decisions – mardihumphreys.com

Never and Always

The timing never seems right for investing in long-term financial goals. There is always an immediate expense: post-pandemic vacations, post-pandemic work clothes, post-pandemic baby supplies. It’s hard to think about the future when today’s competing priorities are so loud, but when you give money to financial instruments, properties, or shares with the expectation of making a profit, not only can you withdraw these profits if you lose your job (be aware of the penalties), you can also save faster for big expenses like a house or college. It pays to get started.

Strategize

Define your targets, timeline, and tolerance. Investing has two extremes: aggressive (high risk and high return) and conservative (stable and lower return). You don’t have to choose one or the other. You can stay in the middle and adjust your strategy as you age, change jobs, or your lifestyle evolves (e.g., you marry or have a child).
Use a fiduciary (an organization legally bound to act in your best interest). Talk to them about their strategy. For example, Do they automate investing using retirement date algorithms or do they create a portfolio according to your specific needs?
Decide. Will you actively invest: research, build your portfolio, purchase investment vehicles? If you choose this option, invest in more than one company. Spread your money over a few market sectors; diversifying reduces the risk of loss. Don’t fluctuate your investments with the rising and falling of the stock market or your emotions. Or will you passively invest: hire a wealth manager to do those things for you? If this is your choice, check their fees. Investing is a service, even for roboadvisors. Be aware of what you’re paying for. Know how your investments are taxed. Watch your statements monthly or quarterly. Ask questions about charges that don’t make sense to you.
401(k) Plan. If your employer offers one, participate; especially if they match the percentage you invest. If you don’t, you’re leaving free money on the table! Your contribution comes out of your check before you receive it, making it relatively painless to save that money for later and it has tax benefits.

Budget

Manage your money in this order:

Pay off high-interest debt, like credit cards
Save $1000 in an interest-bearing account for an emergency fund
Save another $1000 and invest it

That’s the sweet spot for beginning investors. It’s a relatively small sum to risk and $1000 is often the amount at which lower service fees and a decent return on your investment intersect. Here is an article that speaks plainly about different options for investing $1000.

Interest

The US stock market has historically provided a 6%-7% return on investment (that’s with inflation factored in). Initially that doesn’t seem like much, but your goal is to create wealth over time. When you let investments like CDs, treasury securities, or REITS compound for years, the interest they earn snowballs. This is especially useful if you start investing when you’re young because you have longer to ride out market fluctuations. On the other hand, when choosing a loan, look for one that offers simple interest. You usually find it on loans for large amounts like car, home, or student loans. Simple interest calculates payments based on the principal instead of both the principal and interest.

What holds you back from long-term financial investments? Please share in the comments.

You’re Not the Boss of Me

Here in the mid-digital age you may find yourself working as a member of a team more often than completing deliverables on your own. I’m a big fan of the-more-heads-the-better for problem solving, but when your supervisor tasks you with exerting influence over coworkers who aren’t your direct reports, you have responsibility without any authority. What do you do?

This scenario usually employs a version of the Matrix Model of Management. It’s a popular construct because it allows departments to share resources according to their functions. A company can take employees who report to various supervisors and assign them to project teams based on the talent required to complete the work. This not only saves the company money, but also fosters creative problem solving. The tricky part is: Who’s in charge? This ambiguity creates multiple challenges, especially if the team is large and/or there is competition to lead the project. Best practice: when forming the team, the supervisors assign the leader and communicate that information to the entire team.

When you’re the one in charge, you can’t offer the incentives (raises, promotions, getting fired) the supervisors can, yet you have to find a way to both engage and motivate the team because if they miss the deadline, you’re the one who gets in trouble. Leading through influence requires strong interpersonal skills. You have to take initiative early in the process to build relationships and persuade with diplomacy. Some things to consider:

Clarify

Defining roles and responsibilities at the outset helps eliminate frustration and duplication of efforts. At the first team meeting, decide together who does what and when:

What is the goal? What does success look like?
Who will shepherd which task and what are the deadlines? Pro Tip: The person who sets the deadline is in control no matter what their title is.
What are the project’s KPI’s? How will you know you’ve met them?
How will you meet? In person? Videoconference? How often? Daily? Weekly? What hours is everyone available for questions or huddles?
What information will you need from them? What information will they need from you?

Communicate

Each of your team members has multiple demands on their time from multiple supervisors and multiple projects. Every week team members should either submit an email report or meet with you for a brief update on both the progress of your project and the status of their other projects. This alerts you to competing deadlines and prompts you to notify your team’s supervisors. Ask the supervisors to prevent a crisis by prioritizing projects. Pro Tip: A written status report (on both successes and challenges) can double as documentation for annual performance reviews.
From the beginning and throughout the project, remind the team that you support their individual brands. Email their supervisors when they produce good work. Give the team visibility to the rest of the company.
Observe what motivates your team. Who works because it’s intrinsically rewarding? Who works for recognition? What are their career goals? Connect working on this project to reaching them.

Cultivate

Teams working on short projects together don’t have much time to connect on a personal level, yet business moves at the speed of trust. It’ll make your life easier if you can accelerate team bonding.
If a teammate is uncooperative, schedule a 1:1 and find out why as soon as they miss a KPI. Are there barriers you can remove (e.g., other projects)? Do they need resources you can obtain (training, equipment)? If the teammate still refuses to produce in a timely manner, send them an email reiterating your conversation and copy their supervisor. If you still can’t convince them to contribute, schedule a meeting with their supervisor and ask how they motivate the employee. Pro Tip: the emails should be enough evidence to keep this employee off of future teams you lead.

If you have to manage projects without authority over people, then you must build commitment and engagement. Find common ground and use it to align goal setting. Get your team the resources they need to do good work. Explain the logical (not emotional) reasons for taking an action and the consequences of not taking it.

Have you had responsibility without authority? How did that work out? Please share in the comments.

The First Step

The glass ceiling is cracking thanks to so many women beating our heads against it. The light filtering through these cracks reveals that the ladder we’re climbing to get there has a broken rung.

What is it?

At the beginning of 2020, for every 100 men who stepped onto the corporate ladder by accepting their first role as a manager, only 85 women were hired and/or promoted from individual contributor to manager. That statistic refers to white women; the statistics for Black women and Latinas are even worse. The first rung on the corporate ladder is broken for women and it has a negative effect on our talent pipeline. While more women are getting hired for senior management, there aren’t enough at junior management levels to promote. This lack of diversity in management denies our organizations an array of ideas, input, and solutions which adversely affects our bottom lines.

Why Does it Happen?

Women are subject to unconscious gender bias. Adapting to work during COVID-19 has awakened us a bit. Who hasn’t been on a Zoom call where someone (male or female) commented on a female coworker’s children playing in the background? When schools went online and daycares shuttered for months, working moms took on the majority of both housework and childcare. The statistics are worse for single moms and moms of color. Because of the pandemic, over two million women are considering an extensive leave of absence or even leaving the workforce. This makes the broken rung even harder to repair.

How Do We Fix It?

Continuous Development – Women need skills including strategic thinking and negotiation to level the playing field. If your company doesn’t have an official leadership development program, find your own. It’s a good investment of your T.E.A.M.

Get a Mentor – If your company does not offer an official mentoring program, seek one outside the company. Research shows mentees were promoted five times more than an employee who didn’t have a mentor.

Network – Collect people: mentors, coaches, sponsors, peers. A support network makes it 2.5 times more likely you’ll be seen as a high performer and ready for advancement.

Visibility – Share what you’re learning in leadership development with your manager during your 1:1s. Forward reference materials to colleagues and copy your manager. Bring up your development plan during reviews. Post about your progress on LinkedIn. Let the world know you’re taking responsibility for your growth and are ready to serve as a leader.

Stand up for Yourself – If you get passed over for promotion, ask why. Your manager should give you clear feedback regarding what you lack. If you feel the suggestions are vague, press for specifics. Is it a skill? Learn it. Is it not enough experience? Ask your manager to give you assignments that will help you gain it. Make these your immediate goals and achieve them before your next promotion attempt. Keep your manager apprised of your progress.

Have you experienced unconscious gender bias? How did you call attention to it? Have you ever been unconsciously gender biased? What are you doing to be more aware? Please share in the comments.