Women Leading The Future Blog

Celebrating International Women's Day - Re-Reading 2008 Blog

maree — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 21:31:31 -0500

I am including here the url of my blog for IWD 2008 if you'd like to re-read it.

I discussed what I had to be proud about being a woman in Australia in 2008.

http://womenleadingthefuture.com/blog/empowering-women-international-womens-day-2008

I still remain proud - even more so - for the same reasons.

One of the people I wrote about was Chief Commissioner of Police, Christine Nixon. We have in recent weeks seen her retire as Chief Commissioner of Police to be appointed to lead the recovery effort following the devastating Victorian bushfires - an inspired appointment.

8 Important Keys to Success in My Business

maree — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:41:40 -0500

Usually to celebrate International Women's Day, I write a reflective piece on what's been happening for women in the past year. This year I've decided to do a personal reflection, motivated to a certain extent by my last blog post - the top 10 lessons for successful entrepreneurs. My Women Leading the Future blog is where I talk about how being a woman impacts on my career, my dreams and my aspirations. My company is People Empowered. It has gone through some exciting changes in recent times and I've been thinking about what the factors have been that have inspired that success.

In a sense, it's a check list of 8 important Keys to Success in My Business. I hope it offers others inspiration and motivation.

1. Be Competent In Our Area of Expertise and Experience.

Top 10 Lessons of Successful Female Entrepreneurs

maree — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:18:02 -0500

Amanda Gome wrote a great article in smartcompany.com on this topic back in February 2008. She asks what makes a successful entrepreneur and what traps she needs to overcome - traps that are often specifically related to her gender. I'm just going to list her headings here because I want to encourage you to go to the website and read the full article. Even if you don't see yourself as an "entrepreneur" or you aren't even in business, this article has much to offer any women who wants to advance her career.

Her Top 10 are:

1. Money is good - talk it, borrow it, control it, embrace it.

2. Find time and brain space to read that BlackBerry brochure.

3. Have a life partner who doesn't travel.

4. Fight discrimination and bullying.

5. Make the baby part of the business plan.

6. Don't feel guilty.

7. Pick businesses in high growth industries.

8. Join the right networks.

9. Don't wash the tea towels.

10. Get tough with staff; they are not your friends.

Find Our Passion and Be Successful

maree — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 19:22:09 -0500

Whatever business development or promotion and marketing workshop I go to the message that constantly rings out is that we will only be successful if we are passionate about what we do. That always made perfect sense to me. Of course, if we are passionate, people will experience something pretty special when they interact with us. They will want to get to know us better and will want to engage with us in what we do, what we have to share. That's the theory anyway.

The challenge is finding our passion. I have many things I am passionate about, but what animates my professional and business life is the passion I have to see people become empowered, energised and enthusiastic about what they are doing in their lives. So few people are.

Did you realise that every year in Australia, almost 800,000 adults experience a depressive illness? One in every 4 of these people will be women, and one in every 6 will be men.

Did you also know that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has predicted that by 2020 depression will be the second biggest health problem world-wide behind heart disease?

If We Really Want to Reduce Poverty, Empower Women! Blog Action Day 2008

maree — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 21:44:33 -0400

On Opportunity International's website there is a banner across the top which reads:

A parking meter in Australia makes more money in

one hour than 2.7 billion people make in one day.

It is calling on people to support the United Nations International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on October 17. It is, however, very relevant for us here in this lucky country of Australia to reflect on it today - Blog Action Day 2008 - as we create awareness around poverty and its eradication.

70% of people living in absolute poverty are women.

How To Say "No" Because You Have A Bigger "Yes" Inside You. A Teleseminar for Women

maree — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 02:59:25 -0400

This is a teleseminar I am conducting in early November, 2008.

I have been asked this question so often by women: How do I learn to say "no"? I remember a woman being very critical of me on an evaluation form after an assertiveness workshop because I hadn't taught her how to say "no".

When we focus on that ability (or inability) it doesn't do us justice, as women. It raises the question that if we can't even say "no", how could we make the hard decisions that women need to make to lead and manage an organisation.

The Hard Stuff About Soft Skills for Women - And What They Need To Do About It! A Teleseminar For Women.

maree — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 03:08:08 -0400

This is a teleseminar I'm conducting for women in October, 2008.

As women we are considered to have good soft skills. These are the people skills, interpersonal and communication skills that are seen to be increasingly important to people who want to grow and advance their careers.

In fact, some male managers and CEOs think we have them in abundance. That's why we often get promoted to leadership roles in soft skills areas like human resources, marketing or public relations. Have you ever stopped to wonder why women are rarely appointed to hard skills areas like finance, building and maintenance or corporate governance?

Yet, in spite of our supposedly strong affinity with soft skills, many women find them very hard to use to advance their careers. In fact, the way we use them often has the opposite effect - it damages our careers.

Teleseminars - An Exciting New Technology for Professional Development.

maree — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 02:06:20 -0400

Time is a precious commodity, isn't it? Taking a whole day from work to attend professional development - even something we would passionately like to attend - is often a challenge. We think of what's going to be there for us tomorrow when we get back to our desk. Not to mention the emails.

Then there's the cost. Am I going to gain enough from the day to warrant spending so much of my professional development budget on one day workshop?

Of course, there's also the logistics of getting there - the travel, the parking. the organisation of children because you won't be home at the normal time.

This is why teleseminars are just so good.

Professional Women Advancing Their Careers

maree — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:10:04 -0400

If you’re reading this blog post, then you are one of the hundreds of women out there wanting to advance and grow their careers. I’m sure, however, that you all have a variety of motivations for doing that. I asked two groups of women, who did a workshop with me on “Growing Your Career”, why they wanted to grow their careers. Here are some of their responses.

“I know I have talent, expertise and potential and I want to develop it and use it.”

“I’m ambitious, and I have a vision for my life and goals I want to fulfil.”

"I’m a bit of a trail blazer. The idea of breaking through barriers, e.g., the famous glass ceiling, is a challenge that I find exciting!”

“I love the buzz of pushing the boundaries and discovering new challenges.”

“I want to prove to all the men in my family, who I don’t think really believe in my capabilities, that I have as much ability as they do.”

Stay at Home Mothers Changing the World

maree — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 23:03:27 -0400

I came across this great blog this morning on Darren Rowse's Problogger.net. Actually Darren didn't write it. It was written by a guest writer on his site - Michelle Mitchell from Scribbit. Its captivating title was what caught my eye - "Five Reasons Why Mom Blogs Are The Blogs To Watch". Apparently on April 10, the prestigious Wall Street Journal interviewed Heather Armstrong, a mom blogger known to millions throughout the US as Dooce. The interview was widely reported in the print media around the country.

Michelle's Five Reasons to Watch Mom blogs are:

1. Moms can blog at home.

2. Moms need the sociality of the net.

3. Moms have a wealth of material to use.

4. Moms are record keepers.

5. Mom blogs wield economic power.

I recommend you go and read the full article at Problogger.net.