The Bright Blog

Smart, real-world, pragmatic advice for women seeking to jump to the next level.

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How to Leverage Your Network When You Don't Really Want To

Nicole Provonchee

5 min

How to Leverage Your Network When You Don't Really Want To

This article is part of a series of blogs around the Five Behaviors Standing Between Women Leaders & Greater Success. This article dives deeper into Career Limiting Behavior #2: Failure to Build Networks You Actually Use. I love the book title "Your Network is Your Net Worth." What I love about the phrase is that it captures the point that your network is not only about how many people you know, but also the rank and influence of those within your network. There are a number

Three Must Reads for Working Mothers

Nicole Provonchee

3 min

Three Must Reads for Working Mothers

Working mother rarely have time for leisurely reading - we have TO GET STUFF DONE! That's why we collected three of our favorite reads to help working mothers get the information they need to be informed about the status of working mothers (article #1), gain valuable tips on how to be a present parent who raises responsible, resilient, kind children (article #2) and learn a few tricks to help leave work at work - and be more present for those precious moments with those we lo

Self-Advocacy Pays: Seven Steps to Getting What You Want

Nicole Provonchee

7 min

Self-Advocacy Pays: Seven Steps to Getting What You Want

This article is part of a series of blogs around the Five Behaviors Standing Between Women Leaders & Greater Success. This article dives deeper into Career Limiting Behavior #1: Avoiding Advocating for What You Need. Advocacy is defined by Merriam-Webster as “the act or process of supporting a cause or proposal; the act or process of advocating.” Self-advocacy is the act of applying advocacy to me, myself and I, rather than a cause or organization. Why advocate for yourself?

The Art of No: How to Navigate Away from the Pleasing Trap

Nicole Provonchee

5 min

The Art of No: How to Navigate Away from the Pleasing Trap

This article is part of a series of blogs around the Five Behaviors Standing Between Women Leaders & Greater Success. This article dives deeper into Career Limiting Behavior #4: Falling into the Pleasing Trap. The desire to please is one of the toughest career limiting behaviors to overcome because it can be so unbelievably deeply rooted in our psyche. Last year, I worked with a woman that is simply amazing. She had a senior-level job at a large company and was on the fast-tr

Your Guide to Better Stress Management

Nicole Provonchee

3 min

Your Guide to Better Stress Management

Stress used to be really, really useful. Long ago, when we needed to run away from the tigers hiding in the bushes, stress gave us the valuable ability to "fight or flight." Hormones diverted energy from "non-essential" functions like digestion and reproduction, and fed our muscles and minds with the energy we needed to run or fight the tiger. Then the world evolved. We now only see tigers in zoos. But, our bodies did not evolve as quickly. So, the very same chemicals that he

Get It All Done: Finding Your Equilibrium

Nicole Provonchee

5 min

Get It All Done: Finding Your Equilibrium

This article is part of a series of blogs around the Five Behaviors Standing Between Women Leaders & Greater Success. This article dives deeper into Career Limiting Behavior #5: Losing Your Equilibrium. Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash Editorial note: We can debate the phrases work/life balance or work/life integration or whatever all day long. The point is that is that it can be really freaking hard to get everything done in a day. For successful women (and men), it can

GET OUT OF YOUR OWN WAY: Five Behaviors Standing Between Women Leaders & Greater Success

Nicole Provonchee

6 min

GET OUT OF YOUR OWN WAY: Five Behaviors Standing Between Women Leaders & Greater Success

I call them Career Limiting Behaviors. These are the behaviors that get in the way of being named to lead the next big initiative, finally hitting a target salary number or landing the next big promotion. My experience working with emerging and existing leaders has taught me that men and women both have barriers that stand between them and success. However, exactly what stands in the way can offer differ for women. My personal and professional experienced-informed conclusion