19 September 2010

Joy in Creating

People often enquire as to why a woman would choose a career in the trades. You have to admit that sometimes the work conditions are not great. Weather can make it tough for certain and there are other things that makes working in the trades uncomfortable. But there is something to be said about a job done well just for the sake of doing it.

I can recall a project that I undertook one time that took a lot of fine detail and concentration. I not only had to concentrate hard but I also had to be creative. I can recall getting things to fit together just right or times when I could overcome what looked like a challenging project. There is something to be said for that type of problem solving. Standing back and looking at a completed project that you contributed to minimizes all of the concerns about the weather. There are many reasons why choosing a career in trades can be rewarding.

9 September 2010

Dusting Yourself Off

Sometimes life is not kind. We will all have at least one life altering event in our lives. Well, maybe that is not so - we all know someone who manages to get by unscathed. But for the rest of us poor folks -the reality is....life is not always kind.

How do you move forward after a setback? Do you have a strategy for getting back up? In my experience, I've learned something from all the times that things have not gone as planned - there is room in life for change and things usually work out. Picture your worse case scenario - there is nothing that can be done about a tragedy once it happens. You can decide to let it go quickly and work on the "what now" part of your life.

Leaders are not people who do not fail - they are the people who can recover quickly and extract the lesson.

Picking Your Battles

There is nothing worse then being singled out at work for wisecracks or the brunt of jokes. This can be very cruel and intimidating behaviour.

There may be ways to prevent it or at least minimize it. First of all, I use the analogy of one hand clapping to demonstrate the role that is played by an enabler in some abusive situations.

Women need to learn to watch for the warning signs or red flags to this type of behaviour. Generally speaking, there is always an institutional bully lurking around for some vulnerable man or woman to make the next victim. If you are being singled out over and over, it might be worthwhile to learn to walk away from situations or to disengage in conversations that show signs of escalating. I'm not interested in victim blaming - but there are times when onlookers can see a trainwreck coming but choose not to speak. It's worth thinking about.

Forewarned is forearmed -