Archive for February, 2012
Having it all depends on what 'all' means
Posted: February 25, 2012 at 2:05 pm
Enlarge this image
Leah Eichler
Can women have it all?
This question comes up repeatedly in the dialogue about women and careers. I frequently encounter contemporaries who believe it’s the duty of women in their 30s and 40s to warn the next generation that they cannot, in fact, have it all. They fret about new graduates who are certain their future holds generous salaries, lofty titles, a partner with the same, and maybe even children in private school by the time they hit their mid-30s.
More related to this story
I never want to quash those dreams. I entertained them myself at one point and still believe the possibility exists for those who are up for the challenge and willing to make personal sacrifices.
What should be evaluated more critically is the definition of “all,” which I interpret as synonymous with success. Externally, one’s salary and job title present obvious markers of career success. Internally, many men and women may have an alternate understanding of success. Reconciling the two is no easy feat.
“You can have it all, but sometimes not all at once,” said Lisa Heidman, senior client partner and North American director of Bedford Legal at the Bedford Consulting Group, a global executive search firm in Toronto.
Ms. Heidman, who also acts as an adviser and coach to board- and C-level clients, often encourages senior executives, as well as up-and-coming talent, to be clear about what drives them and what they uniquely have to offer, both professionally and personally. She believes success comes when a person’s drive and skill set is strategically aligned with an organization and its goals, values and culture.
She warns against fixating on a singular definition of career success, or of characterizing yourself by some else’s definition.
“There isn’t one answer for everyone. There are always choices and compromises,” Ms. Heidman explained. “What’s important is to make these decisions consciously, and to also respect and support the many choices we make as women in our individual and collective career paths.”
Perhaps it’s not recent graduates who need to be taught the meaning of success, however. Maybe they have it right and we’re too jaded to recognize the change.
Julia Richardson, an associate professor of organizational behaviour at York University’s School of Human Resource Management, regularly asks her students to define career success. Although some speak of it in terms of scaling to the top of an organization, she said many students – specifically women – often hold a broader view.
For them, success includes factors such as happiness with their family life, making a contribution to society, and having a job they really enjoy. Dr. Richardson muses that perhaps this expanded view of success comes from watching their parents work long hours to afford a certain lifestyle, leading her students to question if that’s what they really want.
Some recent data backs up the observation that women, even if they earn less than men, find more meaning in their work. Seattle-based PayScale Inc., which mines global online compensation data, culled responses last year from 30,000 U.S. workers and found that women were more likely than men to say their job makes the world a better place. While pay levels played a more important role for men, they also acknowledged having to make longer commutes than women, meaning they sacrificed more for that pay cheque.
Although it is wonderful that many women place more emphasis on personal fulfilment over traditional markers of success, I wonder if this could be a case of cognitive dissonance. They can’t obtain the level of success they originally aspired to, so they veer toward external markers of success that are more readily available.
“I don’t think they are kidding themselves in any way,” said Dr. Richardson, while acknowledging that it might prove difficult to maintain your internal vision of success if it collides with the opinions of family and peers.
Barbara Stewart, portfolio manager with Cumberland Private Wealth Management Inc. in Toronto, is one who appears to have reconciled her inner goals with external markers of success by associating herself with a firm that offers her freedom and allows her to explore her intellectual curiosity.
While managing clients with a minimum of $1-million in investible assets, Ms. Stewart also carved out the time to research the financial lives of women around the world, exploring how the messages they received about money while growing up had an impact on their behaviour and level of confidence.
She found that although money symbolized their value as professionals for many of her subjects, the actual amount earned was not as significant to their definition of success. It's an outlook she appears to share.
“For me, being successful is having the freedom to live all parts of myself … It’s up to me how I work, when I work, where I work,” Ms. Stewart said. “Producing revenue is the bottom line but it’s up to me to decide the best way to do that.”
Leah Eichler is co-founder of Femme-o-Nomics, a networking and content portal for professional women. E-mail: leah.eichler@rogers.com
Read the original here:
Having it all depends on what 'all' means
How I Made My Small Retail Business Successful
Posted: at 2:04 pm
Many years ago, I started a comic book and game store, which flourished and expanded into its second decade with video rentals and more. A catalog was added, a full website and a second store. The store was a great personal success for me, because it enabled me to expand on my own ideas, and control my income and financial future. It also helped me learn a great deal about business, retail trends and customer habits (human behavior). My business also led to a huge network of personal contacts, which is perhaps the most rewarding aspects my small business. It has been a rewarding experience, and I never regretted the move to start my own business.
Looking back at the success, there were several key factors that led to fortune in my retail operation. My business might have failed, if I had not done all of these things right. These are the 5 most important key steps that led to my success.
1. Low Rent
The single most import "make or break" part of any retail operation is overhead, and rent is the base of it. I rented a very inexpensive space on the basement level of a mini-mall on a very busy street of the main shopping district in my city. Several spaces were empty at the basement level, the consensus being that consumers prefer street-level or higher and will not walk downstairs. However, my customer base was college age, healthy enough for stairs and the customers flocked in. The rent was very low, which helped me tremendously. My neighbor and friend at street level was paying $7000 a month, while I was paying $750 ($84,000 vs $9000 per year). He did twice the business, but went bankrupt in 2 years. I expanded and flourished for decades.
2. Location
Being in a good business and shopping district helped save on advertising. A well-placed sign outside was advertising every day 24/7 to a lot of walking traffic. Don't under-estimate the need for a good location; just find a way to get the location without breaking the bank. Look for second floor spaces in a good area. A cheap second floor space on a busy street is better than a big street-level space on a side-street in the middle of nowhere.
3. Product Evolution / Adaptation
As time passed and fads or customer interests changed, I adapted and changed the product lines of my store. When comics faded and collectibles card games (or CCG's) became hugely popular, I boosted my inventory in that direction. When Asian movies hit it big with my college students, I expanded the store to add more foreign movies. Don't sell widgets and sit year after year relying on the ups and downs of the widget market. Be attentive to what is popular and change with the tide. Just like Apple, who dropped almost all support for its failing computer line and then threw its energy into gadgets for kids, such as mp3-players and phones. They would be gone now, if they hadn't adapted.
4. Networking and Advertising
Try networking as a cheap way to supplement advertising. I would often join and sponsor college and high school groups as a way to network and meet my customers. They spread the word to other students and the network spread. Most of my customers said they found my store by "word of mouth." My paid advertising was kept to my target area, such as comic book fanzines, movie websites and college newspapers. I paid very little for advertising.
5. Website
My website only existed to do two things: give a map to my location and show new products each week. It was not a huge site, but it was simple and easy. There was no shopping cart or ability to order by mail. It was a successful site, because it kept customers informed. That's all a site needs to do. Keep it simple, easy and informative.
The main theme here is: low overhead. Because my rent and advertising costs were so low, I was able to enjoy nice profit margins. By adapting, networking and being in the right spot, my business bloomed and got better every year.
See original here:
How I Made My Small Retail Business Successful
Research and Markets: Gene Expression to Neurobiology and Behaviour. Human Brain Development and Developmental Disorders
Posted: at 2:03 pm
DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/bceca2/gene_expression_to) has announced the addition of Elsevier Science and Technology's new report "Gene Expression to Neurobiology and Behaviour. Human Brain Development and Developmental Disorders" to their offering.
How does the genome, interacting with the multi-faceted environment, translate into the development by which the human brain achieves its astonishing, adaptive array of cognitive and behavioural capacities? Why and how does this process sometimes lead to neurodevelopmental disorders with a major, lifelong personal and social impact?
This volume of Progress in Brain Research links findings on the structural development of the human brain, the expression of genes in behavioural and cognitive phenotypes, environmental effects on brain development, and developmental processes in perception, action, attention, cognitive control, social cognition, and language, in an attempt to answer these questions.
Key Highlights:
Leading authors review the state-of-the-art in their field of investigation, and provide their views and perspectives for future research Chapters are extensively referenced to provide readers with a comprehensive list of resources on the topics covered All chapters include comprehensive background information and are written in a clear form that is also accessible to the non-specialist
Key Topics Covered:
The developing brain: from developmental biology to behavioural disorders and their remediation Brain development and the nature vs nurture debate The dynamics of ontogeny: A neuroconstructivist perspective on genes, brains, cognition and behaviour Molecular bases of cortico-cerebral regionalization Development and evolution: two determinants of cortical connectivity Postnatal brain development: structural imaging of dynamic neurodevelopmental processes VERP and brain imaging for identifying levels of visual dorsal and ventral stream function in typical and preterm infants Neurodevelopment of the visual system in typically developing children Perinatal brain damage in children: Neuroplasticity, early intervention and molecular mechanisms of recovery The impact of perinatal stress on the functional maturation of prefronto-cortical synaptic circuits: implications for the pathophysiology of ADHD The processing of social stimuli in early infancy: From faces to biological motion perception Social and attention factors during infancy and the later emergence of autism characteristics How Special is Social Looking in ASD: A Review Developmental disorders of speech and language: from genes to brain structure and function Precursors to language in preterm infants: speech perception abilities in the first year of life From genes to brain development to phenotypic behaviour: 'dorsal stream vulnerability' in relation to spatial cognition, attention and planning of actions in Williams syndrome (WS) and other developmental disorders Neurocognitive development of attention across genetic syndromes: Inspecting a disorder's dynamics through the lens of another Connectivity and the corpus callosum in autism spectrum conditions: insights from comparison of autism and callosal agenesis Biological and social influences on cognitive control processes dependent on prefrontal cortex It's all in the head: Gene dosage and Williams Syndrome
For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/bceca2/gene_expression_to
Continued here:
Research and Markets: Gene Expression to Neurobiology and Behaviour. Human Brain Development and Developmental Disorders
Scalping Method Emini S
Posted: at 2:02 pm
Original post:
Scalping Method Emini S
Day Trading Education Training Courses Stocks Futures 4.5 Profit Dec 22,2011 – Video
Posted: at 2:02 pm
Read the original here:
Day Trading Education Training Courses Stocks Futures 4.5 Profit Dec 22,2011 - Video
Day Trading School Emini Scalping 5.5 Profit Jan 4, 2012 – Video
Posted: at 2:02 pm
View original post here:
Day Trading School Emini Scalping 5.5 Profit Jan 4, 2012 - Video
Learn to Day Trade for a Living 6.75 Profit Jan 31, 2012 – Video
Posted: at 2:02 pm
The rest is here:
Learn to Day Trade for a Living 6.75 Profit Jan 31, 2012 - Video
Top Personal Trainer Victor Costa (Vic’s Natural Workouts) – Video
Posted: at 2:02 pm
More:
Top Personal Trainer Victor Costa (Vic's Natural Workouts) - Video
Domotex Rugs, Carpets Design Show Online Video, Next High Point Furniture! Buy Rugs You Love! – Video
Posted: at 2:02 pm
Read the original post:
Domotex Rugs, Carpets Design Show Online Video, Next High Point Furniture! Buy Rugs You Love! - Video
Face The Nation with Bob Schieffer – Santorum clarifies prenatal testing, theology statements – Video
Posted: at 2:02 pm