Woman to woman

In my opinion to coalesce as working women is beneficial for any and every reason. Many times different women have said to me, “It’s more difficult to work with women because they are often petty and can get nasty.” I don’t know what separates them from nasty men. Yet, on the other hand I have heard from men, with women superiors, that they appreciate working for a woman. The reverse has been true in both situations.

I feel that being with women alone offers a comfortable platform for expression of thoughts and feelings, because of common experiences from mother to being mothered, and from building relationships to building communities of relationships. The key is establishing trust through a willingness to be vulnerable. Revealing a weakness, a gap in skill, a downturn of your business, a statement of personal need—this is a beginning to establishing trust. It tells the other person, “I trust you won’t abuse this information later—or use it against me.”

NAWBO invites affiliates to take inventory of assets

Notes from March 3 meeting by Catherine Lee:

The next meeting will be Tuesday, June 9th –unless a preference for Thursday, June 11th is indicated. Please let me know. It will be hosted by Athena International and Robin Kotke.

Jasmine and Amy Littleton gave outstanding presentations. Jasmine delineated with clarity the structure and purpose behind the Chicago Entrepreneurial Center, the Athena Powerlink and the Chamber itself. Within her delivery she identified the valuable resources the Center offers entrepreneurs—from grants and dollars to counseling with expertise and a network of support—both strategic and fiscal. It was motivating and practical.

Amy Littleton gave a most doable approach to securing media coverage—from T.V., radio and newspapers to the Blog and Twittering[along with John McCain]. Her presentation made everything, from timing to relationship a process directed toward success of securing press. All the information she shared is not only valuable for the Coalition, but also for each of our individual organizations. The energetic discussion that followed attested to the practicality and benefits of everything she presented to us.

In fact, following both presentations the group agreed we had to go outside ourselves, from internal focus of the Wiki to a Blog – and develop later into other technical support mechanisms, like Webinars, Tweeting, Linked In. Barbara Payne offered to set up a group Blog to get us going. Now, we all need to participate, with each other and those outside the Coalition. This will keep us more consistently in touch with each other’s needs and news. So, when the Blog is up, I do want to hear from you.

Our plan is to have a ‘techie’ party-like, hands-on learning session at our next quarterly meeting.

Between now and then we have a request of each of you—we want each affiliate to do an Inventory of their Assets. In the two months could you please observe and take note of what you and your organization does. If you set up a meeting, an event, a partnering…note what worked, what was the relationship, the results….Add to this the connections and relationships you have established and the value they bring to your organization. You may send them on to me and we will collate them and use them in our next meeting—and of course share them. In summary this Inventory of Assets will include:
• Who you are, how many members in your organization…
• Processes you have successfully used
• Connections
• Relationships
• Professional Network
• Successful events, activities, ….

Please email me with any ideas you have for activity or event for our Coalition—an activity that could further reinforce the purpose and generate involvement. Flood me with your midnight thoughts…or 3:00 AM ideas.