IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - June 2008 - 45

get ahead," he says. "They want to learn
strategies and tools that will help them
become more successful. My coaching is
based on 'The Four Windows Method.' Its
premise is that each of us is impacted by
our personal life as well as our professional
life and balance cannot be attained if you
are too focused on either. Women tend to
care more about life balance than do men."
In his book 21 Ways Women in Management Shoot Themselves in the Foot, McKee
describes the biggest mistakes women seeking a career often make, how to overcome
those issues, and how to build a successful
career and personal life. The book is based
on real women and their experiences.
What are the top tips for women in
the workplace, especially for women
engineers working in a male-dominated field?
"The most important piece of advice,
which I see used by most people who
describe themselves as "satisfied or very
satisfied" with their career, and which
only about 16% of most people of either
gender do, is to create a personal action
plan and manage it like you would a business plan or annual department budget
on the job," he says. "Without a plan, neither a business nor an individual can
achieve the greatness they are capable of."
A personal action plan, says McKee,
includes financial, professional, and personal goals an individual wants to reach.
McKee also agrees it's important to be
a part of organizations like IEEE Women
in Engineering that foster women's
advancement in the workplace and help
with networking. "Women think differently, view the world differently, and
manage differently. Without other
women around them, it's easy to start
thinking they have to work and behave
like men," he says. "We don't need more
boys in our top roles."
Another tip is to work on what McKee
calls "executive presence." "I hear about
presence most frequently when I'm
retained by companies. Many times top
senior executives see a potential leader
but feel that the individual's lack of presence is going to limit their ability to perform at their highest level. If this is an
unfamiliar term to you, consider it as
being a combination of how you look and

how you communicate," he says. "How we
look can be changed to a certain extent
but not entirely. It's much easier to reinvent how we communicate. I've also
learned that some generalities and biases
about a manager's appearance seem to be
fairly universal. These attitudes are often
unfair. In some situations such approaches are both illegal and against the compa-

ny's policy. But they remain a real issue.
So you should be cognizant of them at the
very least. If what I am about to say
offends, I apologize in advance."

Stay in Shape and Other Tips
McKee says there are five key impressions
for people who want to be as successful as
they possibly can in their career.

Apply your technical
expertise at the cutting
edge of technology.

Conceptualize. Synthesize. Actualize.
Problem-solving is a group activity at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. Our technical
experts work in cross-disciplinary collaboration to apply rigorous research
to complex problems of national interest. Then they pool their discoveries,
painstakingly put them to the test and develop not just a theoretical solution
to the problem, but a real-world, working prototype.
Elevated security clearances will be especially
desirable for positions in the following areas:

* Computer, Communications and
Information Security
- Analyze network topology
- Testbed research and development
- Network Security evaluation

* RF Systems Engineers
- Prototype EHF satellite communication
systems
- High performance antenna and front-end
RF subsystems
- Complex antenna and electromagnetic
structures
Please visit our website at www.ll.mit.edu
for more information on these and our many
other opportunities.

* CMOS Circuit Design
- Develop novel silicon-based imaging
devices
- Solid-state imaging sensors
- Silicon VLSI fabrication techniques

* Sensor Development Staff
- Rapid detection of biological attacks
- Modeling, simulation, and data analysis
- Track, identify, and target military
vehicles

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we are
committed to realizing our vision of diversity
and inclusion in every aspect of our enterprise.
Due to the unique nature of our work, we require
U.S. Citizenship.

* Intelligence, Surveillance,
Reconnaissance (ISR)
Development
- Investigate next generation ISR
technology
- SAR and MTI techniques
- Surveillance algorithm development

* RFIC Development
- RF receiver/transmitter development
- Analog and mixed-signal component
design
- UHF-W-band components

www.LL.MIT.EDU

"When you are part of this team,
some great accomplishments are inevitable."

TECHNOLOGY

SUMMER 2008

SUPPORT

NATIONAL SECURITY

IEEE WOMEN IN ENGINEERING MAGAZINE

http://www.ll.mit.edu http://www.LL.MIT.EDU

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - June 2008