the efforts of women before you, many of the opportunities that you have today wouldn't exist. Oprah Winfrey said, "I have crossed over on the backs of Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman and Fannie Lou Hamer and Madam C.J. Walker. Because of them I can now live the dream. I am the seed of the free, and I know it. I intend to bear great fruit."

4. Learn from others. Have role models and mentors. What have they done that you can incorporate into your career? A woman in one of Pachter's seminars had four young sons, worked full time, and still found the time to earn her MBA. To help her manage family and career, she had a to-do list that included weekly family meetings to discuss the upcoming week's activities.

5. Pick the father of your children wisely. Once you have children, life gets more complicated. You will want someone who is a partner in every sense, someone who supports you and your career.

6. Present yourself assertively. Learn what you are doing, verbally and nonverbally, that could be detracting from your power. Speak up and let people know your opinions. Ask for what you want. There are numerous classes and books available on assertiveness, including Pachter's book, The Power of Positive Confrontation.



Barbara Pachter is speaker, coach and author of numerous business books, including The Power of Positive Confrontation( Marlowe & Co.) and NewRules@ Work (Prentice Hall).

She specializes in business etiquette and communication. Her client list features major organizations worldwide, including Bayer, Campbell Soup, Chrysler, Con Edison, Microsoft, and Pfizer.

For a review copy of The Essentials of Business Etiquette: How to Greet, Eat and Tweet Your Way to Success (August, 2013, McGraw-Hill), contact Chelsea Van der Gaag at chelsea.van.der.gaag@mheducation.com.

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