Yet another reason women are damned if they do, and damned if they don't

Today's NY Times looks at how women leaders are subject to double standards. One would hope we'd eventually get beyond all this ... In particular, one lesson from this research is that promoting their own successes is a helpful strategy for ambitious men. But experiments have demonstrated that when women highlight their accomplishments, that’s a turn-off. And women seem even more offended by self-promoting females than men are. This creates a huge challenge for ambitious women in politics or business: If they’re self-effacing, people find them unimpressive, but if they talk up their accomplishments, they come across as pushy braggarts. The broader conundrum is that for women, but not for men, there is a tradeoff in qualities associated with top leadership. A woman can be perceived as competent or as likable, but not both.

The party's over

The spirit of the Hall of Fame baseball catcher and manager certainly was, most notably in his oft-quoted pronouncement: "It ain't over till it's over." In a game that was marked by defensive domination most of the night, with less than five minutes left in the Super Bowl the two offensive units finally took over. First Tom Brady marched the Patriots down the field and fired to wide-open Randy Moss in the end zone to take a four point lead, 14-10, with less than three minutes on the clock. Tom Terrific had done it again. An apparent Super Bowl victory in their grasp, and the crowning achievement to what would be the Patriots unprecedented and historic 19-0 run. But wait, says Yogi. One thing left to do: stop the Giants one more time. And they couldn't. And they didn't. And, following in big brother Peyton's Super Bowl MVP award-winning footsteps, Eli Manning, with the assistance of some miracle how-the-heck-did-he-do-that catches from his receiving corps, out-Bradied Brady and took it to the Pats with their own wide-open end zone toss to 6' 5" go-to target Plaxico Burress. Now, game over?

Will you suffer from. . .Super Bowl Fever?

OK, so you're going to watch T-H-E G-A-M-E this Sunday. And you may just get together with a few buddies and hoist a few at some point, before during or after the game - maybe. And you might just get into the actual game a bit, especially if Tom Terrific and Co. start looking like they might actually run the table at 19-0. Pretty exciting stuff. Historic, in fact. But what does that mean for you, personally? Maybe feeling a little ache-y and feverish the next morning? Maybe so much so that you wind up calling in to the office? Watch out - they're on to you: CHELMSFORD, Mass., Jan. 30, 2008 — New survey findings suggest that an estimated 1.5 million employed U.S. adults may call in sick to work the day after the Super Bowl. The "Super Bowl Fever Sidelines Employees on Monday Morning" survey of 1,430 adults employed full-time was sponsored by The Workforce Institute™ at Kronos ®Incorporated and conducted online via Harris Interactive.

New Year, new color: green collar jobs

Forget white and blue. The hot new collar color for the New Year is green: A growing number of midlife career-changers like [nonprofit founder Jeff] Horowitz are trading in their nine-to-fives for jobs more in line with their convictions and concerns for Mother Earth. So-called "green-collar jobs" are on the rise -- the current tally of 8.5 million U.S. jobs in renewable-energy and energy-efficiency industries could grow to as many as 40 million by 2030, according to a November report commissioned by the American Solar Energy Society. And the burgeoning industry is claiming scores of experienced workers who can put to use the skills they've acquired in more established fields such as construction, finance, and marketing. In some cases, the high demand for green career-changers translates into a larger paycheck. But more often, the satisfaction of making a positive difference in the world is enough of a boost.