Often times, when high level executives leave a company under a cloud they conveniently use their families as the excuse. Even though many of these guys spend years focused on nothing but work, they think we’ll all buy their sudden desire to spend more time with the spouse and kids.

A quick Google search for “CEO,” “resign,” and “spend more time with family” turned out a bunch of top executives who have recently departed for familial obligations, and it’s not just the heads of corporations. The CEO of Chivas USA, a professional soccer team in Los Angeles, just stepped down to “spend more quality time with my family.”

But this week’s ejected top dog, David Sokol — a man thought to be the successor to billionaire Warren Buffett — came with the most unusual reason for a departure I’ve ever heard. It does involve his family, but not the prerequisite quality-time-with-his-loved-ones defense. This time it’s all about money. (more…)

The Supreme Court began hearing arguments today in the biggest sexual discrimination lawsuit in U.S. history, and it’s unclear whether working women or Corporate America will prevail.

The case is against the largest private employer in the country Walmart and it involves hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of female employees, current and former, who may have been discriminated against when it comes to pay and promotions dating back to 1998. At issue, is whether this large group of women be allowed to proceed with a suit en masse.

We may not know the outcome until June. June! The anticipation of the justices’ ruling is killing me, so I asked some legal experts on both sides of the issue, to review arguments today and offer a glimpse of how the high court may be leaning. (more…)

There’s no shortage of fastest-growing-occupations lists out there, but warning: Don’t pay attention to them until you do one thing — figure out what YOU want to be.

If you don’t, such lists may only derail your career efforts or your attempts to find a new field.

I got an email recently from a woman who’s trying to help her unemployed husband. Marian sounds like the sweetest person, and she’s so concerned about her hubby’s future, which is a great thing. She writes:

“My husband was laid off from his employer after 31 years – he is 53 – we are trying to develop a plan to return him to the workforce. Here’s what we’ve determined. He will be enrolling in the following courses:

* Microsoft Office Specialist
* Medical Billing and Coding
* Health Information Technician

The goal is reemployment in a growing field. Maybe a hospital or medical benefits provider.

What other growing fields would you recommend he investigate.”

Ah, the growing-fields question. I reluctantly sent her a list of fastest growing jobs from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and here’s a link for all of you, because I know you’re dying to see it. But please, before you click on the link, (more…)

Who ever thought romance novels could teach us a thing or two. Have you seen romance novels recently? They don’t just show damsels in distress anymore. It’s all about sexy gals who can also kick some butt.

This from a story on MSNBC.com about change in the romance publishing biz:

“The evolution of the covers goes along with the evolution of our brand and what readers want,” said Michelle Renaud, a spokesperson for Harlequin, which started publishing romance novels in 1949. “In the ’40s and ’50s, the covers had a film noir feeling, and women were represented in a supporting role — men took the lead. In the ’70s, there was a feeling of escapism and fantasy. Then we showed men and women in more of a partnership. Today, there are much stronger heroines.”

Women in Corporate America have to take a page from these long-derided publishers, and get some kick-ass on if they want to advance their careers. That’s according to a study that found women who display so-called masculine traits get more promotions than men. (more…)

Fire raging in a clothing factory. Doors locked. Burning bodies flying out of windows. Scores of workers dead.

No, I’m not talking about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire 100 years ago today that killed 146 garment workers; I’m talking about a factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where nearly 30 workers lost their lives last year in an eerily similar tragedy.

This was just one example of the deplorable conditions workers around the world still endure to produce products for us. The workers at this particular facility made clothing for JCPenney and Gap.

According to the BBC, Bangladesh alone has 4,000 factories that supply billions of dollars worth of goods to the United States and Europe.

And here’s a run down of how those workers are treated at the Hameem factory where the fire broke out from Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights:

The workers toil 12 to 14 hours a day, seven days a week, with just a single day off a month. The highest wage at Hameem is 28 cents an hour - less than one-tenth of what the Triangle workers earned 100 years ago! (Adjusted for inflation, the 14 cents an hour they earned in 1911 is worth $3.18 an hour today.)

“We’re deeply saddened by the tragic fire in the Hameem factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh,” Gap Inc. said in a statement after the tragedy.

Should we as consumers also be deeply saddened that we keep feeding this machine?

I know there are nearly five people for every job right now, but that doesn’t mean you hiring managers out there have to act like pompous jerks.

A good friend of mine told me yesterday that her son was recently interviewing for a finance job and got a question that stumped him. The hiring manager asked her kid to:

“Teach me something.”

Ugh, was my first thought. What an arrogant interview question. To be honest, I wasn’t totally surprised at the audacity of the question because employers are getting the stupid notion lately that they are all-knowing, and omnipotent, given how many people are begging them for jobs.

Roy Cohen, a New York-based career counselor and executive coach, said, “It’s a tough market and it will continue to be for the indefinite future.” With 9 percent unemployment, he added, “employers have plenty of candidates to choose from, or not to. That’s what I’m really seeing: a beauty contest. We’ll hire you only if you fit the following very challenging criteria.”

Damn I hate beauty contests. But Cohen may be onto something. Where do you find the dumbest questions of all? Here’s a sample of a beauty pageant question:

If there is one thing you could do to change the world what would it be?

I love to hate that one. And everyone says, “stop war” or “save the starving babies,” no?

As for the “Teach Me Something” question, Dr. Gaby Cora, a leadership and well-being expert, said: “This is a charged question. It reminds me about being put on the spot in so many ways: ‘Teach me something.’ ‘Illuminate me.’ or ‘Entertain me.’”

I told my friend her son should have shown the hiring person how to do the decapitating thumb trick that makes it look like your thumb is being cut in half. You know, the one you do to toddlers and it excites them. My 11-year-old daughter just told me it doesn’t work on her anymore, so it’s probably perfect for this idiot interviewer.

My buddy didn’t think my suggestion was very funny since she wants her son to land the gig. So, I asked some experts how they’d answer this dumb query. (more…)

You can’t have a quarter go by without top management in Corporate America getting bonuses, right? They expect it. And why not? They work hard to bring companies a beefy bottom line, create shareholder value, and contribute to the greater economic good.

NOT!

I got a great email from Peter Cohan, a management consultant and author of “Capital Rising” yesterday on the millions CEOs got in bonuses last year and the real value the executives that got the big pay outs provide, and it got me thinking about whether these bigwigs actually created jobs for the money they earned.

I asked Cohan and he offered to do some number crunching. The findings are not going to make you happy. (more…)

(UPDATE) There’s been a bit of an uproar over a recent Australian study that found working a crummy job is worse for your mental health than not working at all.

Study participants who transitioned from being unemployed to being employed in a poor-quality job showed a worsening of their mental health, the researchers, from The Australian National University in Canberra, Australia, say.

Maybe it’s me, but didn’t we already know this? A bad job makes people unhappy. A good job makes people happy. If you leave a bad job and spend some time unemployed, the one saving grace is that you’re not at the bad job, and that can make some of us happier. That seems to be what the researchers found, but I’m basing this on media reports.

The study, and the way the press has been covering the research, got me thinking about whether we’ve all just become a bunch of whiners. I’ve been spending some time with a sanitation worker lately for a story I’m writing about government workers, and this guy’s job is pretty disgusting and difficult, but he (more…)

BLOG TIDBIT

BY EVIE HAYMAN

I’m starting to do research for my next post about the perception that female-dominated professions are “soft.” Since Google saves my life on a daily basis, I of course start my research there. I thought I would do a quick search on female professions so I could see what the general public views as “women’s work.” So I type “female professions” in the search box. What is the first result?

“Sexiest Female Professions.”

I expected a stereotypical list of teacher, nurse, etc., but apparently Google users care more about what’s sexy than gender inequities. Shocking, I know.

In my anger, I shared this search result with Eve. She suggested I look at what comes up in a search for “male professions.” We were both prepared to be extremely irritated at a robust list of engineer and businesses executive. The first result:

“Women taking over ‘male’ professions.”

The world hasn’t completely let me down!

Then, the next result:

“Sexiest Male Professions.”

Ah, I guess I spoke too soon. So guys, how does it feel to be objectified by Google just like your female counterparts?

No matter what you think about the military action against Libya, there is one reality that should make us think. For what may be the first time in U.S. history, women have driven the decision to go to war; three women in particular.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; Samantha Power, a senior aide at the National Security Council; and UN ambassador Susan Rice, are the trio behind Obama’s decision to crack down on Muammar el-Qaddafi, the murderous, seemingly crazy, leader from Libya.

Obama seemed reluctant to go in and stop him, but these women reportedly convinced him, according to a story in the New York Times over the weekend:

The change became possible, though, only after Mrs. Clinton joined Samantha Power, a senior aide at the National Security Council, and Susan Rice, Mr. Obama’s ambassador to the United Nations, who had been pressing the case for military action, according to senior administration officials speaking only on condition of anonymity. Ms. Power is a former journalist and human rights advocate; Ms. Rice was an Africa adviser to President Clinton when the United States failed to intervene to stop the Rwanda genocide, which Mr. Clinton has called his biggest regret.

Now, the three women were pushing for American intervention to stop a looming humanitarian catastrophe in Libya.

In the last few wars, our nation rushed into war based on faulty intelligence, and reasons based on national security, oil, and revenge. But this time, for a big chunk of it, it’s about humanity. Qaddafi promised to kill his own people who rebelled against his regime. The three top women in leadership in the U.S. government were appalled.

That’s at the heart of the reason these women drove a president to launch a war. It’s a telling story about why women leaders should be at the table. They bring something different to the discussion; and often it’s compassion. (more…)