Katie Couric

Today we continue the theme of Athena, who seems to be manifesting in four strong, courageous, gracious women in the news recently: Oprah, Katie Couric, Maria Shriver, and Christine Lagarde.

Oprah signed off this week, as did Katie Couric last week.  Couric’s sign-off was the epitome of class and dignity.  Oprah’s farewell “benediction” was fit for a queen – the Queen of All Media, of course.  Maria Shriver continues to build her brand for her return to her own limelight, as journalist, best-selling author, and Emmy Award -winning producer (The Alzheimer’s Project). And, the person who is rumored to be the replacement for the frenzied Frenchman and former IMF director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, is another French countrywoman, Christine Lagarde. This is a woman who is as facile with English and Chanel as she is acclaimed for her intellectual firepower.

So, while the humiliation, disgrace and dark secrets about €œThe Governator€ have more than alarmed women everywhere – East and West, from the U.S. to abroad, from the boardroom to the bedrooms, from the supermarket to the super-rich, all women over 40 should strive to emulate  Shriver, Couric, Winfrey and Lagarde for their grace, dignity, poise, confidence, and leadership in the face of challenge and transition.   All are powerful brands in their own right – no male arm candy needed.

Maria Shriver

Christine Lagarde

Oprah

Christine Lagarde

“Athena’s strength comes from her ability to think rationally, and to be guided with the respect of others’ by her intellect and clear-headedness.” (From The Athena Center, Barnard)

DARE-ing goddess-energy in women is manifesting recently via the whole Shriver and IMF-leader scandals. Bottom line? Athena wins, and Aphrodite and Hera can learn from her.

Could there possibly be anything more said or learned from the incendiary headlines of the past few weeks regarding the nuclear decimation of the Shriver- Schwarzenegger marriage?  Is there even a scintilla of space left in the celebrity gossip eco-system that is parsing every move – vertical and horizontal – that the disgraced IMF chairman has made over the past weeks, minute by minute, suicide false alarms included?

(In case you somehow missed it – you were on a fishing trip in northern Alaska – let me quickly fill you in. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who resigned as managing director of the IMF, the International Monetary Fund faces seven criminal charges of alleged sexual assault of a hotel maid and a possible prison term of 25 years or more if convicted).

Thank the Strategy Goddess Athena* there’s some good news from the stratosphere of other strong women who take their cue from her. I refer to Strauss-Kahn’s probable replacement, Christine Lagarde, the finance minister of France. This is a drop-dead brainy presence of a woman, a woman over 40 who is making the news more for her achievements, shrewd actions and the coming transitions in her very productive and constructive career  rather than the challenges of being victimized by or married to an ego-engorged satyr.

Lagarde is lawyer, financier, fluent in English, as conversant in D.C. spin as she is at ease with the language of finance.  More to the point, she is a leader and path-clearer extraordinaire for women. She is the first woman ever to become minister of Economic Affairs of a G8 country, the first woman chairman of the international law firm Baker & McKenzie, and in ’09, Forbes magazine ranked her the 17th most powerful woman in the world.

SHE IS A TRUE ATHENA, and a terrific role model for women of all ages.

~       ~        ~        ~        ~        ~        ~        ~        ~       ~        ~   

*For more on Athena the Goddess and her mythology, take a look at the excellent book by Jungian psychoanalyst, Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D., called Goddesses in Everywoman – one of the most entertaining books I have ever read on female archetypes based on goddesses such as Athena.  The book has fascinating detail and insights on all the well-known female goddesses, including: Hera (goddess of marriage), Aphrodite (goddess of love), Demeter (goddess of mothers) and many others.

Maria Shriver – about whom more words have been written in one week than almost any other wife since Jenny Sanford (who ultimately took her own hike

1.      The Breaking Point: How Female Midlife Crisis is Transforming Today’s Women, by Sue Shellenbarger. The Wall Street Journal career columnist illuminates through anecdotes and excellent reporting, the many types of work, avocations and fun that women have Started after they hit 40.

2.      A Whole New Mind, by Daniel H. Pink.  Full of ideas to think differently, explore all types of intelligence (artistic, physical, etc.) to innovate, pursue meaningful work, and stay relevant.

3.      I Could Do Anything, If I Only Knew What It Was, by Barbara Sher.  One of the best, most honest books on helping you visualize your perfect life, delivered in an empathic, amusing style.

4.      Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity. Exercises to plumb your deepest needs and how to tap into your unconscious for ideas your “editing” mind won’t allow.

5.      Jump Start Your Brain, by Doug Hall.  Promises to make you “500% more creative” from a marketing guru who creates products and campaigns that convince us to try, buy and stay loyal to stuff we never even knew we needed let alone wanted.

6.      AHA! 10 Ways to Free Your Creative Spirit and Find Your Great Ideas, by Jordan Ayan.  Not just 10 ways, but thousands!  Has unstuck even the most tenacious, stubborn, blank, fearful minds.

7.      Write It Down, Make It Happen, by Henriette Ann Klauser.  A free-association guide, with prompts, questions and lists to encourage you to think differently, identify goals and aspirations, and, yes, make them happen.

8.      Second Acts, by Stephen M. Pollan and Mark Levine, attorney and author/collaborator.  Guides you through what they call “sources of dissatisfaction€ so you arrive at your personal hopes and dreams.

9.      Six-Week Start Up, by Rhonda Abrams.  While Maria has more money coming her way than almost any other wife in America at this moment, this is for all those women who are, in fact, trying to figure out how to have their own money.  An easy-to-complete workbook for launching a new venture, whether a business, nonprofit or other creative endeavor, especially if you don’t have the time or inclination to pour thousands of dollars into B-school, psychotherapy, or other forms of long-term torture.

10.  Lest I forget, neglect and completely invalidate the positive environment of marketing, PR and self-promotion that got me here in the first place, my own book of advice, due out next month:  Get DARE from Here: 12 Principles and Practices for Women Over 40 to Take Stock, Take Action and Take Charge of the Rest of Their Lives, by Liz DiMarco Weinmann.  I’ll bet you think this is heart-stopping and blatant self-promotion, don’t you?  Well, so be it.  There will be No Self-Hell from me or for me!  My mission is to DARE all visionary, intelligent, motivated women over 40 €“ to Get DARE from Here – DRIVE, ADVANCE, RULE and EXPRESS YOUR EXPERIENCE & EXPERTISE!

So, take a letter, Maria.  Any of THESE letters, Maria:  DARE!  You definitely can get DARE from Here!

– about whom more words have been written in one week than almost any other wife since Jenny Sanford (who ultimately took her own “hike” and divorced ex-Governor “Soul-Mate”) – has called out for insights and advice from others who have faced critical transitions in their lives.  Since Maria Shriver has little to worry about financially, my advice for her especially, and for any woman who is facing the unthinkable – whether in her personal life or career – is to be driven, strategic and creative.  I suggest she return to the model of the goddess Athena, which is the archetype that drove much of Shriver’s career before her marriage.   After all, pigs fly, shit happens and before you know it, you’re sleepless in the battle and eating jumbo marshmallows as fast as you can incinerate them on your stove. My own career crisis ended happily, and led me to start my company and write a book about DARE-ING women over 40.  Here are just a few of my favorite books that helped me Deal before that.  Several of these are filled with ideas for exploring and expanding one’s creativity rather than pondering remedies for the excruciating pain and humiliation Ms. Shriver is surely enduring.  (For that, she surely has some of the universe’s best divorce lawyers and spiritual counselors).

1.      The Breaking Point: How Female Midlife Crisis is Transforming Today’s Women, by Sue Shellenbarger. The Wall Street Journal career columnist illuminates through anecdotes and excellent reporting, the many types of work, avocations and fun that women have Started after they hit 40.

2.      A Whole New Mind, by Daniel H. Pink.  Full of ideas to think differently, explore all types of intelligence (artistic, physical, etc.) to innovate, pursue meaningful work, and stay relevant.

3.      I Could Do Anything, If I Only Knew What It Was, by Barbara Sher.  One of the best, most honest books on helping you visualize your “perfect life” – delivered in an empathic, amusing style.

4.      Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity. Exercises to plumb your deepest needs and how to tap into your unconscious for ideas your “editing” mind won’t allow.

5.      Jump Start Your Brain, by Doug Hall.  Promises to make you “500% more creative” – from a marketing guru who creates products and campaigns that convince us to try, buy and stay loyal to stuff we never even knew we needed let alone wanted.

6.      AHA! 10 Ways to Free Your Creative Spirit and Find Your Great Ideas, by Jordan Ayan.  Not just 10 ways, but thousands!  Has unstuck even the most tenacious, stubborn, blank, fearful minds.

7.      Write It Down, Make It Happen, by Henriette Ann Klauser.  A free-association guide, with prompts, questions and lists to encourage you to think differently, identify goals and aspirations, and, yes, make them happen.

8.      Second Acts, by Stephen M. Pollan and Mark Levine, attorney and author/collaborator.  Guides you through what they call “sources of dissatisfaction” so you arrive at your personal hopes and dreams.

9.      Six-Week Start Up, by Rhonda Abrams.  While Maria has more money coming her way than almost any other wife in America at this moment, this is for all those women who are, in fact, trying to figure out how to have their own money.  An easy-to-complete workbook for launching a new venture, whether a business, nonprofit or other creative endeavor, especially if you don’t have the time or inclination to pour thousands of dollars into B-school, psychotherapy, or other forms of long-term torture.

10.  Lest I forget, neglect and completely invalidate the positive environment of marketing, PR and self-promotion that got me here in the first place, my own book of advice, due out next month:  Get DARE from Here: 12 Principles and Practices for Women Over 40 to Take Stock, Take Action and Take Charge of the Rest of Their Lives, by Liz DiMarco Weinmann.  I’ll bet you think this is heart-stopping and blatant self-promotion, don’t you?  Well, so be it.  There will be No Self-Hell from me or for me!  My mission is to DARE all visionary, intelligent, motivated women over 40 – to Get DARE from Here – DRIVE, ADVANCE, RULE and EXPRESS YOUR EXPERIENCE & EXPERTISE!

So, take a letter, Maria.  Any of THESE letters, Maria:  DARE!  You definitely can get DARE from Here!

By now, we all know that Shriver is the coauthor—along with TIME and the Center for American Progress (a politico-educational think tank founded by President Clinton’s ex-Chief of Staff John Podesta)— of The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Changes Everything.

But, DARE to look closer:  That’s not the only property Shriver is promoting.

For sure, Shriver has parlayed a powerful alliance and a statistics-packed intellectual property combined with her considerable celebrity and influence to mount a massive and masterful media blitz about 21st century American women.  She’s also reclaiming her BRAND as a media personality in her own right, in her quest to return to her long-time career once her husband completes his final term as Governor.

The Shriver document covers territory that scholars and scholarly writers have explored expertly in the past—from Betty Friedan to Juliet Schor to Barbara Ehrenreich to Sue Shellenbarger to Gail Collins, and others too numerous to mention here.  In fact, Collins’ newest book, When Everything Changed—a history of American women from the 1960s to the present—is garnering rave reviews as “scholarly” and “masterful” as well as “sly and witty.”   Like Shriver, Collins has generated extensive print and TV coverage.

But there’s a big difference between the others and Shriver as chroniclers of the American woman’s experience.

Take Collins, for example, who is first and foremost a bona fide researcher, scholar, and writer—her voice that of a fellow working woman who’s actually been in the trenches.  Collins is a media personality second, and a celebrity—well, not so much, or a distant third.   The same goes for Schor, Ehrenreich, and Shellenbarger, all of whom have contributed much value to the scholarly canon about the challenges and opportunities real women face in their personal lives, careers, and as champions of important causes.

So, if you’re as avid a student of the media and its notable or notorious (or both) celebrity personalities as I am, you maybe can forgive me for harboring the skeptic’s view that the implicit (if not explicit) goal of The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Changes Everything is to create a compelling platform and unique journalism BRAND for Shriver herself.

Here’s the catch:  I think there’s absolutely nothing wrong with her doing that.

While visionary, intelligent, motivated women over 40 can’t all become scholars, writers, or media personalities, they all can learn a lot by observing Maria Shriver.  In this recessionary environment, every woman over 40 needs to identify, capture, and maximize their own BRAND of expertise to distinguish themselves.

Luckily, the Internet helps—via every form of online branding our DARE -ING ancestors and sisters could not even imagine.  The point is that we all need to stop whining that we couldn’t possibly aspire to Shriver’s accomplishments because, unlike her, we don’t have a posse of production professionals, nor the battalion of personal trainers, nannies, housekeepers, nutritionists, wardrobe stylists, hairdressers, make-up artists, and coat-holders  (every successful media personality and politician has a coat-holder) who surely toil around the clock to get Maria ready for her close-ups.

Hey, I do sympathize with the whiners:  I don’t have the time most days even to blow dry my hair, but when I do, I try not to let myself obsess that Shriver has on speed-dial the name of someone whose sole mission it is to apply massive amounts of setting gel, muscle, and kilowatts in twirling perfectly sectioned shafts of her nearly two-feet-long swath of hair into the fat, smooth, shiny curls she bobs around and up and down during her 7 A.M. network TV show interviews.

But that’s as far as my sympathy and empathy go for my fellow whiners.

So, if you can tear yourself away from obsessing at Shriver’s uncanny ability to channel the oratory bombast of her uncles in enunciating every syllable of her sound-bites as if she were a Pentecostal minister issuing the most dire warnings to repent or else,  I’ve got some BRAND-Aids for you—yes, you!—to develop, expand, and market your expertise.

1. The universe assumes (demands)—fairly or unfairly—that if you’ve lived for four decades or more, then,  of course, you’re an expert—at something or someone or some place. Before you can convince anyone else, though, you need to believe it yourself.  Think hard about your particular interests, passions, concerns, issues, hobbies, and other worthwhile endeavors you’re drawn to (or could be) in the course of your daily life.  It shouldn’t be that difficult to identify a particular expertise you already have, or to choose a topic you want to learn and master to the point where you can become an expert—so much so that you could get paid for it, or even quit your day job to do it.
2. Regardless of your family background, education, career choice, job history, financial situation, or lifestyle, you’re an expert already—at hard work. Sure, Shriver was born into and married one of the most powerful personal brand portfolios in the world.  But, her great-, great-ancestors were not.  They had to work to earn it:  Their brand equity was built on sweat equity.  We all have to start somewhere, and what better time to start than when you’re over 40!   Once you’ve identified an expertise that you can be proud of, and that you think you can talk and write about, help others with, or even teach, go do it!  If you can personalize your expertise so that it’s perceived to be inimitable – i.e., something you do better than most people—all the better.
3. Expanding and expounding on a particular expertise is beneficial for so many reasons, even beyond your career or other financial gain. There’s an entire branch of science that studies the “elasticity” of the brain as we get older, and how learning new things can help us stave off Alzheimer’s disease and other ravages of aging.   And, you don’t have to be bookish about it:  There are at least seven different kinds of intelligence; just pick one from this list:  (1) verbal/linguistic; (2) mathematical/logical; (3) spatial; (4) musical; (5) bodily/kinesthetic; (6) intrapersonal; and (7) interpersonal.   Surely you can DARE lay claim to one or more of those, or research one that piques your interest and get good at it!
4. If you really want to learn as much as possible about a particular subject to the point of becoming an expert and getting recognized as such, seek out others who have similar interests, experience and expertise in your area of focus. Universities and colleges, professional organizations, trade associations, nonprofits, networking groups, and other communities, online and offline, are a haven for people who already are experts,  want to become experts, or want to hang out with, learn from, and leverage their expertise.  Again, Maria Shriver is an excellent example:  While she already has the family credibility, media credibility, and political credibility she needs to return to the spotlight as a media personality, the fact is that, as a Governor’s wife, she’s had to refrain from news reporting (conflict of interest and all that) for quite some time.  So, she needed a new “hook”—a new BRAND platform for her return to journalism.  Aligning herself with the Center for American Progress enhances her intellectual credibility and logistical efficiencies (imagine the herd of cubicle dwellers that actually did a lot of the work to put The Shriver Report together).

True, few women over 40 have the power and influence to land in TIME and across the NBC media juggernaut in one full swoop like Maria Shriver has done, or to work with a powerful educational think tank—plus flaunt storybook-heroine hair and expertly smoke-shaded eyelids on morning TV in front of thousands of viewers afflicted with terminal bed-head, eye lint, and cellulite, while also sounding like they’re channeling God delivering the Ten Commandments to Moses.   (For all that, you definitely need a posse.)

But this is also true: By the time you’re over 40, you can recite from unaided memory the brands that promise to rid you of wrinkles, bump up your butt, and overflow your mo-jo—but do you know what and where your own brand is?

So, why not DARE shore up something even more powerful—your brain cells! Figure out what you’re good at now that you’ve been on the planet for more than four decades.  Get as smart as you can about it, or about something you’re really passionate about.  Then, think of yourself as a brand, dream up your own slogan, find all the places and people with whom you can claim and proclaim your expertise, and get yourself out there. Go DARE!