Communicating effectively when you’re running on empty: Communicating clearly, completely, and persuasively sets you up to have the impact and influence you’re after. It’s how we pitch our brilliant ideas, connect with an audience, inspire others to carry out our vision, build consensus, and win support. But expressing your ideas and giving direction when you’re sleep-deprived, burned out, grieving, or in perimenopausal brain fog…can feel nearly impossible. So, what then? Leadership development coach Muriel Wilkins talks us through communication techniques that meet you where you’re at mentally and emotionally and allow you to rise to the moment (even when you’re worried you can’t). She’ll also share tactics for getting your message across while building and maintaining your relationships at work.
- Lessons from women making work better for women: Three women describe what they did to win wider opportunities and better benefits at their companies. Myra Orndoff, a senior manager at Capital One, campaigned for the company to create more part-time tech jobs after she went part time herself as a way to stay in the workforce while raising four kids. Becky Guenther persuaded Rehmann, the financial services firm where she leads total rewards, to give its employees free maternity, eldercare, and mental health counseling. Stephanie LeBlanc-Godfrey, who leads Google’s global programming for women of color, launched and continues to refine an annual summit that’s become a focal point of the multinational’s DEI strategy because of the positive effects it’s had on retention and advancement. What can we learn from their advocacy and persuasion skills? How are they tracking the programs’ impact on women’s health, representation, and job satisfaction—and what have the results been? How can you follow their lead? They’ll fill us all in.
- The latest gender research and what it means for you: Management professors Alexandra Feldberg (Harvard), Chia-Jung Tsay (UW-Madison), and Michelle Duguid (Cornell) tell us about their most recent research projects, which explore questions like: Are people paying attention to who’s in the office, and what assumptions are they making about me when I’m WFH or not visibly online? As a middle manager, why do I keep feeling the need to prove myself in front of my team? How much influence will I actually have when I’m the only woman on a hiring committee? You’ll come away with an understanding of some of the latest scholarship around women and work, and how these findings apply to you and your workplace. Alexandra, Chia, and Michelle will answer audience questions too.
- Ask the Amys: Need help with a negotiation you’re in the middle of, a workplace relationship that’s been dragging you down, a decision you’re struggling to make, or something else? Ask the Amys about it.
Women at Work live agenda
Sessions will include:
For the "Ask the Amys" session, the Amys will take some questions ahead of time as well as some during the session itself. They’re especially wise and practical in these areas: leading teams, dealing with conflict and difficult people, making decisions, managing stress and uncertainty, negotiating, and communicating.
If there’s a question you’d like them to answer during the session, email it to womenatwork@hbr.org before April 15. Their producer will reach out if they need to know anything else about your situation in order to give you the most relevant and useful guidance they can. Thanks for contributing!