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Pathways Into the FutureJanuary 7

The turning of the calendar seems to give us permission to reinvent ourselves in some way, to have a clean start.  I look at it as not a way to discard the past, but as a chance to review, reflect, and figure out how to move things forward.

As part of the New Year, I appeared in the New York Times, in an article about Lisa Belkin, wondering how people re-enter the career track, comparing my search for a niche and career oriented job, with that of Caroline Kennedy looking to become Senator for New York.  Salon.com also picked up the story, and I thought I would re-post both articles here and have my say.

Growing up, my mom always told me that I needed a great education and a career, because depending on someone else, like a husband to define your life and meaning, was leaving yourself in a vulnerable position.  “He could get hit by a bus or a secretary any day” my Mom would say, urging me to find my own place, keep involved for my own future, because we always need a Plan B.

My Mom’s life has always required a Plan B.  She’s been through three divorces, went to law school and graduated after age 40, and found it very hard to re-enter the workplace herself, besides having everything but a dissertation towards a PhD in Gerentology from the University of Rochester  and a JD.  She’s worked as a trust officer at a bank, as a clerk for the Court of Appeals, and now does client work from home while caring for my younger sister who has a severe

Repost of Salon.com response to Belkin’s ArticleJanuary 7

Is Caroline Kennedy “opting in”?

Despite what the New York Times Magazine argues, the wannabe senator’s crass play for political power doesn’t teach us much about moms reentering the workforce.

By Rebecca Traister

Jan. 06, 2009 |

In this past Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, contributing writer Lisa Belkin made a comparison between the plight of Caroline Kennedy, a New Yorker who never committed to a particular career path and is now hoping Gov. David Paterson will appoint her to Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat, and Whitney Hoffman, a mother who has stayed at home with her kids for more than a decade, worked on a variety of professional projects, but is now nervous about how to return to the workplace full-time. Responding to critics’ cries that John F. Kennedy’s daughter is inexperienced and unqualified for the Senate job, Belkin links Kennedy’s quandary to that of the many former professional or professionally educated women who were part of what Belkin dubbed the “opt-out revolution” five years ago, some of whom are now trying to make their way back into the ranks of the gainfully employed.

Belkin’s larger thesis is that what constitutes experience is being redefined in pa

Repost of New York Times Article from Sunday, January 4, 2009January 7

By LISA BELKIN

Published: December 31, 2008 on the Motherlode blog, Sunday New York Times Magazine, January 4, 2009

Outside Philadelphia, a lawyer named Whitney Hoffman is wrestling with her résumé. She barely worked a full year as a lawyer after graduating from Penn State 14 years ago, taking what she calls a “mom sabbatical” to raise her sons, who are now 10 and 13. Not that she sat around eating bonbons during those years. She researched a book on public-assembly-facility law being written by a local attorney, served on the board of a local public-­service organization, helped run the community education program for her son’s school, created a biweekly podcast on learning disabilities and organized a number of conferences, called PodCamp, to teach new-media skills. “It’s not that I don’t have experience,” she says, “but I worry that I’ll sit across the desk at an interview, and they’ll say, ‘What are you experienced for?’ ”

Now let’s move 100 miles north, to Manhattan, where another lawyer

The Devil is in the DetailsDecember 30 2008

This morning I read Seth Godin’s latest post about Expertise and Passion, and suggest you do, too.  As much as I’ve written about getting your messages down into “marketing” sized packages, making them simple and eaily understood, the caveat to this is that the simplistic message is really just a hook for the more complex stuff underneath.

You have to be able to get and sustain the attention of others.  You have to make your message initially attractive and engaging, but then you have to deliver the payload, so to speak- the real goods, underneath.  But sometimes, we can get so caught up in the micro-message, we forget the nuance underneath.

My favorite example of this is the “Mozart Effect”.Based on several small studies, researchers found listening to Mozart’s music could help some college students perform better on certain tasks, like doing puzzles.This was expanded (or contracted into a sound bite) by the media to mean playing classical music for children from birth, or even in utero, would make kids smarter.This over-interpretation of the data even led a state governor to partner with Sony Music to make sure every newborn in his state received a classical music CD.[i] While no one will deny that being exposed to class

Top Quotes of the YearDecember 29 2008

I love quotes, and while I thought I’d shoot for ten, telling you why I like these makes this post pretty long. So I’ll just gather my favorite quotes here, fixed number be damned….

1. You can do anything, as long as you are prepared to deal with the consequences- Paul Newman

I need to remember this one- I can do anything, but I just have to be prepared to deal with the consequences, both good and bad. (And surprisingly enough, sometimes the good consequences are more frightening than the bad.)

2.  In relationship terms, I’m reaching out to shake your hand and you’re trying to put your tongue in my mouth. Chris Brogan Chris hits the nail on the head with this one- too many times we try to make subtle, friendly overtures to someone, and they respond with a move that’s simply way too much, and seriously off-putting.  Always good advice to go slowly, and respond in kind- it’s simply good manners, if nothing else.

3. It’s not enough for new systems to just be connected to their audience; the dialogue between systems and their users needs to be genuine above all else. Our new connections need to be authentic. Matt Mason, from The Pirate’s Dilemma

Having decided to be fearless, I contacted and invited Matt Mason to come speak at Podcamp NYC after reading and loving his great book, The Pirate’s Dilemma. It turned out to be a fantastic experience for everyone involved, includi