https://emersonexchange365.com/women-in-stem/Achieve your full potential as a leader and/or in STEM careers with these insights, stories and professional development resources. en-USTelligent Community 13https://emersonexchange365.com/women-in-stem/f/discussions-questions/9763/emerson-s-women-in-stem-and-puffer-sweiven-workplace-education-session-at-rogerdale-facility-10-warning-signs-of-alzheimer-s-disease-and-the-benefits-of-early-detectionMon, 02 Aug 2021 20:47:00 GMTcd40bb2b-3d49-4868-939d-417119b40291:81e22d7d-ab93-4b22-ac8c-abba54c291b1jesse.moralinaEmerson's Women in STEM and Puffer-Sweiven recently sponsored a workplace education session at the Emerson Rogerdale facility, educating employees on the 10 warning signs of Alzheimer's disease and the benefits of early detection. The interactive workshop served as a kickoff to a series of further education sessions for Emerson and Puffer and will also be extended to further connect with customers. Sue Ooi, Emerson's Women in STEM Gulf Leader and Marketing Chair of the Ft Bend Walk to End Alzheimer’s planning committee, stated, "More than 6 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease, of whom two-thirds are women. Over 11 million Americans provide unpaid care for people with Alzheimer's or others dementias - Women also account for 60 percent of caregivers of those afflicted with Alzheimer's disease." Kirk Emiliani, Executive Vice President Puffer-Sweiven and Chair, Ft Bend Walk to End Alzheimer’s planning committee, said, "Alzheimer's and dementia deaths have increased 16% during the COVID pandemic and comparatively, while deaths from heart disease decreased 7.3% between 2000 and 2019, deaths from Alzheimer's have increased 145% in the same timeframe. We want to educate our employees and customers on the early warning signs and providing them with resources on who they can reach out to should the need arise. We also want to help separate myth from reality and address commonly-held fears about Alzheimer's in America." The Workplace Education Program was created by the Alzheimer's Association to help businesses of all types and sizes address the growing challenges posed by Alzheimer’s disease and other chronic conditions causing individuals to need care. A big thank you to Fredy Batres, Bruce Mills, the Alzheimer’s Association, Emerson, Puffer-Sweiven and everyone that attended the event for supporting this important course.RogerdalestemPuffer-SweivenWomenInSTEMhttps://emersonexchange365.com/women-in-stem/f/discussions-questions/9478/international-women-s-day-2021Wed, 03 Mar 2021 17:16:00 GMTcd40bb2b-3d49-4868-939d-417119b40291:591ca0f6-9e0b-4ab2-8f30-875027e43431TracyJoin us to celebrate International Women’s Day in Emerson. March 08th @09:00 - 10:30 GMT #SheInspires. Join our event and celebrate our inspiring colleagues sharing their stories and what/who inspired them. Collectively, we can all work to help shape an inclusive world where diversity is valued for creating workplaces where women’s careers can thrive. Our speakers are: Alina Negru Ana Gonzalez Hernandez Rico Yao Gertjan Ven der van Evangeline Cousot Roel Van Doren Act for equality Click Attendees’ LINK to join .https://emersonexchange365.com/women-in-stem/b/blog/posts/to-parents-navigating-the-new-normal-during-a-pandemic-you-are-not-aloneMon, 02 Nov 2020 21:05:00 GMTcd40bb2b-3d49-4868-939d-417119b40291:b2e326a0-1c05-409a-aa15-fafdfbc513a8Nina GolderToday, as I write this blog, I am navigating my newly developed skill set of homeschooling. I’m uncertain whether my kids will return to school as planned or if we will have to find support for another 4+ weeks. I’m navigating virtual school and tutor sharing with neighbors, while sleep-deprived because my two-year-old has decided to outgrow his cage, I mean.. crib. Not once during all of this has my professional career slowed down, and I know that I’m not just speaking for myself when I say it’s been challenging working to grow and outpace the competition in this pandemic situation. An article recently caught my eye around working parents reaching their breaking point when it comes to balancing careers and parenting. This motivated me to openly share my personal thoughts on the topic and how we can better support each other as we work to navigate these unprecedented times with dynamic school, work, and government guidelines. To all the working parents out there that are struggling right now: you are not alone . The struggle is real, and it should be acceptable to talk about it in the corporate world. It’s time to turn the tables on downplaying the great mental (and sometimes physical) load many of us working parents’ shoulders; instead, let’s speak honestly about it and support each other. It is my belief that this understanding will drive more loyalty and retain talent in our organizations, so we can all just be more darn human. Give Yourself A Pass In a previous blog post , I talked about embracing the messy, imperfect life – I am confident that this will be a critical time of personal growth and reflection for all of us. To build upon that idea, I cannot stress enough that you need to stop using social media as a parental measuring stick. No one has it all together right now. Families that seem to are most certainly paying a lot of money to ensure that they do or they have a village to help. Many are struggling to keep up. My laundry is piling up, the house is not in an organized state, we may have run out of milk a few times, and our dining room is now a virtual classroom. Do not compare your behind the scenes with someone’s highlight reel. Most of the time I can focus on what matters, except for when my gas tank is on empty and I turn into a monster mom who is fighting for my untenable views of perfection and I (or my family) have to put monster-me in check. Accept that we can only control what we can and cut yourself some slack from your perfectionist goals (reminder, we are in a pandemic). Self-Care is Critical In our current environment, we’re trying to mentally cope with an unforeseen and unprecedented event, while still trying to resume some sense of normalcy and navigate a dynamic situation in both our personal and professional lives. In order to be our best selves either at work or at home, we need to take care of our own minds and bodies and prioritize self-care. I often say “you cannot pour from an empty cup. Practicing self-care is easier said than done. Here are a few personal recommendations: Practice yoga with the Yoga Workout app. Put those AirPods to use and stretch or walk during calls. Enjoy nature with either a hike or golf outing. Leverage technology and connect with friends and family. Strong social relationships are critical to mental well-being. If you are finding yourself on edge, stressed, and seeing your inner monster come out, perhaps it’s time to schedule some much needed me-time on your calendar to take care of yourself. Ask for and accept support The COVID-19 pandemic is causing all of us to rethink our priorities whether simple decisions like am I ready to go out to eat in a restaurant or more critical ones like whether or not we are ready to send our children back to school. I recently was talking to colleagues and I heard some half-joking comments that one parent might have to give up their careers to support virtual schooling. Please, please, and especially for the women out there who are so often the ones to leave the workforce for familial obligations , make sure you have open and transparent communication with your managers and leaders before you make a drastic decision. Employers, managers, and teams cannot provide support if unaware of challenges that you may have, so I encourage you to make them aware of your current situation as appropriate. Outside of the workplace, ensure that you are speaking with your partners and your support system about ways they can support. There is NO shame in asking for help. It’s unprecedented times and we need to have modern day villages that work to fill in the gaps and offer much needed support. Lead with Empathy For those of you who are not parents, beyond the parenting years, or have a stay at home partner, I implore you to show empathy to your colleagues and employees that may possibly be hanging on by a thread. Believe me, most of us parents would rather be in the office versus navigating learning pods, trying to find qualified tutors, dealing with tech issues, or figuring out what common core math is. If you don’t understand the above, ask someone to explain or share their experience with you to gain some awareness around what working parents are currently experiencing. For managers, please check on your employees- they may not be comfortable sharing their struggles. If a parent tells you they will miss a meeting or asks to reschedule due to family duties, do your best to accommodate them and let them know that they have your support. Working parents are going through a monumental experience right now where they are learning much about themselves and their ability to deal with ambiguity and change, prioritize, be more flexible, and still get things done. I am concerned that we will lose some of these now battle-tested employees if we don’t have a full appreciation for what is going on outside of the workplace. With open communication and empathy, we can all unburden some of the mental load that working parents are feeling and support ourselves, our colleagues, and our employees to be the best version of themselves and together get through this challenging time. Contributing Editor Credits: Chelsea McGovernparenting during covidworking from homeoverwhelmed work from home parentcovidsocial distancingbreaking pointworking mompandemicCOVID-19parentinghttps://emersonexchange365.com/women-in-stem/b/blog/posts/we-love-stem-at-home-editionThu, 27 Aug 2020 14:15:00 GMTcd40bb2b-3d49-4868-939d-417119b40291:6a4fd93e-4371-46c0-af37-863b676ac9adKimConnerCreating an engaging learning environment is the key to ensuring that students of all ages will learn effectively. In fact, the "learning by doing" or "learning through play" approach, is proven to help students perform better in science concepts, when compared to just reading alone. You can learn more about "Why Hands-On Science Is A Growing Trend in Education" through this article. Additionally, taking the hands-on approach simply makes learning some of those tougher science concepts more fun, with an added bonus (and relief) for parents, by providing new activities for kids do at home with (and without) parent supervision. In the past, we've had our Emerson We Love STEM Day in person with sometimes 150+ eager young minds in attendance. Keeping the idea of "Safety-First" in mind, we knew that an in-person We Love STEM Day was not going to be possible this year. So our innovative Emerson We Love STEM Day subcommittee put our heads together to invent the We Love STEM @ Home Edition. https://youtu.be/BQz5bToNaY4 Approximately, 70 STEM activity kits were provided to families in the Austin, Texas area. This year, children over the age of 10 were given supplies to build a hydraulic lift and also create art that spins with heat. Younger kids were given supplies to create an electrical circuit with salt. Links to instructions for these at-home STEM activities are posted below: We Love STEM @ Home Edition - Minecraft Hour of Code We Love STEM @ Home Edition - Build a Hydraulic Elevator We Love STEM @ Home Edition - Create Spinning Spiral Art We Love STEM @ Home Edition - Salt Circuit Families were invited to share pictures and videos of their kids performing the activity. From these submissions, we can tell that we definitely have a creative, intelligent, and inquisitive generation of learners! We enjoyed seeing siblings, parents and even pets collaborating to create the best outcome for each activity. While we hope to continue to provide accessible and safe STEM learning tools to homes in the future, we hope that next year we can get together again and in-person to continue to help children have fun learning scientific concepts and create a lifelong love and aptitude for STEM. Interested in Emerson's We Love STEM? Follow this link: www.emerson.com/welovestem We invite you to try these experiments at home and share your thoughts, photos, and videos by replying below. Contributing Editor Credits: Chelsea McGovernstemsteamWe Love STEMhttps://emersonexchange365.com/women-in-stem/m/libraryresources/5964Wed, 26 Aug 2020 19:48:00 GMTcd40bb2b-3d49-4868-939d-417119b40291:b3ab46cb-3b34-4113-9ab6-8fa4b98732a8Chelsea McGovernYou'll learn about how electricity moves from a power source and through a conductive material to turn on a light. You can also use creativity to make a cool piece of art. Ages 5-9salt circuitstemonline schoolinghome schoolingsteamWe Love STEMhttps://emersonexchange365.com/women-in-stem/m/libraryresources/5963Wed, 26 Aug 2020 19:45:00 GMTcd40bb2b-3d49-4868-939d-417119b40291:80b055d4-af17-4780-946f-d1fdddb494dcChelsea McGovernLearn why hot air rises and how to harness it to create a spinning spiral art piece. Ages 10+online learningspinning spiral artstemwe love steamhome schoolingsteamwhy hot air risesWe Love STEMhttps://emersonexchange365.com/women-in-stem/m/libraryresources/5962Wed, 26 Aug 2020 19:40:00 GMTcd40bb2b-3d49-4868-939d-417119b40291:4ec94b7d-2328-40c4-b1b8-9848d3d32e5aChelsea McGovernBuild a Hydraulic Elevator! You'll learn about hydraulics and how it is possible to use a small amount of force to create a larger force somewhere else. Ages 10+online learningstemhome schoolinghydraulicsWe Love STEMhttps://emersonexchange365.com/women-in-stem/m/libraryresources/5961Wed, 26 Aug 2020 18:08:00 GMTcd40bb2b-3d49-4868-939d-417119b40291:f04a6e4d-d79c-439a-a842-6dad2b3407ddChelsea McGovernLearn basic coding concepts, while designing your own puzzles! Ages 10+online learningstemhome schoolinghour of codeWeLoveSTEMhttps://emersonexchange365.com/women-in-stem/f/discussions-questions/8950/free-webinar-series-trusting-ourselves-and-owning-our-storiesFri, 17 Jul 2020 16:50:00 GMTcd40bb2b-3d49-4868-939d-417119b40291:8300affd-997c-41f5-9b1c-511a22680360Rachelle McWrightTo know me is to know that I live for Playing Big . Wanted to share info with the group on this free upcoming webinar series by author Tara Mohr and actress Lili Taylor (LOVE). Hope everyone is staying safe and remaining relatively sane during these crazy times. And, perhaps I'll get to see some familiar faces in Zoom: https://www.taramohr.com/trusting/Playing BigTara MohrPersonal Developmenthttps://emersonexchange365.com/women-in-stem/f/discussions-questions/8866/check-out-this-stellar-event-on-the-importance-of-diversity-in-scienceMon, 08 Jun 2020 17:19:00 GMTcd40bb2b-3d49-4868-939d-417119b40291:4df8ad4e-0ceb-4dde-bed1-f5e712a16912Rachelle McWrightBig 'Hat tip' to my Alma Mater, The Ohio State University, for this hosting this virtual conference. Visit this link to register and for more info on their ongoing webinar series which spotlights underrepresented scientists and their important work... https://astronomy.osu.edu/outreach/making-spaceastronomyScienceWomenInSTEMDiversityhttps://emersonexchange365.com/women-in-stem/f/discussions-questions/8863/to-achieve-gender-equality-we-must-change-our-own-mindsetSat, 06 Jun 2020 19:13:00 GMTcd40bb2b-3d49-4868-939d-417119b40291:625f4eff-2627-4ee1-a5e4-957ec1e3d3aaAishwarya DubeyI wanted to pass along a link to one of my blogs which got published on the Society of Women Engineers ‘All Together’ website. The article discusses how we, as women, need to change our mindsets to achieve gender equality. https://alltogether.swe.org/2020/05/changed-mindset-for-gender-equality/ https://emerson.sharepoint.com/sites/OneEmerson-Diversity-WISTEM/SitePages/SWEBlogPost.aspx Please do take time to read it and let me know your comments.https://emersonexchange365.com/women-in-stem/b/blog/posts/wis-ask-me-anything-panel-deltav-technology-groupFri, 15 May 2020 22:45:00 GMTcd40bb2b-3d49-4868-939d-417119b40291:421fe662-f2bf-43a8-ac13-326999c4ef40Andrea TungOn April 15, 2020, Emerson’s Women in STEM group from Austin, TX, held its third Ask-Me-Anything panel, virtually! This year, our vision for the Ask-Me-Anything Panel is to grow a career and professional development by learning about various departments through others' experiences in open dialogue. We’ve asked for nominations for people of various roles within Technology to come and share their experience. This blog will summarize some of the key topics, questions, and responses during the event. Many thanks to our panelists below, our moderator Christina Koffskey and my co-host Karla Padron for pulling off a great event! Q: What is the technology group? A: Claudio Fayad : The Technology organization develops new products, as well as sustains existing products, and research for new technology. It consists of various groups such as: Applied Research – Researching for feasibility of new technologies Software Development – Fun fact: there are about 200-250 software developers for DeltaV. SQA & Strategic Planning – Software quality assurance and strategic planning; ensures correct processes are followed Lifecycle Services and Hardware Development – Develops the tools for the full lifecycle of a product User Experience – Making sure the product has the end-user in mind In the end, we’re trying to not only to create a product, but we’re trying to bring value by truly satisfying the customer's needs, by helping them do their jobs better and helping them to achieve more. We have and need people of both business and technical insights to better understand the world around us. This is a team sport -- even if you’re not in Technology, you can still engage with us to better solve problems for our customers. Q: Everyone now is working from home, how are you balancing keeping your kids busy while keeping up with work? A: Prasanthi Ballada : I have kids who are 14 and 18, so they are pretty independent, but we still plan for the day. Structure is important. I make sure to ask them, “What are your plans for the week? What are you doing today?” Everyone in our house has their dedicated workspace, and we make sure that we respect each other’s workspace. If you have younger kids that require more of your attention, work with your manager, take turns with your partner to watch over the kids. And remember to keep yourself healthy! Mary Grace Francisco (Grace): Be a list maker! Create checkpoints in the middle of the week. You can even reward and gamify it. It helps keep themselves accountable. If money were not an issue, what recommendations would you make to make PSS faster and stronger as an organization? One of the areas that work really well in the past is creating collaborative products with the other product areas and business units. For example, if you take a look at the fieldbus in the past, it was never a dominant product. But because Fisher, Rosemount, and Emerson did it so well - if one of us wins, then all of us can win. On a completely different aspect, because the baby boomer generation is starting to retire, there are a lot of areas with a great expertise that would potentially be lost. Ideally, we would staff up to transfer that knowledge while everyone is still here. Grace: I recommend reading The Lean Startup by Eric Ries. We’ve got to find a way to reiterate faster and to get technology out the door quicker. Claudio: Actually, we need the constraint of having limited resources. If money is not an issue, then I guarantee you’ll waste it. You need that constraint as a driving force; it’ll make us more relevant, and innovative. Q: Reflecting on your career, is there anything that you would’ve done differently? A: Claudio: In the end, it was beneficial throughout the years to look at the same problem from different perspectives. I started from a very technical background and then moved into sales and marketing. But in the beginning, it took a long time to speak up with confidence. I was focused on very specific things, so it felt like what I had to say was not important. I would’ve liked the ability to express my thoughts earlier. I’ve also learned that sometimes you have to just let go, which is different from giving up. "When you have your own idea and strong convictions, you hold onto those tightly and you can’t receive feedback. The ability to let go and truly listen, combine ideas, and compromise through collaboration. The more we can do that, the more we can generate value faster." Prasanthi: Getting different roles in technology, to get a broader perspective and understand from different roles’ perspective. Cindy: For many years, I was an individual contributor; I never considered management. When I finally got into it, I found out that there are a lot of great challenges in management. If you’re an individual contributor and are thinking about a management role, I would advise you to consider it. Emerson has a lot of great training courses that will help support your career path. "If you’re an individual contributor and are thinking about a management role, I would advise you to consider it. Emerson has a lot of great training courses that will help support your career path." Q: What have you fought for that might’ve been hardest in your career? A: Grace: I’ve had to fight for the end-users of the products. Developers – you are not the end-user; we must be user-centric in product development. Empathy has to be your bedrock; you need to understand their pain points and their struggles. It truly pays dividends in the end. Too many times in product development, we’ve built something that has all the bells and whistles, but it eventually got pulled off the shelves because it ultimately wasn’t resolving what the customer needed. "Empathy has to be your bedrock; you need to understand [your user's] pain points and their struggles." Q: I find that my questions/comments are often ignored, only to have a male attendee make the same suggestion later, and have it been accepted almost as if I hadn't said the same thing! How do I change that dynamic without coming off as too forceful, or is it something that our male counterparts need to made more aware of? A: Prasanthi: It’s a matter of unconscious bias. In my experience, sometimes, a male person would get better preference or priority on an idea. It’s a matter of training on unconscious bias. Don’t be afraid to speak up. Cindy: It’s perfectly fine to let people know that you have been championing an idea before others. You can always say, “I’m glad you agree with my idea.” Some people are louder megaphones than others, and in those cases, you may need to be bold. When you sit in meetings, if you notice these things happen to others too, you’re not helpless; you can bring the idea back to the person. Let’s advocate for each other. Claudio: Don’t give up. It may not just be male vs female dynamic, it may be the demeanor of which a person is speaking or the timing of the situation. Sometimes the solution is on you or the group you’re talking to. Grace: There’s no such thing as overcommunicating important things. It may be taking a different form of communication. Q: Cindy, what’s your favorite thing and one challenging thing that you find about being a product marketing manager? A: Cindy: When there is something new that you’re working on, you see it “grow-up”. There’s a problem that you know people have, and you have a solution for it; then when you bring it to Emerson Exchange and people see it and get excited about it -- it’s the most rewarding thing. The most frustrating thing is when you hear a need and you think you can make a difference, but the idea doesn’t make the cut. There are simply just more great ideas in the world than we can ever possibly do. Q: Keeping the end-user in mind, do we have a “real world environment” set up so that our product developers can actually experience life as an operator? A: Grace: One of the things that our research team had the opportunity to do to build our augmented reality product was to go out to the plant site. They were able to learn the true pain points of the end-user. Claudio: We have a few other initiatives, we have a program called Field Time to take developers out to the site, see how the operator uses the product, and better understand how to help sales people sell. We also have user advisory boards. We have also brought in SMEs to engage with developers and to better help the organization in general, even in knowing how to sell the products. Q: What is your favorite self-development advice? A: Grace: Get comfortable with networking. The broader your networking is, the more valuable you are with Prasanthi: Be yourself, no one else can be you. Grow your strengths so much that people stop noticing your weaknesses. Cindy: Keep learning. Pay attention to the world around you, other industries, and you can gain new ideas in different ways. Claudio: Excel at what you do and stay curious and engaged in different areas. You can develop what you do better by doing it every day. "Be yourself, no one else can be you. Grow your strengths so much that people stop noticing your weaknesses." Q: How does Jon Westbrock HCD vs Duane Toavs HCD teamwork and do they coordinate activities?* A: *Due to time restraint, this question was answered after the event. The Human Centered Design Institute led by Duane Toavs is part of Emerson Automation Solutions (LLLP – corporate group). They provide services to ALL Emerson AutoSol businesses (Final Control (Fisher), Measurement (Rosemount), Flow Solutions (Micro Motion, Daniel), etc. including PSS). Because they are a small group serving such a large organization, their approach is to upskill and enable the businesses to practice Human Centered Design. Other activities performed by the HCDi group include design reviews and design engagements. The HCDi group does coordinate with the HCD group within PSS as well as other dedicated design resources or HCD practitioners within Emerson. The Human Centered Design group led by Jon Westbrock is part of the PSS Technology organization focused primarily on DeltaV. They are dedicated design resources within PSS, and puts into practice the HCD techniques and methodologies through actual product development activities. This group works alongside agile development teams to create products that are easy to use, meet our users’ needs and deliver value to our business. The types of activities that the HCD group has coordinated with the HCDi group includes heuristic reviews, HCD training, workshop facilitation, persona development, design tool evaluations and design guidelines. If you attended the event, thank you! If not, we’d love for you to join us next time. Please be on the lookout for another Ask-Me-Anything Panel Event soon. If you have any comments/suggestions for what you’d like to see next, please comment below! Contributing Editor Credits: Chelsea McGovernAsk Me Anythingcareer adviceInterviewThe Lean Startuphuman centered designDeltaVhttps://emersonexchange365.com/women-in-stem/b/blog/posts/breaking-down-a-few-habits-tips-to-dream-big-plan-strategically-and-work-hardTue, 28 Apr 2020 19:00:00 GMTcd40bb2b-3d49-4868-939d-417119b40291:b4524bd7-e657-4f95-95b9-a8eb39b2fcdbJessica JordanLast week, I had the fortune of a FaceTime mentoring session with a retired Emerson Executive who is quite the guru on leading change and discerning wisdom. We talked about the state of the world, driving radical change and candor, and how to unapologetically set and go after big goals. We left our conversation with reflections on Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People . Truth is, I was three years old when this book was published. After a quick download, I read the entire thing cover to cover. 30 years later, the principles of the habits still ring true. One benefit of sheltering in place is time to read, reflect, set big goals, and figure out a way to achieve them. After deeper reflection on Covey’s Habits and going after big goals, I offer the following thoughts with others who are also looking to shake the world: Dreaming Big – Dreaming big means having the mental freedom to think about what you really want out of life and forget about all the reasons why you can’t make it a reality. It means having high standards for your life and setting the bar high for yourself. It is a powerful brainstorming activity that can have the potential for great reward. Pro Tip : Find and follow social media groups or influencers that elevate your thinking. Surround yourself with positive vibes and ideas. Let your mind wonder and then let it wander. If you're looking for a way to visualize your next career move try a Career Mind Map . You might be on the right path and just aren't realizing it. Plan Strategically – Dreaming big is a great start; but it’s not simply just about motivating to dream big – everyone does that. To be successful, you need a roadmap to help guide your actions and decisions to achieving your goals – that is where the plan comes in place. There will be long-term and short-term actions that work in harmony together. Recognize there are sometimes you need to be strategically tactical to create small victories as you get started. Support is a key factor in putting together a good plan. When driving to a goal, you should ensure you garner the support of key influencers who can help you achieve your dreams. While it is important to build the support around you, do not fail to remember you are the tip of the spear. Pro Tip: A word I recommend burning into your mind: persistence. No matter how good your plan is, you will encounter failures and setbacks. But, if you really believe in your cause, and you have the right support structure in place, be persistent. Perhaps take a step back to analyze your approach, and ensure it is thoughtful. As Churchill says: "Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." Work Hard, Every Single Day – Now that you’ve planned the work, it’s time to work the plan. It takes disciple, dedication, and determination all mixed together to push oneself to higher levels of performance. Also, an acute sense of self-awareness and drive for continuous improvement. In his book, Covey talks about the upward spiral model that is the result of growth, change, and continuous improvement. The model’s foundation is based upon three parts: Learn, Commit, Do. The upward spiral continues as a function of time. The concept is not that you learn once, commit once, and do once; rather you must be continuously educating and developing yourself to continue the upward spiral. If you’ve completed Step 1 & Step 2 my advice to you on Step 3 is develop a competency that does not come naturally to you. Look at the foundational building blocks you need to achieve your goals, identify what’s missing, and invest in your personal growth there. Pro Tip: Learn about finance – it will pay dividends. Take the time to understand how a P&L operates, how to read, and talk about a balance sheet, indicators that have major impact (Inventory, DSO, ROTC). Learn how to talk like a finance executive. Understanding finance can only accelerate your plan to achieving your dreams, whatever they are. Not sure where to begin? Start online. Goldman Sach's 10,000 Women Entreprenuerialship Program hosts a Business Fundamentals course through Coursera ; the Sloan School of Management at MIT offers many courses about finance and economics using it's Online OpenCourseWare . It's completely free! Sharpening your saw is about putting yourself in the best position to reach your goal. As Covey writes, “We are the instruments of our own performance, and to be effective, we need to recognize the importance of taking time regularly to sharpen the saw...” “We are the instruments of our own performance, and to be effective, we need to recognize the importance of taking time regularly to sharpen the saw...” - Stephen Covey As we shelter in place a few more weeks, I encourage you to find ways to sharpen your saw and emerge on the other side of this a better version of yourself. Be persistent, be thoughtful, and keep shining. – JJ Contributing Editor Credits: Chelsea McGovernplan strategically7 Habits of Highly Effective Peopledream bigcareer mind mapStephen Coveylearn financehttps://emersonexchange365.com/women-in-stem/f/discussions-questions/8710/we-need-that-this-share-point-explodes-we-need-to-boost-the-women-in-stem-movement-worldwideThu, 16 Apr 2020 16:38:00 GMTcd40bb2b-3d49-4868-939d-417119b40291:58ddcffd-3a3f-4daf-adf6-fffe3c096fc6TatiI am new hire at Emerson Automation Solutions in Costa Rica, and I am really passionate about Women in Finance , Technology and Science. I have been searching how to participate , information available and more about Women Stem everyday since day one . I think that we can do many things within the women in STEM initiative for all chapters and maybe could be great more posts related to, for 2020 specially in this difficult and challenging year. Stay Safe and active.women2020Ingrid VanderveldtInclusionEmployee Resource GroupWeLoveSTEMSTEM #WomeninSTEM #InternationalWomensDayhttps://emersonexchange365.com/women-in-stem/m/libraryresources/5960Thu, 16 Apr 2020 16:30:00 GMTcd40bb2b-3d49-4868-939d-417119b40291:b7e36b25-1605-4028-8584-a7e0c71e6be6TatiDid you know our unconscious biases are significantly holding women back?https://emersonexchange365.com/women-in-stem/m/libraryresources/5959Thu, 16 Apr 2020 16:27:00 GMTcd40bb2b-3d49-4868-939d-417119b40291:1aa3cc82-18bc-4485-8a17-9afe0658f9c4TatiThere is a peculiar tendency for women to be chosen for leadership positions at times of crisis. This is putting the future of female leadership at riskhttps://emersonexchange365.com/women-in-stem/f/discussions-questions/8551/most-viewed-women-in-stem-blogs-for-2019Tue, 11 Feb 2020 22:36:00 GMTcd40bb2b-3d49-4868-939d-417119b40291:805576f6-ad5c-44de-9bb1-da2d09152664Chelsea McGovernDid work-life juggling cause you to miss reading one of our top Women in STEM blogs? No problem! Grab a cup of coffee and check out some of our best content on working abroad, authenticity, involvement, reflection and reenvisioning yourself from 2019! 1. Costa Rica to the US: 5 Tips To Take Home While Working Abroad 2. Three Generations of Women Engineers: A 2019 Mother's Day Reflection 3. Using Authenticity as Your Strategic Advantage: A Story 4. Getting Involved: Why I Joined an Employee Resource Group 5. Want to Reinvent Yourself in 2019? A Stretch Assignment May Be the Answerworking abroadauthenticityreflectionstretch assignmentEmployee Resource Grouphttps://emersonexchange365.com/women-in-stem/b/blog/posts/remote-work-riddles-how-to-address-the-biggest-time-wasters-on-the-jobTue, 21 Jan 2020 17:55:00 GMTcd40bb2b-3d49-4868-939d-417119b40291:fc0ef8ac-ca9e-403d-862b-3ccb6880adf7Molly BarnesWe’ve all been there. You work a full eight hours, only to realize you really haven't accomplished anything of value. Where does the time go? There’s no shortage of potential time-wasters in a traditional workplace. Identifying time-wasters and creating a plan to beat them can increase your productivity on the job. Avoid Social Media Social media use is probably the biggest time-waster for most people. It's hard to avoid all the notifications from friends and family that might pop up throughout the day. Scrolling through news feeds and updates can suck up valuable time, which could otherwise be directed toward productive work activity. To help you resist the temptation to continually check updates, turn off social media alerts on your phone. If you feel you absolutely need to check social media, designate a short block of time in the morning and one in the afternoon to do so. Limit these to 10 minutes so you can return to your normal workflow. Organize Your Workspace Having physical clutter in your workspace is one thing, but digital clutter can be just as bad. You can avoid wasting time searching for files and folders by taking a moment to clean up your digital space. Use filters to sort through incoming emails. Designate separate folders for existing documents on your computer. One great way to organize your workspace is to take advantage of cloud storage . Its capabilities allow you to organize and sort files and documents entirely online, storing them safely within “the cloud.” You can access your files and folders from anywhere in the world with just a simple internet connection. Create a To-Do List Creating a to-do list for the day will help you stay focused on what needs to be accomplished. Be sure to list everything you have to do during the day, no matter how menial. This will help you organize your time, and give you a sense of satisfaction as you cross something off as "Done" (in bright red ink, for emphasis!). A to-do list will help you keep your eyes on the prize, especially when you make sure to include any tasks you didn’t complete the previous day. These should be marked as high priorities, so you don't fall behind. It is perfectly all right not to finish every task on your list every day. But even on days when you can’t get through it all, keeping such a list will give you a planned path to begin your next day. Stick to a Schedule Everyone, no matter what work environment you work with has to contend with — and resist — distractions. Sticking to a strict schedule can help keep you more focused on work, and less distracted by time-wasters. Create a list of the tasks that must be done in a normal day. Schedule specific times throughout the day to check emails and voicemails, to answer the phone, and to complete other tasks. If you have a timetable, you’ll be less likely to go off track. Control Your Finances Problems with your personal finances can spread into your workspace, as well, in the forms of distress and distraction. Calls and emails from bill collectors cause worry and scatter your thinking, creating a huge time-waster on the job. To head off financial interruptions, start with the basics: by creating a budget . Be sure to put aside enough money to pay your essential bills, keeping some left over for your savings. Make sure you’re in touch with your credit, and learn how to improve your credit score . Getting on the road to stronger credit can lead to valuable cost savings in the future, too, as people with excellent credit often qualify for better interest rates on loans. Delegate to Others Menial and repetitive tasks can quickly clog up the day. Before you know it, the day is over, and you feel like you’ve accomplished nothing meaningful. It can help to delegate less important duties to others around you. First, identify what can be allocated for others to complete, then task these duties to subordinates, or even willing colleagues who might be willing to donate some extra time. Don’t delegate tasks simply to avoid work you don’t like, though; this can cause resentment before you know it — since others probably won’t be thrilled about finishing your boring tasks, either. Be selective and strategic. Use delegation as a tool to help others develop their skills. That way, you can free up more time to handle important duties, while also creating opportunities for less experienced colleagues. Delegating tasks to others can create a win-win scenario for yourself, your co-workers, and your organization as a whole. Work in Blocks It is completely natural to experience peaks and valleys of productivity throughout the day. Nobody is capable of running full-tilt through an entire eight-hour workday. Identify your periods of high productivity and use this knowledge to your advantage. Schedule high-value tasks that require the most concentration during your peak times. Conversely, tackle menial or repetitive tasks when you know your brain power just isn't there. By organizing your day to match your productivity, you will be able to accomplish more in the same amount of time. Time-wasters are present in any job. Being able to identify time-wasters is an excellent first step, but creating (and sticking to) a plan to defeat them is even better. By following these tips and tricks to avoid time-wasting traps, you can become more productive throughout the day. Contributing Editor Credits: Chelsea McGovernscheduleWork Life Balanceorganizationtime wastershttps://emersonexchange365.com/women-in-stem/f/discussions-questions/8510/female-frontier-2020-honoreesFri, 17 Jan 2020 22:30:00 GMTcd40bb2b-3d49-4868-939d-417119b40291:28ce6d72-ee90-4329-bf00-6a32be6ecb1eChelsea McGovernThe Female Frontier Awards honors groundbreaking women across marketing, media, advertising, and technology. This article features the honorees and their shining talents. Take a moment to applaud these women and check out their achievements! https://www.campaignlive.com/article/campaign-us-unveils-female-frontier-2020-honorees/1671130female frontier awardsfemale frontier awards 2020women in technologyhttps://emersonexchange365.com/women-in-stem/f/discussions-questions/8488/3-self-improvement-book-recommendations-for-2020Thu, 09 Jan 2020 16:51:00 GMTcd40bb2b-3d49-4868-939d-417119b40291:3f6472c8-5151-4e17-b944-3b86646f4dc3Chelsea McGovernI've always been an absolute bibliophile. Books provide a perspective that can get me out of my own head and get me moving in the right direction (or sometimes in any direction.) So, every year I make a goal to read at least one book a month. Here are some highly regarded and recommended books in the "self-improvement" category that are on my list this year. Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World ( Recommended by a Google Executive, Annie Jean-Baptiste .) The "More or Less" Definitive Guide to Self-Care (Recommended by one of my favorite podcasts Life Kit .) The Year of No Non-Sense: How To Get Over Yourself and on with Your Life (Recommended by my GoodReads friends.) If you're also a bibliophile or simply have some book recommendations, reply below and leave me a comment.self-carebook recommendationslife tipscareer tipsWork Life Balanceself-improvementself-care tips