You can view the full webinar at this link—which will explain why you have to do much more than ask your boss for flexibility in one casual conversation. My  presentation outlines the research you need to do and the points you need to make for a well-crafted presentation that outlines your business case for flexibility. You’ll also hear the ins and outs and pros and cons of various flexibility options at your current company and beyond.

During the webinar attendees participated in two polls, and the results mirror what I’ve heard from hundreds of working women with one foot on the off-ramp.

When I asked attendees to name the type of flexibility they find most desirable, most said that they would like to keep their current full-time jobs and work at home one day or more. In the range of flexibility options, this is the most easily attainable. I advise women to keep a log of all work activities for one month—noting which are done solo and which required face time with colleagues. In my experience most women find that at least 20% of their work is solo—which is a good argument to work at least 20% of the week (or one day) at home.

The other type of flexibility that ranked high among webinar attendees is in the form of entrepreneurial ventures. This did not surprise me at all because women often believe that they will never find true flexibility unless they call the shots as the boss. There is some truth to this theory, but I always tell women to think carefully about whether they are truly “Type E”. Type E is my moniker for natural entrepreneurs—and I believe that only a small percentage of humans fall into this category. Not everyone can fit even a Type A personality into a Type E job—when you’re required to wear every conceivable hat, you can’t delegate less high-level tasks to other people and you carry the weight of a business start-up 24/7. Add in the need to be a skilled salesperson (to sell ANY product or service), the need to invest in the company to make it grow—and the fact that cash flow can be spotty or non-existent–and you have a new work structure that could bring on less flexibility and more stress.

(As an aside, I’m a serial entrepreneur and I wouldn’t have it any other way—but I’ve had both positive and negative experiences, some that would expire the most faint-hearted entrepreneurs.)

Staying on the issue of money, when I asked webinar attendees for their biggest fear about leaving the workforce, loss of paycheck topped the list. Lots of women leave the workforce without any intention of starting a business or generating an income of any kind. My webinar attendees are right to worry about financial issues: the loss of one paycheck can require a major family budget overhaul. And that is just a shorter-term issue: women leaving the workforce need to think about how the exit will impact their long-term financial security (retirement savings, college educations) and salary expectations if and when they choose to return.

The issue of reentry was of equal concern to my webinar attendees—and rightfully so. There’s no question that it can be hard to jump over a resume gap—and women often return to jobs that are lower in title and salary. But that can be OK, because when women return to the workforce with a healthy ego, they know that they can ramp back up pretty quickly.

Though I am biased in my efforts to help women stay in the workforce (since I’ve counseled so many frustrated and disenchanted volunteers), I believe strongly that it is a personal decision based on so many factors visible only to you and your own family. For women determined to leave the workforce, I just advise them to do so with open eyes and a realistic understanding of what they will see on the other side. Though “disruption to career path” was also a concern for my webinar attendees, an exit is not an end to a career path. A future reentry can be facilitated by targeted volunteer work, freelance projects and even consulting assignments with the employer you leave.

It all comes back my webinar title, “Look Before You Leap”. When you take a very careful look at all the issues surrounding a work hiatus, you can put emotions aside and find your own peace in informed, intelligent decisions. –KAS

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When you think about enhancing your life portfolio, the options are endless. Take a course at a local college, learn a new instrument, travel to a different region of the world, take in a foster child…there are so many ways to give your life breadth and depth.

Your choices can be random, taking you on a winding path—or more deliberate, guiding you down a more well-defined route. If you are an active volunteer, and you someday would like to return to the workforce, you can be more deliberate about the activities you choose for your life portfolio.

The expression “doing well by doing good” means that while you are helping others, you can help yourself, too. This agenda does not necessarily weaken your altruism: we all make better paid or unpaid contributions when we are in our sweet spot of interests and skills.

There’s a great article that gives guidance on how to choose volunteer work that will help people and organizations now—and you in the future. Take a look at “How to Find A Volunteer Opportunity that Will Advance Your Career”.

Be sure to read the complete article that emphasizes four key tips:

1. Think about what experience or knowledge you want to gain.

2. Think about what experience or knowledge you could contribute.

3. Determine your time parameters.

4. Use your network to find opportunities that enhance your portfolio.

In the creative world, the best portfolios show versatility and variety—but also emphasize a palette of certain skills and strengths. When you do decide to return to work, the more that you can show the depth of experience and application of skills in certain areas, the easier it will be for you to find a job. –KAS

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This checklist is hands-down the best resource I’ve ever seen to help us all make sure we’ve dotted all the i’s and crossed all the t’s to maximize every minute we invest on the Linkedin site. –KAS

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The pizza strategy came to mind when I read a Forbes article, “How to Stand Out in a Crowded Market: Forget the Traditional Resume”.  Technology has  brought far more sophisticated strategies than pizza deliveries and the article tells stories about, for example, building an online resume that resembles an Amazon.com product page.

There’s no question that this kind of creativity could distinguish you in the sea of resumes, but I don’t think we’ve reached a point where the traditional resume is extinct. The real take-away from this article is that in addition to a resume, it’s a great idea to find a “hook” (just like when kids apply to college), or a compelling fact, talent or accomplishment that will set you apart.

Often this hook will be your professional “show and tell”. Artists and writers show their portfolios—and smart job applicants might create something specifically tailored to a desired employer to attract attention and emphasize potential fit.

These are obvious “show and tells” for the creative set—but what do you do if you manage an office or do accounting work for a technology start-up? This is where creative thinking comes in. What can you illustrate from your resume—in, say, a short Powerpoint presentation—to show your skills and contributions in a memorable way?

In the quick ideas category an office manager could describe a renovation project she led, showing before and after photos and describing via a simple timeline how she managed multiple contractors from beginning to end. The accountant’s presentation might be photos of key investments the company was able to make as a result of her accounting acumen—along with a few key details on cost-savings initiatives.

The point is that it’s not a bad idea to make your resume come to life—in a way that will keep you top of  mind with potential employers. You can’t send these special presentations if you apply to jobs online, but your job search should be far away from that online black hole, anyway. When you are contacting hiring managers at the suggestion of networking connections, they’ll most likely be open to any (inedible) information that amplifies your skills and experience—as long as it’s engaging and concise. –KAS

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As I read the article, I had to keep stopping myself to ask if somehow I had travelled back in time. The tone and content sound frighteningly similar to what would be found in a 1950s article in Good Housekeeping or the Ladies Home Journal. 

Yet it is not. It is actually written in 2013 by a woman who suggests that husbands should quickly and strategically be plucked from your college campus–preferably one of the “Ivy” variety. (This missive comes from a professional woman—an executive recruiter—who divorced a husband who did not attend Princeton and perhaps did not reach her intellectual bar.)

Even when I attended a women’s college in the late 70s, only a handful of senior class women actually set out to get a “ring by spring”. The rest of us—anxious to get started in interesting careers–found husband shopping laughable and inane.

The crux of Susan Patton’s article is her belief that women should marry intellectual equals—and that the best time to find your equal is when you are on the same college campus. While I do believe that a good marriage includes some degree of intellectual parity, it is only one part of the formula for success. Not to mention the fact that marrying very soon after college–before you have a chance to develop your own independence–often leads to later dissatisfaction or divorce.

A glaring omission from Susan’s argument is the need to find a lifelong partner who supports your work+life ambitions. In my opinion this is far more important than the ability to debate foreign affairs over breakfast, lunch and dinner. In my work I have seen an alarmingly high percentage of modern-day women who marry men who seem to drink some version of the “Mad Men” era Kool-Aid. These men, stuck in a 1950s time warp, want their women at home taking care of kids. This is not always because they hold the traditional belief that “a woman’s place is in the home”; they often see a non-working wife as a badge of honor—proof to the world that they bring in much more bacon than the family could ever need.

Fortunately, many husbands are significantly more evolved. One of the best things about my own marriage has been a husband who totally believes in and supports my professional ambitions. He has never tried to limit my career path—and he has helped me forge ahead and make adjustments through different work and life stages.  Though I have taken on more of the caretaking role for our daughters, he has never perceived that role as one that precludes my work outside of our home.

In the decade+ that I’ve coached women far beyond college age, I’ve never heard one of them lament the fact that they did not marry their intellectual equal. I’ve heard far too many say they married a man who marginalized their professional capabilities and ambitions.

It’s surely not easy to blend work and life, especially when children enter the scene. But just because it’s not easy, doesn’t mean it’s not rewarding when you continually find new and interesting ways to make work work. I believe that in many of the best marriages partners share not only the love of their families, but the love and respect for their individual careers.  So my advice is this: find a partner someday (not necessarily on your college campus) who will help you continually find some kind of work that fits your life, your family dynamics and your overall fulfillment—whether or not it involves a shared IQ. –KAS

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This fact was buried in an interesting post on Jonathan Low’s The Lowdown blog: “The Beat Goes On: 60-Somethings Embrace the Future”. The hip title is  summed up well in these words: “Boomers are hitting the traditional retirement age in massive numbers. But research suggests that people actually view themselves as ten years younger than they really are. In the Boomers’ case, that means that instead of adventure vacations, they are plotting new ventures.”

Ah, I love it. Thousands of fellow boomers working hard to take care of their health and planning interesting ventures for decades beyond traditional retirement—like me. We’ll all be in good company.

In the same article Jonathan includes reporting from Emma Jacobs in the Financial Times. That’s where the new middle age number comes in. “Patricia Smith, senior vice-president at New Directions, refuses even to use the word ‘retirement’–preferring instead to describe it as a career shift to a portfolio of activities; she sees middle age as extending to 80. There is a life-expectancy shift, a recognition that older people have more time to work; they may be burnt out by their current jobs and yearn to feel passionate about work again.”

My feeling is that the sense of ongoing possibility fuels both passion and longevity. Regrettably, my mother did not feel that her life held expansive possibilities. I think that had to play into her early death. If we believe that age does not limit our potential to accomplish and contribute, and we believe that people or institutions are not standing in our way, I think it has been well proven that our hearts and passions keep ticking.

It is indeed a cultural phenomenon, though. In this country a large percentage of Baby Boomers barrel into post-50 years. We throw away AARP envelopes and refuse to accept the idea that we are past our prime. I talk to people from other cultures—from less affluent areas of South America, for example—who tell me that age 50 is still considered quite old and 80 is often an age many never expect to reach. People are in fact living longer all over the world—but there will always be some who bow to the mindset that possibilities narrow with age–and in turn let the life escape out of that living.

Of course, a zeal for life comes from pursuing passions and actual productivity. If 80 is indeed the new middle age, we all have—in spite of any economic downturns–decades for second, third and fourth paid and unpaid careers. With planning and the firm mindset of possibility, we’ll reach this new mid-life point without crisis—just opportunity. –KAS

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The most well-written resume filled with stellar accomplishments won’t lead you to a job unless you have a solid executive presence. It doesn’t matter if you   want to work for a major corporation or a small company down the street, as a manager or administrator, in technology or fashion. Everybody needs executive presence to land and keep any job.

So what does this mean? Everyone needs to walk and talk like an executive? To some degree, yes. Here are the three components of executive presence, according to a study (see “Executive Presence Press Release”) co-authored by Sylvia Ann Hewlett’s Center for Talent Innovation:

1.   Gravitas—or the ability to project confidence, poise under pressure and decisiveness.

2.   Communication—excellent speaking skills, assertiveness and the ability to read an audience or situation.

3.   Appearance—a look that is polished and put together.

Since I’ve worked with so many returning professional women, I can relate these attributes specifically to your situation.

First, the key word in the “gravitas” description is confidence. Many returning professionals have a confidence deficit—thinking that their time out of the workforce makes them less worthy of paid jobs. Get those negative thoughts out of your head! Recognize that you have a lifetime portfolio of skills and experience (see “Help Wanted from Women Over 40“) to offer employers and fill your head (and your resume) instead with examples of how you’ve continued to develop your business skills through volunteer work and other endeavors.

Confidence also plays into your communication skills. When you’re in an interview, you have to speak with authority and ease so that potential employers see that you will be an active contributor to their team. The best way to project confidence is to plan and practice what you want to say. Prepare two or three stories that are relevant to the job and illustrate your fit. Emphasize your ability to work with people who have different leadership styles and skill sets and find common ground. Your “ability to read an audience or a situation” is indeed key: make sure you show employers that you can quickly assess a challenge and jump in with possible solutions.

And finally, appearance does matter. It’s not just about looking polished and professional, it’s being hip to the style in the industries of interest to you. A manufacturing company may still have a lot of women in very tailored (read: masculine) business suits, while women in advertising are wearing all the latest fashion trends. If your clothing is out of sync with a workplace culture, it will be the first suggestion that you could be outdated or out of touch. You don’t need to lose your individual style, but you have to adapt somewhat to the environment you’re pursuing.

As a funny aside, an elegant and self-assured woman I know recently attended a very high-level conference of global women leaders. With awe she tweeted about the discussions of major women’s initiatives—and also about the fact that most of the extremely fashionable businesswomen in attendance wore platform shoes and no pantyhose. She is of the age that assumes pantyhose is part of being “dressed up” (me too—who would have known?), and I think her lower heels and covered legs made her feel a little out of place. That’s just one little example at one event…you wouldn’t like to feel that discomfort every day of the week.

So the moral of this story is to work on your executive presence as hard as you work on your resume. With this insight and more that you can find in a Marie Claire article about the study, you’ll get employers to look far past the fact that you’ve been out of the workforce for several years, a decade or more.  –KAS

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My answer is always some polite version of “Don’t be ridiculous”.  It’s a very outdated notion that employers only want to hire recent college graduates. In fact, even in this difficult job market, more and more employers seek out women who have more maturity and life experience. 

If you’re still skeptical, read a great article by Whitney Johnson, “Get Innovation Right: Tap Into Women Over 40”. Whitney cites a New York Times article (“Why Innovators Get Better With Age“), and research indicating that a 55 or 65-year-old has more innovation potential than a 25-year-old. (Whitney defines innovation as the ability to go from stuck to unstuck, to move forward, not backward.)

One statement Whitney makes in the article is particularly compelling: “…Life doesn’t end at age 40. On the contrary, at age 40 we’re just getting to the best part. After spending years on the low end of the S-curve of experience, we are now ready to accelerate into a sweet spot of competence and contribution.”

Whitney goes on to note that like you, many women take time off career paths to parent. “To some in the C suite that makes them less committed and less capable. What I see and what I have personally experienced is that those years ‘off track’ actually increase and diversify a woman’s portfolio of skills and knowledge, increasing her potential to become a powerful player in her 40s and beyond.”

Like Whitney, this is what I have observed and experienced: women who recognize that they have a vast portfolio of skills and experience—from activity in and out of the workforce—are unstoppable when they decide to pursue second, third and fourth careers. It’s a mindset: you must have the wisdom and confidence to know that your  time out of the workforce is more of a pro than a con.

Kathy Sniezek, one of many interesting women I follow on Twitter (follow me to meet them, too!), captured the opportunity for 40+ women with grace and the requisite brevity for 140-character tweets: “Whitney Johnson redefines ‘coming of age’ in a way that’s viable & smart for business & society at large.”

This “coming of age” provides endless opportunities, but none that will land on your lap. Of course, as with any job seeker, you’ll never be able to just show up with an enthusiastic “Here I am world!” You need to professionally package all your skills and experience into persuasive messages that emphasize you have always been learning, thinking, discovering—and honing resume-worthy skills. All the strategic packaging changes the question from “Who would want me” to “Who wouldn’t?” as your confidence and determination build.  –KAS

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In the Levo League article, “6 Career Lessons Learned from Climbing Trees“, Melissa Stanger interviews Christina Vuleta, who says that your career path is more like climbing a tree. She gave Melissa the six most important lessons she has learned from “climbing trees”:

1. It’s wise to explore different branches.

2. It’s okay to move to a lower branch.

3. Look for where there’s growth.

4. Take a step back. See if you missed any interesting branches.

5. Know that you can always go back to a previous branch.

6. Do some trimming and fertilizing.

From this brief list, it’s easy to see the lessons both Christina and Melissa are trying to pass along, but I encourage you to read the full article that provides good career anecdotes and explanatory detail.

The biggest lesson from the article is that a “career ladder” is an antiquated notion. Few women start climbing a career ladder at age 22 and leave that ladder from a higher point at age 65. There are many new metaphors to adopt—like the idea of a twisting and turning career “labyrinth” that leads you in many different directions, a career “lattice” that allows for lateral, upward or downward moves, and an “arc” (told to me by Anne-Marie Slaughter) that extends into the future and allows for a career pinnacle long after children are grown.

Whatever metaphor you choose, know that you can chart your own career path, in and out of the workforce at every age and stage. And all the while, be sure to get lots of life+work exercise, reaching beyond your own resources–“Up, Down, Sideways and Out”–for collaboration and inspiration as you take each new and important step.   –KAS

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This point was made very well in a Brazen Life blog post on www.brazencareerist.com. In this article, “4 Ways to Use Your Day Job to Move Toward  Your Dream Job”, Tanea Smith gives soon-to-be entrepreneurs get a handful of wise “must dos” before they fly from their financial security nest.

Check out the full article, but in the meantime, zero in on these key points:

1.   Set aside a specific amount of your paycheck for your business venture, and remind yourself not to resent your 9-to-5—it’s helping you move toward that big reinvention goal.

2.   Take a candid assessment of your financial picture–your credit score, your savings, your debt—and don’t bring a poor financial standing into a new business.

3.   Seek out mentors and others at your current job who can teach you specific skills you’ll need in your new business.

4.   Don’t waste any time. Use commuting, lunch, evenings and weekend time to keep your business plans moving.

As a serial entrepreneur I know that each of these four suggestions are necessary and true. And I would add a fifth, which I believe makes or breaks a business venture:

5.   Determine if you will be able to invest not only time, but money into your new venture.

We all hear stories of billionaires who started their businesses on a shoestring (like Sara Blakeley, the 40-something woman who started Spanx with only $5,000), but my observation and experience is that you have to spend money to make money. All the good ideas in the world don’t go very far unless you have the money to promote, advertise and sell. Start-ups that have very limited financial resources often limp along or grow at a very slow pace.

Though #1 on the Brazen Life list advises you to set aside money from your current paycheck, I see that as money to live on before your business generates a continual income stream. Money you need to live on is not the money that you’ll invest in your business. While you still have the paycheck from your day job, research where you will find the money to invest in your business—personal savings, home equity lines of credit, friends, family, small business loans, angel investors and the like. Investment money in any form is the rocket fuel that will make your new business soar. –KAS

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