Jena In The News

Articles and Interviews About Workplace Matters

Career Resolutions

As we approach the start of 2017, this is the time of year to get yourself motivated and to really think about how to turbo-charge your career and maximize your success over the next 12 months. Let’s get started…

 

December 23, 2016

Gift Giving in the Office

The holiday season can be stressful. Gift-giving in the workplace can add another layer of complexity and a strain on your budget. Not fully understanding the expectations of gift giving in your workplace can create a career “faux pas” – so following these tips can help you gain some insight and an advantage to keeping the spirit of the season alive and your sanity in check.

December 1, 2016

Should You Dress for Success?

Jena Abernathy talks about whether or not it pays to dress for success. She’s the author of “The Inequality Equalizer”.

 

November 3, 2016

So You Made a Mistake at Work – Here’s What To Do

Fact: No matter how on top of things you are, you will make a mistake at work one day. Whether it’s blowing a deadline, sending an e-mail griping about your boss to your boss, or totally dropping the ball on a client, it happens. The good news is that everyone’s been there. The bad news is that it feels just as stomach-churningly horrible for everyone.

October 14, 2016

How to Work for a Bad Boss

We have all had one or two toxic bosses during the course of our careers. If you have not encountered one yet, you are lucky, but chances are you will eventually. So how do you handle the “bad” boss?

September 23, 2016

Putting Your Personal Brand’s Best Foot Forward

Jena Abernathy joins Jim Blasingame to encourage you to think of your efforts to get a job, or make a sale, as putting your personal brand’s best foot forward, and offers tips on how to do that.

September 16, 2016

If You Want To Succeed, Get Real with Yourself

Jena Abernathy joins Jim Blasingame to talk about the reality of how competitive the marketplace is, and why you have to get real with yourself about how much your personal brand plays.

August 31, 2016

Negotiating A Raise the Right Way

Initiate the raise conversation prior to your review cycle to set expectations, preferably at the end of a big win, completion of a major project, etc.  Many companies have a set budget for increases so to level-set prior to the distribution of raises is important.

Schedule the appointment with your boss at the end of the day – do not give the title or context of the meeting in advance, simply schedule a “check-in” meeting.

 

August 25, 2016

Eddie & Tracy on iHeart Radio

Eddie Fingers returns!! Tony Pike checks in from Bengals Training Camp; Thomas Hadley of healthworks discusses the obesity problem in this country; Jena Abernathy has workplace advice; Stacey Nelkin’s weekly visit.

 

August 9, 2016

Claiming A Career

Junkyard dog – that’s how UMW alumna Jena Abernathy describes herself. Fresh out of college, she had the street smarts and savvy assertiveness that would propel her to the top – or so she thought.

 

August 1, 2016

Job-Hopping Executives No Longer Pay Penalty

Corey Heller often finds himself ordering fresh business cards. The human resources executive has switched employers nine times since 1996—and spent less than three years at six of those workplaces.

 

July 26, 2016

How to Stay Connected When You Decide to Stay Home

Being in-between jobs, or choosing to stay at home with kids, doesn’t have to mean giving up a career, or losing your business connections. Jena Abernathy, the author of “The Inequality Equalizer” and a business coach, has advice on staying connected when you decide to stay home

July 18, 2016

Getting Hired

Graduation and Beyond: How to Brand Yourself and Protect Your Reputation
Springtime bloomed with pomp and circumstance as campuses across the country marked the culmination of years of education for millions of students – and the beginning of new careers. But no matter where you are on your career trajectory – entry-level, mid-level or C-suite bound – there’s no time like the present to think about how you want to be perceived by those for and with whom you will work.

July 15, 2016

That Business Show with Jamie Meloni

Jena Abernathy, author of ‘The Inequality Equalizer,’ discusses what it means to be a “junkyard dog” and how to find your inner pedigree to level the playing field with Jamie Meloni on That Business Show in Tampa Bay, Florida.

 

June 22, 2016

When to Say ‘No’

Whether you’re just starting out in your career or whether you’re well into it, it’s important to take on new opportunities. Joining a task force, working on a cross-departmental project, taking on a group presentation to a new client . . . things like that give you a chance to find out what you like and what you’re good at. Taking on such projects tests your will and your fortitude, especially those projects that are likely to stretch beyond the usual forty- or fifty-hour workweek.

June 9, 2016

5 Things You Can Do Right Now to Refresh Your Resume

Feeling bogged down in your career? Or maybe you’re interested in reentering the workforce after spending time at home with your family? Jena Abernathy, a senior partner at an executive search firm, and the author of “The Inequality Equalizer,” is here to offer some tips on getting back out there. Step one, she says, is to refresh your resume.

 

June 6, 2016

Feline Syndrome: 3 ways you can avoid being ‘that woman’

I don’t know why it happens so often, but I have seen countless times women literally kill another woman’s career and professional opportunities. It is shameful and shocking because, collectively, we have power and influence. I have heard many female leaders state, “I had to make it up the ladder on my own,” and for some reason they can then find a way to rationalize stepping all over their female colleagues in order to get to the top. They tell themselves that their behavior is okay.

It is not okay.

May 17, 2016

Jena Abernathy Releases THE INEQUALITY EQUALIZER

In ‘The Inequality Equalizer’, executive search expert and former executive Jena Abernathy shares real-world success strategies for young and mid-career professionals in a no-nonsense guide that will help street-smart “junkyard dogs” become poised “pedigrees,” strategize their careers, and gain the confidence, skills, and know-how they need to get results, make winning impressions, and build long-lasting success on their way to the C-suite.

“Get ready for some tough love. In ‘The Inequality Equalizer’, Jena Abernathy brings to the page the no-holds-barred mentoring that she’s delivered to young professionals whose careers she rescued and got on track. This is a must-read for every young professional-as well as those in need of a restart or reinvention.”
-Patricia Crisafulli, author, the New York Times bestseller The House of Dimon: How JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon Rose to the Top of the Financial World

May 12, 2016

Active Board Succession

A decade ago, BoardSource, an organization supporting non-profit boards, developed a well-known list of aspirational principles of governance. For us they still ring true: “mission driven,” “ethos of transparency,” “compliance with in-tegrity.”

One of the Twelve Principles of Governance That Power Exceptional Boards — “intentional board practices” — is particularly timely. Today, being intentional is what health care governance is all about. Every board must have a clear vision, rationale and plan for its activities so it can achieve proactive, strategic governance.

May 1, 2016

Dealing with Gender Issues

Many of today’s up-and-coming, eager professionals are articulate, talented, well-educated and technologically savvy, but many of them are also unaware of the nuances to manage their career and may become labeled as obtuse. They simply lack the political perception and professional skills to get ahead.

Author Jena Abernathy is a passionate advocate for women in executive and governing board roles. Inspiring, down to earth, and straight talking, “THE INEQUALITY EQUALIZER” is the mentoring guide that most of us will wish we had read a long time ago, much earlier in our careers. Abernathy shares her practical, proven real-world techniques to strategize your career, and gain the confidence, know-how, and respect to get results, make winning impressions, and build long-lasting success.

April 21, 2016

The CHRO: A Stepping Stone to CEO?

Human Resources leaders are increasingly providing operational and strategic input into their organizations.

While not everyone agrees that this is a positive trend — see “It’s Not HR’s Job to Be Strategic” from the Harvard Business Review — most HR professionals wholeheartedly welcome this change. With it, the view of HR as a support function is diminishing. Many HR executives have indeed moved from the back office to a seat at the table in both the C-suite and the boardroom.

March 1, 2016

What to Say When You’re Asked for a Job Reference You Don’t Want to Give

Most employees can (and should) pass the call on to HR. In senior executive circles, though, that won’t wash.

April 3, 2015

The City Trying to Eliminate the Gender Pay Gap

There’s been plenty of talk about the gender pay gap in recent days after speculation that recently fired New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson was let go after speaking up about possible pay disparity between her and the previous executive editor, Bill Keller.

May 19, 2014

How to Get Noticed in No Time at Work, for the Right Reasons

Ever wonder why you didn’t get an opportunity to work on that big project, or get face time with higher-ups like other colleagues in your office have? It may be as simple as raising your hand and saying, “I want in.”

August 28, 2013