To All First Generation Professionals, You Are a Gift 

by Kim Barrett, MBA, MPS As is the case with many first-generation professionals, I grew up with only the bare necessities and attended public school. Neither of my parents attended college. In fact, neither of them even graduated high school. It wasn’t until they were well into adulthood that they each (separately) earned a GED. They worked, but didn’t make a lot of...

2023 Communication Essentials 

By Joseph Lavelle, Esq. and Maureen C. Washington, ACP, CAS  What is one word with thirteen characters that can lead to loss or victory?  COMMUNICATION. Thousands, maybe millions, of articles have been written that describe, define, characterize, explain, or expound on this essential durable skill. But what does this combination of five syllables, four vowels, and four consonants...

Do You Know Your Value?

by Sonya Sigler “Who are you?” asked Bill Campbell, Intuit’s CEO at the time I was sitting in his office discussingbusiness schools. I fumbled around for an answer, meandering all over the place, feeling not atall sure I had answered his question. Next he asked, “Who is Sonya Sigler?” Yeah, this question just confirmed that I really hadn’tanswered his first question. More fumbling...

Could Your Boss’ Boss Describe What You Do?

by Sonya Sigler Have you seen a colleague get promoted over you and wondered why? Or thought to yourself, ‘What are they doing that I’m not?’ The truth of the matter is that they know how to self-promote. I know, we’ve all been given messages that self-promotion is bad, or it feels icky and profoundly uncomfortable. That means we don’t do it, or we avoid it, or if we attempt it, we do...

Being Clear About What You Want

Having a goal matters for your career path and for your continued success. by Sonya Sigler I worked for a crazy man who made our entire legal department miserable - with his micromanaging, his ever-changing priorities, the shifting directions that felt like quick-sand, and his Friday afternoon crisis that would ‘require’ working over the weekend to handle. Migraines, which I had never...