Fifteen years ago, a group of professional women who were committed to helping women integrate ethical standards into their personal and professional lives founded Murray Hill Institute. That year, the Institute organized its inaugural conference, Women Transforming Culture. Over 200 women, representing 25 different professions, attended, from the United States, Europe, South America and Asia. Since then, Murray Hill Institute continues to foster effective and ethical leadership among women, primarily through its hallmark one-on-one mentoring program…
Read moreFive Qualities of Great Leaders
Claire Huang shared what she has learned through her wide range of leadership experiences in marketing, communications, and brand management at the opening seminar for MHI’s mentoring 2015-16 year. Many of the attendees have asked for a copy of the talk. Working with Claire, we have adapted her lecture notes into narrative form and are happy to offer them to you…
Read moreKeep Calm and Carry On
Image credit: "Keep-calm-and-carry-on-scan" by UK Government - Digital scan of original KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON poster owned by wartimeposters.co.uk. Steved1973 (talk) 10:40, 22 October 2011 (UTC). Licensed under Public Domain via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Keep-calm-and-carry-on-scan.jpg#/media/File:Keep-calm-and-carry-on-scan.jpg
This expression is usually interpreted as an example of the British “stiff upper lip” that characterizes stoicism in the face of adversity. However, the expression “carry on” has another, perhaps now outdated, meaning. It used to mean complaining, for example, a mother would say to her whining child “What are you carrying on about?” I would like to interpret this concept as follows: keep an outward calm even though you are carrying on inside. This has proven to be the single most effective coping tool…
Read moreA Good Leader Is Also a Good Friend
We live in a fast-moving and ephemeral culture. It’s fashionable to invent new terms without thinking too deeply about their meaning. In this respect, leadership is described variously as visionary, transactional, lateral, situational, autocratic, emotional, resonant, and charismatic—with more to come when these don’t deliver. In popular and academic literature, a leader is a winner and someone who enjoys power…
Read moreIs My Identity My Job Title?
We live in a society where people are often more concerned about what we do than who we are. If you don’t believe me, just think about how often you say something like, “Hi I am Erin Aldrich, Director of Metro Achievement Center” and then smile and pause expecting a similar sentence from the person standing across from you…
Read moreA Musical Life
Those of us who have a variety of strong interests often struggle with how to synthesize these into a coherent whole as we juggle schedules, psychological energy, and priorities. Janice Chik Breidenbach, who spoke on “Beauty Inside Out” at our recent Fashion Intelligence Symposium, shares her journey along this path in the interview…
Read moreThe Power of Authenticity
The cover of the January–February 2015 issue of the Harvard Business Review magazine featured: “The Problem with Authenticity: When It’s OK to Fake It Till You Make It.” Is there truly a problem with authenticity?
It would be difficult to find anyone who disagrees with the power of image. As a picture is worth a thousand words, one’s image produces impressions on others that can be deep and lasting. For some, however, there appears to be a conflict between the two concepts: image and authenticity. Some argue that there is no need to worry about image if one is authentic. Certainly, authenticity bridges the gap between reality and image.
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