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Farmington Hills 313.478-4477 Trenton 313.671-2361 Rochester 313.651-3607 Ann Arbor 313.761-5554 ©The Closet Factory 1991 N\ No to be usoi with any other promotion or offer I Joyce Weiss Builds Teams, I Empowers Corporate Women I I I I I I I I I I I I I sommumes. wessemamem luso= moms THREE WAYS TO BUY A CAR ARNIE WEISS MIKE GERMANSKY TAMAROFF BUICK • HONDA • NISSAN • IZUZU • DODGE NEW • USED • LEASE WE WISH OUR FAMILIES, RELATIVES, CUSTOMERS AND FRIENDS A VERY HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR Open Mon. & Thurs. Til 9 28585 TELEGRAPH ROAD ACROSS FROM TEL-12 Southfield Open Tues., Wed., Fri. Til 6 353.1300 . ■ 111. We're There For All Your Ups And Downs STEEL RAISED PANEL Sales • Service • Installation All Types of Doors Two Car Garage Door Licensed & Insured Special Sale $345,00* One Of Michigan's Oldest Most I SAVE $20.001 Experienced Door Co. I on any service call WE SERVICE Au. BRANDS with coupon • exp.11-11 -92 Ez-Lift • Genie • Vemco • Linear ' ' L one coupon per visit Liftmaster • Stanley • Tilt-A-Door *Plus Tax • Limit One Per Customer Tayor • Windsor • Pulsar Limited Time Only - Installation Available Berry • Frantz GARAGE DOOR MART 0864-1930 parents, many of them wo- men. "She is very profes- sional, organized, enthused, entertaining and extremely prepared." Ms. Weiss loves her job. She always strives to get better. She studies her au- diences; she researches before giving seminars. "I'm a trained listener," she says. Her husband, Gerald, an attorney, is "my career equal." "My husband always told me if more women worked and did what they loved, there would be fewer divorces." KIMBERLY LIFTON Staff Writer F our years ago, Joyce Weiss wouldn't have thought twice about telling a group of women that climbing up the cor- porate ladder was not get- ting any easier. Women face obstacles, she says, adding that women to- day still are living in a man's world. But she has beaten the odds, and she says others have moved ahead in corporate America and more will continue to do so. For the past 15 years, Ms. Weiss, of West Bloomfield, a former school guidance counselor, has traveled throughout the country, giv- ing close to 250 business seminars a year. On her speaking agenda are motivational seminars on customer service strate- gies, handling difficult peo- . ple, team building, surviv- ing business conflicts, the changing workplace and corporate morale. Her goal: to help clients develop new skills and em- power them to learn, laugh and recharge. Motivating women is especially impor- tant to Ms. Weiss, who says she has succeeded in a male- dominated business. In many cases, she has had trouble convincing men to give her a chance. It didn't matter that she was good. For many years, she had to prove herself better than the men in her field. Across the country, 4,000 speakers, among them Ms. Weiss, are registered with the National Speakers Association. The majority are men. "As a woman, I have to fight lots of men to get jobs," she says. "A lot of people have told me they never had a woman speak to them before. Often, then, they would say, 'You had better be good.' " Ms. "Weiss has noticed a change in attitude since the Clarence Thomas confirma- tion hearings, when the American public watched a panel of male senators inter- rogate Anita Hill, a law pro- fessor who accused Mr. Thomas of sexual harass- ment. Since those hearings last year, more women have opted to run for public office. Women and men are taking ❑ Joyce Weiss: Motivating women. seriously the subject of sex- ual harassment. Companies are adopting policies ad- dressing the problem. "Women before these hearings were not taken se- riously," Ms. Weiss says. "Now people say there will be a backlash. But there won't be a backlash. Women have finally stepped for- ward. We are breaking the glass ceiling." She has spoken on leader- ship roles, shedding stereotypes, boosting morale for female employees. She has had many women phone her office with questions about women in the work force since the hearings. "They want to know about assertiveness versus ag- gressiveness," Ms. Weiss said. "Women now feel free to talk about issues, and men want to hear them." Her clients include Ameritech Publishing, the U.S. Department of Defense, Ohio Bell, Michigan Press Association, the American Bankers Association and the American Red Cross. Also on her list are some local non-profit organiza- tions and civic groups, in- cluding Kadima, support services for adults with psychiatric disabilities, and the National Council of Jew- ish Women's SPACE For Changing Families program for families in transition. At a single parent family retreat for SPACE, Ms. Weiss offered workshops on self-esteem and building positive images. "She takes the obvious and makes you listen to it," said SPACE Director Irma Starr, who brought Ms. Weiss to a retreat to speak to single Japanese Market Requires Patience One of the important re- quirements for entering the Japanese market is patience, and Israelis are not a people noted for their patience. That was one of the obser- vations made at a lecture given recently at the Hebrew University by an expert on marketing to the Japanese, Professor Jean-Pierre )1 Lehmann. Professor Lehmann is director of Inter- ) Matrix Japan, an interna- tional company which advises western corporations on doing business in Japan. He also lectures on Japan and inter- j ) national trade at universities in France, England and the U.S. His lecture at the Hebrew University, titled "How to Enter the Japanese Market," was sponsored by the univer- sity's Harry S Truman Research Institute for the Ad- vancement of Peace and the Kmart Center for Interna- tional Retailing and Marketing of the Jerusalem School of Business Administration. Contrary to popular belief, there are not all that many formal barriers to foreigners wishing to enter the Japanese market. Never- theless, he said, "The obstacles are formidable," both from the structural standpoint and also because of the socio-cultural dif- ferences that must be over- come. The rewards can be substantial, however, for the foreign firm that does succeed in doing business in Japan, said Professor Lehmann, because of the sheer size of that market and the entry point it gives to the entire East Asian region.