On June 15 2016, Guest writer Helen Bullingham attended The Art of Leadership for Women conference at Toronto’s Metro Convention Centre. The standing-room only event hosted close to 1,000 women (and a handful of men). Speakers and panelists included successful women entrepreneurs and senior corporate leaders. The following is a summary of some of the topics and discussions.
Speaker: Kirstine Stewart | VP Media North America, Twitter
Kirstine revealed that her very first job out of university was a receptionist and office admin role for a television distribution company. Her original ambitions were to get into publishing but she could not break into the market post-graduation. Eventually, she was recognized for her initiative and promoted into a Sales role. Seven years later, she left the company as President.
Kirstine went on to become the first woman to join the Board of Directors of The Score on June 9th 2016.
Kirstine cautions women about taking their foot off the accelerator in their career development. Rather than being afraid of the increased demands on leadership, Kirstine said that in her experience, the more senior you are, the greater control you have over your schedule.
She also reminded the mostly-female audience: “You haven’t failed if you haven’t made CEO” – the point being that you can be a leader at any level in your career.
Jessica Herrin | Author, Find Your Extraordinary
Jessica Herrin is the author of ‘Find Your Extraordinary’, the original co-Founder of Weddingchannel.com and is currently CEO and founder of Stella & Dot Family Brands.
Jessica’s book is about helping women identify their own personal ‘Extraordinary version of success’ which she defined as more than money, title and security but also ‘peace in your mind and happiness in your heart’
Jessica challenged listeners not to assume that she was a rich kid who grew up in a privileged household. Quite the contrary; her mother suffered from extreme mental illness and her parents were divorced when she was at a young age. In high school, an English Teacher told her she was wasting her talents because she always came to class late and unprepared. It was that pivotal exchange that eventually led her to turn around her life. She went to College and then was accepted into Stanford for Economics.
Jessica emphasized the importance of positivity in your life and ended with four points for success: 1) Believe in yourself beyond reason 2) Have Passion 3) Live Positively 4) Persevere, no matter what
Panel Discussion | A State of the Nation from Women who Lead
The four panelists were: Shelley Ng, VP Product Management Meridian HCM; Vanessa Iarocci, AVP TD Wealth; Cheryl Stargratt, Chief People Officer, Tangerine and Rebecca Mooney, VP head of brand and marketing, RBC Wealth Management.
As leaders in their fields, each was asked to share how they got to where they are and offered advice to women pursuing the leadership track. The following is a summary of the key points from each:
Cheryl Stargratt | Chief People Officer, Tangerine
Cheryl made some great contributions to the panel. Here are some of her highlights:
- CEOs need to be held accountable for gender diversity. We need to take a long hard look at management practices on succession planning; if there aren’t any women’s names on the list, someone needs to ask why and someone needs to be held accountable for that.
- Gender diversity is not just a women’s issue. Important not to pit the genders against each other; think of it as a partnership in how we are moving forward. In countries that have made progress; that’s how the approach goes.
Vanessa Iarocci | AVP TD Wealth
- Female leadership benefits a team; a man that communicates the benefits of female leadership is deemed to be more effective. Get men to lead the conversation.
- On ageism: we need to be having a conversation about it. Specifically, regarding women in their early forties – does she still have career potential at that age?
Rebecca Mooney | VP head of brand and marketing, RBC Wealth Management
- When we think of a leader, we tend to think of them as male. We have to work on our idea of what a leader looks like.
- Director level is where you see the drop off rate for women – important role to play for men.
- Seventy per cent of financial assets will be controlled by women in five years; businesses need a staff that reflects their market.
Shelley Ng | VP Product Management Ceridian HCM
- Citing a study from the Harvard Business Review, Ng said that research shows women have the leadership skills; they just need to get the opportunity.
- Women think differently and it’s okay to think differently.
Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson, Psychologist
Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson is a social psychologist who is passionate about the science of motivation. She is the Associate Director of the Motivation Science Center at the Columbia Business School, Senior Consultant for the Neuroleadership Institute, and author of No One Understands You and What to Do About It.
Dr. Halvorson’s key takeaway point was that while we may think that our good intentions are clear and visible to colleagues and people whose opinion we value, the reality is that they are not. The way to get the attention of those in power is to show them how you can help them achieve their objectives. Doing a good job with your work will not be enough.
Tammy Heermann | SVP Strategic Solutions, Lee Hecht Harrison Knightsbridge
Tammy quoted a study that revealed that men were perceived as more strategic than women. But she told us that she has worked with hundreds of women over the years and knows that this isn’t true. She offered practical tips on how women can demonstrate strategic ability so that they can carve a path to leadership. She said that she had used the tips herself, and had been promoted four times in six years! Here are Tammy’s tips on being strategic:
- Ask strategic questions/speak strategically
Ask questions that show a connection to what you are doing and the overall business objectives. Use the words that are ‘the language of your business’ Rather than say, ‘I think x’ (which can easily be rejected) instead ask ‘what does the business need?’ - Develop Strong relationships
Coffee and lunch are part of the job. Building relationships is the work of leadership. - Mind your brand
As women, we need to ensure we are branding ourselves in the way we want to be perceived. Men talk about business metrics, women the soft stuff like staff training, team building etc., - Other tips on speaking strategically included: 1) Focus on the customer 2) Link to broader goals 3) Quantify with numbers 4) Project a future focus and show where and how to win.
Did you attend The Art of Leadership for Women? What were some of your takeaways? We want to hear from you! Leave your comments below.