Work-Life Balance: What is on your ‘Not-To-Do’ list?

Our December 8 Women’s Leadership Webinar featured guest speaker Nina Bhatti, who as Principle Scientist for HP Labs is one of their most senior-ranked technical women leaders.

One of the work-life balance tips discussed was the Not-To-Do list. Create a list of things you give yourself permission not to have to do, for the sake of your sanity and work-life balance. This is a great way to deal with the guilt of having to be a superwoman.

We asked webinar attendees to share with us some items that were going on their not-to-do lists. Not surprisingly, there was a deluge of responses! Here they are:

• Washing my car!
• Susan isn't cleaning her house anymore
• Not to cook a dinner few times per week
• Not to go back to school yet
• Always saying yes
• Limit laundry
• Passing the chore off to the kids for feeding the dogs!!
• Not planting new flowers every spring
• No working out on weekends
• Laundry
• Shopping
• Keeping Saturday mornings to myself - no soccer
• I'm going to stop feeling guilty for not doing morning workouts... I'm not a morning person and that's OK!
• Don't answer the phone in the evening
• Doing my 18 & 20 year olds’ laundry
• I am not going to edit anymore of my daughters papers.

There were lots of timely holiday-related Not-To-Do list items:

• Not decorating the house for every holiday
• Not working during the vacation
• Send Christmas cards
• Giving up grocery shopping
• I no longer decorate so extensively during the holidays
• Accept all the friend holiday invites

Nice work ladies. Lose the cape!

Register now for the 2010 Women's Leadership Webinar series >>

Conference Addresses Women’s Under-Representation In ‘IT’

International keynote address ‘Becoming person of influence’, presented by Women’s Leadership Coaching Inc CEO Jo Miller, discussed the important and influential role of IT professionals.

Read the press release from Multimedia Victoria >>

2010 Women's Leadership Webinars: Now open for registration

In 2010, we will offer new webinar topics and guest speakers in two year-long tracks for executive leaders and emerging leaders.

EXECUTIVE WOMEN LEADERS WEBINAR SERIES
Learn proven strategies for transitioning from manager to leader, leading high-performance teams, taking purposeful risks, and becoming a results-oriented visionary. This program is designed for women who are corporate executives, at Director-level or above. Join us to discover what it really takes to succeed as a dynamic, inspiring leader.

Guest speakers include:

• Romea Smith, Senior Vice President, Customer Support, CA
• Laurie Oare, Senior Vice President/General Manager, Next Day Gourmet
• Rose Marie E. Glazer, General Counsel and Secretary, Siemens PLM Software

Starts February 2, 2010. Learn more, or register now >>

EMERGING WOMEN LEADERS WEBINAR SERIES
Discover ways to gain credibility and expand your influence. Add to your leadership toolkit with techniques to lead and make a greater impact in business, regardless of your current job title. The program is designed for early-career to mid-level women in corporations. Join us to hear first-hand what it means to be a leader, and what it really takes to break into leadership.

Guest speakers include:

• Betty Chan-Bauza, VP, Strategy and Product, Lifelock
• Carla D. Brockman, Vice President Administration & Corporate Secretary, OGE Energy Corp.
• Kim Brown Strickland, Vice President - Finance, Wal-Mart Home Office

Starts February 23, 2010. Learn more, or register now >>

December 7 Poised for Leadership workshop is sold out

As of Tuesday November 10, the December Poised for Leadership workshop is sold out. You may indicate your interest in joining a waitlist or a future program by visiting the workshop web site.

Top 8 things you'll learn at the Poised for Leadership workshop, December 7, 2009

Registration is now open for Poised for Leadership, a seminar for women who want to create a roadmap into positions of responsibility, influence and leadership.

At this high-impact day in Mountain View, CA, discover what it really takes for you to break through into leadership.

You will learn how to:
1. Project a seasoned, credible leadership presence
2. Gain visibility and reward for your accomplishments
3. Build a reputation as a leader, expert or go-to person
4. Understand the dynamics of power in your organization
5. Navigate office politics with savvy
6. Leverage your network to gain access to hidden resources, information and opportunities
7. Cultivate influence and get buy-in for ideas and initiatives
8. Create, envision and lead high-profile projects.

Poised for Leadership has been receiving rave reviews from women across the US and Canada in DC, Dallas, Ottawa, RTP, San Jose, Seattle, and most recently Toronto.

Past participants have said:

"This was the best, most beneficial training I've attended in years."

"This seminar is one of the best I've ever attended. You'll walk away with a new inspiration and determination."

"Every point Jo made was relevant. We walked out with strategies for being a leader-not just in our workplace but in our daily lives."

LOCATION: Sponsored by Symantec Corporation, 350 Ellis St, Mountain View, CA 94043

Register now for $259 >>
~ or~
Download brochure with course description & schedule >>

Poised for Leadership, Toronto, September 2009

Women, men and office politics

After my Office Politics workshop at the Network of Executive Women Leadership Summit, a woman stood up to ask:

"Do men and women handle office politics differently?"

One of the two men at the session, Tom, proceeded to unleash a big belly laugh, so I invited him to speak up.

Tom described his observation that men get more emotional at work: they yell more and overtly show their frustration, while women seem much more calm in the face of conflict.

Count me among the 150 women in the room who were surprised to hear it.

Becoming a Person of Influence, at Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing

I presented How to Become a Person of Influence on Wednesday 9/30 at Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, followed by a panel of senior-level women in industry who are role model influencers. The ballroom filled early with 600 women, setting a new high bar for me professionally!

Valerie Bubb Fenwick, Staff Engineer with Sun Microsystems summarized the session her blog post, remarking "if you want to be a leader, you have to be a leader!" I recapped a couple key parts of the presentation with video bloggers Erin "Ed" Donahue Ed and Ashley Myers.

Why You Need to Become a Person of Influence



Your 6 Sources of Influence

Panel - A Person of Influence - In Real Life

After my workshop at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, we brought together a panel of senior-level technical women in industry to build on the influencing principles discussed on my workshop, bringing the theory to life with their stories of influencing in the real world.

From left to right:

Jo Miller, CEO, Women's Leadership Coaching Inc
Rebecca Norlander, Partner Engineering Manager, Microsoft
Wei Lin, Sr. Director of Engineering, Symantec
Romea Smith, Sr. Vice President - Customer Support, CA
Dr. Ann Quiroz Gates, Associate Vice President of Research, University of Texas at El Paso
Nina Bhatti, Principal Scientist, HP Labs (Watch Nina's post-panel interview. )

Highlights from the discussion included:

• Hearing about panelists' personal influencing style, and influencing skills they use.

• Why it is important for technical women to learn how to influence

• Advice for women on how to become stronger influencers

• Times when they have tried to influence a person or situation, and failed--how did they recover?

Podcast: Paving Your Road To Leadership

I was invited to be guest speaker on the Paving Your Road to Leadership internet radio show. Host Ellie Nieves and I discussed common mistakes women make, that hold them back from advancing into leadership.

Listen to the podcast on BlogTalkRadio>>

How To Influence Without Authority

Every month on the Anita Borg Institute's site, I answer a career or leadership question.

Question:
" I am in the difficult situation of being unofficial project lead, responsible for team performance to schedule and budget. How can I influence and motivate the team to get the job done, when I do not have a job title that commands their respect?"

Read the column at AnitaBorg.org

Influence others in every conversation you have

Women who break through into senior-level leadership get there by delivering results, and knowing how to influence, with or without direct authority.

Laurie Oare is Senior Vice President/General Manager of Next Day Gourmet National, at US Foodservice.

“You can influence others in every conversation you have. In a subtle way, we convey our confidence and professionalism in every interaction that we have with co-workers, customers, superiors and subordinates”, Oare explained.

Oare joins the Women's Leadership Webinar Series as guest speaker in October, to share her tips and personal experiences on the topic 'Becoming a Person of Influence'.

The webinars are ideal for your corporate women's network group. Purchase a log-in, and invite colleagues to watch with you in a conference room. After the 60-minute webinar concludes, ask them to stay for a discussion group. We'll provide discussion questions to get things rolling.

Learn more about the year-long webinar series >>

Office Politics: Your questions answered by Nina Simosko

The Women's Leadership Webinar Series kicks off 8/19 with "Winning at the Game of Office Politics" with speaker Nina Simosko, of SAP's executive team.

Last time Nina joined us for a webinar, she fielded numerous questions on her favorite topic, office politics. In true rock-star style, she has blogged answers to all of them!

Read Nina's answers>>

Register for the year-long leadership webinar series >>

Join the Women's Leadership Coaching group on LinkedIn

Women's Leadership Coaching Inc helps women create a roadmap into leadership positions in business, with seminars, webinars and executive coaching.

Join our LinkedIn group to share leadership ideas and resources, and to network with other like-minded women.

Four Tips for Becoming a Visionary in Challenging Times

Think you can't become a visionary? Think again!

During a recent women’s leadership webinar, I asked Krista Thomas, Vice President, Marketing and Communications for The Calais Initiative at Thomson Reuters, how a person should determine what their organization needs in these challenging economic times.

In addition to answering the question, she addressed a more intriguing issue - how to provide visionary leadership during challenging economic times.

Read the article at TheGlassHammer.com >>

Top 5 reasons to register for the Women's Leadership Webinar Series

Our most recent webinar series attracted rave reviews. Here's what participants are saying, and why you should attend.

1) Get tips and motivation to enhance your career
"It was an inspiring presentation. I hope to have a new position soon and am grateful to have these insights and strategies." - Participant.

2) Hear from inspiring women leaders
"It's great to see and hear about so many women leaders. Very motivating." - Participant.

3) Network with other women at your company
"The women were wow'ed at the presentation and stayed afterwards to discuss the things they learned." - Fortune 500 Financial Institution.

4) The price is right
"Thanks for offering these sessions, and for the reasonable price. It's been a fantastic way for other women in our organization to connect and discuss careers and business opportunities." - Herman Miller, Inc.

5) 80% of participants rate the webinars "very good" or "excellent"
"... all but 1 person gave the webinar the top rating of 5 for knowledge of presenters, value of topic, amount of information, meeting webinar objectives, and for the webinar overall. Yeah!!!!!" - EEO Special Emphasis Programs Specialist, Dept of Homeland Security Headquarters.

Begins August 19. Register now for the year-long program >>

How can I break into the boys' club?

Every month on the Anita Borg Institute's site, I answer a career or leadership question.

Question:
Given that I have always worked in a male dominated industry (very often I am the only woman in the room, or one of very few), in an engineering capacity, how can I break into the male networks? It seems that people are just not treating me as one of the “guys”. With my most recent lay-off I get the opportunity to start from scratch, so I want to do it right from the beginning.

Read the column at AnitaBorg.org

Free Executive Briefing Webinar, Friday 6/26

On Friday June 26 at 10am Pacific time, I'm hosting a free 30-minute executive briefing webinar.

Learn how my company, Women's Leadership Coaching Inc, helps women create a roadmap into leadership positions in business, with seminars, webinars and executive coaching.

This informational briefing is ideal for:

• Individuals interested in career advancement
• Managers who want to develop their high-potential women
• Corporate women's networks.
  

Register now (free) >>

Registration is now open! Women's Leadership Webinar Series, starts 8/19

In this year-long, six part webinar series, learn proven strategies for gaining credibility, establishing your brand as a leader, expanding your influence, and leading breakthrough business results. The program is designed for emerging women leaders in corporations.

In every webinar, learn leadership skills, and hear an outstanding woman leader from industry share her experiences, and weigh in with real-world leadership advice:

• Winning at the Game of Office Politics 8/19/09
• Becoming a Person of Influence 10/21/09
• Your Sphere of Influence 12/16/09
• Create Your Leadership Brand 2/17/10
• Are You The Invisible Employee? 4/21/10
• Resiliency Redefined 6/16/10
  

Hear first-hand what it means to be a leader, and what it really takes to break into leadership.

Register now >>

Ask Jo: Funds are not available for training

Every month on the Anita Borg Institute's site, I answer a career or leadership question.

Question:
Funds are not available to send employees to training, but training is needed. What options are there? How can I learn more about my field without spending money?

Read the column at AnitaBorg.org

Delegating Makes You a Mentor

By guest blogger, Ruth Halpern, of Halpern & Associates.

Wondering how to get started as a mentor? Delegate a project to someone today!

I was training a group of attorneys recently who said that they simply don’t have time to mentor young associates—it takes more time to delegate a task than to do it themselves. This is a tough complaint to argue with, because in the short term it’s true: it often seems easier to do a task than to break it down, teach someone else how it should be done, and coach them through the process.

The long term view, however, is that we can’t afford NOT to do it. If we don’t pass on our expertise and know-how, our organizations will be unable to survive us—we’ll have no skilled, well-trained successors. To put it another way, it’s our duty to our employer to mentor and train younger members of the organization. When we postpone or avoid this task, and try to do everything ourselves, we’re dooming the organization.

So, given the importance of mentoring our successors, how do we get past the “I don’t have time” barrier?

Last week, when I was presenting a program at the Northern California Human Resource Association’s HR West Conference, I attended a wonderful training session that provided a good answer to this question. Jo Miller, CEO of Women’s Leadership Coaching, Inc., presented a program on “Becoming a Person of Influence.” Jo presents the components of influence very clearly, and one thing resonated with me more than anything else: you can increase your “resources influence” by delegating projects to other people.

Naturally, you don’t delegate in an, “I can’t be bothered with this” way.

Instead, you might pull someone out of the crowd, saying “You’re the right person for this job. You may never have done anything like this before, but I’ve been watching you, and I’ve seen that you have capabilities that go beyond your job description.”

What Jo explained is that you can expand your influence by assigning tasks to people within your organization who might be stretched—and increase their competence, confidence, and reputation—by taking on a task you don’t want to do. You gain in several ways simultaneously:

• You gain influence, by demonstrating that you’re a person who can build a team and get things done.
  
• You gain time, by delegating a project to someone else.
  
• You gain a loyal ally, someone who believes in you because you believe in them.
• You establish yourself as a mentor while learning how to delegate skillfully.

When it’s spelled out like this, why wait? Delegate!

Read more at Ruth Halpern's blog, http://rhalpernassociates.blogspot.com/