女性再就业最佳建议：找回激情

    萨丽•克劳切克与帕蒂•斯通西弗各自在之前的公司都曾是位高权重的女性——两位对于如何从头再来有着切身的体会。

    金融危机期间，克劳切克失去了美国银行（Bank of America）财富管理部门负责人的工作，而颇受关注。今年春天，她收购了职业女性组织85 Borads，后者约有30,000名会员。

    帕蒂•斯通西弗之前是微软(Microsoft)职位最高的女性，后来负责运营数十亿美元的比尔和梅琳达•盖茨基金会（Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation），今年她也找到了自己的新工作。如今，她是华盛顿特区非营利组织Martha’s Table的总裁兼CEO。这个组织为有需要的人提供食物和支持服务。

    她们是在“自降身价”吗？斯通西弗说，当然不是。在上周四召开的《财富》最具影响力商界女性峰会（Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit）上，她说：“这是一种横向的改变。我现在失败的风险，要远远高于在微软的时候。”

    克劳切克与斯通西弗的心中都有各自雄心勃勃的事业。克劳切克曾经是花旗集团（Citigroup）和美国银行平步青云的华尔街女强人，她的事业便是女性在公司生活中的进步——她认为这是美国经济繁荣的重要因素。

    克劳切克说：“我看过的调查研究无一例外地表明，女性从事较高职位对公司很有好处。”比如带来强劲的回报和降低市场波动性，以及缩小男女薪酬差距等。

    她认为，85 Broads在这方面有用武之地。她说：“要想在商界取得成功，最重要的一条不成文规则就是拓展人脉——对任何人都是如此。”

    而对于斯通西弗而言，Martha’s Table的使命便是帮助人们摆脱贫困。她表示，在盖茨基金会的时候，自己必须“大处着眼”。而她在盖茨基金会任职的那段时间，美国的儿童贫困率激增。斯通西弗说：“我曾一度被认为是一个慈善的官僚主义者。”

    来到Martha’s Table之后，她甚至曾经尝试依靠发放给贫民的食品券生活——每天约有4美元。她坚持了一周。有些家庭要将配额分配到整个月，所以到第三周的时候，家庭的购买力便会日渐萎缩。她说：“如果你只有那么少的钱，你会怎么办？你甚至都不敢去想。”

    至于如何应对未来的挑战，斯通西弗对听众表示，她对推动自己的两件事有敏锐的直觉。第一件是“积累知识”的渴望，微软在这方面令她非常满意。另外一件是社会公平，这正是她现在所关注的重点。

    至于如何在“职场攀爬架”上顺利攀登，斯通西弗建议，“要承认自己正在以不同的方式寻找激情。”

    这也意味着何时选择离开。斯通西弗在40岁的时候便从微软退休。她说：“就算是世界上最好的工作，也会有‘保质期’。”（财富中文网）

    译者：刘进龙/汪皓 

    Sallie Krawcheck and Patty Stonesifer -- once among the most senior women in their corporate fields – know a thing or two about starting over.

    Krawcheck, who famously lost her job as head of Bank of America's (BAC) wealth management division during fallout from the financial crisis, this spring bought 85 Broads -- a network for professional women with some 30,000 members.

    Patty Stonesifer, previously the highest-ranking woman at Microsoft (MSFT), who then went on to run the multi-billion dollar Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, also got a new job this year. She's now president and CEO of Martha's Table, a nonprofit in Washington, D.C. that provides food and support services to those in need.

    Are they "downshifting" their careers? No way, according to Stonesifer. "It's a sideways move," she said Thursday at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit. "The risk of my failing is greater now than it was at Microsoft."

    Both Krawcheck and Stonesifer have ambitious causes in mind. For Krawcheck, who shot up the Wall Street ranks at Citigroup (C) and BofA, it's women's advancement in corporate life -- which she sees as paramount to U.S. economic prosperity.

    "Every single bit of research I see says that having women in higher roles does good things," Krawcheck said -- from producing strong returns and lower market volatility, to shrinking the wage gap between men and women.

    And she believes 85 Broads can help with that. "The number one unwritten rule for success in business is networking -- for everyone," she said.

    For Stonesifer, the pull of Martha's Table was helping families break out of poverty. At the Gates Foundation she got to "think big," she said. But during the same decade as her tenure there, childhood poverty rates in the U.S. soared. "I was done being a benevolent bureaucrat," Stonesifer said.

    Once at Martha's Table, she even tried living on a food stamp budget -- about $4 a day. She lasted one week. For families who have to stretch their allotment for an entire month, buying power all but dwindles by the third week. "You don't even want to think about what happens when your dollars get down that low," she said.

    As Stonesifer tackles this next set of challenges, she told the audience she's always had a keen sense of the two things that drive her. One is a desire for "increasing knowledge," which is what she found so fulfilling at Microsoft. The other is social justice, where she now is focused.

    To navigate the "career jungle gym" well, Stonesifer advised, is to "recognize that you're seeking passion in a different way."

    Which also means recognizing when to walk away. Stonesifer retired from Microsoft at age 40. "Even the best jobs in the world have a sell-by date," she said.