| Ronna Lichtenberg, author of Work Would Be Great | | | | giving advice. He was too busy with conference calls |
| If It Weren't for the People, believes that one of the | | | | and meetings in the heat of the day and too |
| best ways to increase your visibility at work is to set | | | | exhausted after 6 o'clock." |
| your face time by your boss's clock. | | | | Another way to increase your visibility? Schmooze in |
| "Years ago, I realized that my boss's boss stayed | | | | the office. |
| late on Friday afternoons, waiting out the rush hour. | | | | "Women are such dedicated, hard-working |
| Everyone else bailed out early, but I stayed. The big | | | | implementers that they work nose-to-the-grindstone |
| boss and I ended up having regular Friday chats. | | | | without crossing the boundaries," says Jean Otte, |
| Over time, I got to share with him ideas he wouldn't | | | | founder and president of Women Unlimited Inc. "This |
| have had time to listen to during regular business | | | | means they miss out on learning about other parts of |
| hours. After a dozen Fridays, I got the resources I | | | | the business or having those in other parts of the |
| needed to put some of those ideas in place -- | | | | business know about their skills. As a results, women |
| including responsibility for another department." | | | | sometimes don't understand the big picture the way |
| Human resources consultant Virginia Means shares a | | | | the men do, because men take the time to make |
| similar story. | | | | those strategic alliances." |
| "When I was just coming up in the business world, I | | | | Many women also mistakenly believe that if they |
| met a very successful CEO of the hospital system I | | | | work hard, they'll be rewarded, Tote adds. "But |
| worked for. After he had observed some of my | | | | they're finding out that it's not just what you know; |
| work, he asked me to take on several projects while | | | | it's who you know. If you're brilliant and no one |
| the company opened some additional hospitals in the | | | | knows, what good does it do?" |
| community. During this time, he really took me under | | | | Otte shares the story of a senior-level vice president |
| his wing. For example, while working on the projects, | | | | who was left without a job after a recent merger of |
| I would sometimes get frustrated with situations -- | | | | two major corporations -- despite the fact that she |
| most often because people seemed to be dragging | | | | was one of the hardest working executives at the |
| their feet on decisions and things weren't moving | | | | company. The reason for her loss? "This woman |
| fast enough for me. And I would often go to him for | | | | stayed within her unit to such an extent that people |
| counsel." | | | | from the rest of the company really didn't know |
| These counseling sessions most often occurred | | | | her," says Otte. "So, she was passed over for a job |
| "before the roosters woke," Means says, "as we | | | | in the merged organization." |
| were both morning people. In fact, that seemed to | | | | The lesson here? Schmooze -- or you could lose. |
| be the time that he was most open to dialog and | | | | |