Welcome to Professionelle’s Blog page
We’ll update this page with our news and views on an adhoc basis, so check in regularly. Any worthy older material will find its way to the archives.
25 September 2009
A Touch of Irony
As they say in Lancashire, where my Wilshaw forebears come from, Ee, Ah’m reet powfagged. Or in the Queen’s more accessible English: gosh, I’m very tired.
I've been buried in the bowels of a short, sharp consulting project over in Melbourne for the last three weeks. "Short, sharp" is code for "unparalleled opportunity to experiment with sleep deprivation". Tonight I have my sights fixed on a bath, a book and - bliss beyond bliss - the prospect of about ten hours’ uninterrupted, guilt-free sleep.
Don’t get me wrong: the case has been intellectually interesting (as always), the client has been engaged and the team’s had a few laughs along the way. But why, whoever the client is, does the work always have to involve such a superhuman effort?
Against this background you’ll understand why I saw a touch of irony in the HBR publication online this week of a successful experiment by none other than BCG to break the 24/7 on-tap service culture in a professional services firm. It was called "Predictable Time Off".
Cue the hollow laughter...
Sarah
PS: Of course, there is one great thing about working excessively hard. It's so NICE when it finally stops!
23 September 2009
Out of my comfort zone
This will be a quick one, but I thought I’d share… I had quite full on (why is this a theme of my blogs?) couple of weeks and was beginning to feel the effects of it. Meanwhile, a lovely friend of mine has promised me her ticket for a major fashion show in fashion week, which arrived in the mail today.
My first reaction was not to go as I feel really washed out and very un-glamorous. But my dear aunt who is helping me with the kids at the moment, said, don’t be silly you love fashion and that is such a great thing to do. I tried to drum up excuses like the fact that I will have to go on my own, to which she replied that she has no doubt I’ll see someone I know there (which I know I will)…
Well, I took her advice, and I am planning to go out to the show, by myself tonight. I am doing it with some trepidation mind you, but as I try and do as I preach I am doing it nonetheless!
So stay tuned to my reflection on the event tomorrow at some stage..
Galia
September 14, 2009
Underselling
Through Professionelle we’ve met some amazing women over the last couple of years. Yet so many of them don’t seem to realise how good they are. It has been my observation that so many professional women are just sooo hard on themselves. They don’t seem to ‘own’ their achievements and are forever down playing their achievements. Is it a kiwi thing or a woman thing? I don’t know.
I recently attended a public meeting where it was so very clear that the men who were holding the meeting really weren’t doing a very good job of it. Yet, they didn’t seem to mind looking half-baked and unprepared. I thought to myself, goodness if it was a professional woman up there, she would have done her homework and she would have been well prepared to answer all the questions!
Are we too hard on ourselves? Don’t get me wrong, I think it is important to do your homework and I can’t stand ‘fakers’ myself. But do we overdo it? Do we think we have to be 150% there before we commit to something?
Is this part of the reason why we still after all these years behind in our representation on boards and senior leadership teams?
I have just downloaded a whole lot of new research on women and careers and I hope to enlighten us and see if this is something that researchers are now looking into.
Galia
Sept 15th In reply - speaking as one insecure overachiever to a few hundred others out there - (can I say "overachiever" by the way? Because I haven't done much. Not really. Maybe "occasional, modest achiever" would be more accurate. After all, other people do far more impressive things...) . Enough! That little voice is my own worst enemy.
We are far too hard on ourselves, and I'm sure it is one ingredient among many in the mix that keeps women out of so many boadrooms and senior leadership teams. I've seen it mentioned in texts from the US to the UK so I tend to think it's part of the female condition more than the Kiwi - as proof, witness Galia's observations of underprepared Kiwi men in her local meeting.
Recent research on women's impact on Boards is that, among other things, their presence correlates with improved attendance. That suggests their high standards rub off on the blokes. Setting a good example is powerful, but it's a pity it comes at such a high price... New insights eagerly awaited! Sarah
September 3, 2009
Women on Boards
Are blogs like buses? You wait and wait and then two come along right behind each other. I'm typing this in the Koru Lounge in Sydney after three full-on days at the Women on Boards conference. On the flight home I'll be trying to synthesise some of the key messages in time for our next site update.
There's nothing quite like Women on Boards (WoB) in NZ, so it was mildly surprising there were only two Kiwis at the conference. Although WoB is aimed at increasing gender balance on Australian company boards, the advice I gained this week on how to become Board-ready, how to tackle my Board CV, and how to increase the odds of being offered a Board position is definitely relevant back home across the Tasman.
The women attending were very much like those in Professionelle, and, indeed, I met one Professionelle member and saw another's name on a tag at the registration desk! It won't surprise you to hear that everyone there was wonderfully affirming, supportive and positive.
They've called the flight. More insights to follow in the next update!
Sarah
September 3, 2009
Slowing Down to Achieve More
I fully intend to write a full feature on this topic, but felt I should share it first on this Blog, which we haven’t been terribly great at keeping updated, so apologies… and I promise to try a lot more!
Life has been busy with everything that I have on. It got so busy that last school holidays I felt completely overwhelmed. I realised that I had reached capacity and that a big part of it was trying to fit soooo many things in my day.
So I decided to slow right down and see what would happen. Instead of trying to fit in about five different activities in the 30 minutes I had before I had to leave the house, I opted for one. Instead of driving really fast so I'd not be late (and getting a hideous speeding fine!), I'd try and give myself enough time (by not trying to fit in five different activities) to be there on time, or just be a little less.
The hardest thing of course has been to not take on too many things. I am very much a ‘yes I can do it’ kind of person. But instead of always saying yes, I now try and really take my time and think things really through. For example, I'm writing e-mails and then sitting on them for a while and then re-reading them later to make sure I have communicated well.
I must say that it really works. I feel more on top of things and I feel that my work has improved. I'm not so breathless anymore and I feel that I am more able to stop and smell the roses, while still achieving quite a bit along the way.
I’ll think about it some more, and hope to write some practical tips for you all. But my first is simply this: try and slow down a little. It works.
Galia
August 6, 2009
Women’s Relationships
For me, the most wonderful thing about our ‘Living your Values’ lunch a couple of weeks ago was seeing all these wonderfully intelligent women utterly engaged in discussing something that really matters. We will be posting a short video on Youtube for everyone to see what a Professionelle networking event actually looks like - then you'll see for yourself!
When I started mulling over the concept of Professionelle, my vision was exactly this: creating a forum for professional women, who are intelligent and outspoken, to meet with women just like them to talk about the stuff that really makes ‘life worth living’.
Over the years I have been called ‘intense’, ‘opinionated’ and ‘full on’ simply because I feel passionately about things and I like to discuss them with others. Sometimes, I felt quite isolated and out of place, like I shouldn’t really show how strongly I feel about things.
The thing was that I knew there were other women just like me who also sometimes felt like they were the odd-ones-out because they’d much rather discuss how to make work-life balance work for them than talk about Brangelina’s latest marital woes. Don’t get me wrong, I sometimes love Hollywood gossip, but I would much rather spend time talking about substantial matters to other women who are smart and passionate .
I will continue to savour those 1.5 hours for a very long time. I will think back about seeing all these women who were there because Sarah and I had the courage to create a forum where women like us can come and be their passionate, interested, opinionated selves!
I promise we will try and come to the city near you over the next 18 months.
So here’s to smart, passionate and opinionated women like us!
Galia
2 August 2009
"Values" Networking Discussion
A week ago (where has the time gone??) we ran our third Auckland networking event of the year. Between the lunchtime slot and the topic of Living Your Values something definitely appealed beause we had a full house with 60 booked. Galia and I are trying to get better at celebrating our achievements and this was a perfect opportunity...
Thank you to everyone who came, and who tried to come - we know there are always last minute glitches with clients, cars and children!
For those who haven’t been to one of our networking discussions, the format is that we present a topic, leave the tables to discuss aspects of it and then invite each table to report back to the wider group. We have seen some great relationships develop in the course of these meaty discussions!
Here are a couple of the comments from the feedback sheets:
This was my first Professionelle lunch and I was impressed with the way we were able to pack so much into a lunch. It was relaxed, informal yet very powerful & meaningful
Professionelle events are always different, always interesting and most importantly challenge me to think another way.
Talking of feedback, the votes on time of day were pretty evenly in favour of breakfast and lunch rather than than later in the day. They were also balanced between keeping it to a (busy!) 90 minutes, or a more leisurely 2 hours. We think we’ll trial the longer version next time, over lunch.
We have three more of these networking events in the pipeline for August, clear eveidence, that the format appeals and that women really get value from them. All the forthcoming sessions are in-house ones, in other words, we are running them for the women employees at specific clients. Does this sound like something your organisation might be interested in? If so, drop us a line.
And remember - if you’re in a smaller firm, why not club together with one or two other companies? That way you not only make it affordable, you also double or treble the networking opportunities!
Sarah
16 July 2009
A Little Gem
In the middle of winter, on a wet Thursday morning at the tail end of the school holidays, there's not much fun to be had in a sun/sea/surf oriented place... unless you happen to be in New Zealand.
Where else can a short drive deliver you into utter solitude, next to a silent flowing river, lined by lush bush and endless mini-waterfalls? Nature's beauty is all well and good, but in Puketui valley in the Coromandel, where a scant hundred years ago 200 people were busy mining gold, there were plenty of other distractions to entertain the family.
On the Gem of the Boom Creek walk, we found a 15m horizontal mine shaft, complete with glow worms that responded to our torchlight. A little further on a shorter shaft swarmed with cave wetas. (For our non-Kiwi readers, think grasshopper/cockroach cross). And let's not forget the jail cell-sized room cut out of living rock. Our torch beams revealed a rough pallet on which lay... a skeleton*, skull missing, but boots still intact. Canyou imagine the street cred that story will confer on our kids next term?!
Add in a few short tunnels, a major landslip, a washed-out ford, and the overgrown ruins of three gold-stamping batteries and you have the ingredients of a real Boys' Own adventure. We didn't hear a single grumble from the kids all morning.
The cost of all this fun? $1 to buy the Dept of Conservation's guide brochure.
The number of people we saw? One car on the way in, and one couple at a carpark on the way out three hours later.
On days like this I remember why New Zealand is such a fabulous place to live.
Sarah
* carefully assembled animal bones that looked like the real thing!
3 July 2009
Relationships matter
It has been a tough month, lots of work on all fronts and a pesky cold that
turned into a nasty infection: sound familiar? I am sure many of you are
experiencing the same.
Since discovering Positive Psychology, I know what to do when I feel run
down psychologically. I exercise, I walk and do my yoga a lot; I do the 3 Good
Things Exercise each night; I practise more mindfulness and try and savour the good things in my life.
The problem with being unwell is that I can't exercise so much. In the past, this used to send me in a downward spiral because exercise really makes a difference to my energy levels and mood. But this time, I took Professor Chris Peterson¹s advice "relationships matter" and exercised that idea mindfully.
I recently did a 10 week online course with him which was amazing. He
emphasised throughout how important it is to have meaningful relationships.
So, instead of pushing myself to do work - which is what I used to do in the past when I was falling behind because I was run-down - I took time out to be with my wonderful, loving and supportive girlfriends, even knowing I should be doing work instead...
I felt I needed some lovin’ and they were so great. After a few days of
doing less work and more just being with great girlfriends and my family
and of course my wonderful husband, savouring them, I am now almost back to
my usual energy levels. And I am back on top of the work as I have renewed
energy and feel engaged again!
So, relationships matter, never ever feel guilty about taking time out to be
with those who you love and who really love you.
Galia
27 June 2009
In the Company of Women
Where did the week go?! We spent the first two days in sunny Tauranga. There we ran three events, two of them generously hosted by the Tauranga Chamber of Commerce under the guidance of Anne Pankhurst.
Just as in our workshops and events in Wellington and Auckland, we met more wonderful professional women. I would have loved to go out for dinner with all of them - and in fact, on this trip, we did manage to find time for drinks with several women after our Personal Branding workshop, and then a delicious Italian dinner with a smaller group. Hooray!
Like many of you reading this, I have worked in male-dominated industries and environments almost all my working life. It’s fine, I like men, but there’s something materially different about being in a roomful of people who look and think just like me. It’s something that till Professionelle, I had never experienced - well, not since my ‘A’ level years at an all-girls school in England (and I forged some very special friendships there).
As we all chatted in Tauranga, I hunted for the word that would sum up how being in the exclusive company of my professional female peers was making me feel. Was it "empowering"? Galia suggested "affirming." A lot of both, and more.
It was like coming home.
Sarah
17 June 2009
Birthday Girl!
Today’s my birthday and, no, I’m not telling how old I am, a girl’s allowed some secrets!
I have been terrible at blogging so many apologies to you all, I promise to do much more of it when we migrate to the new and much easier to manage Professionelle website. But in my defence, I’ve moved house, have a tonne of coaching and non-for-profit work and Sarah and I have been busy arranging and delivering offline events.
But all that’s not the point of this blog. I wanted to tell you all how this year I’m really going to spoil myself. I’ve never done this before but I have planned a massage, facial, lunch with the girls (they planned it for me ) AND a hair cut for my birthday! Followed by a dinner organised by nearest and dearest. I can’t wait.
I was actually asked to deliver a talk today to the Board and Leadership team of a sizeable New Zealand company and I said – no, sorry its my birthday! Just a few years ago this would have been unthinkable to me, but I’ve certainly changed and feel very comfortable looking after number one. Luckily for me, the Chair was very understanding and it's going to happen next month instead.
I also discovered today that a long time associate, wonderful Professionelle supporter and friend of mine shares the same birthday as me, but unfortunately she’s starting a contract tomorrow and has to work. I did promise I’ll be thinking of her!
So here's to really spoiling yourself once a year (at least)
Galia
6 June 2009
All A-Twitter
It’s mildly ironic that the day I hang out Professionelle’s shingle in the world of Twitter there should be a strongly anti Twitter piece in the NZ Herald's Saturday Canvas magazine. No matter, we’re going to have a go at this real-time social media-cum-viral-marketing phenomenon.
Why? Because in the 3 or 4 weeks I have been lurking on Twitter, cloaked in a pseudonym, I have discovered some wonderful resources and learned about events and opportunities I would have missed otherwise.
I confess when I started I had VERY low expectations. What could anyone say of any interest in just 140 characters, the maximum you’re allowed by Twitter? Who cares about 99.99% of the answers to Twitter's fundamental question "what are you doing?" I expected trivial inanity.
Instead, in my first search for tweets (Twitter messages) containing the words professional women I found a link to a great Forbes magazine article and to The Glass Hammer, a US-based professional women's website. Of course, the topics I'm after, and the Twitterers I'm tracking so far, do tend to be focused on news and resources, not social interaction. As time goes on, I think that mix will change.
I also expected Twitter to be a home for teenagers and younger Gen Y's. Not at all: Twitter users are, according to Nielsen, mostly in their 30s and 40s, just like YOU, our Professionelle members! Also, I thought it might not be NZ thing but the NZ Herald reported that 6% of Kiwis twitter, compared to 5% in the US.
Do YOU Twitter? How do you find it?
If you want to hear bite-sized snippets of news and views from Professionelle, click on the bird below to go to our Twitter profile.
Our username is Professionelle_ with an underscore. We had to add that because a Romanian lady already has the username Professionelle! So a quick tip: if you think you might ever want to use Twitter, hop along and register the name you think you’d want. (It's free).
Sarah
PS: Do personal brands pose a risk to employers? Interesting question, found through Twitter!
Saturday
21 May 2009
Advice for Impostors
I’ve spent this week doing little but give advice - all at others’ request. It’s ranged from retailing trends, to running a Montessori unit, to how to change your work model, and more. Are the stars aligned to channel all this my way? Or could it be that I have actually amassed experiences that other people regard as credible and useful?
Nah - it’s the stars.
Like one or two of you reading this, I carry a streak of the impostor syndrome (as per Galia’s Tauranga talk topic below). So this week, even as I’ve genuinely tried to help, I’ve also caught myself worrying that each advisee had left with just one or two useful ideas. They'd feel they’d wasted their time... I’d end up looking like a fraud...
Enter positive psychology and, amongst other things, the practice of disputing unhelpful and negative thoughts. I have reminded myself that if I’m grateful to come away from full day conferences with "one or two useful ideas" then I’ve overdelivered this week to provide that much in meetings of merely an hour. I’ve also reminded myself that I’ve given out bags of my time plus I’m really NOT on the hook to solve other people’s problems from go to whoa.
If you want to know more about disputing negative thoughts, and the science behind it, get hold of Learned Optimism by Seligman (book review here). If you’re more hands-on, you might like to sign up to Happier.com’s free week trial and take the "Stop being So Negative" option. You can practise your disupting skills through the ABCDE exercise it contains. And if you do take Happier’s trial, please let us know how you find it...
Impostors of the world, dispute! You have nothing to lose but your self-imposed chains!
Sarah
12 May 2009
Terrific Tauranga
In my last blog I struggled with the juggle. I missed out on what sounded like a great introduction to governance course, and felt pretty sorry for myself. But my, how things changed over the course of the weekend!
At the beginning of the year I was contacted by Adrienne von Tunzelmann and Anne Pankhurst from the Tauranga Chamber of Commerce who asked me to speak at their Annual Women in Business Conference. We agreed a topic – the Impostor Syndrome - and locked in the date.
As it turned out, this date fell a week before we were due to complete the purchase of our new house, right at the end of the week where my daughter fell sick, and generally in a week where life felt pretty over the top. Thankfully, I was committed and could not wangle my way out… and also, Andrew (my husband) and I had the foresight to organise for the whole family to go down and have a break.
Well, this was such an unbelievably affirming experience for me. Ladies, if any of you live in the region, I HIGHLY recommend you attend this conference next year. The women who attended were so very warm, encouraging and very switched-on and self-starting, real Professionelle material! They had a great mix of speakers and plenty of opportunities for meaningful networking.
My talk was very warmly received, and I was truly buzzing. It feels like such a privilege to do my Professionelle work. I keep hearing the popular media go on about how women are mean to each other, and how they bully other women, and I guess this can be true. But through Professionelle, the website, and our various offsite interactions with women, I have only ever felt supported and encouraged and valued.
So if you ask me, the sisterhood is alive and well, you just have to find the right sisters!
Galia
8 May 09
Sometimes I Really Struggle with the Juggle
I was talking to a great friend of mine yesterday who moved to the country months ago who I haven’t yet managed to visit. And as I was telling her about trying to keep my work commitments, my non-for-profit commitments, getting organised to move houses, preparing to the talk I have tomorrow (Saturday) at the Tauranga Business women conference while looking after a sick nearly five year old all week – I said “Sometimes I really struggle with the juggle!” At which point we both laughed and I decided it was too good a line and I should use it for a blog title.
So there you have it, I am no super – woman, I am sleep deprived and cranky, missed out on a governance course that Sarah and I were supposed to go to today and generally going somewhat stir-crazy!
But I know it will come to an end, and I feel very fortunate to be able to keep things going while looking after my sick child - no matter how hard it can feel. I did manage to write a piece for the site I have been planning on for ages, and finish another presentation I’m doing for my other business.
Let’s hope she is better by Monday – ‘Cause one week is quite enough for me!
Galia
4 May 2009
The Labyrinth is Alive and Well!
Nicola Rowe, who wrote the recent governance article "To Advise and to Govern" on this site, let us know about a Financial Times feature on the subject of women as non-executive directors, published at the end of April. In the links she sent, I found an intriguing reference to a new piece of research called (a tad depressingly) "Holding Women Back". It's by DDI and is based on a survey of over 10000 leaders from 76 countries.
Holding Women Back confirms the "labyrinth" metaphor for women's careers. We prefer this image (proposed by Carli and Eagly in 2007) to the "glass ceiling". The labyrinth makes it clear that women face obstacles from the early stages of their careers, not only when they are about to knock on the exec-suite door.
Supporting examples from the DDI research:
- Starting at junior management level, 28% more men than women receive specialist development via high-potential groups or “talent pools”. At the executive level, 50% more men than women get such help.
- Women also receive less support in career transitions such as promotions, but may not be aware of discrimination, as selection processes and mentor schemes are “shrouded in secrecy”
- Men are also more than twice as likely to be given multinational leadership responsibilities.
I'll be digging further into the research to see what further gems I can bring you.
Sarah
22 April 2009
Milestones and Media
An hour or so ago we clocked up our 1500th member! This new registration was almost completely on the average for our members:
- a woman in her later thirties
- living in Auckland
- educated to post grad level
- a self-employed consultant
Registrations land in our inbox at the rate of 1 or 2 each working day. For example, we’ve had 35 registrations since our birthday in mid March and that includes the Easter period. Things always slow down over school holidays. Over half of these new members came via referral - the very best endorsement we can get!
However, I expect a real flurry of registrations today because Galia is quoted in the main article in the NZ Herald Prospects pullout (the new combo of Herald Jobs and Herald Homes). The piece was all about the benefits of networking, so Galia was in her element! I’ve loaded the scanned article onto the site for you to have a look at if you’re outside Auckland or missed it in today’s paper.
And in a month or so I’ll be appearing in a feature on Breadwinner-Women in Next magazine thanks to the lovely freelancer and Professionelle member, Gill South. Had I realised this interview would lead to a 2 hour photo shoot, complete with make-up artist !!! I might have thought twice. Actually, it was a lot of fun. And when, during the 'casual' shots on the local jetty, I managed to drop one of my favourite fab shoes in the river, the photographer nobly rescued it with his tripod. Gallantry ain’t dead, folks.
Sarah
17 April 2009
Broads 'n Boards
A flippant title for a Friday night...
I’ve also been working on a non-Professionelle project for a few weeks. It wrapped up last night, in fact, with a session with the client’s board. While I know only too well what Galia means about the Boys' Club (see her blog below), I have to say this board meeting scored a point on the other side of the ledger. A quarter of this board was female and with me in the room there were three of us - the magic number. It felt almost like we had balance!
Both women were non-executive directors and I watched the dynamics with interest. The women spoke up early, often seeking clarification and clearly not afraid to ask the questions. Both also brought in the perspective of their areas of professional expertise. I didn't hear them pick up and build on each other's points - something that is part of the support women directors can give each other when they are in the minority - but as these two were filling about half the airspace, and being listened to, there was perhaps no need.
Oh, and one board member directly asked me my opinion (I was there in a support, rather than presenting, role). You won't be surprised, perhaps, to hear that it was one of the women who paid me that courtesy...
Sarah
16 April 2009
It is still very much a Man's World...
I have been working on a non Professionelle project recently. The people who we report to are all men. It has been remarkable to see how things haven’t really shifted in the old boys club. It could be because they are mostly in their late 50’s onward, or it could be because they are simply not used to working with women.
It really is all about the little things, the little gestures, the inflexibility and complete lack of understanding of what life’s like for me and other women like me who constantly have to juggle. More than anything really, its about the prevailing culture of ‘nod nod – wink wink’ where you feel very uncomfortable raising any questions/ disagreements as the ‘club’ will likely disown you.
Thank heavens for all of you ladies who have been sending us your thoughts and comments. I now definitely know it is not about me. We all experience it. When will it change, I ask? Maybe when men from our generation, who are used to being flexible as they have wives like us who constantly juggle and who are used to being challenged by assertive women, make it to the top.
I fully understand some of our counterparts who decide it ain’t worth the aggravation. But than again, I am a fighter and I will hang on in there!
Galia
7 April 09Professionelle’s Work-Life Balance Breakfast
Our second facilitated networking event was as we’ve come to expect another thoroughly interesting and enjoyable experience. But as some of our members pointed out to us, having a work-life balance discussion at 7am on a Friday morning is somewhat contradictory….
The success of the breakfast was completely due to the wonderful women who attended. The women who came, were so on to it, so passionate and articulate. But don’t just listen to what I have to say… here’s what one of the attendees wrote in her feedback form:
“This is the only place I’ve found where there is a concentrated number of like minded women ready to discuss topical issues. I always walk away with new ideas to put in place and feeling part of something meaningful.”
And I couldn’t agree more. The two key themes that came through were that like most things, work-life balance is in the eye of the beholder and that balance is all about control, the ability to control your work the way that makes life works for you. Sarah will be writing up the key themes for a Professionelle article at a later date, once she’s emerged from a very time consuming consulting project she’s doing.
And about the un-hospitable hour, we promise to experiment with a lunch format next time, so stay tuned.
Meanwhile it is the Jewish Passover tomorrow night and I am having it at my place this year for the very first time. This involves lots and lots and lots of cleaning and cooking (I started on the weekend…) with kids already on their school holidays.
After making litres of chicken soup, lamb tagine and salads, I decided to take a quick break so I can blog about the breakfast while it is still fresh in my memory.
So that’s my version of life-work balance this week!
Galia
31 March 2009
An Inspirational Workshop in Wellington
Last week, Sarah and I flew to Wellington to deliver our latest and best Personal Branding Workshop for our members there. Last year we offered four workshops here in Auckland, and this year we decided to venture a bit further afield.
When we started work on Professionelle, our intention was that it would be mostly an online venture. We did think we might do some work with corporates, but, to be honest, it never occurred to us that we might end up doing members' events. We thought there were enough organisations that were doing off-line training, development and networking events for women as it was.
As we started researching and writing and finding relevant material to share with you, my passion for Positive Psychology and what benefits it could bring our members just grew and grew. Sarah and I, as you might have guessed, are very different. Sarah is quite happy to work on her own on interesting problems (whatever they might be). For me, however, interacting with other people on topics that are meaningful topics to me is almost like an addiction! I crave it.
Last week’s Wellington workshop was simply amazing. We were both raised in the consulting tradition that presentations should be crammed full of content. Our experience to date has, however, shown us that, in the context of Professionelle at least, less is actually more.
So this time, we took it the paring down a step further and tried something new. On the first introductory slide, we asked the women who attended to share a story as a way for us all to get to know each other. (I should add we had asked them ahead of time to think of this, along with other pre-work so they all came prepared!) We felt some trepidation about how this would work... after all we were asking them to take risks sharing with strangers - albeit strangers linked by Professionelle.
Well, they all just dived in. It did take 50 minutes out of the 4 hour workshop to go through everyone’s stories and Sarah got rather worried we'd run hopelessly out of time (as usual). In fact, that scene setting worked so amazingly well it made other later parts easier to move through. We were able to relate the workshop content back to the stories, and for me as a facilitator, I really felt that the material made much more sense to the women and that they really ‘got it’. And we finished on time!
I still think of their stories, it has made a huge impact on me, and judging by their wonderful feedback to us, it did on them as well.
I have intellectually understood the power of personal story telling for a long time, but this last workshop had really powerfully and emotionally demonstrated to me what an amazing tool for personal growth it is.
What is your story?
Galia
