WEST Wisdom Blog

Join WEST on June 17, 2021 to hear from Melissa Nuñez, a Certified Financial Planner ^TM and Accredited Investment Fiduciary®, as she shares strategies for building financial resiliency and maintaining level financial footing, especially in the face of the unexpected. Melissa will help us reflect on the challenges and changes we have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic and help us plan to meet future financial goals, from paying off debt to buying a home to saving for retirement. Tickets for this event are free thanks to our sponsor, CliftonLarsonAllen.

Topics: Women, Financial Planning, Wealth Management, Transitions, Career, Community, Work Life Balance, Resilience, Success, Women in STEM, Discount, Upcoming Events, Professional, Discussion, Financial, Resources, Interactive, Lessons Learned, Tools, Career Path, Developing Your Skills, Self-Awareness, Decision Making, Confidence, Strengths, Values, Impact, Career Development, Empowerment, Advice, Learn, #WESTevent, #WESTorg, Gender Parity, Grow, goals, Purpose

Have you ever felt like your productivity and success depend on carrying a load of fear, perfectionism, or anxiety? Are you looking for strategies to continue the work you love without feeling overwhelmed? On June 3, Dr. Courtney Paré, a holistic anxiety and self-advocacy coach and naturopathic doctor, will join WEST to share her personal story of recognizing the anxious go-getter in herself and guide us through her step-by-step process for building a more constructive relationship with anxiety, letting go of perfectionism, and living a values-driven life.

Topics: Women, Career, Work Life Balance, Resilience, Success, Women in STEM, Upcoming Events, Professional, Discussion, Resources, Interactive, Balance, Tools, Role Models, Career Path, Vision, Developing Your Skills, Self-Awareness, Decision Making, Strengths, Values, Impact, Career Development, Empowerment, Advice, Learn, #WESTevent, #WESTorg, Grow, goals, Purpose

Join WEST on Tuesday, May 18 at 12:00 p.m. EST as we host Stephanie Lajoie-Lubin to talk about building a personal advisory board to support your professional and personal goals. Lajoie-Lubin is the founder and principal consultant of Lajoie Consulting Group, a firm that works with organizations to transform their workplace cultures through Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and supports early- to mid-career professionals through career transformation. 

Lajoie-Lubin draws on the concept of a personal advisory board, outlined here by Natascha Saunders, to develop a holistic view of her clients’ and her own personal and professional goals. Lajoie-Lubin's talk will outline the key roles to include on your personal advisory board to help you gain perspective, build a career strategy, stay personally grounded, maintain financial stability, engage with key communities on- and offline, and create a vision for who you want to be.

Topics: Women, Career, Work Life Balance, Resilience, Success, Women in STEM, Networking, Upcoming Events, Professional, Discussion, Resources, Interactive, Balance, Tools, Role Models, Career Path, Vision, Developing Your Skills, Self-Awareness, Decision Making, Strengths, Values, Impact, Career Development, Empowerment, Advice, Learn, Diversity, #WESTevent, #WESTorg, Gender Parity, Grow, goals, Purpose, Equity

When it comes to full shutdowns for public safety, Boston knows how to rally. A baseline of Boston winters. Those summer days when you deliver your elderly neighbor’s groceries. That zero-hesitation all-in drop-everything was all the difference after the Marathon bombing. Anyone who takes their winters below freezing knows that wasting emergency resources by ignoring a #stayhome order costs lives. That said, it’s a lot easier to stay Zen when the outside world is cancelled when you’ve got the infrastructure and daily rhythms down. When the COVID-19 #stayhome orders came, we’d already pulled out all the winter tricks like restarting Purple Carrot and upgrading a few other subscriptions of choice. 

Topics: Change, Career Path, Developing Your Skills, Self-Awareness, Own It, Empowerment, #WESTevent, Women in Business, Be Fearless, Be Brave, Competence, Webinar, Fearlessness

Wine-Netflix-&-Chill is many wonderful things these days, but it's not playing for Team Sleep

Wine-Netflix-&-Chill is an epic gift and indicator of our relative good fortune at this point in the crisis. If your living situation gives you access, enjoy it! Don’t squander opportunities for pleasure right now! Do it up.

Topics: Solutions, Emotional Intelligence, Self-Awareness, Self-Reflection, #WESTevent, #WESTorg, Webinar, Sleep

Even if you work for a non-profit, you are not their charitable act 

Topics: Influence, Tools, Career Path, Leading Ourselves, Developing Your Skills, Self-Awareness, Personal Branding, Career Possibilities, Empowerment, New Opportunities, Advocate, #WESTevent, #WESTorg, Women in Business, Organizational Culture, Be Fearless, Be Brave, Competence

It’s impossible not to have implicit bias—and that doesn’t make you a bad person. 

Just a human being. Also known as unconscious bias, it is exactly that, unconscious. You’re not aware of it. We’ve been talking about unconscious bias for a while now; but being aware of the concept is only the first step. Only after acknowledging that we all have implicit bias, can you disrupt it. And unpacking implicit bias is like brushing your teeth. You’ll need to keep doing it for the rest of your life; but staying on top of it makes it easier and far more effective.

Topics: Events, Communication, Emotional Intelligence, Developing Your Skills, Self-Awareness, Empathy, Bias, Inclusion, Women in Business, Be Fearless, Be Brave, D&I

Corporate culture is the flavor of your professional ice cream. 

We all order from the same counter, but we each create a unique taste from the shared experience. Who doesn't have strong feelings about pistachio versus rocky road? Samsung versus Apple? Even if we do combine them all in a gummy bear-topped cheat day indulgence.  

Before you started at your current role, you investigated the company culture. Regardless of your role or your intentions, upon arrival, your primary task was acclimating. First you learned the why’s and how’s. You had to accept the existing culture while you got your bearings. But you’re not a newbie anymore. It's time for the next step. 

Topics: Best Practices, Panel, Cambridge, Culture, Women in STEM, Networking, Upcoming Events, Discussion, Influence, Making a Difference, Self-Awareness, Impact, Own It, Inclusion, Diversity, #WESTevent, #WESTorg, Organizational Culture, Corporate Culture

Change may be life's only constant, but unexpected change is tricky for everyone.

You speak. WEST listens! By popular request, the next WESTevent is a workshop on how to own unexpected change. We're talking to Claudette Rowley about handling the change you didn't see coming. Change that is beyond our control. Change that we did not instigate and cannot avoid.

Topics: Women in STEM, Upcoming Events, Change, Developing Your Skills, Self-Awareness, Conflict Resolution, Career Development, Own It, #WESTevent, Change Management, #WESTorg, Women in Business

Managing up is not about manipulation or capitulation. Rather it’s learning to influence with respect, and broaden your horizons to speculate about the pressures and demands which may be outside of your view. It’s about influencing diplomatically yet authentically. Being intentional about challenging a plan. How can you get what you need at the same time you’re focusing on what your manager needs? How can you effectively negotiate the relationship that has the most impact on your career, and still be yourself? How can you have power   with  your manager, being cooperative and expressive?

Topics: Events, Leadership, Women, Science, Career, Community, Cambridge, Success, Network, negotiation, Women in STEM, Workshop, Networking, Upcoming Events, Professional, Relationships, Biotech, Interactive, Change, Connect, Influence, Management, Leading Ourselves, Developing Your Skills, Self-Awareness, Support, Conflict Resolution, Leaders, Impact, Career Development, Influence Without Authority, Own It, Empowerment, Learn, Advocate