Ladies, are you fulfilled in your career? What does it take to gain fulfillment? The answer may surprise you. When one Yale researcher studied a hospital cleaning staff and their work, she discovered two very different groups of employees and a remarkable characteristic about job satisfaction. The first group didn’t find much meaning in their day-to-day tasks, while the other group found great meaning. The difference? The second performed so-called “job crafting” tasks, those that weren’t in their job description but that gave them purpose, such as interacting with patients and visitors. These were minimal interactions, but powerful enough to create a sense of job fulfillment for these workers.
Today, let’s all think about how we can reassess our current jobs to create and find more fulfillment in our everyday work. After all, as the brilliant and ever-smiling Dalai Lama said, “Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.”
WOMEN IN NUMBERS: 117
A great way women can craft more meaningful careers is by shifting our perspectives. It can be challenging to view yourself as a leader, but if you put yourself in that mindset, it can lead to some truly life-altering changes. Recently, one nonprofit took that idea to heart, organizing a global movement to provide established women leaders a platform to activate the potential of a new generation of women and girls, enabling them to create a better world for us all. In celebration of the 2017 International Women’s Day, women’s-empowerment organization Vital Voices organized 117 Global Mentoring Walks in 60 countries, reaching more than 13,000 women across a variety of religions, ethnicities, ages and cultures, with each walk tailored to address critical challenges facing women and girls in their local communities.
WOMAN TO WATCH: Alyse Nelson, President and CEO of Vital Voices Global Partnership
Today’s exceptional Woman to Watch, Alyse Nelson, is the devoted and passionate leader of Vital Voices Global Partnership, the group that orchestrated those wonderful Global Mentoring Walks. Alyse helped launch the nonprofit with the goal of advancing women’s economic, social and political status the world over by offering mentoring, job training and guidance in developing leadership skills.
For the past two decades, Alyse has worked with more than 200 international leaders to develop global strategies to reach these goals. These leaders include those in top-level positions throughout the world, like Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, as well as other changemakers, like Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus. Under Alyse’s savvy leadership, Vital Voices has tripled in size, reaching more than 15,000 women leaders in nearly 150 countries.
Alyse has been a staunch philanthropic advocate for years. From her human-rights work in China while still in college, to her eager jump into the political sphere, Alyse has long confidently immersed herself in the effort to make the world a better place for women. At the U.S. Department of State, Alyse served as deputy director of the Vital Voices Global Democracy Initiative, and influenced then first lady Hillary Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to commit to promoting the advancement of women as a U.S. foreign-policy objective.
Alyse has received countless recognition for her diligent service, including Newsweek naming her one of 150 Women Shaking the World, and Fortune placing Alyse on its list of the 55 Most Influential Women on Twitter.
What is truly great about Alyse is, despite all that recognition, she has remained resolute in her mission. She says she doesn’t have a job or a career; she has a cause. She notes that by simply having a voice, she has the power to create change for millions of women and girls worldwide—and that’s definitely vital.
QUITE THE QUOTE
In honor of our big-hearted Woman to Watch, I’ll leave you with a few of Alyse Nelson’s own words. She said:
“One of the things I’ve learned along the way is that a person’s path to leadership is rarely planned out perfectly. It’s an experience that begins with a conviction to do something.”
This is Melinda Garvey signing off until next time. Remember, ladies, empowered women empower other women. Share On the Dot so more women can have a voice. Thanks for getting ready with us.
To learn more about our conversation, check us out at OnTheDotWoman.com and talk to us @OnTheDotWoman on Twitter and Instagram. We’d love to hear your voice.