Entitled How Women Can Succeed in the Workplace (Despite Having “Female Brains”) writer and speaker Valerie Alexander presented a brief discussion of human evolutionary history (a topic I’ve studied closely for several decades) that featured the difference in development of male and female human brains. Based on this and with a clearer picture of what broadly differentiates the sexes, Valerie then gave a multitude of highly relate-able examples from her professional life highlighting how women can simply take back control in the workplace to not only better succeed for themselves, but to also help their companies see their true value and succeed simultaneously.
Further, she also included some simple and very actionable advice (for men and women) to be able to make a better space within corporations so that they’re able to extract more of the value women bring to the workplace. Hint: Women bring a HUGE amount of value, and a majority of companies are not only undervaluing it, but they are literally throwing it away.
Not only were the messages tremendously valuable and imminently actionable by both women AND men, but she delivered it with fantastic confidence, grace, wit, charm, and warmth. In fact, I’d say it was not only strikingly informative, but it was also very entertaining. If you’re in the corporate space and looking to turn around your antediluvian or even pre-historic work culture (I’m looking ominously at you Uber and similar Silicon Valley brogrammer cultures), then jump in line as quickly as you can to book up what I can only expect is the diminishing time in her speaking and travel schedule.
Innovate Pasadena recorded the talk and I’ll try to post it here as soon as it’s available. Until then I will highly recommend purchasing her book How Women Can Succeed in the Workplace (Despite Having “Female Brains”), which I’m sure has not only the content of her lecture, but assuredly includes a whole lot more detail and additional examples than one could fit into such a short time frame. I also suspect it’s the type of book one would want to refer back to frequently as well. I’ve already got a half a dozen copies of it on their way to me to share with friends and family. I’m willing to make a substantial bet that for uncovering inherent value, this book and her overall message will eventually stand in the pantheon of texts and work of those like those of Frederick Winslow Taylor, Lillian Gilbreth, Frank Gilbreth, Dale Carnegie, Napoleon Hill, J.M. Juran, and W. Edwards Deming.
Psst… If the good folks at TED need some fantastic content, I saw a shortened 25 minute version of her hour-long talk. It could be tightened a hair for content and length, but it’s got exactly the tone, tempo and has the high level of presentation skills for which you’re known. Most importantly, it’s definitively an “Idea worth spreading.”
Innovate Pasadena has finally uploaded a copy of the video of Valerie Alexander’s talk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySO1s4WMMkg
Checked into Cross Campus Old Pasadena
<a href="https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/igjzamyJ.jpg?ssl=1"></a>Valerie Alexander at Innovate Pasadena
Innovate Pasadena: Valerie Alexander on “How Women Can Succeed in the Workplace”
Sadly, based on the general attendance in comparison to typical weeks and someone who asked new people to raise their hands, there was a terrible turnout of the “regulars” and the majority of those there were first-timers. I’m not sure if it was the timing with the beginning of Summer or perhaps the title of the topic that scared the usual crowds away, but one thing is clear. THEY REALLY MISSED OUT! I’ve been to half a dozen or so of these coffees, and hundreds of presentations in this genre and this was easily one of the best I’ve ever seen.
I’ve written a separate post on some of the detais… It was that good!
Valerie Alexander at Innovate Pasadena
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Cross Campus Old PasadenaInnovate Pasadena: Valerie Alexander on “How Women Can Succeed in the Workplace”
Sadly, based on the general attendance in comparison to typical weeks and someone who asked new people to raise their hands, there was a terrible turnout of the “regulars” and the majority of those there were first-timers. I’m not sure if it was the timing with the beginning of Summer or perhaps the title of the topic that scared the usual crowds away, but one thing is clear. THEY REALLY MISSED OUT! I’ve been to half a dozen or so of these coffees, and hundreds of presentations in this genre and this was easily one of the best I’ve ever seen.
I’ve written a separate post on some of the detais… It was that good!
Valerie Alexander at Innovate PasadenaCross Campus, Pasadena, California, United States of America
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Author: Chris Aldrich
I’m a biomedical and electrical engineer with interests in information theory, complexity, evolution, genetics, signal processing, theoretical mathematics, and big history.
I’m also a talent manager-producer-publisher in the entertainment industry with expertise in representation, distribution, finance, production, content delivery, and new media.
View all posts by Chris Aldrich
Valerie Alexander @SpeakHappiness on How Women Can Succeed in the Workplace (Despite Having “Female Brains”) [video] http://boffosocko.com/2017/06/16/valerie-alexander-on-how-women-can-succeed-in-the-workplace-despite-having-female-brains/
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PBS NewsHour full episode Sept. 28, 2017 from PBS
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZjLYQRLnuQ?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent&w=840&h=503%5D
The Ellen Pao interview was quite interesting and germane to much of what has been a huge story over the past 6 or so months. It reminds me a lot of Valerie Alexander’s work, which I’ve highlighted before.
The miscarriage story was just heartbreaking. I really love this series of “brief but spectacular” stories they tag onto the end of episodes though. It really adds some interest and humanity to what can often otherwise be bleak stints of news coverage. Even when they’re not uplifting–like this one–they’re always unique and interesting.
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<em>Related</em>
Author: Chris Aldrich
I'm a biomedical and electrical engineer with interests in information theory, complexity, evolution, genetics, signal processing, theoretical mathematics, and big history.
I’m also a talent manager-producer-publisher in the entertainment industry with expertise in representation, distribution, finance, production, content delivery, and new media.
View all posts by Chris Aldrich
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Two alternatives to #WomenBoycottTwitter that don’t rely on women’s silencing by Zoe Stavri (Another Angry Woman)
I took part in #WomenBoycottTwitter today and it honestly wasn’t too difficult, though I did miss out on some of the scientific chatter that crosses my desk during the day. Since I post mostly to my own website more often and syndicate to Twitter only occasionally, the change didn’t feel too drastic to me, though there were one or two times I almost accidentally opened Twitter to track down people’s sites. Fortunately I’ve taken control of more of my online experience back for myself using IndieWeb principles.
This particular post has some seemingly interesting methods for fighting against the status quo on Twitter for those who are entrenched though. The first #AmplifyWomen sounds a lot like the great advice I heard from Valerie Alexander a few months ago at an Innovate Pasadena event.
Some of the others almost seek to reverse-gamify Twitter’s business model. People often complain about silos and how they work, but few ever seek to actively subvert or do this type of reverse-gamification of those models. This is an interesting concept though to be as useful tools as they might be, it may be somewhat difficult to accomplish in some cases and may hamper one’s experience on such platforms. This being said, having ultimate control over your domain, data, and interactions is still a far preferable model.
And while we’re thinking about amplifying women, do take a look at some of Zoe’s other content, she’s got a wealth of good writing. I’ll be adding her to my follow list/reader.
h/t Richard Eriksson
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Author: Chris Aldrich
I'm a biomedical and electrical engineer with interests in information theory, complexity, evolution, genetics, signal processing, theoretical mathematics, and big history.
I’m also a talent manager-producer-publisher in the entertainment industry with expertise in representation, distribution, finance, production, content delivery, and new media.
View all posts by Chris Aldrich
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The Ellen Pao interview was quite interesting and germane to much of what has been a huge story over the past 6 or so months. It reminds me a lot of Valerie Alexander’s work, which I’ve highlighted before.
The miscarriage story was just heartbreaking. I really love this series of “brief but spectacular” stories they tag onto the end of episodes though. It really adds some interest and humanity to what can often otherwise be bleak stints of news coverage. Even when they’re not uplifting–like this one–they’re always unique and interesting.
Syndicated copies: