No One Path
Recently Women in Technology (WIT) celebrated the lives and accomplishments of 48 women who had been recognized by the WIT Leadership Awards over the last 10 years. Inspired by WJLA Anchor Maureen Bunyon, a book was recently published entitled “No One Path–Perspectives on Leadership from a Decade of Women in Technology Award Winners.”
Last week Maureen led a panel discussion featuring a line-up of several of these exceptional women profiled in the book. The panel included: Deloitte’s Linda Keen Solomon, CGI US-India President Donna Morea, White House National Economic Council Senior Advisor and SBA Administrator Ginger Lew, eCommerce Industries founder Paula Jagemann, DoD’s Anne-Marie Hartlaub-Kesseg.
The topics they discussed ranged from social responsibility, to innovation, forging a career path, how they took advantage of opportunities to excel and what recommendations they would have for girls and young women today who are preparing to enter the workforce.
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One of the many things that amazed me about these women is their genuine authenticity. Paula Jagemann made a comment that resonated. “Innovation is recession proof. In times of recession, entrepreneurship is on the rise.” She is a prime example of her philosphy, growing a business to $100M in revenue that germinated from her own experience as a consumer and her creative desire to improve that experience for the masses.The title of the book unfolded and became apparent as each interview took place. These women leaders have accumulated significant accomplishments and yet there was no ‘one’ path for any of them. Like Donna Morea, President of CGI US and India believes, “The more interesting careers are the ones that blaze a trail rather than follow a path…the path is really only seen in retrospect–when one turns around to look back.” The book is available at Amazon. com, http://www.amazon.ca/One-Path-Perspectives-Leadership-Technology/dp/1439245002 I encourage you to check it out! Their stories will inspire you. ~ Kathy |
Next Level Leadership
Scott Eblin, executive coach and author of The Next Level, What Insiders Know about Executive Success, has done a remarkable job of capturing the characteristics of “Next Level Leadership”.
Not unlike the concepts in Marshall Goldsmith’s book “What Got You Here
Won’t Get you There“, Scott’s book addresses the all too common phenomenon of high performers needing to ‘let go of’ the very skills and traits that made them successful.
I’ve believed for some time that our greatest strengths are also our greatest weakness when it comes to driving us forward. So what worked at one stage of our career will not necessarily carry us to the next level. In fact, it often works against us.
I’ll use myself as an example. Earlier in my career, I was very effective by driving results. My strength was quick decision making and the ability to execute. Whereas this continues to be a strength, it can also be a detractor if I fail to take into consideration the impact of my decisions on others.
I frequently counsel my clients, “It’s not your intent, but the impact of your actions” that you need to be aware of. If I don’t take into consideration the impact of my actions, it may unravel the benefit of making a quick decision in the interest of execution.
As Scott points out, transitioning to an executive role (and this applies to becoming a better CEO as well), requires knowing which behaviors and beliefs to let go of, as well as which new ones to adapt.
I had my leadership team read “The Next Level” and we identified and discussed what each of us needed to work on to truly master our roles.
I encourage you to check out “The Next Level, What Insiders Know About Executive Success“ and discuss it with your team as well.
Business Books: What have you read lately?
So many great books….so little time. When people ask me about how I spend my personal time, it was only recently that I began sharing my love for reading. Outside of loving the time I spend with my family, long gone are the days of cross stitching in front of the TV. In fact, I don’t even watch television any more. (With one exception and you’ll need to wrestle that from my 16 year old daughter as we look forward to the one show that airs on Sunday nights.)
So I would LOVE to know…what books are you reading now? Books like Jim Collins’ Good to Great, and Bradford Smart’s Top Grading, How Leading Companies Win by Hiring, Coaching and Keeping the Best People have been read and leveraged by many of us.
But what books are you reading now?
I am reading two at the moment: Creating Your Best Life–The Ultimate Life List Guide by Caroline Adams and Dr. Michael and Who’s Got Your Back–The Breakthrough Program to Build Deep, Trusting Relationships That Create Success and Won’t Let You Fail, buy Keith Ferrazzi.
Creating Your Best Life is based on the latest scientific research into happiness and the role of life lists in attaining it. It helps us understand how to set and achieve clear-cut goals while learning how and why this process contributes to greater contentment. So think of it as The Secret, on steriods. Real, concrete actions to take regarding meeting our goals and being happier as a result.
I was fortunate to see the author speak recently. Caroline Adams Miller — a performance coach and motivational speaker, has a phenomenal personal story of how she overcame bulimia. She is an accomplished goal-achiever! Her message is truly motivational and inspiring!
Who’s Got Your Back, recommended to me by my Executive Coach Holly Williams, is thus far PHENOMENAL! It claims that the real path to success in your work and ife is through creating an inner circle of “lifeline realtionships” — deep, close relationships with a few key trusted individuals who will offer the encouragement, feedback, and generous mutual support every one of us needs to reach our full potential.
I consider myself very fortunate, as I do feel that my leadership team does indeed “have my back”! Do you feel you have surrounded yourself by a team that “has your back”? I encourage you to read Keith Ferrazzi’s book in determining why this is important.
Let me know what you’re reading today. I’d love to hear from you! ~ Kathy
For Love of Country
On July 22nd I was fortunate to participate on a panel and present at the 5th Annual National Veteran Small Business Conference and Expo. My presentation addressed HR Compliance from 100,000 feet. Targeted to the growing federal contractor, I addressed both federal employment regulations pertaining to all employers based on number of employees as well as a more detailed look at those unique employment regulations that impact federal contractors alone. Judging from the audience participation, the topic was useful and timely for many. If you would like a copy of the presentation you can download it here.
The conference, only in its 5th year, had over 3,000 attendees. Not bad in a year when many claim that travel and attendance are down. Topics ranged from building and enhancing business growth in the federal sector, to writing winning proposals, considerations in teaming agreements to building an appropriate infrastructure to address the needs of rapidly scaling the organization. Read more