The GWALS pre-summit continues to layer on more tools, skills and tidbits of information to help women ‘propel themselves’ into positions of power.

Some feedback from some of my readers:

• You cannot dial into the session on the day.  YOU HAVE TO PRE-REGISTER on the website for the pre-summit sessions.  You will then be emailed a personalized webinar invitation.  You can always choose not to attend, but now you have your options open.
• The same will be true for the full summit, so heads up.
• The Early Bird pricing is in effect until Thursday Oct 15.  I would take advantage!  Your ticket entitles you to the recordings of all the pre-summit sessions and a number of host give-aways.

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How to Stand Out with Magnetic Presence and Attract the Attention You Want  

I came away with a bushel full of advice from this presentation.  When you believe in and are engaged in what you are delivering, you shine and glow.  And that creates a magnetism that attracts to you the attention you needed all along.

Anyone who has read ‘The Secret‘ understands the concepts behind this.

But Rachael Jayne did more.  She runs the Yin project, and is focused on coaching a number of people who are already very passionate about their cause to be successful at improving their impact and inspiring change.

There are 6 pillars to a magnetic presence:

1. Body – speaking from your inside .. my translation .. really believing what you are saying
2. Energy – emanating an energy that is magnetic.  This can be good or bad – you can ‘tell’ when someone is having a bad day!
3. Voice – so much can be translated from our pitch, our warmth, our tone
4. Relationship to Fear – by re-phrasing our relationship and using fear to embolden not paralyze
5. Shadow Work – we each need to work on the part of us that wants to stay private, because that impacts how we are interpreted in the real world,  This section intersected really well with Dion Johnson’s presentation yesterday.  By being willing to address our shadow, we extend the range of our available emotions, and make ourselves more honest and available.
6. Your Warm Up Routine – don’t go on stage without it!

Takeaways, Notes & Quotes:

• The lower shakra
• Being able to speak and at the end of a day of meetings not be drained, because our energy was drawn from the right place.

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PowHerPlays for PowHerful Women:  Lessons in Life and Leadership

Karmetria is a very engaging and inspiring speaker.

What does POWER mean to you?  Does it bring images of Oprah and Hillary Clinton?  Is power synonymous with popularity and a job title?  Or does it mean your influence?  If so, welcome EVERYONE to a very powerful place!  Each of us – mothers, daughters, teachers, CEOs, Doctors, Nurses – has a sphere of influence and within that sphere we can exude confidence and influence.

Karmetria has an analogy that really resonated with me.  She calls it her ‘Playbook of PowHer Plays’.  Aha, I thought.  Playbooks have been calling out to me recently!  The Career Playbook (James Cetrin) was a great read this summer and one that I recommend.

So what are her Power Plays?

1. Know thyself (and know your value)
2. Have a Board of Directors – make sure it is diverse and has people you trust and respect
3. Don’t allow your role or title to define you *****
4. Prioritize and set boundaries
5. Find a Mentor, a Coach AND a Sponsor
6. QTIP – this will get lost in translation SIGN UP FOR HER SESSION AT THE SUMMIT ON Friday Oct 23 at 10am. (and you want to know this one!!)

On Playbooks

But why should we as women even look at ‘Playbooks’?  I have a son playing high school football.  He spends time each night studying his playbook and getting tested by his friend down the street.

• What is in this ‘bible’?  It is ALL the plays for offence and defence that the coaches have set up for the season.
• Why are these young men studying?  So that the moment the play is called, they each know where they should be on the field and what they should do next.
• But what are they really doing?  They are ANTICIPATING.  They are creating a COMMON VOCABULARY.  They are ROLE PLAYING.  In their minds, they have walked every step of the field time and time again.  And when they hit that field, this will not be the first time they have encountered this situation.

And maybe, just maybe, that is what they will do when they get to corporate life.  They will know where their friends are going to be; they will have scouting advice on where to block and tackle; they will have a sense of where they should be headed and what could be in the way.

Takeaways, Notes & Quotes:

• Playbooks – and the value of ‘time shifting’ or ‘visualizing’
• “If Lehman Brothers had been Lehman Brothers and Sisters we probably would not have had our financial meltdown” Betty Spence
• QTIP
• Don’t lead with your title, lead with WHO you are.  Don’t let your title define you – it could disappear, and that might not be in your control
• Share your stories with other women.  If it is good let them know where to get it.  If it is bad, alert them  Even if they have to go through it, at least they are warned!

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Entrepreneurs: How to Grow Your Corporate Contracts

Karmetria is a award-winning authority in supplier diversity.  In this presentation, she clued her listeners into what is needed to be able to take advantage of the diversity initiatives at Fortune 100 companies.

Unfortunately, she is not presenting this webinar at the full summit.  If you missed today’s event, the event will be available on the GWAL portal.

Her recommendations:

READY – Do your research, Know your competitive advantage, Get certified.

SET –  Identify the Key Decision Makers

GO – Sell a solution.   Earn their business – and then Rinse / Repeat – keep the business

Takeaways, Notes & Quotes:

• When you Earn the business, make sure you KEEP the business
• Get the right and appropriate certifications

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Achieving peak performance: Lessons from the world of Olympic sport that will transform your team and business

Olympic medalists are among the most elite performers in the world.  They operate at a very high level in a very public arena.  Their successes are well documented.  Their failures are spectacular and very visible.  Athletes often suffer from a very deep lows after their euphoric highs.

Claire has been able to transfer a number of the lessons learned from the world of elite performance sport into her business practice.

Constant Feedback and Coach ahead of the Event

A good athlete is constantly asking for advice AHEAD of the event.  They want to be at their peak on the day of the event.  They want to be coached and ready.  Getting advice after the event is less useful.  A good coach will use the learning style of the athlete to target tweak a wrong stance or a dropped shoulder in order to maximize the efficiency of the athlete.  The advice is specific and targeted.

 Enjoy the moment.

Athletes found that they could get very depressed as they came off the high of a win and end up back in real-life “Spectacular Failure”.  The solution was to have a system:

• Celebrate and acknowledge the win
• Take a short break from the mundane
• RESET
• Move forwards

This allowed the entire team to process and enjoy the event, but to create closure.  Instead of always living in a past glory, it also speaks to moving forward.

This happens in the workplace too.  The individual usually ends up isolating themselves.  A good manager will have a de-brief and ask pertinent questions that trigger and empower improvement: ‘What worked well”, “what did you fail and and why” “what could work differently next time”

Takeaways, Notes & Quotes:

• High performance athletes, like high performing business executives thrive on:
  • repeated and continuos feedback
  • fine tuning their performance
  • being aware of their blind spots
  • being held accountable
• Coaches have to know how to give feedback; athletes have to know when to ask for it

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How to be Politically Savvy – and be a good person too 

What can I say?  We are living through the midst of election fever!  The Canadians go the polls in October 2015 and the US is watching a battle that will not resolve until November 2016.

I thought this was going to talk about Politics with a capital P and how women could engage in the process and still come out smelling sweet.

Well it wasn’t.  It was about office politics.  Oh, I hear you say as you scroll through … BUT WAIT!

Michelle forecast your reaction fairly accurately.  Most women avoid office politics.  They don’t want to feel tainted.  They would rather keep a low profile or ignore events around them.  Politics is synonymous with manipulation or dirty tactics.  Or they swing to the other extreme and are outraged.

But we need to re-frame the question and take advantage of office politics.  We need to get on the radar.  We often say that if we do our job and do it well (expert, SME) we will be recognized.  But that is not necessarily the case.

Promote brand YOU

Change your power mantra.  Own your power.  Say ‘Power’ can be a source of good.  Use politics to plan ahead.  If you are visiting a branch office, research ahead to see if there may be contacts that can help you achieve your 18 month set of objectives.  Figure out what is your ASK.

Takeaways, Notes & Quotes:

• ‘Politics – Survival of the Savvy’ Rick Brandon
• ‘Brag! – the Art of Tooting your own horn without blowing it’ Peggy Klaus
• If a man talks about ambition, it is considered necessary.  If a woman discusses her ambition, it is considered a selfish act.
• Politics is as simple as planning a little ahead; using your talents to help others, figure out what your ‘ask’ is.
• You are worth it.  Don’t give up your power and give up on your position because you don’t want to play office politics.

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The Invitation – When you are ready to take the next step 

Yes, yes, yes.  I am really looking forward to the full summit version of this presentation.

Mary has a wonderful story to weave.  Having written The Invitation, she took her own advice and traveled the world for 3 years.

I expected the presentation to be a version of a travelogue, and a discussion on ‘well you earned it, so go spend your later years exploring the world’.  Instead it was a wonderful half hour that just sped by.  Yes, she did show some amazing photos, and share some incredible travel stories.

But, male or female, Mary Lo is very committed to helping you take your next step – when you are ready

• You have to first surrender to the process.
• Then you have to be clear on what you need.  God says “ask and you shall receive” (see also The Secret).  He doesn’t say “MAKE ME GUESS”

1. Set an intention
2. So what do I need to quit

WINNERS QUIT

I loved this concept.  In order to succeed you have to be clear about what you need to shed that is getting in the way.

Takeaways, Notes & Quotes:

• Winners Quit
• God said “Ask and you shall receive”  He did not say “Make me guess” 🙂

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Global Ambition:  Harnessing the Talent and Potential of Women Leaders

I really do recommend watching the replay of this pre-summit if you cannot make the full hour session.  It is chock-a-block full of reports, statistics and charts that make some very stark points.

One that hit home – with a global population that is approximately 50% female, only 1% of all top earners are female.

It is clear that there are opportunities to be had and a strong business case for incorporating women into the workforce.  One estimate suggests that if women double their contribution, it could account for a $12 trillion increase in global growth.

But that was stats.  What about actual action items that can actual create global opportunity for a high performing female executive?  Maya discussed a few concepts:

SPHERES OF CONTROL, INFLUENCE AND CONCERN

Figure out your sphere of control (those items that are 100% in your control), those in your sphere of Influence and your sphere of concern (the things that you cannot do much about, that may even keep you up at night).  She says ‘let it go’ to the sphere of concern.

TRAITS OF A SUCCESFUL LEADER

MALE OR FEMALE, they share these traits:

• Robust work ethic (often the last one out the door)
• Results oriented (care about the bottom line, have a direct impact on profitability)
• Resilience (stays the course)
• Persistent about getting feedback (look for their blindspots, continuous improvement)
• Team leader (challenges their team to do better, always setting up their team members for success)

One of the consistent themes in reviews for women is that they don’t have EXECUTIVE PRESENCE.  Pay attention to the need to be ambitious, to lean forward, body language, to be present and visible.

Takeaways, Notes & Quotes:

• The low percentage of female representation in positions of influence worldwide was scary
• Why do we need to teach young women to be ambitious?

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‘}…{‘

Over to you:

} .. Are you seeing trends in these presentations?

} .. What 2 items took you by surprise?  What data point stunned you?

} .. What one item did you decide to implement today?

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INSPIRATION AND RESEARCH MATERIAL FOR THIS BLOG:

• Got to www.gwals.com for the rest of the  pre-summit and full summit programs, and for the full presenter bios
• Register for the program here
• Link to GWALS facebook page