It’s been so interesting to me lately to watch the faces of people when they ask me what I do and I answer that I’m a blogger. Of course, my answer includes a few other things too (executive coach, speaker, web 2.0 evangelist and a writer) but the blogger part always stops people in their tracks. If someone isn’t intimate with the blog community, their face gets distorted, they get a somewhat condescending smile and start asking questions. “You do what now?”

I’ve talked with women all over the US about the loss of identity that often occurs when professional women have children. This feeling seems to be common among executive women that I speak to who usually range in ages between 30 to 45.

For example, I once interviewed a woman who was previously a partner in a very large law firm in Washington DC making over $.5 Million per year. Prior to deciding to start a family, she was the major breadwinner for her family. Once she and her husband embarked upon becoming three, they decided her husband’s career would become the focus and hers would take the back seat.

I just returned from an 18 day trip last night. My last stop was Blog World Expo ‘08 in Las Vegas. I went to the conference to enhance my understanding of the New Media industry and to learn how to better serve you, my readers, as a writer/blogger. Little did I know of the almost limitless benefits that this little four day trip would bring me. I’m still digesting everything I learned over the past few days and I know I will be for quite some time. However, the one gem of the conference is this:

For several years, I’ve been saddened as the Starbucks, Gaps and Banana Republics of the world take over the mom and pop shops of local neighborhoods. The local charm and personality of every American city has slowly morphed into the same homogenized version so that you can’t really tell whether you’re in Hillcrest or Kansas City. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a Starbucks fan right there with the rest of you. (In fact, I really like the book Pour Your Heart Into It, How Starbucks Built a Business One Cup at a Time as one of my favorite quotes about confidence and dealing with uncertainty comes from the author, Howard Shultz, Starbucks founder). However, in general, I’m not a fan of chain restaurants and I’d drive way out of my way on a business trip to experience local personality versus visit the same old Ruth Chris anyday.

There have been a lot of articles in the media over the past few weeks debating whether Facebook actually has any value.  This, in itself, indicates that there is a whole lot of value in Facebook.  I wanted to share with you an interesting article from Harvard Business Publications by Jeff Stibel.  Jeff talks about why Facebook is so much better than other social networks and why it fundamentally works.  Personally, I continue to be amazed at the functionality of Facebook.  Almost every day I discover something new that you can do with it.  Did you know you can even hire a Facebook coach?  Yes, it’s true, many mainstream corporate employees continue to choose LInked In and Plaxo over Facebook since some perceive Facebook is for a younger generation.  I did an experiment last week after attending a UC-Irvine MBA Alumni event.  For all of the business cards I collected, I checked to see if the folks were in Facebook and Linked In.  >90% were only in Linked In.  Interestingly enough, the next day I received a phone call from someone looking for a coach who had been refered to me in Facebook by the other 10%.  These folks also happened to be the younger people in the crowd.  Point in case, if you want to do business with Gen X, you’ve got to be in Facebook.  You know what their vote is regarding whether Facebook has value. 

Tammy Erickson at Harvard Business Publishing has written an interesting article about how today’s tweens see the world and how that might effect how they behave as adults.  She makes great points about how these 10-13 year olds are very informed about war, the economy, conservation, ecology, gas prices, and the housing crunch.  I posted a comment and asked Tammy to consider writing a followon article about how her predictions might impact the corporate work environment.  It seems that the writing is on the wall.  Corporations must change to address what this generation wants or risk losing altogether.  Read her article and then consider what you saw around you everyday when you were a tween.  The world is very different today and the access to information is almost unlimited.  The cultural change that we are about to witness over the next 50 years should be an amazing ride.  These kids want/need/require a different work arrangement than we did at their age.  I see it as our responsibility to start opening doors for them by leading by example.  It might not always be an option, but we need to pursue flexible and remote work options or at least be willing to ask for them.  You can be a pioneer in this new age.

Business Week’s Working Parents Blog ran an post last week covering survey results that indicate “Working Women Want Money Not Balance”. I imagine reviewing the demographics of the women surveyed would reveal that these women aren’t Six Figure Moms. It may be true for some but I have issue with the suggestion that women must choose between one or the other. Most of the women I interview and coach are concerned with balance because they want a good mix of everything. We can’t have both balance AND money? I think we can. As a Six Figure Mom, you have an opportunity to use your resources to speak up and influence the change that’s occuring in our US workforce. Everyone wants more flexibility, telecommuting options and the option to choose whether they work 8-5 or 5-8. This is no longer an issue that only hits home with women but with everyone that’s ever got a taste of it and liked it.

Throughout your career, employers have likely invested thousands in your professional development. Maybe you took personality profiling assessments like DISC or Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Although you thought this was important, some of you just wanted to get through it so you could get back to mastering your core job duties. Understandable, but now take a second look. You might just have a drawer full of insightful things to use in building your Best Life.

If you don’t have these tools, Facebook is here to help. You can take the MBTI for free. All you need is a Facebook login and then you can download the widget.