I have officially ended my first winter in New England and went crazy buying a bunch of summer shoes.  I realized I have a lot of meetings and conferences I am trying to attend this summer, so sandals take a back seat to professional shoes and clothing. I headed out to my favorite budget friendly shoe store, DSW, to see what I can find that will bring a smile to my feet. I found 3 great shoes, flats, high heels, and casual fridays.

Conference shoes. You spend so much time walking, standing and networking at conferences that high heels or even kitten heels feel like a burden sometimes.  They are from Anne Klein flex and are meant for long walks.  I know a lot of women stay away from the pointed toe because of the squeeze on the toes.  I suggest you go up 1/2 to 1 full size in pointed shoes.  You will thank me later.

The statement shoes.  Beige, nude, light neutrals, brown, tan, light brown and whatever else you want to call this color, it doesn’t matter just get these guess shoes.  The color is great for the summer. math them with a navy or blue skirt, fun flirty dress, or some professional cropped pants.  The shoes will present confidence as you give presentations, go for interviews, or in getting recognition.or just have fun at happy hour.  I was asked yesterday if this color was meant for darker skin ladies, and I say yes.  They look great on every skin tone.  The color goes great with navy and browns.  Plus the inches  (5 inches) will make your calves look awesome.  These shoes are not meant for long walks in the park, unless you are a professional high high heel wearer.

Casual friday.  Finally, casual friday has arrived but you still want to dress up.  These heels by madden girl give the perfect casual friday denim look, but would look great with an a line skirt or sheath dress.  It allows you to look relaxed as you prepare for the summer weekend fun to begin.

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These are my top five choices for best dressed at the Met Gala last Monday. The theme was the American Woman. The American Woman has always represented self-confidence in what she wants out of life. I chose the gowns not just because they are gorgeous, but also self-confidence exuded by their wearers. Please scroll over pics to see why I chose each woman.

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I know that most of you applying or getting ready to go to an MBA program feel pretty confident in your self-awareness.  Self-awareness has led you to the schools you applied to and eventually accepted.  It led you to the bachelors you already have and the job you currently do.  Self-awareness lets you know if you are a douche who needs to tone it down or the wallflower that needs to pump it up.

I have always been told I am confidently self-aware of who I am.  I agree I know who I am, but I wasn’t self-aware of whom I am in business.  See, after analyzing my leadership skills, fellow students leadership skills, and plenty of Harvard Business Review articles on leadership skills, I realize I was not being innovative with my leadership I was just being a copy cat I had some incredible bosses, and I had some real doozers, but they were effective in getting things done.  I tended to hangout in the middle.

I confidently knew how to pick my outfit in the morning, but I wasn’t always confident of leading a team of 20 people.  Most of time I would just be a puppet and regurgitate whatever my boss needed to be said or done with the team.  I didn’t feel confident some of my suggestions or separate leadership style would bring me success.  I wasn’t self-aware of how I presented myself or how my presence affected others around me.  I always smiled and was helpful, but I wasn’t a true leader, because I didn’t understand what it meant.

Self-awareness isn’t who you want to be either.  It is who you are today.  Yes, I believe people and personalities are fluid and we all can change and become so much more than we are today, but I want to start with today.  Four months ago, my self-awareness would have been falsified towards who I wish I was, today I know it is definitely who I am. As you can tell, so far, leadership and self-awareness go hand in hand.  One does not exist without the other.  This is looking beyond the title of your position in a company.  You can be a manager with no concept of self-awareness; eventually you will realize your employees do not have 100% confidence in you because you don’t know who you are.  This goes for a CEO, CFO, entrepreneur, customer service rep, and janitor.

How do you become more self-aware: take some personality tests.  Ask 3 friends to describe your strengths and weaknesses and see the common factors they give you.  What are your values?  Make a list of things you believe are good and bad.  I know this comes across as simple but when you are in an ethical dilemma or working with a difficult employee, in order to remain on the side of success you have to know who you are.

Takeaway: Leadership does not exist without self-awareness. A

rticles explaining importance of self-awareness and leadership:

How to Crack the Self Awareness Paradigm HBR

Self-Awareness and the Effective Leader Inc.com

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Scrolling around the internet I find my dream apartment in NYC.  Apparently, former Vogue intern and current hockey player Sean Avery has put his chelsea condo up for sale for a whopping $1,695,000 at 1,123 square feet it’s a 2 bed, 2 bath.  I even like the blue on the walls, and the openness of the windows.  No pictures of the closet.  The decorator did an awesome job.  I really want my next place to look like this.  I just need a man who understands I need a second home in NYC, you know, for all my school breaks.

Photo courtesy of realeststalker.blogspot.com

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The World’s 10 Most Powerful Luxury Brands

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