wimlink: entrepreneurship, leadership and growth for women

How to Improve Your Leadership Skills in Five Simple Ways

2012-01-29T20:26:00.008-05:00

How are you doing as a leader?

Whether you manage hundreds of people or you want to get promoted to a leadership role, merely being terrific at your job will not cut it. Yes, even if you’re terrific.

Too many options compete for everyone's attention, and they continue to expand daily. Therefore, it is critical to ensure you are rising above the noise and focusing on what matters, so you can support, impress and hold the attention of those who matter to you, and the success of your career or business

Laura Agostini
Chief Talent Officer, JWT Global

1) Learn the language and currency of leadership

Laura Agostini, Global Chief Talent Officer for JWT, began on the topic of leadership by debunking any myth about the meritocracy.

“Leadership is not about the work. Being great at the work gives you the right to get to leadership, but it does not give you leadership”.

Being very, very good at what you do – perhaps even the best – has been something that drove Laura from childhood. Nevertheless, being the best from a competence or a technical excellence standpoint does not cut it – Laura also urges that you need to proactively learn leadership, and understand “how important it is to have excellent relationships”.

Nell Merlino, Founder and President
Count

Nell Merlino, Founder and President of Count Me In also declared the importance of communicating well, specifically in regards to what people will get if they allow themselves to be led by you. You have to communicate the ‘what’s in it for me’ question – your skills, vision and competence must resonate for your audience, or it does no good.

2) Balance and Authenticity

For Francine Della Badia, SVP Retail of North America for Coach, balance is about living your whole life and staying out of the ‘warped fishbowl’ of overwork, and the isolation that can sometimes come with managing and leading many people.

Ask yourself questions like –Am I stretching myself in different directions, taking risks and enjoying myself? Am I having fun? This is less about the standard work/life balance argument, and more about ensuring that you keep yourself relatable, human and authentic. If you are only about the work, Francine urges you will not be a well-rounded leader - “balanced leaders are the best leaders”.

Francine Della Badia
SVP Retail for North America, Coac

3) Manage your state

The higher up you go, the more likely you will need to learn how to change your state in an instant – coming from one very grueling or troubling call in one minute, and the next minute providing a rallying call to one hundred people that inspires, rewards and supports. Francine calls this ‘behavior’. Behavior is about leading situationally, and being conscious of how you show up each day. As a leader it is you who sets the culture, in a trickle down effect, so managing your behavior and your state is critical.

Having trouble managing yourself, or if you find yourself in a funk, Nell suggests going back to the source. Why are you doing this in the first place? If you can connect back to the purpose of it all, this can help ground and re-inspire you.

4) Energy

Energy is about keeping enough in your reserves at all times, no exceptions. It means your endurance, your immune system, how well you’re sleeping. Are you prioritizing your wellness and your own needs? If not, that’s something to look at.

One way of doing a quick check is to see how you feel when you get home on a Friday night. If you’re completely obliterated, something needs to change. For many of us, it is a cycle of overwork, not enough sleep, coffee, overwork. Francine stresses that you have to recover and avoid any bad cycles.

“Health is a competitive advantage”.

5) Do the unexpected

Finally, remember that nothing is a dial-by-numbers exercise. Laura recalls one difficult situation in which she decided to do something that no one expected of her – ‘if you do the unexpected, unexpected things happen’. If you find yourself painted into a corner, ask yourself: what if I did something completely different and changed the conversation? Being comfortable is bad, so if you’re doing what everyone expects you to do… it’s time to change it up.

As a useful exercise on her own path to leadership, Laura suggests the following task:

“Draw a portrait of yourself as a leader”.

In drawing her own portrait, she learned that her ‘safe place’ was in a support role, where she was focusing just on the work. This has spurred her on to challenge herself to be more on the stage – because from the stage, ‘I can get more people to come on stage with me. I went from ‘safe’ to ‘exciting’, and I haven’t looked back”.

How 'to-do' what's most important

2011-11-18T16:57:00.005-05:00

Being an entrepreneur means that by default, there are always a million things to do on ones to-do list. More often than not, we get caught up in trying to keep up with this list, crossing things off, yet get set back by adding just as many more items to it on a daily basis. This might always be constant in the battle of never catching up, but occasionally stopping to look at the direction of both your business, personal goals and the “bigger picture” is a prescription for success.

I think I should provide a bit of back story for my above advice. Recently, I’ve been doing just that, plugging along with the momentum of my side business recently launching and doing everything and anything to make it successful. But last week I did something not on my “list” and decided that now was the time more so than ever to educate myself and pick up a few entrepreneur tips along the way. I’ve been remiss about attending panels, educational lectures and things of the sort, due to the proverbial “craziness”. For almost a year I’ve been on Tania’s Wimlink mailing list, constantly (and thankfully) receiving e-mail reminders about upcoming events.

I am so glad that I finally put time aside to attend one, and at “100 Entrepreneurs Speak” this past week, Amy Abrams and Adelaide Lancaster really drove home a concept I needed to hear at this juncture of my career. Rather than follow your business, surfing along with all the twists and turns it might take, it is actually possible to LEAD it in the direction that is most important to the core of why you wanted to start it all in the first place. By stopping to smell the roses, you can devote a bit of time to question why. To outline and be clear about your reasons and goals helps realign your tactics for ultimate success, and happiness (yes, your job can make you happy, so they say). Some questions that Amy and Adelaide proposed, that I think when asked to oneself on a very regular basis, can be a very good thing:

- What is your ideal job in three years from now?

- What are you doing that is making you unhappy?

- What is it that I need out of my business?

After “100 Entrepreneurs Speak” I’m adding a new item to do on that list that never ends

and that is to stop, think and question, because the answers may very well surprise you.

By Julia L.

Julia is the co-founder of 4e Creative, a design, branding, communications and marketing company http://www.4ecreative.com

Ready, Fire, Aim! Leadership Lessons for Women

2011-11-12T01:18:00.004-05:00

Are there three things you’d like to accomplish in your career or business that for some reason or other you haven’t been able to accomplish? What do you think stops you from achieving these things? Not enough time, not enough support, information, opportunity, something else?

That something else may just be a gentle but persistent unwillingness to put yourself out there and pull the trigger. There are many reasons belying this, mostly along the lines of fear of failure and lack of trust. After all – what if you got it wrong?

In a recent wimlink survey and discussion thread with over two hundred professional women, the top three bits of advice that they would give to their younger self were:

1) Trust your instinct

2) Be bold and speak up

3) Think less and do more – just pull the trigger, it’s ok to fail/get things wrong

The common theme was self trust – as well as a little less conversation, a little more action. Taking pressure off of yourself to be perfect all the time is an excellent start – said one CEO, ‘it’s better to be bold and get it right 70% of the time, than to wait too long and get only a few things 100% right. Important opportunities may just pass you by’.

So how do you begin to take action?

Firstly, learn from those who have already done it. Although these new skills and tools may seem foreign, they have been conquered by many before you. And many of these people are willing to open give of their experience, why not take it (and say thank you!)?

Secondly, do what you learn, and get started immediately. It is often said that you should never leave the scene of a good idea without taking one step towards its realization. It’s not enough just to nod, agree and internalize – you have to action what you learn, so that it becomes a part of who you are.

Thirdly, pay it forward. We often learn the best when explaining concepts to others. So don’t hoard your newfound gems – share them around, tweet about them, write articles and mentor and support the people around you. It’s a good way for everyone to get collectively better and when you rise the tide, we all float.

For a great opportunity to learn the success strategies of three inspiring women, we have created Advancing Women - what you need to succeed in 2012, and beyond.

In this leadership event, inspiring and accomplished women executives share their stories of leadership and success. Our elite panelists include Joanne Zaiac – President of Digitas NY, Diane Oshin – Group Publisher All You / Cooking Lite for Time Inc., and Angela Leaney – EVP Brand Marketing for The World Famous Harlem Globetrotters. The panel will reveal their thoughts on leadership, strategies for breaking through to the next level, and ideas for leveraging both inner and outer strengths along the journey to achievement.

November 17th 6pm
IAB Offices

116 East 27th Street
8th Floor
New York, NY

wimlink readers enter special discount code 'wimlink13' to attend for half price!

Why we need entrepreneurs

2011-10-30T13:17:00.001-04:00

I was having lunch with an ad agency exec last week, and was surprised when he came out glumly as we talked about his daughter who is approaching college age, proclaiming ‘these are simply the worst of times! I don’t know what to tell her!!’

The times are not worse – they’re just changed. Yes, we are still in something of an economic slump and no, we are not creating enough jobs to keep up with our population according to ADP. We are not ‘returning to normal’ - but perhaps that isn’t such a bad thing. Perhaps this is the new normal - where we can no longer look to our companies to secure our future. When you remove job security and entitlement, we have to all become entrepreneurs – whether formally starting our own businesses or in terms of how we approach our careers and in how much value we create.

This makes for very exciting times, where the rewards for entrepreneurship are even greater and their alternative far less 'secure' and appealing.

Which is why we have partnered with the founders of In Good Company this week for our event '100 Entrepreneurs Speak', which is all about how to approach entrepreneurship in a way that creates real value for your life (as well as for your business). I had a moment to chat with Adelaide Lancaster, long-time entrepreneur, co-founder of In Good Company and co-author of ‘The Big Enough Company' to ask a few questions as we prepare for Tuesday’s discussion:

Q: What does entrepreneurship mean to you 

Adelaide: Entrepreneurship is the opportunity to create meaningful, challenging, sustainable and rewarding work on YOUR terms. You get to drive the bus. You’re in charge of what you work on, who you work with and how you do it. I’m not sure it gets any better than that. However lots of times we forget to take full advantage of this opportunity as a result we build businesses that work but don’t deliver the rewards or experience we are looking for.

Q: What is the best advice you have ever received in your career/as an entrepreneur? 

Adelaide: I (try my best) to follow three rules in business (and in life):

1. The journey must be as enjoyable as the destination.

2. Progress, not perfection.

3. Success is about satisfaction, not size.

Q: What tips would you give to an entrepreneur who is feeling discouraged/tired, to get back up and running? 

Adelaide: 3 things:

1. Get in the Right Mindset. Entrepreneurship is a marathon, not a sprint. Long-term success depends on your ability to maintain your stamina. You won’t get as far if you sprint out of the gate. Instead pace yourself, respect your limits, and keep the whole “race” in mind.

2. Establish Fair Expectations. There is no such thing as an overnight success. Good things take time, plenty of research, and lots of tweaking. Be generous when you do forecasting, project planning and goal setting. Remember that things always take longer than you anticipate.

3. Make Progress with Small Steps. As exciting as the big vision may be, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by it especially when the path from here to there is unclear. Progress comes from moving forward everyday with small, persistent steps. Moving forward always feels good, even if it’s a tiny bit at a time.

I would also tell them to remember that success is about satisfaction, not size. It’s easy to get caught up in the numbers game or buy into the “bigger is better” view of success, but the truth is that being an entrepreneur is a lot of work. Given the investment that you make (time, money, energy) you better enjoy the work that you’re doing. It’s not worth it to compromise on the things that are important to you just to make your business a little bigger. Instead, start with your needs and build your business to suit. In my mind, that’s the opportunity of entrepreneurship – the ability to create meaningful and rewarding work on your terms, not someone else’s.

Q: Can you think of any great questions to ask yourself before embarking on your entrepreneurial venture, or along the way to make sure you are keeping in touch with your real needs/goals? 

Here are several things that every entrepreneur should know.

What’s in this for me?
What do I want my business to be known for? 
What’s my definition of success? 
What is the long-term business goal?
What must my business afford me in order to be worth it? 
What do I get by being my own boss that I wouldn’t if I worked for someone else? 
What compromises am I willing to make to be an entrepreneur? 
What am I/what do I want to be known for? 
What job/role do I want to have 3 years from now? 

The answers to these may change and that’s ok. Nevertheless, it’s important to take stock of these frequently so you can make sure your business is really working for you!

Meet Adelaide Lancaster and Amy Abrams at our event this week at Time Warner Center. Click here for more information and to RSVP.

Why you are leaving your money/success/value on the table

2011-10-09T11:52:00.001-04:00

“You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.”

Wayne Gretzky

Women - when was the last time you went to bat for yourself regarding your own career, and won? If you are like more than 60% of women in the workplace, chances are, you haven't.

In a recent article in the NY Times by Phyllis Korkki, it was said that:

‘Women tend to put their heads down, do great work and praise others in their department while modestly omitting their own contributions. Then they get really angry when they get passed over for the bonus and the promotion.’

Belief in the meritocracy is a huge reason why women still struggle as a whole to make the top ranks of corporate America. So we can keep hiding behind it, or we can learn how to ask for what we want. Exercising our asking muscle is the main goal of our October 13th event, more about it here.

Here are the top three reasons why we don’t ask:

1) We don’t know that we can ask

2) We don’t know how to ask

3) Fear

Let’s deal with these three things in turn.

Number 1: We don’t know that we can ask.

I will end the suspense – you can always ask. For anything. Look at it this way: you don’t have what you’re asking for now, and the worst thing that can happen is that you will be rejected and you won’t have what you’re asking for in the immediate future. That’s not a loss – that’s just status quo. So ask away, you have nothing to lose.

Number 2 – We don’t know how to ask.

This gets a little trickier. Hitting the right buttons in your listener requires planning and consideration – the main thing here is making sure that you’re thinking about what’s important to your audience. I have granted many promotions over the years, and they are usually to the people who consider what my criteria truly is, what the overall benefit is to the group/company, and then frame their request accordingly. Oh – and if you’re not sure what your boss’ criteria for promotion is, see point 1.

Number 3 – Fear.

Call it what you like – fear of rejection, fear of being seen as ungrateful, fear of appearing (shock, horror!) ambitious or aggressive, or demanding, needy, high maintenance. Whatever it is that you imagine, remember it’s all in your head. It's an imagined future that you are creating. It's not real. Then breathe, refocus, and ask calmly for what you want.

If I knew then what I know now...

2011-10-06T01:55:00.000-04:00

the very cool word visualization of dominant/recurrent words/phrases across all responses, created by wordle

A few months ago, I posted a question on Linkedin:

If you could go back and tell yourself one thing at the start of your career based on what you now know, what would that be?

Here are some of my favorite responses:

Be bolder.
- Jann LaGoy Mirchandani
Online Marketing Specialist at Marketing Cafe

I would tell myself to ask questions until I had the answers, then go for it and expect to learn along the way.
- Debi Davis
Host of Mind Your Own Business Radio on WLOB

To not worry about what other people think is possible or impossible and to know in yourself that if you have a huge enough desire and passion for your goals, you will find a way of achieving them. Always think big!
- Audra Weir
Entrepreneur, Success Educator & Lifestyle Mentor, Personal Development, Business Owner www.FlexYourSuccess.com

Put yourself in a place, where opportunity can see you.
- Xuan Tran
Entrepreneur, Business Development Manager at Advance Vision Technology.

Find good mentors. Look at big picture. I ...had to figure out everything on my own. There is no reason I couldn't have started my own "godaddy.com" or paypal, I was just thinking too small.
- Kaki Flynn
Global Basecamp for Guides, Founder

Know what you want to achieve and be relentless in pursuing your dreams. You have the wheel.
-Kieran Major
Financial Analyst, The Williams Company

Overall, the theme in the responses was self trust, big think, and less deference to the opinions - particularly the limiting opinions - of others.

What are we missing?

(side note - with the sad news of Steve Jobs' death just upon publishing this article, I have included a Steve Jobs quote that is also on point to the theme above:

'Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice.

And most important, have the courage to follow your own heart and intuition. They already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary'.

- Steve Jobs

"Want to do digital? Stop watching TV!"

2011-10-04T19:37:00.000-04:00

As a follow up to last week's event at Time Warner, Tania has asked me to write a short article for all of you entrepreneurially minded ladies (and gentleman) who wish to make a career switch to the digital field.

After a stint in the pressure cooker aka Wall Street, I decided that life is too short and that I had to follow my real interests and heart. The self-starter that I am, I launched my own NYC based digital media company (www. reissomnimediagroup.com) and am currently developing digital assets for the company’s portfolio, such as online magazines and mobile apps.

Now, how does someone like me make such a huge career shift you ask? I say “passion and knowledge”.

You may not have much power over the things that you are passionate about, but if you already care about digital media, you need to get knowledgeable about it. Here are a couple of ideas on how to do it:

- Stop watching stupid TV programs and stop surfing the web mindlessly for hours. Instead, use that time to learn about the industry and products. Here are a couple of sites I read everyday and strongly recommend: www.mashable.com, ww.techcrunch.com, www.wsj.com, www.nytimes.com. The last two are important because you cannot understand the relevance of developments in the digital industry without understanding what is going on in the world politically and economically at-large. Context for your newly acquired knowledge is key here.

- Read! I got a lot of heat during the wimlink event for suggesting that you also read a (business) book or two while you are preparing your transition into the new digital space. Books totally rock in my opinion and can give you the breadth and depth of information, analysis, and ideas that no blog or website can.

Here’s a business book I totally recommend “Rework”. If that’s the only book you’ll ever read, then my job here is done. It will change the way you look at the world of business and your potential place within it.

Plus, having a book peek out of your chic handbag makes you look smart instantly :)

- Try to attend as many relevant conferences and other digital media / social media events as possible to gain a deeper understanding of the industry and trends. I know that some of those events can be very expensive, so get in touch with the event organizers and tell them about your situation; Ask for a deep discount or even a free ticket in exchange for your help at the event.

- Before diving into an entrepreneurial venture, apply for an (unpaid) internship at tech / media start-ups or digital media agencies to get an inside scoop on what it takes to run your own company. On top of that, internships are awesome networking opportunities. Those of you who currently have a job can try to consolidate all the vacation days and use that time toward such an internship. I wish someone had given me that idea before I launched…

- If you are thinking of raising venture capital or angel capital, keep three things in mind:
1) you will need a partner in the venture. Investors want to see a team with an eclectic mix of skills and experiences and not a lone wolf, even if it’s Einstein.

2) Getting funded is a numbers game. The more you pitch, the better you get at it, the higher the chance of getting funded. Don’t stop or get discouraged. It won’t be easy, you may cry along the way, but keep in mind that the guy who launched Pandora radio pitched to over 100 VC firms before the money hit the bank. What works in your favor is that investors don’t have many options to invest their funds in this highly unpredictable stock market these days, and they are aggressively looking to find other investment options - you app or website may just be it.

3) “But how will I pay my partner? I am not making any money yet?” you may ask yourself. These days, people work on start-ups initially for an equity share. Research well how much of the 100% pie you are willing to give up in return for a potentially big payout one day, and don’t forget to put everything in writing. I suggest you get a very, very good lawyer for this step and onward. Maybe you can find one who’d accept an equity share in the project for her ongoing legal work and advisory services? See a pattern here?

- Lastly, shake the fear, stop talking and just go for it.

Good luck!
-Karolina

Twitter @karolinareiss

Top 3 tips when transitioning your career to digital

2011-10-01T13:17:00.000-04:00

'Would you consider hiring someone for a non-digital role, if they didn't have any online presence?'

This question seemed like an odd one at our wimlink event last Thursday' Digital Thinking: How to (re)position your career for digital'. But the response to it I believed was critical to how we think about digital in the first place.

Beverly Weinstein, President of Markham Media who was a panelist at our wimlink event this week along with Karolina Reiss, entrepreneur and Jane Hu, head of Programming Strategy at Youtube Next Lab paused for a while. 'No. No, I wouldn't - it would seem odd to me nowadays to not have an online brand of some variety'.

Digital is no longer an add-on, an optional extra, something to consider as an afterthought. It permeates most everything about how we conduct our lives, and, by extension, our careers - whether or not we consider ourselves as digital professionals.

Three things that you need to know when repositioning your career for digital:

1) The essentials are the same (with a few adjustments)

Great talent is great talent, and many of the skills and tools that have given you success in more traditional career areas are the same that will bring you success in the digital arena - vision, hard work, common sense, trust, and reputation. Panelist Jane Hu, Head of Programming Strategy with Youtube Next Lab pointed out refreshingly that while data driven insights are incredibly useful, so is traditional intuitivism - at least when it comes to picking quality content. The instincts that are alert for so many people coming from traditional programming can have huge utility in the digital content space, though the distribution and viewing platform may be different. So it's really not as if you're starting from scratch, with this whole new world to learn as if from first principles.

Being from Australia, I can liken transitioning from traditional to digital to arriving in a new country/city and building your career:

- Your qualifications and experience are relevant and helpful to you
(but nobody exactly knows if the college you went to or company you came from was any good or not... for example, the University of New South Wales might be the best law-school in the country. It might also be a bizarre community college where a part of your application process is singing);

- The words you use to describe what you've done are familiar (but different), and;

- Your references, no matter how impressive in your own country, mean little to most people you meet.
This will be less the case here when transitioning from traditional to digital - great work with AMC is great work, and having good professional references count even though that person might not head up digital strategy.

So stay alert to find the similarities, power through the differences, and keep the confidence that you brought with you to assure yourself that what has gotten you this far will get you to where you want to go, differences notwithstanding. And keep moving forward.

2) Be action-oriented when it comes to digital

Although much can be learned about digital from online articles, courses and further formal education such as taking a professional course at NYU or Columbia, studying and reading are not the same as doing, and doing is what it's all about.

Jane Hu describes her entrance into digital while at Disney as being due to her love for music, and therefore her time spent on myspace - 'Before I knew it, I was the go-to person about myspace and the digital expert'.

So rather than wonder about twitter, open an account and start tweeting, create a facebook page and work out how to entice people to 'like' it, get blogging about a topic that you love and add a google analytics account to your blog so you can start diving into what drives traffic, and what web analytics is all about. This is hands down the best way to learn. I personally like to book-learn as well, but once you have down the basic principles, again it is all about doing.

3) How you frame your experience is key - both on Linkedin, and in your resume

As with anything, repositioning for digital is about talking to your target audience (in this case recruiters and the HR professionals with the companies you wish to work for) with the language and references that they are interested in, that are familiar, and that will make sense for the role they are working to fill.

If you're applying for a digital position, you must reach back and find relevant experience, and then make sure to not just represent it, but to lead with it. Be resourceful, be creative - and most importantly, don't discount anything that you've done as being 'just getting an app up and running'.. that's HUGE!

Beverly shared a useful story about a particular applicant who was applying for a digital role, and had absolutely zero digital experience represented in his resume. She notes 'when I probe around, I will almost always find a rich well of digital experience', and in this case she hit the jackpot. Not only had this candidate 'got the site up and running because there was no one else to manage it', he had also been responsible for overseeing the building of two site specific apps!!

Think about all that you have handled, even if they seemed peripheral to your core role. Think about anything that you have done outside of work (maybe you've volunteered and helped spread the word about a charitable cause via facebook or linkedin, maybe you've used facebook to help fundraise for a kickstarter project, listed items on ebay and spread the word to friends) - and then make sure that these skills are reflected in how you talk about your experience.

You'll be swimming in digital expertise in no time!

Women - How to Get Your Worth in the Work Place

2011-09-27T10:33:00.000-04:00

A crucial step in learning to negotiate is to learn from the women in our own networks who successfully asked for what they want and got their worth in the workplace.

I saw how tapping one's network can positively impact a woman's career after making an introduction to two female friends. One was an executive with great deal of professional experience, and the other was just about to start her professional career and seeking career advice. Let's call the first friend T and the second Y.
The more experienced friend gave friendly advice to Y who had just received her first job offer. T encouraged Y to negotiate for a better package and to not settle for the first offer. But Y countered this advice with a great deal of hesitation. She was afraid she would risk losing the job offer by asking more for herself. She was having trouble seeing herself as deserving more than what was given to her.

Don't get me wrong -- Y is hardworking, highly qualified, and someone I greatly admire as a person. I could see she deserves more, but she couldn't. Like many women, she didn't know how to negotiate, or that she could even negotiate. Gently prodded by T, Y decided to work up the courage to ask for a better term. She later happily reported that the negotiation worked out in her favor.

Three things dawned on me from watching this conversation unfold:

1.Negotiation is a learned skill that improves with practice. T has a great deal of negotiation experience from both sides of the table and was thus able to give great, practical advice to Y. Learning to negotiate is a skill that women may need to focus greater effort at developing than men, who in general seem to have a natural propensity to negotiate. According to authors Linda Babcock and Sara Laschaver "Women Don't Ask", men initiate negotiations four times as often as women. With more women entering the workforce,
entrepreneurship, and leadership ranks, it’s high time that more women raised their hands and asked for what they want. It’s time for women to develop and flex their negotiation muscles.

2. We need to talk more about initiating negotiation. Watching T provide guidance to Y made me wish to facilitate more opportunities for women to connect and learn from each other on this topic. Furthermore, it is imperative that we have informed discussions about salary negotiation as part of the larger, on-going discussion around wealth creation for women and closing the gender pay gap.

3. Women who successfully master the art of negotiating earn more money and are more successful in their careers. Another study cited by Babcock and Laschaver calculated that women who consistently negotiate their salary increases earn at least $1 million more during their careers than women who don't.
Initiating the conversation about salary negotiation with the successful women in our network is the first step to acquiring a negotiation muscle.

This is the thought process behind the panel discussion I'm cohosting with Wimlink in New York next Thursday evening. At this event, three talented women leaders in fields as diverse as executive coaching, law, and digital media will share their wealth of experience and insight on how to get your worth in the workplace. Featured speakers are

1. Julia McNamara, founder of Helix Career Management and certified executive coach

2. Carla Varriale, partner of law firm Havkins Rosenfeld Ritzert and Varriale, LLP

3. Bethany Hillman, VP of Operations at TVGenesis

Click here to read the full bios of each panelist and register for this event.

Whether you are starting a job search, a new job, or salary negotiation, this session will provide you with tips, inspiration, and guidance to take your career to the next level.

Learn to flex your negotiation muscle. Learn from the rich experiences of women leaders. Be richly rewarded for the value you bring to the table.

Written by Jamie Lee @JiEunJamie
Operations Manager at Tipping Point Partners

Mika Brzezinski on 'Knowing Your Value' and showing yourself who's boss

2011-07-18T22:24:00.000-04:00

"If you're not negotiating the size of everything, odds are, you're not going to become the boss", says Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett in Mika Brzezinski's,

Knowing Your Value: Women, Money and Getting What You're Worth

Even infants know how to ask for exactly what they want, and to not stop until they get it.

Somehow - this book argues - women in the workplace have largely forgotten this basic skill, and are suffering financially and psychically because of it. I find this thought inflammatory - but also inspiring. Because reading something as ridiculous as the above statement makes me feel confident that it's solvable.

Mika Brzezinski, known for her gutsy, confident and articulate style on MSNBC's Morning Joe, reflects throughout this book on her own personal challenges at the negotiating table when it came down to negotiating her own (monetary) value. Not only did she fail ingloriously - and sometimes hilariously (there's a particular scene where she describes a failed attempt to model her co-host JoeScarborough when negotiating for herself, and awkwardly pokes an NBC executive who in turn awkwardly pokes her back) to improve her employment package, she did so whilst pushing herself to her physical and emotional limits, getting nothing in return 'except bad health'.

This realization is not new. Interestingly, stress management and wellness were among the two lowest ranked qualities in a current survey wimlink is conducting that to date has included over 100 women executives. 'Leadership' and 'Knowing how to take your career to the next level' are also key concerns.

This book covers all three of the above areas in droves with memorable anecdotes and helpful advice from key leaders including Arianna Huffington, Sheila Bair, Joy Behar, Tina Brown, Nora Ephron, Valerie Jarrett, Elizabeth Warren and Sheryl Sandberg. Even Jack Welch and Donald Trump pitch in - with sometimes polarizing perspectives.

Although most of the context for Mika Brzezinski's 'Knowing Your Value' comes from her own personal story of negotiating for what she was worth with NBC, this book goes far beyond just the issue of salary and right to the heart of what holds people back (particularly women) when it comes to going for exactly what they want in their professional lives.

So what are these heinous and stifling bugaboos?

Primarily, a misplaced sense of gratitude ('I just felt lucky to have the opportunity' - Sheryl Sandberg'), a belief in a pure meritocracy (where you don't have to fight for what you deserve/want, and instead wait for someone to tap you on the shoulder), and a desire to be liked rather than valued. Compliments, the author chides the reader, don't pay the bills.

Yes, yes - you might be thinking. I know all this. What to do???

The trick, this book suggests, is in focusing on what you can control (that is, your own behavior), and in cultivating the little things that lead to powerful changes. Like a willingness to consciously raise your hand and make your opinion heard. Or an unwillingness to apologize when you believe you're right, and therefore a willingness to risk being unliked. Or being prepared and persistent in salary negotiations, but prepping factually rather than emotionally.

The book describes one success strategy for women: being 'relentlessly pleasant'. It's not about holding yourself back, but holding yourself differently. In other words, you don't have to model make behavior in order to get results - unless it's a part of your authentic natural style. 'It's doing (things) with a softer touch, but with that same level of firepower and that's the difference'.

The book does occasionally linger occasionally in the muck of 'poor us!' by spouting self-fulfilling prophesies such as

'(Women) have to work harder, they take much longer to be promoted, and they have to prove themselves over and over again'. (quoting Ilene H Lang).

'But when women are assertive, it can hurt them, because being assertive is not an appealing trait in women'.

This seems a bit bollocksy to me, and in any case is not helpful as advice. It reinforces the (I argue, false) image that it's so much harder for being a woman in the workplace, when in the main it can just sometimes be a little different. But to her credit the author does consciously pull the narrative back in place quickly, just a few pages later reminding the reader that it's better to 'think about what (we) can do within the parameters of (our) situation.

The final point that the author makes is that women need to take matters into our own hands proactively, and also actively help other women.

Mika recounts how the most painful and least constructive confrontations she can recall throughout her career have been with women, not men, and that it has been in fact men who have been her most active sponsors.

Arianna Huffington also underscores the importance of women who have achieved levels of success to give a hand up and mentor younger women in a 'consistent, sustained way - which is ultimately sponsoring them'.

In the end, this book is all about self power, and remembering how to ask for what you want with authenticity and presence, in spite of discomfort.

'If you don't ask for what you deserve, you won't ever find out what you're made of, and what you truly can do'.

Is it possible that we're simply over-thinking this? That maybe it's not that certain things are intrinsically or genetically easier for men than women, but rather it's all learnable and it's just a matter of what you've learned, and what you choose to value? Either way, the book will be helpful, as it does a great job of highlighting and extracting the experience and wisdom of women who have learned specific skills through trial and error.

Julie Ruvolo has also just written an article that outlines how women are already doing a good job of helping each other in her blog for Forbeswoman in the New York tech and digital scene.

A wider variety of female role models is critical. As Hannah Riley Bowles points out, 'The high powered female executive is really a new phenomena, and these women are creating what that person is as they're doing it". In contrast, men have a lot of role models in the highest positions, spanning many years and industries. Creating a reference for what leadership looks like for men is just easier. But this is changing.

One uncomfortable salary negotiation at a time, it seems...

How Remarkable Women Lead - Review

2011-07-15T17:42:00.000-04:00

How Remarkable Women Lead: The Breakthrough Model for Work and Life
By Joanna Barsh and Susie Cranton

I came across this quite a few months ago and since it's come up quite a lot recently in conversation I thought it would be helpful to summarize some of the reasons why I found it helpful. There are many great ways to use this book. For me, my main takeaways were a helpful method for reframing a past situation (useful any time you’re playing something back in a spiral), and some positive models of women leaders that I could use as a reference in different situations.
There is a comparative dearth of visible women leaders from whom younger women can gain clues to success, and the authors Joanna Barsh and Susie Cranston did a remarkable job of bridging this gap with their research in the McKinsey Centered Leadership Institute. Interviewing successful women ranging from Andrea Jung, the CEO of Avon through to film directors, lawyers, and even Julie Gillard (the sometimes polarizing prime minister of Australia), the authors extracted a five point model of what it takes to be an effective leader and also provide some useful anecdotes and examples along the way.
Centered Leadership – 5 Main Factors:

1. Meaning

Are you currently living your highest and best use at work?
This is the self awareness piece, where the authors urge the reader to get in touch both with her strengths, as well as what encapsulates her sense of purpose. There is a useful distinction here, between just doing what you’re good at, and doing what you know you were put on earth to do. Both can bring success, but the authors urge that a certain amount of self reflection and dreaming will be a huge difference maker in the degree of success you achieve, and your satisfaction.

2. Framing

Do you choose positive optimism?
How you choose to see the world and interpret your experiences can make a huge impact on your dealings with others, and your career success. The authors are careful to explain however that this is not a matter of merely donning rose colored glasses and construing everything favorably, but more about ensuring that you do not allow negative filters to distort what is really happening. There is also a useful method for analyzing events laid out that can be used to check in with yourself and understand what kind of framing is taking place, and whether it is serving your best outcome.

3. Connecting

How much active design is at work in your own professional network?
Consciously building your network and proactively cultivating your professional community is the antidote to operating in isolation or keeping just a small number of deep relationships – which a lot of women professionals and entrepreneurs can tend to do. The authors suggest some helpful ways for conscious ‘network design’, such as finding sponsors – someone senior in your organization or industry genuinely willing to stick their neck out for you (as opposed to mentors), and offering significant value back to this person along the lines of your radar, network, time, resourcefulness, family assistance and asking them good questions.

4. Engaging

Finding the best way to speak up and be heard is often a huge challenge, particularly earlier on in our careers when insecurities about being new, young, lacking knowledge, rank etc run wild. But believing that your actions alone will be enough to warrant career progress in a corporate meritocracy is a common (heinous) mistake that will leave many floundering when they could be striding – so finding effective ways to say your piece is critical. The authors also stress that in many cases, learning to listen is also a huge part of this too.

5. Energizing

How well do you manage your energy? How do you feel at the end of the day, at the end of the week?
The bottom line is that if you are not conserving and refueling your energy, you will not be able to sustain your success. Energy here is broken out into four categories – physical, cognitive (focus), psychological, and social. The most useful note in this series of chapters centered around how to fill up on energizers (such as music, exercise, gratitude), and how to minimize the drains (like keeping your Blackberry right beside your bed).
The overall goal across all segments of the book is to in some way provide the reader with useable questions, methods for coping with challenging situations, and a framework for managing thoughts and behavior that will improve your level of professional success. At the very least, it should kick off a useful chain of questioning within the reader that begins the so-called leadership journey.

The Importance of Identity in Determining How/Whether you will Lead

2011-07-05T07:52:00.001-04:00

'If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves'

Thomas Edison

So, then... why don't we? What holds us back?

In examining leadership and what separates great leaders from others, the biggest distinction I have come across is about identity - who we think we are and what we believe ourselves to be capable of. This is so critical because of the consistency principle - we will almost never act in discord with our identity, because that would make us fickle and inconsistent.

Most of your ‘capability’ or ‘talent’ is constant, but your belief about who you are and what you’re capable of will dictate how much and which pieces of yourself you will access in the workplace– and therefore what you will achieve. Whether or not you will propel yourself to the next level, and the next, is a function of who you believe yourself to be. In most cases, this identity was formed randomly from childhood, based on the perceptions of parents, teachers, friends, society.

If you’ve ever heard yourself say –‘oh, I’m just not that kind of person’ or ‘that’s not how I work’, or ‘I wouldn’t be comfortable doing that’, then you’ve come up against the barriers of your identity. In a professional sense, this is likely a limited identity that stands between where you are, and where you need to be.

For example, a certain woman executive that I interviewed who is now the Chief Marketing Officer of a publicly listed company that she was part of the founding team of, got some advice early on in her career when she was a very competent analyst. At this point in her career she valued herself as intelligent, hardworking and an important contributor to the team.

One day there came an opportunity for her to participate in an actual client pitch. It was a huge opportunity for her to participate at a very high level in her company – but this woman, although extroverted, outspoken and confident, initially shied away from this explaining that ‘she wasn’t comfortable in sales’. In her mind, selling just wasn’t her thing – she was a ‘behind the scenes’ person, an analyst who supported sales.

Her then colleague (who is now her husband!) flatly told her that she’d never get anywhere until she was able to get people to actually sign checks. She could be the best analyst in the world but she would never really become a leader if she wasn’t willing to become involved in the sales process. It was a powerful statement, and one that she took on board to shift her perception of who she was and what she was capable of, so that she would be able to achieve her professional goals. She attended the pitch, was pivotal in winning the client over, and her identity was forever shifted.

Who you believe you are dictates how you behave and think, which will determine your results. Maintaining the integrity of who you are – even when stagnant, destructive or disempowering – will almost always trump acting inconsistently with your identity, which is why consciously assessing and constructing our identity becomes so important if any new behavior, change or goal is to become lasting.

What are the barriers of your current identity, and do they help or hinder you? What are the things that professionally you ‘are not cut out for’, or that ‘are not what you signed up for’ because the thought of doing them makes you very uncomfortable? This is most likely where you need to start asking questions of yourself in order to get to the next level.

Unlocking your Leadership Style: The Brain Pill Question

2011-06-22T18:10:00.000-04:00

I might not be the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but I'm pretty good at getting most of the other bulbs to light up. -Jack Welch

As a leader, would you rather be considered Smart, or Effective?

(And yes - before you ask this is a hypothetical either/or scenario :))

This question is trickier than it seems. On surface - of course, being effective trumps everything. But are we walking our own talk? For instance, how many times have we heard (or ourselves been guilty of) responding to valuable information by claiming we 'already knew that', or added our own two cents into a conversation that we really didn't need to weigh in on, or fought to the death an opinion or point of view that was already completely dead?

If you've ever been accused of being an over-achiever, chances are that being on the positive end of the bell curve has been a huge part of your identity since childhood. Which means there's a certain amount of un-learning to do before you can honestly and congruently say you'd choose effectiveness.

Marshall Goldsmith, author of 'Mojo', goes on to say that 'one of the most pernicious impulses among successful people is our overwhelming need to prove how smart we are. It's a relic of our school days, the author suggests, when so much of our self esteem and success grew from our place on the proverbial bell curve. It has mistakenly taught us that the competition to be smart must be continued in the work place, and manifests itself in some 'incredibly stupid behavior'.

In Mojo, the writer goes on to pose this question:

'You are offered a Brain Pill. If you swallow this pill, you will become 10 percent more intelligent than you currently are; you will be more adept at reading comprehension, logic and critical thinking. However, to all other people you know (and to all future people you meet), you will seem 20 percent less intelligent. In other words, you immediately become smarter, but the rest of the world will perceive you as dumber (and there is no way you can ever alter the universality of that perception).

Do you take this Pill?'

At this point in the book, we are discussing Reputation so we are basically deciding whether you would consider becoming actually capable of better thinking and problem solving (and potentially more effective as a result) worth taking a considerable external IQ-cut. Framed another way, it asks whether the 20% cut in perceived intelligence (thus a potential blow to that piece of one's reputation) would be worth the internal gratification of 10% additional intelligence. In the book, the writer claims that he would not take the Pill - pointing out that all it would do would be to create a 30% gap between how smart I am and what everyone else thinks.

While this may be valid for the writer's profession (he is primarily a consultant and executive coach), for my money, I would take the Brain Pill. I have a couple of reasons:

1) I'm in a constant fear of losing brain power as I get older (I subscribe to Lumosity and do the brain exercises religiously), so I'll take any additions I can find, the hell with reputation

2) Being perceived as overly smart does not help others find me accessible and open (which is something that is incredibly important to me in my profession) - particularly when it comes to encouraging input and critical thinking as the leader of a team. This is essential if only the best ideas are to survive.

Some of the very brightest leaders I've worked with scare everyone into submission - often inadvertently. There's just something about big brains that entice others into awe, panic, and then catatonia. People think that the 'really smart person' has either thought it through completely (often not the case), or that they might get eaten alive if caught in a stupid question by someone potentially smarter than they are, and the risk simply isn't worth it. Little obvious things get missed, which lead to big stupid problems down the line.

3) A 20% loss in perceived smartness is totally fine, particularly as it is offset by an actual 10% gain. I would be capable of better work and thinking, and could sell and ideas in and coalition build internally and externally whilst remaining accessible, and all the while being perceived as just a regular Joe (or Jill)- which will likely mean less resistance to new ideas.

I don't know if this all tells me anything at all about my mojo. But I do know that I'd rather be effective than smart any day of the week - assuming a baseline common sense as a starting point. And this with the confession that being perceived as 'bright' in school was a massive part of my crafted identity growing up, right from when I was very little. Both my parents are first generation immigrants who didn't go to college, and school was therefore incredibly important. 'Do well in school, and you'll do well in life' - was the mantra. I used to obsess for days when I lost any marks at all on anything! -95% and second place and I was done, that was it, it was all over. I would be shoveling coal in a coal mine somewhere in Victoria on minimum wage, chewing tobacco and dining on tinned spam by medieval oil lamp-light.

It took me a long time to realize that out there in the world, this is just not how you get graded and this kind of obsession with ranking leads only to a paralyzing risk-averse attitude that stultifies progress and innovation. Furthermore, you have your eye on a score card that doesn't exist for anyone apart from you, and live in constant fear of slipping. Fear of failure is incredibly hard to kick, and something that to this day I am still muddling my way through.

Being smarter in a low profile way sounds like the best of both worlds. It's probably what Jack Welch was thinking when he professed to perhaps not be such a bright bulb (above). Although unlikely, the point is that his intrinsic intelligence is irrelevant as a standalone fact - what made him effective was his ability to get others to see the big picture, and become their best and brightest selves.

The need to strive to publicly out-brain others is one of the least useful corporate sports I've yet had the displeasure of observing in the workplace. Take the Brain Pill, continue to do good work, and let your results speak.

What I mean when I talk about Leadership

2011-06-19T19:13:00.000-04:00

Make no mistake - leadership is a survival skill, no matter what your position.

Yet for something this critical, we really don't spend much time learning formally how to do it. Perhaps we could read the 68,279 books regarding leadership that are currently available on amazon. Or we could casually peruse the 422 million pages on leadership that can be accessed via a google search -or hone it down to the 190 million that return on 'leadership development'.

But probably, most of us won't. This lack of knowledge, so my theory goes, is at the root of a lot of unhappiness and stagnation in the workplace, at all levels of an organization. Very few managers that I’ve encountered are competent let alone effective leaders – or would even know where to go to obtain a different set of skills and tools than those required to be an effective employee. So for the last few years I’ve become pretty obsessed with the anatomy of leadership.

In a recent study that wimlink conducted, I was thrilled to learn that I am not alone in my obsession to understand and learn about leadership - ‘leadership development’ is currently the top priority for 62 of 100 women executives and entrepreneurs that we interviewed (beating out improving communication, entrepreneurship, stress management, taking your career to the next level and more).

When asked to describe a leader that they admired, the top quality cited was Fairness.

Although Communication Skills was the quality that was deemed most critical to have to be an excellent leader (79% viewed this to be critical as opposed to necessary, nice to have or not a leadership quality), when forced to choose the most important leadership quality, more transcendent attributes such as Vision, Ability to Inspire and Sense of Purpose rose to the top. From this, we can learn that women viewed leadership as more than the sum of sound operational and tactical skills, or pure management without something more to mobilize the imagination of those around them.

In contrast, leadership competence was expressed through more tactical traits, such as being ‘Action Oriented’ and ‘Flexible’ – although technical competence was acknowledged to have little to do with leadership competence, with more than half stating that ‘Technical Excellence’ in their chosen field was really only nice-to-have.

Three Key Observations from our Leadership Study:

1) Communication is the most-chosen quality for effective leadership overall

2) When forced to pick the one quality that is most important, women chose transcendent qualities such as ‘Vision’, ‘Sense of Purpose’ and ‘Ability to Inspire’ over other qualities such as ‘Integrity’, ‘Hard Working’, ‘Action Oriented’, ‘Takes Responsibility’– revealing that women view leadership as something loftier than the sum of technical and tactical skills and qualities

3) There is a disconnect in what women value in leaders, and what women rate highly in themselves - when asked to rate themselves, respondents ranked themselves highly on tactical, measurable skills and qualities (such as ‘Hardworking’, ‘Takes Responsibility’, ‘Honesty’, ‘Integrity’), and much lower on transcendent attributes, where they told us the real magic of leadership happens.

Based on (3) above, the biggest opportunity then for current and aspiring leaders is to spend time learning what it takes to rise above the muck of everyday tasks and thinking, to see the landscape and broader opportunities more clearly.

Secondarily, focus can be placed on communication skills in order to be able to mobilize others towards what you see there.

And finally, as all roads lead back to awareness and self development, also remember to take the time to reflect on what you need to do to continue learning and improving, and removing any personal roadblocks.

For further reading, among my favorite books on the topic are Warren Bennis’ On Becoming a Leader, Peter Drucker’s ‘The Effective Executive' and Joanna Barsh’s 'How Remarkable Women Lead' - which remains one of the few books specifically about women and leadership that I’ve read that I’ve found useful, actionable and void of many annoying gendered stereotypes that frequently cause me to slam down books for women in business in frustration.

The Social Experience of Media - planning for our event next week with Internet Week

2011-06-01T17:34:00.000-04:00

Next Tuesday evening I am moderating a discussion about how online and device-driven social behaviors are the way audiences engage with content and various forms of media - what this means for businesses, and how best to join the conversation productively, effectively and without waste or the 'me too' syndrome. After all - there's no point building a facebook page just because.

Sometimes, we say that people are changing because of technology - what did we used to do before cell phones, facebook, foursquare, something else? How did we stay in touch? Parents worry about the amount of time their teenage daughter spends im'ing her friends, or sharing pictures or texting. But at the same age, most of us would have instead been on the telephone for hours, perhaps dragging an extension cord into a closet for privacy if we weren't lucky enough to have our own dedicated number. Now there's a better platform for gossip and real-time constant communication. Not much changes.

Technology in itself does not change people – it merely facilitates our natural urges and enables or amplifies what we want to do. Just a few years ago, if someone saw a TV show that they did not like, they might make a snarky comment to 2 or 3 people the following day. Now, if someone does not like a program, they can share a snarky comment with hundreds or even thousands of people via Twitter or other channels, who can then pass it along until it has potentially reached millions. This is not all bad news – as we have seen, ‘going viral’ works for positive feedback as well.

Most forms of media –whether in the form of magazines, films, television, music, written articles – have become a social experience in itself. What we watch, read, buy, listen to all become ways in which we can connect with friends and identify with like minded groups, express ourselves, differentiate ourselves, and give feedback to the brand or content creator about our needs and our likes and dislikes. These interactions then frequently become the vehicles that are used to influence what to buy/wear/watch and otherwise spend our time in the future, and can also shape the nature of the content that is available to us in itself because of this two-way communication potential.

The interplay between created content and social or earned media creates a huge opportunity for traditional businesses to set themselves apart from their competition, and to build trust, understanding and engagement with customers. But how exactly do we approach this, and how can we know what’s right for our particular situation?

Adrift as we are in a sea of possibility, within which we are more likely to perish from indigestion rather than starvation, it is useful to hear from practitioners about their current strategies and – perhaps more importantly – what has been effective in the past, and what’s working today.

That is the goal of the event.

The discussion will focus specifically on, and provide case examples of how brands, businesses and content creators have entered the social space, and reaped the benefits either through loyalty-building, audience building, increased sales or some other metric.

Here is our panelist lineup:

Caroline Waxler, Director of Online Content for Lucky Magazine

Dana Offenbach, Film Producer and Partner, Cinema Street Pictures

Nelly Yusupova, Social media expert and CTO of Webgrrls International

Angie Gentile, Asst Brand Manager, PepsiCo

The event is Women Leaders Speak: The Social Experience of Media, and it is an official partner of Internet week. Click here for tickets and further details

Everything I learned about sales I learned from my dog

2011-05-14T16:27:00.000-04:00

Meet Billy:

He’s a six year old Maltese-Shih Tzu based in Sydney, Australia living it up with his own bedroom and personal maid service in my parents’ home.

Cute little guy! You might be thinking. And yes, that’s true. What won’t be immediately apparent to you, however, is that Billy is also a sales guru. From timing his own purchase right through to his unlikely friendships with cats, pitbulls and even my dad, Billy is a star example of everything you’ll ever need to know about selling.

But let’s begin at the very beginning.

I had never meant to purchase a Billy. I was out looking for a tulip stem coffee table on a break from studying tort law. Passing the pet store on Crown Street a little puff of black and white caught my eye as it charged across the window and barreled straight onto the head of an unwitting, sleeping spoodle. The little puff then arched into what I later learned to be his play pose, demanding to be chased. The spoodle assessed the puff for a moment, then closed her eyes to resume napping.

I couldn’t help but be curious. The puff remained in play pose, expectantly. Any minute now, the spoodle will come to her senses and play with me! Probably a minute passed. Then, the puff cocked its head to one side, confused. And then barreled! right onto the head of the sleeping spoodle again, squeaking happily!

The spoodle opened her eyes. This time she got up, crossed the window and barked at the little thing that was insisting on ruining her afternoon nap. Not interested in playing!! Back off!! And one more time, she closed her eyes and curled haughtily into a ball.

The little puff of black fur sat for a moment. What to do? He made a few circles, sat again. Ran around a few times, thinking. And then ran over to the spoodle and leaped! onto her head again, squeaking happily!! Slowly, the spoodle opened her eyes and looked at him, as he paced back and forth, squeaking.

And miraculously, begrudgingly, she began to play with him.

Score 1, persistent little black and white puff.

Curious, I went inside. Was the little energy puff a dog, cat or bunny rabbit? I couldn’t quite tell.

‘Just pick him up’, the pet store attendant had encouraged. ‘He won’t hurt you!’

‘Oh – I don’t want a pet’, I had replied reluctantly. ‘I’m just looking’.

‘No worries at all!’ She had said with a smile, ‘You can still pick him up, you don’t have to take him home…’

I reluctantly did, the puff looked up at me (it had eyes!) and then wagged what seemed to be a tail and kissed me, and within minutes I was leaving with puppy pads, ten chew toys, puppy vitamins and a cardbox pet carrier.

Lesson Number 1: we buy with our emotions

He was not the coffee table that I needed and had left home to buy. He squeaked like a squeeze toy and did an un-coordinated puppy dance when you set him down. On day one, he got so excited while we were playing that he peed on me. He was expensive and I was a student. I lived in a tiny studio apartment. I studied long hours every day, and could barely keep my apartment orderly without puppy pads and chew toys. This purchase made absolutely no sense for me.

Lesson Number 2: we may buy with our emotions, but then we justify with our logic.

As I trudged down the street carrying the yelping Billy in a box, my mind started pedaling. I had just ended a long-term relationship and needed the companionship. Billy would never let me down. Billy was loyal! Also, dogs are great for your health, that’s why they bring them into old people’s homes. Billy was practically medicinal. Or at the very least, therapeutic. Plus - I’ve always loved dogs. Why not treat myself with the things that I love? Why had I been denying myself happiness for all these years? I studied hard. Yes – great job! I thought to myself. Way to make a terrific purchase decision. The table can wait.

Leadership question: Do you frame positively?

2011-04-20T23:51:00.000-04:00

Challenge:

Many of us struggle to find the best way to interpret much of what happens in the workplace - a sales pitch, a brief exchange with our boss in the corridor, that two thousand word email from a colleague cc'ing everyone with a corporate email address. As we develop ourselves as leaders and become increasingly responsible for setting the culture and motivating others, how to stay positive and energized when so much of that ambiguity might mean that things are going wrong?

Context:

In the moment, what is happening has to compete with all the back-story and baggage in our minds that triggers us to past events and that color what we are perceiving. This is necessary to save time – enabling us to associate this phrase with that body of meaning, a kind of shorthand of words, feelings and experiences so that we are not having to synthesize and process each new event from first principles. However, when untended this type of framing can become like a negativity vortex, condemning us to keep re-experiencing and even sub-consciously seeking out the same kinds of events, people and situations that keep us stuck or limited.

For example – the sales person who has been rejected so many times that they no longer believe in themselves or in the value of their product or service. They walk into a room wanting success but anticipating rejection, coloring each potential customer’s questions or look or shake of the head with the meaning of rejection, and eventually makes it inevitable that they are rejected, again.

Action/Prescription:

Consciously choose optimism and positive framing when in doubt. Most everything that happens to us is essentially neutral. The difference is made by how we make and manage meaning as we experience what happens, and as we play it back and talk about what happened. The language becomes the experience. You may never know the ‘absolute truth’ of an event, but you can choose a perception and interpretation that is empowering and that energizes you to do your best work.

If something is undeniably tricky, one surefire way to get your positive framing lenses going is to accept the situation and then ask yourself – what is the one thing I can do right now to improve things? It need not be dramatic – just the simple act of finding one small thing that you can do immediately helps you feel empowered to begin the process of positive change, and the larger solution will flow from there.

Cable cowgirls - key takeaways from women leaders at the 2011 Wonder Women luncheon

2011-03-16T00:42:00.000-04:00

'Buck up under pressure and check your tears at the door'.

That was the advice first given to Jadz Janucik, now Senior Vice President of Association Affairs for the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, by a mentor and 'cable cowboy' at the start of her career.

Today at the Multichannel News Wonder Women luncheon at the Hilton, co-hosted by Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT), the award recipients shared a lot of their best advice and reflections.

Here were some of my favorites:

- Never be afraid to lose your job (Lori Conkling, A&E Television Networks)

- Be a rebel, a pirate. Don't be afraid to fail (Stephanie Gibbons, FX)

- Never confuse activity with achievement - focus on results (Kimberly Edmunds, Cox Communications)

- Never be afraid to hire people smarter and more talented than you are - and give them an opportunity to shine (Jadz Janucik, NCTA)

- Give people encouragement at times of failure - that's when they need it most (Grace Killelea, Comcast)
- Prepare to be lucky, then know what to do (Christina Miller, Turner Sports and Cartoon Network Enterprises) - good things happen at the intersection of positivity and preparation

- Learn from experience, but don't be limited by experience (Diane Tryneski, HBO)

The recurring themes throughout the recipient's speeches were the importance of:

1) a good work ethic (typically learned while young)

2) a general lack of conventional thinking in approach both to career path and to decision making in general, and also

3) teamwork and team building

Regarding the importance of hard work and developing a strong work ethic, what was notable was the number of award recipients who cited working mothers as powerful early examples and role models. Stephanie Gibbons' example of her mother, who had grown from field nurse to hospital administrator, stuck out as particularly inspiring - and it was hard not to wonder whether observing the example of women working and succeeding, in a time when mothers frequently did not work, was at least a part of what catalyzed many of these women to succeed, and to believe that success was possible and attainable in the world of 'cable cowboys'. Interestingly, most of the award winners also cited strong women mentors/bosses early on in their career, underscoring the importance of women mentoring women.

Stephanie also extended the notion of hard work to caution the audience not to ever lose touch with the actual work, the reason why you are here in the first place – to maintain a 'yeoman-like attitude to work', no matter how high you get. She explained that staying connected with the actual work enabled you to remain relevant and useful, by keeping you in touch with what had brought you to the dance, originally.

On unconventional thinking, it was Mindy Grossman's reflections that resonated the most. Now CEO of Home Shopping Network and one of the few female CEO's of a public company, she described her own career path as unconventional and perhaps somewhat unpredictable. The guiding principal that united her decisions has been only to seek out what would fuel her passion and purpose. She urged audiences to challenge the status quo, to believe in the ripple effect of belief, and change, and to become committed to creating examples of diversity in the workplace.

Having spent much of her career in retail, she can be credited for establishing the Nike Women's Leadership Council, after recognizing the relative absence of women within the Nike management ranks. She pointed out that the future of the development and growth of women in the workplace lay largely in the hands of women to accelerate themselves and each other, and issued a challenge to all the women in the audience who have achieved success, to take personal responsibility for mentoring the next generation.

Also a proponent of unconventional thinking, Lisa Schwartz of IFC Entertainment added,

'Make choices that involve risk and a leap of faith... It’s OK to go left when everyone’s going right'.

She also called out thanks to those in the audience who had been willing to make that leap of faith with her earlier in her career, who had approached new ideas with the generous spirit of 'let's see where this takes us'.

Finally, regarding the importance of teams Michelle Kim, Time Warner Cable perhaps summed it up most powerfully when she said: teams comprise the ‘outside forces that serve as a catalyst for strength’. Christina Miller, Turner Sports and Cartoon Network Enterprises, underscored this by saying that success is made possible in the first place by those around you. Therefore, it becomes hugely important to care personally about the people with whom you work, to be as good as you possibly can to them, to mentor promising talent and, when within your power, fight for promotions for them.

After all, Stephanie Gibbons wryly noted, they're going to deserve everything you can get for them for all the hell that you'll put them through on a daily basis with your high standards and your never settle, never stop attitude to work...

Tips on best practices when getting your new venture going or when building your team

2011-02-21T21:12:00.000-05:00

This week I attended a Best Practices event moderated by Joe Chin, an entrepreneur and currently the founding CEO of SourcePad.

Here are a few takeaways that I jotted down in case they can be helpful:

1) Everyone has a unique ability.

You just have to know what it is. Once found and understood, don't make employees do things that are not their unique ability - assemble teams whose strengths are complementary. This goes for founders as well - delegate everything that is not your unique ability, resist the temptation to spend time doing the things that you are merely average, or even above average at.

This taps into classic drucker, reminding me of the following quote:

“Unless, therefore, an executive looks for strength and works at making strength productive, he will only get the impact of what a man cannot do, of his lacks, his weaknesses, his impediments to performance and effectiveness. To staff from what there is not and to focus on weakness is wasteful - a misuse, if not abuse, of the human resource.”
- Peter Drucker, The Effective Executive

Broadly speaking - if you coach someone who is weak at an activity really really well, you maybe can
get them to a base level of mediocrity, or averageness. The myth of the all-rounder is one that we want to leave behind - rather than looking for a workforce of above average all-rounders, seek out and assemble teams where everyone could become best in the world at their specific talent.

2) Seek out and hire employees who come 'batteries included'.

Yes - it means exactly how it sounds. Both speakers agreed that some people just arrive pre-loaded, resourceful, energetic, willing to do what it takes... and others just don't come with batteries included. You have to spend all your time 'charging them up'. Money can't change this, no amount of coaching will change that fundamental inner state - so when hiring, actively look for it in people. Other indicators of 'batteries included' people include an action orientation, drive, energy, a bias for just doing stuff. Passion is important but sometimes even passionate people can't get stuff done.
The speakers also extended this definition to include investors, co-founders - basically anyone you surround yourself with need to come with batteries included.

3) Find a consistent value set in your founding members

While most other things could be negotiable, both speakers insisted that this was not - value set differences don't work, and founding parties need to ensure there are consistent goal orientations.

4) Develop a healthy disrespect for boundaries

Too much respect can hold you back, and prevent you from taking action. Encourage a healthy disrespect for authority and for boundaries in your teams, just enough so that it will never get in the way of getting things done or following the best possible path. This is critical for those in the start-up space (and elsewhere) - where time cannot be lost not wanting to tread on delicate toes.

5) Practice optimism in the face of reality

The best leaders can see a situation for what it is (even when bad) and simultaneously be able to start navigating a path through it with optimism. This hearkens of the book 'The Opposable Mind', where author Roger Martin describes the importance of integrative thinking: that the best leaders are able to stare at a situation and know that it is hopeless, yet be able to, at the same time, look at the facts with hope and push through to find a creative solution.

Other useful points that were discussed:

- the importance of continually pruning your team (a star this year will not necessarily be a star next year, or the next)
- learning how to learn, and to remain in a constant state of learning
- look for utility players, who are super smart and capable - but don't necessarily make the move of bringing them on as founders

Here are details about the speakers:

Lucinda Duncalfe Holt
* Multiple success Serial CEO (recognized as CEO of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, etc.)
* Founded and sold TurnTide to Symantec for $28 million in 6 month period
* Grew Destiny Websolutions as CEO from $250k to $25 million in revenue

Steven Krein
* Health-focused social media expert (The Today Show, CNN, Fox, CNBC, Bloomberg, etc.)
* Founded and led Promotions.com to successful IPO on NASDAQ
* Founder and current CEO of OrganizedWisdom Health

Results are in: leadership leads

2011-02-13T13:44:00.000-05:00

We recently ran a short study among our members, which currently amounts to just on 800 women working in media and technology related fields in the New York area. As we plan our 2011 event and content slate, we want to make sure that we are tuned to what is most important to you. Over 100 of you took our survey - thank you! (Having worked for several years with consumer research panels with comScore I am VERY impressed by what amounts to almost a 13% response rate - unheard of!!)

We certainly learned a lot - about who you are, what you most want to develop in yourself, what kinds of topics interest you for future events and the biggest critical drivers that you feel would transform your professional careers.

Here are a few topline results to set the scene:

In terms of demographics, 73% of the group are 25-49 (breaking out into 38% and 35% respectively). We skew strongly towards higher income, with just on 40% earning $150,000+, and over 60% in the six figures and over range. Nearly a quarter of respondents are founders of their own company, with the remaining women working roughly evenly in companies of all sizes.

Here is what you told us are the main things you want to develop in yourself professionally:

As you can see, Leadership is viewed by far to be the most important development goal, with almost two thirds of respondents choosing this quality.

But what does it mean to be a great leader, and what are the most important behaviors and knowledge to take your own leadership to the next level?

While this is by no means the only factor, the following is an important place to start, and one which seems so obvious that it is frequently overlooked in discussions on leadership.

Developing a true desire to lead

All leadership begins with a genuine desire to guide, support and to otherwise add value to the lives of others. True leadership is not an externality – it comes from within, and it is given by others, through trust. You have to genuinely want to lead people - through both the good and the bad - and to understand that this takes considerable effort, patience and persistence.
While many wish to lead, most do not want to truly follow through with the work required to earn the the permission to lead. Let's be honest here: leadership, though rewarding, can be hard work. A genuine willingness and desire to lead others must therefore be consciously chosen.

What does wanting to lead others really mean to you? If it’s about wanting to be affirmed or to be validated, or just because you see it as something you need to do to get ahead, then you will struggle to be a successful leader.

At its heart, a desire to lead means genuinely wanting to:

- - Do the things that others are not prepared to do in order to produce consistently strong results

- - Be brave and take full responsibility for setting the course within an organization, group or division, and be fully accountable for the execution (although many pieces of the execution may be delegated). It goes without saying that full responsibility and accountability does not mean taking credit for the work rightly completed by others

- - Hold yourself to high standards and set a positive example for others to live by

- - Be trustworthy, honest, authentic and to otherwise act congruently with your beliefs and values

- - Develop and empower others to become successful at what they do

- - Be the best you can be, and to not hold yourself or others back from reaching your full potential, or from dreaming big dreams

Genuinely wanting these things for yourself and for others within your organization can greatly increase your credibility and the speed with which people will buy into what you say, making you the kind of person who others will look to to set the direction and who they will endow with greater and greater responsibility, and trust.

What do you think is the most important element of a great leader? I'd love to hear from you on this!

Leadership as a quality to be developed is followed by Entrepreneurship (47% agreed), and then by Stress Management (40%). Entrepreneurship rated highly notwithstanding 75% of respondents currently work inside of companies (not in a founder role), revealing that the thinking and methodologies of successful entrepreneurship can be applied at any level of professional life (and likely also that many of you have dreams of starting your own company!)

The high rate of agreement in the importance of developing Stress Management techniques came as a bit of a surprise to me at first - although upon reflection this makes perfect sense. High performers frequently put themselves and their bodies under strain with constant travel, pressured situations and ever expanding responsibilities and accountability - remembering to take care of yourself and to manage your state so that you can both continue to perform at your peak and not make health concessions is something that increasingly needs to be an area of focus for sustainable personal and professional development.

wimLink event November 16th - women on the web with Linda Abraham, comScore and other panel guests!

2010-11-08T00:35:00.000-05:00

Our next wimLink event will be hosted at The Economist's offices in New York, and will open with a keynote presentation by Linda Abraham, CMO and EVP Global Business Development, comScore. Following this presentation will be a short Q&A, and then a panel discussion (guests still to-be-announced) and networking session over wine and cheese.

As always, there will be an opportunity at the start of the evening to mention any professional/work opportunities and to make open announcements.

Here is some more information about the keynote presentation:

Behind Every Great Computer, There’s a Great Woman: An In-Depth Look at How Women Have and Continue to Shape the Digital Environment

In this presentation, Linda Abraham will share real-life data, industry insights and anecdotal evidence supporting the past, present and future role that women have played in shaping the digital ecosystem. She’ll highlight key global trends pertaining to this topic, including the difference in usage and consumption patterns among men and women, a look at differences in social networking, e-commerce, video consumption and search behaviors, and an analysis of how these trends differ by geographic regions. Finally, Ms. Abraham will share her perspective on what can be learned from these differences, and perhaps equally as important, what can be gleaned from any commonalities.

Top-line findings from study include:

• Women spend more time online than men in every age bracket. The average 15+ female spends 7 percent more time online than the average male in that age group. In February, this was a global average of 23.4 hours per month for women, compared to 21.8 hours per month for men.

• Women are heavy social networkers, and they spend more time on these sites than men. Women are 8% more likely to visit a social network, and when they do, they spend 34% more time there.
• Women helped to propel the growth of Twitter. In March of 2009, a month where Twitter experienced some of its fastest growth, the Twitter audience skewed heavily toward females, with this group capturing 57% share in the U.S., respectively.

• Women are emerging as a key constituency for online gaming. The growing popularity of board, solitaire, and other “casual” games are putting mom and grandma alongside teen males amongst the heaviest users of online gaming sites.

• Women are driving the trend toward heavy entertainment and lifestyle news consumption online. Entertainment and Lifestyle categories – which both skew heavy on time spent among the female population – are also among some of the fastest growing areas of the Internet.

• Women played a key role in the rapid growth of digital photo-sharing. And, they are still a dominant force in this category, with women around the world spending an average of 500 million more minutes on photo sites in a given month than males.

• Women are most likely to use the Internet for Health-related information. The Health category has one of the largest overall differences in male and female reach, with a 6-point difference between penetration of global males and females 15+.

Last event for 2008 - One Question, One Answer

2008-12-03T01:39:00.001-05:00

One Question, One Answer.

Which really keeps the universe in balance, right? Now not wanting to get too esoteric or (eek) quasi mathematical, but I do think there is a lot going on right now that is keeping many of us slightly off center and off balance. Wherever I look I hear chicken little telling me that the sky is falling, that now is not the time to take risks and that if we all just bury our heads in the sand and hope that this goes away, we will somehow weather this inevitable storm until it moves on to find its next victim.

Well folks - this 'pretend to be a tree and stay still till the scary animal goes away' strategy didn't work for the environment or global warming, it didn't work for the record labels at the advent of itunes, and it won't work for us now. Now more than ever we need to be dipping into our resourcefulness bucket and tapping into every bit of creative energy and savvy that we have. In a down market, opportunities abound -and you will also be doing your bit to help turn the tide for everyone else who are running in the wrong direction.

Now more than ever we need entrepreneurs, creative problem solvers and smart, positive people. We need them to build jobs, build back industries and drive growth and find the opportunities in the obstacles. This is not the time to stand still.

On this note, we want the next event to profile some of the great women entrepreneurs who are doing this well, and finding new strategies/adjusting their strategies to account for a new market and a new world.

This has definitely been an amazing first year for wimLink.

By the time we all chink champagne glasses and herald in the New Year, we will have had 4 great events - all very different and achieving different goals, all fun and unique in their own way. Friendships were created and strengthened, work relationships formed and solidified, job opportunities and business ventures shared. All involving cheese and booze (thanks Erika for the stunner at the pitching/think tank event held downtown at Tipping Point Partners - I can never get mine to look even remotely as fabulous :))

We had our first meeting this evening, the first in a long time where we got to catch up and hash it all out, brainstorm and work out the best way to send 2008 out with a bang. Right now we're thinking 3 female entrepreneurs each with a business story to tell and one key piece of advice or a learning to share, as well as a key creative problem/challenge that they want to pose for the audience.

We will be firming this format up and taking speaker submissions shortly, I will post more details here and at the wimLink meetup group so stay tuned...

network(ed)

2008-09-16T01:07:00.001-04:00

At tonight's event, one of the most interesting points that came up was in relation to how we perceive networking. Rather than seeing it as a 'necessary evil', the audience was urged to consider what types of connections came most easily to them, and how people could make the most of their individual personalities to build out their professional safety net.

Marion used several examples from her book 'The N-Factor' - which were also gifted to audience members who donated to Camp Interactive - and lead the audience through a specific case study of a business partner of hers.

So how does one move through the perception that networking is some kind of scary, dirty word?

Marion suggests that it is useful to think of it as a meaningful human connection and a relationship like any other that needs investment, maintenance and care. For those out there after the 'quick fix' then it probably wouldn't yield anything of value. But, being lucky enough to work in one of the most exciting and interesting fields out there right now, a lot can be said for wanting and making the effort to connect with others interested in your field, and helping each other grow, strength for strength.

Our next event - the power of networking

2008-09-03T14:46:00.000-04:00

We are well into preparations towards an informal evening of networking and chat with author and serial entrepreneur Marion Freijsen, whose recently published book 'The N-Factor' brings to light some important truths about the power of networking and its practical business applications.

During her career, Marion Freijsen has experienced many challenges and successes, most recently with the creation of E-factor, a social network and professional online community for entrepreneurs. Marion will talk with wimLink about the importance and power of networking, her personal experiences of success by maintaining a strong network, and how networking can be consciously applied for substantial professional support and growth.

Meet the Nerd Girls

2008-08-01T16:09:00.000-04:00

Wow so girls can be attractive and visually palatable..?
Quite a revelation.

Mentorship for women in technology - new studies highlight how important this actually is

2008-06-20T13:05:00.000-04:00

One of the core goals of wimLink is to encourage women to support women.

Through actions. And mentoring. And being open about resources, and connections, and building things together.

We have been talking about developing professional mentorships for some time, and an article that I read earlier this week really highlighted the long-term value of this - the article is written by Kathleen Melymuka in ComputerWorld, but it references a larger study by Sylvia Ann Hewitt (founding president of the Center for Work-Life Policy in New York), Carolyn Buck Luce and Lisa J Servon entitled “The Athena Factor: Reversing the Brain Drain in Science, Engineering, and Technology”. They also write an interesting article, 'Stopping the Exodus of Women in Science' which is highly worth a look.

The study reveals that, contrary to popular beliefs, female scientists, engineers, and technologists exist in large numbers. Between the ages 25 and 30, 41% of the young talent with credentials in technology are female.

Disturbingly though, they are also abandoning their chosen professions in droves as they move towards the 35-40 age bracket, at which time 52% will drop out and leave the technology field altogether. And no - they are not leaving the workforce for family reasons...

One of the key reasons that the study propose for this is:
- mysterious and unclear means towards career progression
With the lack of women mentors, the study argues that it is harder for women to begin to map what their career path will look like - and find modeling themselves or their ambitions on female examples still very challenging;
- the sheer isolation many women cope with daily, being the only woman on the team or the only senior woman at a facility;
In a sense, the exodus of women during this time perpetuates the continued exodus of women - and adds to the difficulty of rising in the ranks when those in the ranks about face and leave.

Disturbingly, hostility in workplace culture was also a factor, with a whopping 63% of women in science, engineering and technology reporting harrassment in some form or another.

Reducing female attrition by one–quarter would add 220,000 qualified people to the highly qualified science, engineering and technology (SET) labor pool. To prevent the 'brain drain' that occurs as these women leave, and for companies to protect their investment in human capital, a handful of larger corporations are embarking on some interesting initiatives. They range from Cisco’s “Executive Talent Insertion Program”, which breaks down female isolation, to Johnson & Johnson’s “Crossing the Finish Line”, which helps young, female, multicultural employees make it into senior management.

Top 10 participating companies at this stage are:

- Microsoft
- Google
- General Electric
- Alcoa
- Intel
- Cisco
- MIT
- Johnson & Johnson
- IBM
- Pfizer

original programming for the web...the much talked about and so often overlooked stepchild of the repurposed majors

2008-06-13T16:47:00.001-04:00

So much talk these days centers around the dichotomy between UGC and professional content - and by professional, we are referring to television and film programming that has been primarily repurposed for online viewing. With all of the energy and commotion around the advent of web-specific online video, it is frustrating that only once major brands began to move online with their popular offline programs, that advertisers have started to prick up their ears and pay attention.

Perhaps that's not entirely fair. After all, publishers and networks alike have been putting their heads together to formulate a viable online video business model for some time, with varying results. And further, if we're just buying/selling television on the web, then it's a clear proposition, that's easy. People - whether or not they are internet people - will get it. This whole online video/fragmented market places and something about tails that are long can kind of all begin to seem like mumbo jumbo after awhile...

So I guess a perspective then is: big networks with their popular shows and films on the web serves another valuable purpose - to educate the market that this stuff works, and that the advertising inventory is valuable and has significant ROI - especially if you're trying to scrub in hard to reach places.

Will hulu indeed be the youtube killer? It's definitely too early yet to know, but it seems as though the internet video ecosystem is such that the two can co-exist peaceably and in harmony, without cannibalizing each other or competing for even the same eyeballs.

My vote goes towards putting all this beautiful competitive energy into creating an online video space with a few successful (financial) players first, then we can go about seeing how we can carve it up and vie for position, and dare I even dream, industry dominance.

WimLink entepreneurs event - women in business debrief

2008-06-12T17:43:00.000-04:00

Well it's been a pretty interesting time in my part of the world, apologies for the tardiness of this post! I was really excited about the turnout to our last event, and about the amazing calibre of women who put their business concepts to the test, and those who gave of their time and experience to challenge and develop these concepts.

What became really clear to me at the event, was that there is a real need for a space in which new business concepts can be aired, sounded out, and put to the test in front of generous, experienced people with good brains. Even if the ultimate result of that kind of exercise is the death of a concept (or the creation of something new and better!), it certainly would be a valuable process. In my former life screenwriting, I learned through painful process that some ideas are, well, really only ever intended for the bottom drawer and not at all for the light of day - while others very naturally gain energy and momentum.

Seeing this, wimLink has its marching orders on the entrepreneurial front - and this is to create a thinktank/incubator type regular event, designed primarily for someone with a great idea, to test it with experts in the marketplace and see if it has legs. This is something which we will be enlisting help and partnership on over the weeks and months to come, and it will be interesting to see where we land... the aim, of course, being the successful launch and/nurturing of early stage businesses, to successfully move through angel investment and VC phases.

One more entrepreneur announced

2008-05-12T17:41:00.000-04:00

We are thrilled to let you know that we have just confirmed that Pam Chmiel will also be joining us as a Pitching Entrepreneur.

Pam is a co-founder of Teen Entrepreneur Bootcamp and is also a seasoned entrepreneur, being one of the owners of successful downtown coffee bar Klatch

'Teen Entrepreneur Boot Camp is an extreme business experience for teens. Our mission is to create an intensive learning environment that will teach them business survival and life skills. What differentiates us from traditional business education is that the teens actually open a REAL business for one day. This exciting environment will be the magic catapult that unleashes their talents, opens their minds to the possibilities, and gives them the confidence to think big and act on it. In this way, we will nurture the next generation of entrepreneurs and encourage the business leaders of tomorrow'.

Five Female Entrepreneurs Selected for our 2nd WimLink event this Tuesday May 13th

2008-05-11T21:49:00.000-04:00

We are excited to announce our 5 Pitching Entrepreneurs for the 2nd WimLink Event - Perfecting Your Pitch - this Tuesday, May 13th at 6pm.
We had a great number of strong, well prepared submissions, thank you to everyone who took the time to put their ideas out there... and congratulations to our five entrepreneurs below who will be pitching to small advisory boards of experts this Tuesday to hone and develop their pitch:

Rachel Sterne, Groundreport.com -a participatory news platform that democratizes the media.

Tikva Morowati - an addictive social software gaming platform to teach investing and money management to 20 - 40 year olds who are not (yet) money savvy

Mila Bakhareva, Istari Technologies LLC - Data-mining systems and visualization software based on internet analytics, for predictive modeling of future trends

Jocelyn Anker, PopArtForTots - an online retailer catering to the style-conscious mom interested in treating her tot to a special, non-standard milieu of artwork.

Tiffany Sumner, Flyerrewards.com - a unique, FREE service to travelers, tracking their rewards automatically through one single site

We have a great lineup of women participating, and are really looking forward to Tuesday's event and to seeing these ideas grow and develop, and to help move them to the next level.

Female Entrepreneurs Perfect Their Pitch

2008-04-25T10:13:00.001-04:00

There is no question that the number of female entrepreneurs has been rising, as with the number of women in upper level management. For example, in 2002 women held 37.2 percent of U.S. jobs in management occupations, more than double the 17.6 percent of 1972. Nearly a quarter of U.S. chief executives were women in 2005—a total of 391,000. Women have also become more entrepreneurial, owning a half interest or better in nearly 40 percent of U.S. businesses (compared with 4.6 percent of US business enterprises in 1972).

These are fantastic numbers. Great, great achievements and trending towards positive growth.

But then, there are more sobering facts to consider as well, and these came as a real shock to me.

A recent article in USA today, coupled with a quick re-read of the 3rd Annual APPC Report on Women Leaders in Communication Companies (created by Erika Falk, Ph.D., Washington Research Director,and Erin Grizard, Research Assistant, of the Annenberg Public Policy Centre of UPenn), gives a much more measured view. The percentage of women with what they deem to be 'clout' positions in media, rested in 2003 at only 3%. Also, women owned business tend to be small - about 80 percent took in less than $50,000 in 2002, and nearly 85 percent had fewer than 10 employees.

The point is not to dwell on this - or from my perspective, even to drill down and understand the reason that this is so (family commitments? different industries targeted?), but merely to say that now more than ever, let's focus on creating and building, and on helping each other succeed.

We have founded only 3 Fortune 1000 companies in the last 35 years. Let's work on seeing this number grow to at least double digits ladies!!

Along this vein...for those of you with an entrepreneurial flair that have been sitting on an idea and wondering, what if, if only...

Pick up those business plans and scrawls and musings, and bring them to our next event!!

We are currently in planning for an informal workshop series for female entrepreneurs to have the chance to pitch their concepts to a small advisory board of peer experts, with specialist skills.

The planning committee comprises a great team of women, including Nicole Tecco Reece of Tipping Point Partners, Juliette Powell, creator of The Gathering, Jocelyn Anker and Kathryn Jones (creator of synchronis.tv)

This will be a great opportunity to have your idea examined, dissected, strengthened, and also to find your own startup Advisory Board, which is definitely crucial in developing successful businesses that leverage the experience and contacts of others.

For our first event - which we are pinning for May 13th to be held at Tipping Point Partners sleek downtown offices - we are taking open submissions for entrepreneurs and experts, and will be selecting 5 entrepreneurs overall.

Contentinople - The Economics of Content Delivery

2008-04-23T15:06:00.001-04:00

I was at a conference event yesterday which was created by contentinople, at the Westin in New York, centered around the economics of content - spanning advertising, production, distribution and technical hosting/delivery. Gaming got a good look in, with a standout presentation from FIM's Scott Bender who triumphantly announced that gaming properties are becoming social networks.

The feeling is still pretty clear though - no one is quite sure how to make money with online video. Mike Hudack gave a strong presentation around the way that blip.tv carves out the online video world, categorizing content into 4 primary veins:

- friends and family video
- viral video
- webTV
- network and cable TV

And perhaps somewhere in that delineation between different 'types' of online content lies the answer. Surely enough, we have been crying out for online video standards for a long time, and maybe the first step begins in at least being able to differentiate between the types of content out there, beyond the typical (and frustratingly oversimplified) demarcation between 'professional' content and UGC. As we can see from the blip.tv example, and with a whole host of other great original content creators who are more than repurposed film/tv for the web (Next New Networks, ON Networks, Black20, For Your Imagination all immediately spring to mins), this line is not enough, and it is also confusing for advertisers... which is ultimately where we can all concede the money will come from in a viable online video business model, at least in the near term.

Event for tonight completely booked

2008-03-13T10:11:00.000-04:00

The future of Women in Media - first WimLink event:

Dina Kaplan (COO and Co-Founder, blip.tv), Nicole Tecco (Principal, Tipping Point Partners) and Shanthi Sarkar (SVP Product Management and Operations at ContextWeb) share their insights and perspectives on trends, opportunities as well as discuss the strategies for thriving in the rapidly evolving Media & Technology landscape. We will also discuss the digital economy, and how that is impacting media and technology professionals - and what the future of collaboration and innovation might be.

Juliette Powell (an entrepreneur and media specialist with a decade of experience in broadcast, interactive content, production and strategy, and co-founder of The Gathering Think Tank) will moderate the evening.

One of the main objectives of tonight is to introduce the WimLink Organization to everyone - to share the objectives and encourage dialogue and involvement, and to discuss what trends and opportunities we are seeing in the future of media. Rebecca Shaw, my co-founder, likened the tone of the discussion to the book What Are You Optimistic About?: Today's Leading Thinkers on Why Things Are Good and Getting Betterwhich is compiled by John Brockman, and I think the analogy is apt.

Moderator Announced - Juliette Powell

2008-03-09T23:54:00.000-04:00

Plans for WimLink's first event on March 13th are coming along well. We have been completely booked out since last Thursday, but do email me if you're still interested in coming and I will put you on the guest list in case additional seats free up closer to Thursday.

I am really excited to announce that Juliette Powell will be joining our panelists to moderate the event - Juliette brings great experience, energy and flair and we are happy to have her. After my recent experience at NATPE with the Television Week 'Women in Syndication' Luncheon Panel (yes the one and same event which prompted the genesis of WimLink in the first place and which I blogged about earlier), I fully appreciate how important a great moderator is...

Juliette Powell is an entrepreneur and media specialist with a decade of experience in broadcast, interactive content, production and strategy. Juliette has worked with news makers ranging from Nelson Mandela and Richard Branson to Tom Cruise and Prince Charles. In 2007, Powell was commissioned by a broadcaster to create a cross-platform show for web, tv, mobile and radio called iQuestion (Fall 2009).

Powell is a popular guest speaker at such institutions as MIT's Innovation Forum, NYU's Interactive Technology Program, and the Producer's Guild of America's New Media Council and is the co-founder of The Gathering Think Tank, an innovation forum at the intersection of the technology, media, and business communities.

Powell is also the author of an upcoming book on social networking due out on Amazon (Dec. 2008).

girls rule in internet content creation

2008-02-28T10:50:00.001-05:00

This just in from emarketer:

Forget the stereotypes you may have about computer nerds.

According to a study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, teen girls are the primary creators of Internet content, including blogs, graphics, photographs and Web sites.

Pew studied 12-to-17-year-olds and found a widening gender gap in blogging. While the number of teenage bloggers nearly doubled from 2004 to 2006, the growth was mostly due to increased activity by girls. More than one-third of girls and 20% of boys blogged.

Girls also eclipsed boys in Web page creation, 32% compared to 22%.

In social networking 70% of girls ages 15 to 17 had social networking site profiles, in contrast to 57% of boys.

Boys outperformed girls only in video posting, in which they were twice as likely as girls to post.

Researchers at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, at the Harvard Law School, suggested different motives behind girls' and boys' online creations.

Self-expression appeared to drive the girls, while videos posted by boys tend to be less about self-expression and more about impressing others.

"It's an ideal way for members of a subculture—skateboarders, snowboarders—to demonstrate their athleticism," said John Palfrey of the Berkman Center.

As the barriers to creation are lifted, it is interesting to see the different ways that Social Media is encouraging people to express themselves, and to connect with others.

Upcoming WIMLINK Event - March 13

2008-02-10T12:06:00.001-05:00

Dream Big - the Future of Women in Media

Here is a rundown of our upcoming event. A direct link to the full listing and how to RSVP can be found here

As this is our inaugural event, we have decided to make it a free event for all - so please spread the word, bring interested friends or work colleagues, and help us make this event a success.

Venue - somewhere in Manhattan, TBD.

7:00 - 7:30pm
Pick up your name tags, meeting each other and settling in - preferably with a beverage :)

7:30 - 8:15pm
Panel Discussion & Open Forum
3 Female Guests (TBC) share their insights and perspectives on Current & Future Trends, as well as discuss the Strategies for thriving in the rapidly evolving Media & Technology landscape.

We will also discuss the digital economy, and how that is impacting media and technology professionals - and what the future of collaboration and innovation might be.

8:15 - 9
Network and meet your peers!

*There will also be an opportunity to announce job opportunities, new business ventures, and request help in collaboration on new projects at the end of the panel discussion*

Any questions please post them here, or contact us through the Women in Media & Technology group, at http://media.meetup.com/76/

NATPE - women in syndication panel lunch

2008-02-06T09:58:00.000-05:00

I was recently out in Las Vegas for the 2008 NATPE Conference, and attended the Television Week Women in Syndication luncheon.

Aside from it being my first time in Vegas (which I hear is always something of a shock in itself), it was also one of the first events I had attended for some time that had as its primary focus the celebration of women's achievements in media. In fact, it was promised to be a celebration and examination of:

'how the female demographic viewing syndicated programming has evolved (and) how women’s roles on-air and behind-the-scenes have progressed and revolutionized the business.'

Read the full rundown here.

Among the esteemed panelists were:
- BARBARA “BO” ARGENTINO, executive vice president, advertising and media sales, NBCU Domestic Television Distribution
- LINDA BELL BLUE, executive producer, “Entertainment Tonight” and “The Insider”
- JOANNE BURNS, executive vice president, marketing, research and new media, Twentieth Television
- STEPHANIE DRACHKOVITCH, co-owner and executive producer, 44 Blue Productions
- LISA HACKNER, executive vice president, creative affairs, Telepictures Productions

Amazing. I was so excited.

But whilst, on balance, the luncheon was a positive event and a great idea by Television Week, and the food was pretty good and the room decked out nicely, the proceedings themselves failed to inspire, taking a somewhat darker turn when the panel talk was opened out to the audience about forty minutes in.

A rather angered woman stuck her hand up and, when called upon to speak, expressed her complete outrage at the way the panel discussion had primarily been angled towards the difficulty of balancing child rearing and a successful career.

"A man", she scathingly noted, "would never have to discuss such a thing when called upon to celebrate his professional career".

She did not stop there, turning her wrath then upon the moderator of the panel himself, TelevisionWeek Editorial Director Chuck Ross.

"YOU, GENTLEMAN!!" - she growled, "ARE PRECISELY THE PROBLEM!!!"

Poor Chuck. That was harsh. And Chuck took it well, all things considered, and even apologetically noted that originally a woman had been slated to moderate the panel instead of he, as though somehow his gender - not the formulation of questions and the pre-interview - had been the problem. As though he would have, with a different chromosomal composition, have had it play out much differently.

I will say that the attack - if I may call it that - was not entirely fair. It is widely agreed that these issues do indeed bear upon professional women, and therefore need to be addressed. The panelists themselves had agreed to the subject matter and it wasn't as though they were being sprung.

But the underlying point of it was - we had come here to celebrate stellar careers and achievements, and to discuss the future of media and the ways that women practitioners and creators were going to be instrumental in shaping it.

What we got, instead, was a sobering counterpoint view to the prevailing notion that a woman can have it all.

When pushed, Linda Bell Blue had admitted that her love for her career had meant that the only realistic option was to not have children - a sacrifice that she had willingly entered into, but a sacrifice nonetheless. Joanne Burns, in her wonderfully animated and affable way, echoed a similar experience, noting dryly that her mother still encouraged her to adopt.

Barbara 'Bo' Argentino had a stay at home husband - clearly not an option for many working women who were not at the pinnacle of success. Only Stephanie Drachkovitch seemed to have the elements in balance, although one might think she asserted the equality of the sexes too vehemently - claiming that she had never, ever seen an incident where gender inequality might have had a role to play. Which made what she had to say less plausible thereafter.

It got me to thinking though. And it got me to imagining, and wondering why there is still such a paucity of women entrepreneurs, or companies run by women which move in the same space as those run by men. I mean - all the elements are there - education, opportunity, inclination, experience and skills - yet something still seems to not quite be connecting.

And so WIMLINK was born. Borne of a desire to bring female innovators, achievers and dreamers together to create the new media and technology world, and help it grow. Not as distinct from men, but in addition to.

Let's see if something grows...

our first meeting...

2008-02-02T01:12:00.000-05:00

Hello readers!

I am thrilled that you have found WIMLINK (Women in Media Link). With your participation and ideas I hope we can grow our newly formed meet-up group into a global organisation promoting the development and advancement of women in media and technology everywhere.

We are seeking to become an ideas vault and collaboration space for women all over the world, to share their perspectives on the media and technology landscape and innovate with one another to shape the future.

The website, www.wimlink.com is currently under construction, but I am hoping to have it up and running soon :)

I want us to share job opportunities, business ventures, work strategies, new technologies, media theories... but most of all, I want us to create an environment where women are encouraged work with one another in a supportive and non-competitive way, and leverage one another in a business sense the way men have been doing for centuries past. I want to see women as active participants in the start-up and new media sphere, passionately pitching and evangelizing the future of media, and how best to effect change.

Now don't get me wrong - this organisation is not about men vs women, or about women working together to the exclusion of their male counterparts. Whole heartedly. I firmly believe there is infinite space for all. Adversity and scarcity is not the point. Neither is fractured or politicized gender relations, or the lamenting of unequal opportunities or the 'boy's club'. These may exist, but they are not my focus.

Instead of lamenting, I wish to build, and to build with you. We have the knowledge, the expertise, the savvy and the entrepreneurial spirit to shape the future of media - and shape it we must. The responsibility rests with us to pave the path of what will come and how we will be remembered - as the generation that aspired to be promoted, or that aspired to create the companies & ventures that promote and give opportunities to others?

We like no other generation of women have the tools right in front of us to take our place in the world in a more powerful and meaningful way.

The question is, will we...