Expert Advice From Female Entrepreneurs Part 1
Expert Advice From Female Entrepreneurs Part 1 “Women on Top-How to Get There”
Today I’d like to share with you excerpts from a webinar hosted by Amanda Gome, founder and publisher of the business E-newsletter Smart Company (www.smartcompany.com.au) 
Yes, I know the title it is a bit risqué and a tad misleading (sorry guys), but bear with me.
The content is vital even if you are a woman executive with no intention of starting your own company and becoming an entrepreneur.
Amanda invited 3 highly successful women entrepreneurs Diana Gribble, Gillian Franklin and Kristina Karlsson who also hold board positions to speak frankly about their experiences climbing the corporate ladder, give their views on the obstacles that stand in the way of women in their careers and how successful men do it right to get to the top.
Here are the first 3 tips on the subject of Vision:
TIP 1:
FOCUS ON THE END GAME
When I talk to women in their 20s and 30s and say to them how do you visualize what you want to be doing as a person when you’re 45 or 50, a lot of them say, oh I haven’t considered that. But to me, that’s imperative and then you work back and say: in order to be running this division in a big company, or having my own business or being a
CEO in a company, these are the skills I need to pick up along the way. So I think for women to be promoted, they need to be much more focused on the end game and then work back and say I need to do this along the way in order for me to get there. Diana Gribble
TIP 2:
DEVELOP YOUR VISION
Successful males in businesses spend very little time on reflection. They are always thinking forward and over the hill whereas women will be more inclined to reflect on what’s happening at the moment. I think developing the vision means clearing a space in your head to fill it with that vision. The vision is how you and your business can be completely different in three, or four or five or even just one year’s time. You have to think about what are the extra things, what are the opportunities.
You have to be looking towards and over the horizon all the time and have fantastic peripheral vision as well. Diana Gribble
TIP 3:
LEARN TO SELL THE VISION
Harvard Business Review research recently found that while women outshone men on most leadership dimensions, women fell short in one key area: developing strategy, a vision and selling that vision to stakeholders. Interestingly, that was the most prized skill that men value when assessing aspiring leaders. Women focus too much at just being great at their job. But they must look upwards at not just being good at their job but on developing strategy, vision and selling that upwards, to their board, or their bosses. Amanda Gome
My 2 cents worth: I think women are very detailed focused and terrific at multi tasking and managing the day to day running of a project/team/organization.
The big picture vista can be so blue sky that it doesn’t even enter her sphere of consciousness.
How does a woman counter this aspect that can blindside her career and ambitions.
I suggest taking time out during the work day, as busy and hectic as it may be and MEDITATE. I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again.
Meditation and quiet time to reflect and getting centered is the best thing a woman can do to get her focus back on track and be a timely reminder of why she is in the corporate world.
Women who are interested in advancing their career in business might consider looking into the St. Mary online MBA program.
More on this topic in the coming weeks.
Three tips for maintaining your equanimity at work
Maintaining your equanimity, composure and internal sense of balance is a skill than anyone can develop.
I call it a secret weapon of the successful who seem to be able to navigate their way through an office environment that is studded with booby traps and minefields cunningly disguised as work colleagues; from the hypochondriac who painstakingly documents and broadcasts their every ache and pain (and bodily functions) to the angst ridden determined to share their life story and every other possible combination in between.
Our external world mirrors what goes on for us at the subconscious level. We attract into our immediate environment people and situations that remind us of what we focus on most within ourselves.
Ask yourself as you are reading this, what has been ticking over in your mind today. Was it a pleasant and happy conversation or encounter with another person, or was it you wishing you had the last word in an argument. Our best comeback lines are usually after the fact, sad but true.
Do you also notice that the same incident plays on high rotation in a loop fashion in your head, much like background muzak in a restaurant? It is just barely noticeable but it is there, insidious isn’t it.
So, the three circuit breaker tips I suggest are:
1) Check in on yourself
By that I mean, pause regularly during your work day and breathe; yes literally notice yourself breathing in and then gently exhaling. This is designed to slow down brain activity for 20 seconds, long enough for you to pay attention to your body instead of rushing headlong to meeting external deadlines.
This 20 seconds can be the difference between having a productive day or having a tense exchange with a co worker.
2) Eat your lunch away from your desk or work station
Being the office burning martyr will not get you a medal; removing yourself physically from your desk even if lunch is 20 minutes allows your brain to recalibrate.
Great for problem solving because it gives you time to mull over the facts (as you chew your food) without consciously thinking about coming up with a solution.
3) Remind yourself of what is important in your life
Keep a motivational quote on a 3 x 5 card by your computer as a reminder that you have a choice about how you are going to feel today; you choose how you wish to respond to your present circumstances.
Just reminding all you good people that I have a website devoted to mindset and financial freedom if you are wondering where some of the interviews have gone. Please head over to
How To Ask For and Get A Payrise Using The Kiri Waiata Green Method: Kiri Waiata Green Interview
Kiri Waiata Green is not your conventional business and life coach. Professional qualifications aside this remarkable lady has a God given and unique gift to help her clients find their voice (literally). 
If you are one of the silent majority who struggles to ask for a payrise or promotion and feel you have hit a glass ceiling (I’m talking to you ladies), perhaps it is time to consider alternative methods of approaching your boss for that pay increase and promotion.
So, in corporate speak you are requesting a review of your remuneration package such that it is commensurate with your current roles and responsibilities.
In reality you don’t feel you have the right to ask.
This problem of massive self doubt is one that Kiri regularly helps her clients banish and shatter using her novel and incredible program called “Breaking the Sound Barrier”.
Kiri Waiata Green Interview (unlinked)
Listen to my interview with Kiri as she explains the physics of using sound and vibrations generated at the molecular level to remove limiting self beliefs and emotional blockages to wealth creation.
Kiri is a Beyond Success Qualified Coach, a NLP Certified Practitioner (Success Dynamics Institute), holds a Diploma in Counselling (Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors), and a Certificate IV in Small Business Management.
Find her at
Do You Have The Brains, Brawn and Mindset To Be An Entrepreneur: Carol Roth Interview
In these challenging financial times, President Obama is encouraging Americans to lift the economy and restore the stocks of this proud nation by reinventing themselves as the new wave of can do entrepreneurs.
Great if you are cut out for it and have the appetite for calculated risks, a bright idea and the stamina of a marathon runner, but what if you are not and don’t know that.
I suggest you listen to Carol Roth who has sage advice for would be tycoons too in lust with their million dollar idea but have not enough business sense to execute their plans.
Click here to listen Carol Roth Interview (unlinked)
She is an investment banker who used her business strategies to secure more than $1 billion for her clients and complete hundreds of millions of dollars in mergers and acquisitions.
Carol knows a thing or two about this subject and recently authored “The Entrepreneur Equation-Evaluating the Realities, Risks and Rewards of Having Your Own Business” a must read for anyone who is tempted to tell their boss to do the anatomically impossible, quit and assume they can create a fortune from their first business venture.
Carol uses her “Spinach In Your Teeth” method of communication that is both truthful and compassionate to let you know if you have the brains, brawn and mindset for the brief. As painful as it is, the uncomfortable fact for some is that being employed may be the best option for all concerned.
With refreshing candour, Carol encourages women entrepreneurs to acknowledge but not buy into the real or perceived gender divide in the world of big business. She tells with grace and good humour her own experience in this regard when she inadvertently found herself the recipient of the “Best Legs in the Business” award.
Get more information and no nonsense advice on www.CarolRoth.com
Katana Abbott Interview: It’s Never Too Late To Become A Millionaire
If I said to you that a child can grow up in poverty with an abusive stepfather and then at 18 marry a violent man, walk away from that marriage virtually penniless, hit rock bottom physically, mentally and emotionally before coming back as a self made millionaire at 47 years of age, you could be forgiven for thinking this was a Cinderella story of feel good fiction.
Let me introduce you to Katana Abbott, the lady whose life I just described. 
I have no doubt that countless women can identify with Katana’s early financial circumstances. However, this is not the point of the exercise because I invite you to listen to my interview with a woman who took action on a number of fronts to change her life.
Katana Abbott Interview You can download the mp3 recording and pdf transcript of this interview by going to http://yourmoneyandyourmindset.com/online-store/
The most obvious was to qualify as a certified financial planner and grow a multi million dollar business. Equally important but not as apparent is Katana’s commitment to becoming a life long student of personal development.
Katana is living proof that when you change your thought and beliefs from can’t to can, positive actions that support your new beliefs pave the way for financial and personal success.
Her concern for the financial futures of Americans entering their golden years prompted her to coin the clever analogy of the “three legged stool” of Social Security, Savings and Pensions as the highly unstable but fundamentally the default option of many peoples’ retirement plan. Know as the Midlife Millionaire Coach, Katana is focused on helping women entrepreneurs, ages 43-65, create financial freedom whilst following their passion.
Her generosity knows no bounds so if you go to http://www.smartwomenscafe.com you will get a free membership to the community and can participate in a free monthly coaching call beginning in April.
And there’s more!
If you go to http://www.Katanaabbott.com you will get her free midlife millionaire success system and for everyone listening to this interview receive Katana’s signature financial organizer planner to get your finances in order.
Ladies and gentleman, you are witnessing the actions of a woman who not only knows that her life has a higher purpose; she lives it.
Prince Charming Isn’t Coming or How to reclaim your financial destiny: Barbara Stanny Tells
Barbara Stanny is a pioneer in the field of financial education for women and has authored a number of books including the best seller “Prince Charming Isn’t Coming-How women get smart about money” and “Secrets of Six Figure Women”.
When I spoke with Barbara Stanny about her road to becoming financially literate, her story had an all too familiar ring. Many women will be able to identify with her journey; some of it isn’t pretty, some of it will cause you to squirm. You may even feel the fear stab you in your heart because it hits uncomfortably close to home.
Listen to her pull no punches interview here: Barbara Stanny Interview1 (unlinked)
She like so many women did not feel confident enough to take control of her finances until fate intervened. What started as a simple act of withdrawing cash from an automatic teller machine turned into horror when these two words “insufficient funds” appeared on the ATM advice slip.
Barbara’s spouse (who mismanaged her inheritance) left her to find her own way out of the financial maze that included paying back taxes of $ 1million. Believing in the adage that “what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger,” she set out to learn the language of money. In doing so Barbara discovered how to overcome not only the external but internal blockages to becoming financially independent.
As Barbara states, “In your deepest pain lies your highest purpose”. We are eternally grateful that her purpose to empower women through her books, seminars and retreats has saved many a woman from financial ruin.
What appeared initially a financial disaster of monumental proportions has been a gift of self discovery. Barbara is passionate about sharing her hard won knowledge in her latest program “Sacred Success” for women who are on the verge of or have reached affluence. Specifically it speaks to women who want to make a difference in the world through philanthropy.
This is indeed a fine legacy for any woman.
Find Barbara at http://www.barbarastanny.com
Women Executives: Leadership Role Models (Part 4)
So, you have arrived at a position within your organisation that has some degree of autonomy and responsibility. In fact, you now lead a team of individuals, with unique talents.
Your boss has handed you a brief that requires your team to deliver on an important project on time and on budget. You know that it is the make or break opportunity and you really want to prove that you have what it takes.
This is your springboard to making it at the executive management level, your holy grail.
However, you also notice that you are going boldly to where no other woman has been, in fact your company is devoid of women executives. So, nada and zip in terms of finding a role model or a mentor in a skirt and killer heels. Bummer!
You are a modern woman (read resourceful, and confident), and you take it upon yourself to hire a career or executive coach to fast track your ambitions.
Any coach worth their salt will start with working out what makes you tick.
I am fond of quoting this line from Sun Tzu, “If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle”–Art of War
In other words, if you want to achieve (and earn) more, you have to become more.
You cannot expect to operate on a higher level without first making the necessary changes in the way you think, behave and conduct yourself. If you are expecting circumstances to adapt to suit you (as you are now), you are going to be waiting a very long time to become successful.
Have you given some serious though about what it means to be a well respected and effective leader?
In your present role where you work for your immediate boss, ask yourself what is it that you admire about him/her. Conversely what do not like very much about the way they run their unit or department especially in their daily interaction with their team.
List what you consider as the traits of your ideal leader, a person that you’d happily become. What are the interpersonal skills that you would like that person to possess?
Remember, to be an effective leader means getting your team to carry out a piece of work to a standard and level above what they would normally deliver. More importantly, it is getting them to do this willingly without cajoling or the threat of unemployment!
Bottom line: It means being influential and having your people opt in to your vision and goals.
I shall leave you to ponder this for the time being.
Yours in health, wealth and happiness
Endometriosis and the Career Driven Women
Below is an article by Melissa Meyer of www.cureendometriosis.com
Melissa has written a personal blog about endometriosis and her own research and discovery on healing.
I am sure most women can relate, so if you are interested in finding out more, drop by Melissa’s site for a read.
Endometriosis affects 1 in 7 women around the world and this number is sadly on a steady increase. The condition affects women of all ages and many women only discover they have the condition once they slow down and wish to conceive a child. It affects a woman’s fertility and this can be the very first obvious symptom.
Endometriosis is formed when retrograde cells are found within the uterus that grow and form adhesions. It is these cells that can cause damage to fallopian tubes and ovaries and thereby inhibit pregnancy.
As the condition is more prevalent in women in their late 20’s it is often associated as a “career women’s disease”.
Women who have endometriosis seem to possess personality traits which fall into strong, driven and perfectionism traits, which has created the link between the “career women’s disease” and endometriosis.
Though these traits appear on the surface to reflect a determined and confident personality, the driving force behind these traits needs to be carefully reassessed. Many women with endometriosis actually suffer from a constant need to be better than who they currently are.
They are driven to constantly improve who they are and be more than what they can be. Although this trait can be positive in certain individuals, too much of this drive can create unnecessary physical and emotional stress.
The motives for being more and driving oneself further often relate to a poor self-image or a need to be perfect. Endometriosis has been closely linked to a thought pattern referred to as “Timeous Perfectionism”.
Essentially the drive is to do a job perfectly and quickly at the same time. It is this constant pressure to perform and do more, in a shorter space of time at the highest standard that ultimately creates an incredible stress inside of the body. Endometriosis sufferers have been recognized to possess this thinking pattern and the connection between time and perfectionism is even more prevalent in certain job roles.
It is also this perfectionism that is unfulfilling and never ending. Achievements are not valued within themselves and they are constantly seeking more. They are often self critical and unrewarding towards their own achievements and seek approval from others.
It is important to acknowledge and accept these traits within oneself early so we can recognize them when we think and act on them and learn to slow down and recognize the emotion attached to the stress event. The more we can recognize our repeated traits, the easier our healing process will be.
Happiness begins when one can accept oneself and love oneself regardless of achievements. Acknowledgement for what one has achieved is also a very important step and would also provide additional self-esteem. We seldom give ourselves true reward for the things we have achieved in life.
It is only through acknowledgement and self love that true healing and happiness and really occur.
Women Executives: Leadership Role Models (Part 3)
If my 2 previous posts have seemed less than optimistic, let me assure you that there is hope (for us all!).
Below is an article by Professor Ginka Toegel the Director of Strategies for Leadership Program, International Institute of Management Development, Switzerland.
Companies are not setting themselves these targets out of some generalized notion of equality but because there is a strong business case for them to do so.
There has been a great deal of research in this area that suggests the value of having gender diverse management teams.
For example, companies that have more than three women in management positions tend to have better return on equity and assets than do those with fewer women.
They also tend to score higher on organizational effectiveness criteria. Equally, women board members tend to be very well-prepared for meetings, which raises the benchmark for others.
This subsequently leads to better discussions, and better decisions.
So, there is a clear business case for companies hiring and promoting more senior women. But what is life like for the women who are already in these roles?
When we have less than 15 percent of a minority in a social category, we talk about tokens.
And anyone who is in that position is likely to be under a huge amount of pressure, as they are highly visible, and frequently will feel that they represent not just themselves, but their entire category.
At 25 percent – in many companies this is currently the target – they are still in a minority, but they are no longer tokens.
The tipping point is 35 percent: once we reach this level, visibility becomes less of an issue and women’s identity as women becomes less salient.
Past this point, when women speak, they are heard as individuals with their own separate backgrounds, values and personalities, not as “the woman”.
Her opinions and views are not reduced to her gender.
The problem at the moment is that we have so few senior women in management positions that they are perceived as outsiders.
This creates a kind of legitimacy gap, in that they do not fit the (male) stereotype of what it is to be a leader.
This leads in turn to another problem, which is that male leaders tend to be associated with “agentic” behavior: they are more likely to be proactive, assertive, dominant, in control of the situation.
Female leaders, by contrast, show what we call “communal values”: friendliness, support, warmth and a caring attitude.
When we look at these two sets of values, it becomes clear that it is the agentic approach that we associate with leadership.
Many women come to the conclusion that, as a result of these stereotypes, the only way for them to be perceived to be legitimate leaders is to emulate male leaders.
However, the real answer is not so straightforward.
If women simply emulate men, they violate the gender stereotype, which creates a perception that they are being phony.
This creates a real problem, and can lead to them being penalized for being inauthentic leaders.
Women should instead blend both sets of characteristics.
Indra Nooyi, the Chief Executive and Chairwoman of PepsiCo, does this very successfully; she can make tough decisions and is very assertive in negotiations, but her direct reports also describe her as extremely warm and caring.
What then of the future? Well, despite the disappointing statistics there are many good reasons to be positive.
The next 5 to 10 years will see a dramatic change for the better.
Women managers can contribute to this by understanding that there are certain expectations related to organizational leadership, and developing their skills accordingly.
Women Executives: Leadership Role Models (Part 2)
Just in case you are wondering if there is still a stigma attached to being a woman and aspiring to executive and management roles, please read the article below.
I would be very interested to hear your thoughts
Maternity leave will kill your career, recruitment companies warn women
By Jane Hansen The Sunday Telegraph, September 19, 2010
Pregnancy
Refusing to promote a woman because she pregnant is illegal but recruitment agents believe those who take maternity leave are less likely to get ahead.
HEAD-hunting companies say women should forgo maternity leave if they want their careers to flourish.
Refusing promotion to an employee because she is pregnant is illegal, but leading head-hunters admit mothers are more likely to be promoted to top-level positions, such as chief executive officer or board director, if they do not take maternity leave.
“You’re only the parent of a one-year-old for a short time and if an employee is worried about childcare arrangements, uncomfortable, or worrying who’s looking after the baby, then I’m not sure you’ll be focused on the job,” recruitment firm Talent 2’s New South Wales (Australia) general manager Nicholas Tuckfield said of women who return from maternity leave too early.
Mr Tuckfield, who head-hunts candidates for jobs with salaries of more than $100,000, said taking 12 months’ maternity leave in an extremely competitive job market would have a negative impact.
He said at senior executive level, where MBAs were mandatory and long hours par for the course, competition was stiff.
Highly competitive
“On a logical level, if you’re out of the workforce for 12 months you don’t advance your managerial skills and, inevitably, everyone else does,” he said.
“You don’t get to the top doing 37 1/2 hours a week.
“It’s highly competitive, and if you’re an aspiring rising star and take a year out, your star won’t keep rising.”
Julia Ross, who was pregnant when she set up her recruitment agency 22 years ago, said although times were changing, at the executive level it was unforgiving.
“If you’re aiming for managing director, stopping and starting your career will make it tougher to place yourself properly,” Ms Ross said.
“You may even pass up promotions but, hey, it didn’t stop (Westpac Chief Executive Officer) Gail Kelly, did it?”
Fair Work Ombudsman chief counsel Leigh Johns said more than 70 pregnancy discrimination complaints had been made to the agency since its inception in July last year.
Complaints
A prosecution has been launched in the case of a 36-year-old mother-of-one who allegedly was told she might not be able to return to her position as clerical worker and that her pregnancy had “caused inconvenience” for a printing company.
Several of the complaints, including those arising from employers declining to keep a job open, demotion of someone on parental leave, and refusing promotion to an employee because she is pregnant, are currently under investigation.
Mr Johns said women needed to be aware of their rights.
“News of impending parenthood should be met with delight, not discrimination,” he said.
Neil Waters from Egon Zehnder, a company which specialises in placing chief executives, said if a woman was genuinely good at her job she would be given the right to juggle work and pregnancy.
“You can’t put a line through someone because they’re going to bear a child … but there are trade-offs and not everyone can make them,” he said.
“The CEO becomes the company. It’s hard work, 18 hours a day, six days a week, and it’s an enormous commitment.”
Slow change
Other top level executive recruitment officers, such as Heidi Mason from Russell Reynolds, said the findings were a reflection of an old, conservative view which was slowly changing.
“I think there’s a perception that there’s an impact, but we’re starting to respect that men and women who balance their lives make better leaders,” Ms Mason said.
But the fact remains that only two per cent of chief executive roles are held by women, and men outnumber women on boards by 10 to one.
The NSW Anti Discrimination Board president Stepan Kerkyasharian said there are unwritten rules at play that explain the deficit of women in the upper echelons of business.
“Some recruitment agencies may be complicit in this, a client says to them ‘no, we don’t want a women who might get pregnant’ wink, wink, nudge nudge,” he said.