Bootstrap Leadership Blog

You probably know Catalyst – the highly respected advocacy and research group devoted to the advancement of women in organizational leadership roles.  If you don’t, here’s a quick summary of their history and what they provide in the way of products and services. 

Catalyst was founded in 1962 by Felice N. Schwartz to help women enter the workforce. Five college presidents (from Lawrence, Mills, Sarah Lawrence, Smith, and Wellesley) endorsed the idea of an organization that would work to expand options for women, and formed Catalyst’s first board of directors. 

By 1974, Catalyst was recognizing the need for data – and began building what is today the largest and most referenced data base in the world on the topic of women and work.  Catalyst surveys and research projects serve as a trusted resource for corporate policy makers, scholars, and journalists, and often set the agenda for discussions on the topic of women in leadership roles.

The Catalyst website is a treasure trove of great facts and figures.  From the famous “pyramid” charts that show where women stand today in corporate leadership levels to specific white papers on various research projects, the website is quite literally a living history of women’s leadership in organizations. 

But Catalyst is more than just surveys and data; they provide advisory and benchmarking services, Corporate Board placement services, a Speaker’s Bureau, and tips and advice for women seeking answers to common leadership questions.  They also bestow the prestigious Catalyst Awards – an annual recognition of the top companies in the world that are advancing women in leadership. Since 1987, Catalyst has recognized 74 initiatives at 69 organizations with the Catalyst Award.

Check out their website – it’s a good one to bookmark for a variety of reasons.  For starters, it’s packed with terrific research, and secondly, it’s just a really smart site that role models a passion for an important, worthy initiative. 

The great thing about partnering with clients is I’m constantly learning from them.  Last week, I was facilitating a leadership development program when the client introduced a cool web tool for her participants – it’s called GlobeSmart, and it’s a fantastic cultural awareness and global acumen resource.  GlobeSmart, the brainchild of Aperian Global (a cultural training firm), provides global organizations with access to information on conducting business with people from more than 60 countries. GlobeSmart addresses the greatest cause of difficulty in global business interactions - the challenge of relating and communicating successfully with counterparts from other countries, and develops awareness on three levels: individual self awareness, awareness of other cultures, and awareness of global business. 

Users start with a self-assessment of their own cultural tendencies, which can then be plotted against the similar profiles from the 60+ counties in the database.  In addition, you can learn key facts, trends, and cultural nuances on these countries… and as an online and mobile device tool, it is available 24/7, making it possible for employees worldwide to access information they need, anytime they need it.  It also includes practical tips for increasing your skills, and is continuously updated, with firsthand perspectives added by members in the popular FieldNotes section.

Check out GlobalSmart – you’ll win major points for recommending this critical development resource to your organization.

Here’s another online resource for great leadership writing – NetSpeed Fast Tracks.  This website offers a searchable database of practical resources that can help you manage your career and your leadership challenges.  Here’s what you’ll find at NetSpeed Fast Tracks:  

PodSpots: Short audio clips (1-3 minutes long) that you can listen to on your computer or download to your iPod or mp3 player for audio playback anyplace, anytime. Each PodSpot is delivered by an animated personality called an avatar. The written text for each PodSpot appears on screen below each avatar presenter, as well.

Knols: Concise articles on practical topics like writing effectively, negotiating with others, delegating work, dealing with conflict, and other workplace issues you and your employees face every day. Knols may include multimedia, graphics and audio clips as well as text.

Blogs: NetSpeed Fast Track staffers share what's on their minds about the world of work, and you can post your comments and join in the discussion.

 
Interviews: Interviews with authors and other experts on a wide range of issues. Listen to them in their entirely (usually around 10 minutes) or listen to short clips on key points. Like PodSpots, Insights interviews are also downloadable to your mobile device.

NetSpeed Fast Tracks is loaded with interesting content, and can be brought “inside” your company through subscriptions and seat licenses, where you can work with the tools to customize the site and feature your own leaders’ content, etc.  Jump on the site today and check it out…