Women's Leadership Blog

MBA Series Part 2: Your Candidacy - Community Service/Extracurricular Activities

Business schools pride themselves on training future leaders, not just educating a bunch of people who know how to calculate an IRR and overuse the word “leverage.”  They look out for individuals who are concerned about doing great work and improving the world around them.  Some young business people feel that even though they have not prioritized “extracurricular” activities early in their careers, they will definitely emphasize these sorts of activities once they are more established.  However, more often than not, the patterns we establish towards community activities early in our careers remain fairly steady.  If you feel that your commitment over the last several years to outside causes does not reflect the balance you want to establish in your life…well, put your money where your mouth is and get involved.

 Leverage your interests

Why are extracurricular activities important to begin with?

• They show that an individual is multi-dimensional.  They demonstrate interests, passions, and personality.
• Being involved outside of work shows that you can balance multiple commitments.
• They can show that you have a larger view of the world – that you see what is happening outside of your office and you are interested in being involved and contributing in some way. 
• They make you a more interesting person – someone that can contribute to the diversity and vitality of a class and alumni network.
• It’s an opportunity to demonstrate qualities such as creativity, leadership, teamwork, communication skills, and initiative.

 

If you haven’t been participating in outside activities, look up a few opportunities on the internet and get involved next weekend.  It’s really as simple as that, to be honest.  Candidates who get involved even early in the year they apply will have a six- or even nine-month track record by the time apps are due.  Or, if you have been involved with outside activities over the last couple of years, consider stepping your activities up a notch.  

 

When thinking about ways to become more involved, don’t get hung up on traditional volunteer work.  There are many, many ways to become involved and highlight your unique contributions.  A good place to start is with your own interests and passions.  Think hard about what excites you, and how you can leverage those interests. 

 

 

 

 

Founded in 2001, Stacy Blackman Consulting has helped thousands of MBA applicants gain admission to the most selective business schools in the world.  The Stacy Blackman team, comprised of MBA graduates, former admissions officers and expert writers, editors and marketers, helps clients develop and implement a winning marketing strategy.  Stacy Blackman clients have a significantly increased probability of admission to top schools and are frequent recipients of merit scholarships.  The company is regularly featured in publications such as BusinessWeek, the Wall Street Journal and the Economist.   Visit the Stacy Blackman blog for daily news updates and admissions tips, and check out the company’s e-publications for more in depth school by school guidance.

MBA Application Series: Part 1

As the MBA application season is quickly approaching, FWL in partnership with Stacy Blackman Consulting is launching a new series of articles that will give you helpful tips on how to make progress in your application process. If you are interested in MBA mentorship program that is kicking off soon, please sign up here.

Your Candidacy: Transcript Issues to Consider

Many applicants have a selective memory when it comes to their transcript.  They remember the 3.8 in their psychology major but have somehow blocked out the C in Calculus and the overall 2.7.  Your transcript is what it is, and it will not change, no matter how many classes you take after the fact.  However, if you have low grades, there are things you can do to somewhat offset the damage.  The following are some potential transcript issues that can be tackled head on with a bit of advance planning:

 

• Low Overall GPA – A low overall GPA may raise a red flag for an admissions committee.  They are seeking individuals with a track record of excellence, who prioritize academics and achievement, and who have the ability to excel academically.  By taking a few classes now, you can offset some of their concerns.  While straight A’s in post-undergraduate courses will not erase your original transcript, you can demonstrate that you have the ability to excel academically, that you have identified a weakness and are making an effort to rectify it, that you are committed to learning, and that you can balance multiple commitments successfully.  All of this can help mitigate the damage done by poor undergraduate performance. 

 

• Low grades in business or quantitative classes – Even if your overall GPA is high, if the two classes that you bombed were Calculus and Statistics, this could cause concerns about your ability to excel in a rigorous business school curriculum.  For some of the same reasons detailed above, taking relevant classes now will help to put the admissions committee at ease. 

 

• No business or quantitative courses on the transcript – If you are currently in a business role that does not require fluency with business or numbers, and you do not have any of these types of courses on your transcript, you might consider taking a class now. This will demonstrate an awareness of your deficiencies and help to provide a level of comfort around your abilities. 

 

Finally, if you do plan to take some extra classes, some suggested courses to take are Calculus, Statistics, and Accounting.  These basics will set the groundwork for a typical MBA curriculum. 

 

 

Founded in 2001, Stacy Blackman Consulting has helped thousands of MBA applicants gain admission to the most selective business schools in the world.  The Stacy Blackman team, comprised of MBA graduates, former admissions officers and expert writers, editors and marketers, helps clients develop and implement a winning marketing strategy.  Stacy Blackman clients have a significantly increased probability of admission to top schools and are frequent recipients of merit scholarships.  The company is regularly featured in publications such as BusinessWeek, the Wall Street Journal and the Economist.   Visit the Stacy Blackman blog for daily news updates and admissions tips, and check out the company’s e-publications for more in depth school by school guidance.

Featured Leader - Ciji Saso: One Woman to Watch

Guest post by Kate Stence

Question #1: Tell us a bit about your background.

I’m the eldest of two sisters and grew up in the San Fernando Valley in Southern California. I attended the University of San Francisco and graduated with a degree in Psychology and a minor in Spanish. Afterward I took a few classes at Stanford Business School. This experience led to my interest in industrial psychology and helped me find my current job at Lucasfilm in their Training & Organizational Development department. Alongside this, I am an active volunteer and advocate for human rights. I am an AmeriCorps graduate, and have continued serving the community through a variety of non-profits throughout the San Francisco Bay area. My most recent work has been with C.E.O Women, HandsOn Bay Area, and FWL as a member of the events committee

Question #2: Why did you decide to work in the field of human resources, specifically training and organizational development? How does this compliment your work with women and girl rights?

I work in the field of Training because it allows me to be in an environment where the growth and development of individuals is the focus. By working in a creative company, I am encouraged to think about new and innovative ways about getting my job done, which I really enjoy. My work in the area of training and organizational development has taught me so much about being an effective leader and understanding the importance of strategy to move forward with and carry out my visions and goals. I have been able to take these skills and apply them in my advocacy and volunteer work with groups that are committed to social change and strengthening the lives of girls and women all over the world.

Question #3: What are the biggest work-related challenges you have faced? How did you overcome them?

One challenge that I have faced has been balancing my time between my full-time job and my work in the non-profit world. For a while it felt that my life was pieced apart and I was getting pulled in two very different directions. I have come to realize that what I do in the space of organizational development and training holds a lot of value for non-profits and leaders in the community. Reversely, the constant drive for change and out of box thinking that non-profits are so good at has been beneficial to my personal development. By making connections in these different areas of my life I have been able to find a healthy balance, and at the same time bring a new way of thinking to the very different spaces that I work in.

Question #4: Tell us about the mentors you have had in your life (male/female).

My Mom. She has taught me and continues to teach me everyday the importance of honesty, standing up for what you believe in, and being fearless about life. She cares about the world and has shown me the impact that service can have on individuals and families that are fighting poverty and the many other injustices that afflict our world.

Question #5: Anything you wish you had known when you were in the very beginning stages of your career?

 Speak your mind and don’t be afraid to ask questions even if no one else is.

Question #6: What are leadership qualities you value most in others?

Listening really well. Curiosity. Passion. A desire for change. Asking really good questions.

Question #7: What is your greatest achievement?

Completing over 300 hours of AmeriCorps service in one year while simultaneously working a full-time job.

Question #8: Who inspires you?
My mother and sisters. Margaret Atwood, Mahnaz Afkhami, Gloria Steinem—the pioneers of our world.

Question #9: Do you have a mission statement or a tenet that you try to live by?

It’s important to have a strong voice in the world, that it’s okay to be different and try something new. When you take a risk and step outside of the norm this is when real change can happen. Elizabeth Blackwell really captured this spirit when she said, “It is not easy to be a pioneer—but oh, it is fascinating! I would not trade one moment, even the worst moment, for all the riches in the world.”

Question #10: Do you have work/life balance?

Yes, work/life balance is extremely important to me. Having a multifaceted life brings so much opportunity for growth and development. My family, the relationships I have with others, my volunteer work, reading, traveling allow me to have a greater awareness of the world around me. Even having to consider whether you have work/life balance, I think, is a privilege. I am truly grateful about everything that I have in my life and will continue to do my part to advocate for a better world for those in need.

 

Kate Stence is a writer, editor, and an avid endurance runner for SoleMates/Girls on the Run International and Run for Congo for Women/Women for Women International. She recently completed South Africa’s 85^th Comrades Marathon, a 56 mile endurance event for SoleMates. Currently, she resides in Paris, France and is the Associate Editor and a Blog Columnist for the International Museum of Women. Check out her writing at Her Blueprint.

Featured Leader - Molly Barker: On Being Our Best

Molly Barker, MSW and four-time Hawaii Ironman triathlete, founded Girls on the Run® in 1996. To date, she remains the Founder and Vision Keeper of Girls on the Run, a life-changing, experiential learning program for girls age eight to thirteen years old. The program combines training for a 3.1 mile running event with self-esteem enhancing, uplifting workouts. The goals of the program are to encourage positive emotional, social, mental, and physical development. The mission is to educate and prepare girls for a life time of self-respect and healthy living. Please check out Girls on the Run at http://www.girlsontherun.org.

SoleMates is the adult charity running leg of Girls on the Run® (GOTR). The program gives girls the finest example of healthy living. Learn more at http://www.girlsontherunsolemates.org.

Question #1: Tell me a bit about your background.
I grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina. My southern roots influenced much of how I viewed the world as a young adult. I started running when I was fifteen years old. I also started participating in some very risky and unhealthy behaviors around the same time. In spite of the risks I was taking in my personal life, I graduated from college with a Chemistry degree and several years later with a Master's in Social Work. I competed at an elite level in the sport of triathlon, but discovered in my early 30's that much of what I was "chasing" wasn't attainable. I hit bottom at age 32. On July 7, 1993 while out on a sunset run I had an epiphany that eventually led to my developing the Girls on the Run program.

Question #2: Why did you decide to work in the field of women and girl rights?
I've always been interested in serving the underdog. Growing up in the South in the 60's and 70's, women were one of the underdogs. I couldn't understand why in spite of our intelligence, strength, and perseverance, we were unable to reach our greatest potential.

Question #3: What are the biggest work-related challenges you have faced? How did you overcome them?
At Girls on the Run, we talk a lot about the Girl Box. The Girl Box is an imaginary place girls go around middle school where we begin to morph into what we think we "should be" rather than staying true to our authentic selves. My greatest challenges have come from my own self-perceptions. Sure, our culture may box women in, but I have a choice to live life from inside that Box and all of its perceived limitations or I can intentionally live outside of it-choosing a path that honors the power I possess (in fact, the power that we all possess) which allows all of my gifts and talents to be utilized to their fullest capacity.

Question #4: Tell me about the mentors you have had in your life (male/female).
My mother was one of my greatest mentors.
When I was in fifth grade, my mother bravely stepped outside of her Girl Box and pursued a life that was authentic, alive, and honest. She began speaking up, standing up for her beliefs, and living!
My son, Hank, is one of my greatest mentors. He is a teenager and pursuing his dreams. He is fearless in his ability to be himself, in spite of the powerful (and often negative) influences of our culture's views of adolescence. My daughter, too, is full of life, radiant, and present.

Question #5: Anything you wish you had known when you were in earlier stages of your career?
I wish I had understood the importance of quiet time, reflection, and "slowing down." I had difficulty managing the perceived stress. Stress, of course, isn't real. Stress is the result of our own perceptions on what is going on around us, but I can clearly remember how stressed out I allowed myself to be in the early days of starting Girls on the Run. And as I write, I realize so much of our development as women isn't something we can force. It just happens through experience. As I always say, we don't know what we don't know. What I know now, certainly existed years ago, I just wasn't ready or yet able to see it.

Question #6: What are leadership qualities you value most in others?
I think there are two traits of key importance in leadership: Listening and being present. Leaders do not exist without the presence of others and so much of what creates a powerful leadership experience is being able to listen to those we serve as well as be present with them.

Question #7: What is your greatest achievement?
I'm in the process of accomplishing it, recognizing and achieving my greatest human potential.

Question #8: Who inspires you?
My children. I love them so much. I observe with joy in my heart how they are blazing a trail of their own. They see the world as limitless! They unconditionally love me and those around them. I seek to become more child-like and live life as they choose to live it!

Question #9: Do you have a mission statement or a tenet that you try to live by?
Yes, my mission is to inspire others to know and feel their worth.

Question #10: Do you have work/life balance?
I'm getting there. Stress is completely a perceived state of being. The quickest way to bring myself back to center in the work/life balance is almost embarrassingly simple. BREATHE. Breathing deeply gives me a momentary break from what feels like or appears to be chaos around me and pulls me right into center, then I am more capable of handling whatever is happening around me. On a larger scale, breathing deeply throughout the day brings peace and calm to my work/life balance that permeates everything I do, both throughout the day and throughout my life.

 

Kate Stence is a writer, editor, and an avid endurance runner. She has studied 18th Century Literature at the University of California Berkeley, feminist theory at Mills College, the French language at the Sorbonne, creative writing at New York University and the University of Iowa, as well as poetry at the Barnard Center for Research on Women. She recently completed the 85th Comrades Marathon, a 56 mile endurance event in South Africa, for Girls on the Run International and SoleMates. She will begin blogging for the International Museum of Women (www.imowblog.blogspot.com) as of July from Paris, France.

4 Reasons Not To Be An Entrepreneur and Why You Should Ignore Them

Overcoming Your Fears: The Entrepreneur's Journey

 

So you want to be an entrepreneur, right? That was my life dream. It was my solution for "having it all": a successful professional, personal and family life. These were my motivations. What are yours?

 

Like many entrepreneurs, I had major fears before taking the plunge. Having the entrepreneur’s dream, and making it a reality are two different beasts. There are many mental roadblocks that can inhibit you from taking the plunge: 

 

I’m not sure about my idea. What if I fail?

 

Failure is what happens when you stop trying. No idea is perfect. Ideas evolve much like people. They grow, change, and need to be nurtured to blossom.  Too many people think the idea is the key to entrepreneurial success. In reality, the idea is just the starting point.  The challenges come with the journey that follows.

 

When I started Marry Me Live, I was a true idea romantic. I quickly realized that business success could not rely on the idea alone. Execution and evolution is the key to business prosperity. Although we are still true to the original mission (enabling everyone to attend the wedding regardless of geography), everything else about the business has evolved and changed in one way or another. 

 

It is such a big risk. Is it worth giving up job security?

 

We all say we want to be an entrepreneur when times are bad.  The question you need to ask yourself is “Would I still be willing to give up my job when times are good?”

 

Entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone.  There is risk. There are ups and downs.  It takes a certain mindset to stay positive when things look bleak. If the entrepreneurial drive is stronger than the benefits you receive at the best of times, it is time to re-evaluate your situation.

 

Look yourself in the mirror and determine if your current position is getting you closer to your entrepreneurial dream. If the answer is “no”, staying in your current situation is the “bigger” risk. 

 

I'm scared. How do I get over my fear of “taking the leap”? 

 

You are likely reading this article because you want to take the leap. You are halfway there. You’ve done your research. If you have not done your research, start by talking to entrepreneurs. You will realize that they are not super humans, but everyday people like you and me. Those individuals took the leap because their passion for their business overtook their fear of failure.

 

Still not convinced? Do something that scares you just a little bit everyday.  Talk to that handsome stranger in the elevator, go skydiving, sing karaoke in a very crowded bar, whatever it is that gets you out of your comfort zone. 

 

When you realize you are still alive and breathing, you may be closer to taking that leap after all.

 

I cannot afford to be an entrepreneur! How will I finance the business?

 

If you are passionate about being an entrepreneur, you will find creative ways to make it work.  It could be a part-time job, friends and family investment, small business loan, or being a full-time employee/nights and weekend entrepreneur.  

 

Keep in mind that you may not be able to afford your current lifestyle. Being an entrepreneur takes sacrifice. But, when you have the vision, the sacrifice is worth it.

 

These are a just a few of the many thoughts that I’m sure are swirling around in your head. After reading this, if you still think you want to be an entrepreneur, the best advice I can give you is to not over-think the process!

 

The biggest hurdle of all is keeping your fear of the unknown in check. The entrepreneur’s journey is risky, but it is that same risk that can make your dream a reality. You will never feel completely prepared, but that is what makes the journey so thrilling. Once you realize this, taking the plunge is much easier than you think. So step back, relax and jump!

About the Author:

Stacy Yamaoka is the co-founder of Marry Me Live, a live wedding streaming and wedding webcasting service enabling wedding couples to share their wedding LIVE with family and friends around the world. Stacy Yamaoka is also the Director of College Mentorship for Future Women Leaders.  

Featured Woman Leader of the Month - Carla Cooper, CFA

Carla Cooper is a seasoned finance professional who was kind enough to take time out of her busy schedule to share her insight with Future Women Leaders.

Question #1: Tell me a bit about your background.

I have an undergraduate degree from Princeton. I joined Prudential Securities after college and spent three years there. Because I had a liberal arts major, and no finance background, my first four months at Prudential were really a tough challenge - a brutal four month financial education. Many of my peers had finance backgrounds and seemed to be so far ahead, but I knew that I would be able to overcome those challenges. In college, I wrote a 140 page thesis on a complex political topic - I knew I could do anything.

Early on, I really wanted to prove myself - prove that I could handle the challenges of the job. As a result, I ended up pursuing the CFA because I felt it would provide me with the skills I would need to do well at Prudential. And this is key - a lot of people advised me not to pursue the CFA, noting that my time would be better spent doing something else. Ultimately I made my decision based on what I believed would be the right step for me. One lesson I took away from my experience at Prudential is that it is important to look at what the organization values and take steps that will lead you to succeed in that environment.

Question #2: Why did you decide to get an MBA?

I wanted a flexible degree that would provide me with options in business. I decided to attend Kellogg because I felt it was a well-rounded school, which was an important aspect for me since I was considering getting out of finance. I spent my first summer in business school working in marketing - in some ways it was a horrible experience, but in other ways it was fantastic. I'd like to note here that difficult experiences really sharpen your thought process - there is usually something to be learned. I wouldn't seek out difficult experiences, but I wouldn't avoid them either. After that summer, and after spending time hearing about what friends in finance were doing, I decided that I wanted to pursue a career in finance.

Something to consider when evaluating a job prospect - you can accept a job for the person you will be working for, if not for the job itself. After business school, I went to work for the co-director of Equity Research at Robert W. Baird & Co. and I became his right-hand woman. At Baird, I worked my way up from an Associate position to a Senior Analyst role. I spent about 10 years in sell-side research with Baird before I decided to transition to Baird Investment Management (where I have been for 4 years).

Question #3: What are the biggest work-related challenges you have faced? How did you overcome them?

• My Prudential experience (described in Question 1) - when I chose to pursue the CFA
• I had a challenging boss early in my career, and in terms of lessons I took away from that experience: have a thick skin - don't take things personally. If someone is being difficult, understand that there is another story underlying their behavior - might not be you
• Also - I had two kids while working as a Senior sell-side Research Analyst - no easy feat (I am blessed to have a supportive spouse). Something to consider - don't let others dictate to you what makes a good mom; it is important for your kids to see you as a happy person - so do what makes you happy

Question #4: Tell me about the mentors you have had in your life (male/female).

• My first boss at Baird - I really learned how to think things through and improved my interpersonal skills
• I had a great mentor at Prudential - someone who rescued me from the challenging boss I described earlier. She was smart, had a great presence - was strong and definitive and a great role model partly because she was a woman

Question #5: Anything you wish you had known when you were in earlier stages of your career?
Rules of the corporate or business world are sometimes unspoken - i.e. not as crystal clear as "these are the things you need to do to get an A." Sometimes you need to take risks or seek out guidance
Always weigh the costs and benefits of your actions. Don't be risk averse, but people can sometimes forget that the downside is higher than the incremental upside that they are focused on
Just have to figure things out as you go.

Question #6: What are leadership qualities you value most in others?

• Directness
• Good blocking and tackling
• Someone who is consistent versus someone who is on once a year
• Engage with the people/work/process/everything and has some commitment to periodically stepping back and reviewing the strategy/goal

Question #7: What is your greatest achievement?

• I was really proud that I was a top ranked Senior Research Analyst at a firm I really respect.
• I was proud to have stayed on track professionally at the same time as I was raising a family
• You have to love what you do because there will come a day when being with your kids will become really attractive

Question #8: Who inspires you?
My husband inspires me because he is so level headed and is always thinking about how to solve problems. I am also frequently inspired by what I read and by people I meet.

Question #9: Do you have a mission statement or a tenet that you try to live by?

• You aren't learning anything if you are talking; make sure to listen!
• What goes around comes around
• Golden rule - treat others as you would like to be treated

Question #10: Do you have work/life balance?

• I have work/life balance - but I am always on the go; I don't get to sleep much, but that is ok with me
• I have three regular volunteer commitments - which I enjoy 
• Exercise is definitely my stress release

Control Your Destiny: The Basics

"You are in control of your own destiny!" says my boss to various women in the office.  Her statement is repeated time and time again when someone leaves the company for either another company or alternative department or city re-assignment.  She doesn't say it to be rude but rather to inspire the rest of the team to be responsible for their careers.  In a time of economic change coupled with reports of how women (especially those of color) are becoming more the bread winners, that we take more control of our destiny?

Any Future Woman Leader has to start with the basics.  Here are my 5:

1. Get Out! Network in the arena you had envisioned. You want to work with accountants, go hang out with accountants. There are number of websites (ie. meetup.com) and organizations that have happy hour events. Give yourself a goal to meet 3 people, send them an email that it was a great to meet them and add them to your social grouping. Then....send them a hello email every quarter to see how they are doing (if you think you won't see them as often). Keep them in touch with what you are working on or have accomplished. This way when a job opportunity comes around you will some additional connections/recommendations.

2. Get Mentored! Get matched through FWL with someone in which you want to "grow up" to be. Then ask your potential mentor for a cup of coffee or lunch to talk about how you want to be like them one day and need help doing it. For about $30.00 you get insight on how reach the top and they get a free meal.  Who turns down a free meal to talk about themselves?!

3. Group Up! Invite a few women that you know (doesn't matter if they know each other, it probably would be funnier if they didn't) for dinner and talk about those "taboo" topics like how did you negotiate your salary or what can I do to get to the next level? Can't get together for dinner; try during your lunch break at a nearby restaurant. Call it group therapy for the soul.

4. Give Back! Why are you holding on to valuable information in your head? Remember when you said "I wish someone would have told me..."? Well now you have a chance to tell someone the good, bad, sexy, and ugly of your job to help others not make the same mistakes and/or be inspired to rule the world. Write a blog or be a mentor.

5. Get Real With Yourself! Don't allow people to talk you out of your passion nor let fear of failure or finances get in your way.

Sounds simple, yet many future women leaders ask the question: how do I get there?  The answer: get control of the basics.

GFC Silicon Valley Seeking Girl Action Team Coaches

This sounds like such a great program! Thought we'll share this opportunity to polish your own leadership skills with you.

 

 

Girls For A Change Silicon Valley is now accepting Girl Action Team Coach applications for 2009-10 Girl Action Teams!

10 Coaches needed for fall, Orientation is August 29, 2009!

Being a Girls For A Change Coach means working with a team of girls for 12 weeks to support them in designing and implementing a project to change their community. It also means telling girls they are important, powerful, and that they can change the world.

Want to be a GFC Coach: >> Click here to apply!

We ask coaches to commit for 12 weeks; either August 2009-December 2009 or January 2010 - May 2010. The monthly time commitment is 15 hours per month including one meeting per week with your team. Girls For A Change will provide you with all of the training and resources you need to be successful. You are partnered with another woman coach and then matched to a team of girls. Coaching opportunities are available in the Silicon Valley area.

Girls For A Change Coaches also participate in personal and professional development through the training program.

Coaches report learning:
Communication skills
How to listen
Time management skills
How to be an activist
Insight into lives of youth
Better attitude at work and in personal life
For more information, contact:
408.529.9304 or coachsv@girlsforachange.org

Check out the Coach FAQ

Want to be a GFC Coach: >> Click here to apply!

Just Say "Yes!"

A guest post by Pat Obuchowski:

“Service to others is the payment you make for your space here on earth.” -Mohammed Ali

About three months ago, I received an email from a friend who was looking for a few good women to help her lead a leadership program at a Girls' camp.  I read the email and almost skipped right by it until I saw it was called “Camp Cinderella”.  Now, what girl, no matter what her age, could miss an opportunity to attend “Camp Cinderella”?

Not only that, but it was held at Pepperdine University, in Malibu, CA.  Now, what girl, no matter what her age, could miss an opportunity to visit Malibu?

I had been looking for a place where I could volunteer a few days and this opportunity brought me together with some of my brilliant colleagues, as well as an opportunity to help these girls, aged 15-18 discover the leader within and help them believe they can lead others.  The organization that brought the Catalyst Leadership Program to these young women is called the HerShe Group.

The HerShe Group empowers young women in foster care and those that have been recently emancipated (turned 18 and now out of the ‘system’) to make a successful transition from adolescence to adult independence and to realize their full potential by exposing them to extraordinary experiences through the arts, mentorship, discovery and training.

I don’t often work with this age group, but I just felt at a gut level, this was the right thing for me to do at this time.  I just said “Yes!” without knowing the program and exactly what I was getting myself into.  I had the time available and wanted to volunteer.  

And, I am so glad I did.

“The miracle is this - the more we share, the more we have.” -Leonard Nimoy

It was an amazing week.  

I learned so many things in a very new, and sometimes uncomfortable, environment.  Here are my top learnings from working with these young women:

1. Young people need guidance and need to be caught and acknowledged for doing things right.

2. Young people want someone to listen to them and to ask them direct questions that help them open up. 

3. People need to believe there is hope.

4. Young people need to have time to just play and dream and giggle.

5. Young people need to be told they are loved for who they are and that they matter.

6. The above also applies to adults.

My most valuable lesson was to just say “Yes!”.   If I did not act on my gut feeling I would have missed out on loving and being loved by the amazing women in this program…the young girls and the other adults.

Having your heart broke open is a wonderful feeling. 

“If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.” -Booker T. Washington

Step into leading and play a Bigger Game in your life...don't wait...model leadership...the World needs us to do this.

Lead strong!

 

About Pat Obuchowski

Pat Obuchowski is CEO (Chief Empowerment Officer) of inVisionaria, a Leadership and Team coaching organization. She currently serves as a Global Board Director for the International Coach Federation, the largest professional coaching association in the World.

Web:  www.inVisionaria.com

Linked In:  http://www.linkedin.com/in/patobuchowski

*Photo by: The Alieness Gisela Giardino

"Transitioning Careers and Industries" with Lori Goler, Director of HR at Facebook

FWL has the privelege of having Lori Goler, director of HR at Facebook, speak on the topic of transitioning careers and industries.  Lori speaks from experience, having started her career at Walt Disney Company focusing on strategy and business planning for their consumer products businesses.

In the spirit of encouraging mentoring among women, we'll also be featuring a silent auction where you'll be able to bid on time with a prominent local business woman.  Hope to see you there!

RSVP HERE! 

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About Lori Goler, Keynote Speaker

Lori Goler is the Director of Human Resources and is responsible for all aspects of Facebook's people strategy including growing, developing and retaining the Facebook team. Lori joined Facebook following five years at eBay, where she led consumer marketing with responsibility for marketing strategy, brand management, advertising, and consumer promotions. While there, she also served as General Manager of the eBay Stores business. Lori was a founding member of the executive team at babystyle.com where she led operations and merchandising. In that role, she led the roll-out of babystyle.com which became a leading online retailer in the category. Lori started her career at The Walt Disney Company focused on strategy and business planning for the consumer products businesses. Lori holds a bachelor's degree from Yale University, a master's degree in business administration from Harvard Business School and a master's degree in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government.