Check out this week’s interesting links.

Why Global Economies Needs Businesses to Invest in Women - The Daily Beast/Newsweek. “Now a corporate revolution is at hand, one that is moving beyond philanthropy, making women partners in business at all levels. This was an important theme at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, which hosted a plenary session entitled “Women as the Way Forward” on the potential impact of women on the global economy.”

Get your Employees Engaged - HBR Blog Network interviews Doug Conant, former President and CEO of Campbell Soup. Conant explains how he improved staff morale through the power of handwritten notes and a pedometer.

The Path to More Women in Senior Leadership: A User’s Guide  - Forbes by Anne Perschel, PhD and Jane Perdue. What is your definition of power and how do you think you can get obtain it? This user guide helps define power and how best to go after it.

Waterloo Engineering Hires First Female Dean- Macleans On Campus by Josh Dehaas. The new dean of Canada’s largest engineering school, the University of Waterloo, is a woman. Pearl Sullivan will be the first female to take on the top job when she starts on July 1. With only 20.6 per cent of undergraduate engineers in 2001 being female and the proportion declining to 17.7 per cent in 2011, as reported by Engineers Canada, perhaps a female dean will encourage more young women to seek out engineering as a career choice.

Three Convenient Non-Excuses Keeping Women off Boards - The Glass Hammer by Melissa J. Anderson. “Why is it that, despite all the research pointing to the business value of boardroom diversity, companies still stubbornly refuse to open the boardroom door to diverse candidates? Here are three convenient non-excuses that boards make for their lack of business-building diversity - and how to counter them.”

Forget the Office: Let Employees Work from Home - Bloomberg Business Week by Nathaniel Borenstein. A look at the pros and cons of employees working from home.

3 Steps to Winning in Your Personal Life  - Women Centric by Holly G Green. "If you want to get the most of out life, get obsessive and relentless about winning! Here are three simple steps for setting yourself up to win."

Do you have any interesting links you’d like to share with WiNfluence readers? Pick one thing that inspired you this week and post the link in the comments section below.

The Grindstone polling, to date, is showing the following results:

Do you think women should dye their hair to help their careers?

Yes, it sucks, but that is what society expects. On men, grey hair just works better. (9.5%)

No, society can suck it up. If a woman wants to go grey then she should. (61.9%)

I don't think there is anything wrong with wanting to look your best and younger, especially if it helps your career.
(28.6%)

For those of you who know me, you know that I have chosen to let nature decide my hair colour and yes, that colour is grey and has been for some time. I like to think I suffer from pre-mature greying and not old age. I made the decision not to colour my greying locks, more for pure convenience than any noble stand. It is all I can do to get to the hair dresser to cut my hair, let alone keep up with colouring the exposed roots.

I feel I have earned each one of those grey hairs over the years. Somehow my grey hair, which I still think of as brown until the mirror reveals all, is a badge of honour. It stands for years of hard work as a Mom, in my career, the hours spent doing volunteer work, being a wife, daughter, sister and friend.

Has this hurt me in my career? I really can’t say. No one has outwardly told me they didn’t want me for a job because of my hair colour. Years ago, I remember my Aunt Donna tell me that she felt she had to dye her hair for work, or face the consequences of being seen as old and out of date and replaced by someone younger.

I think it is a sad reflection on our society and the workplace if you are judged by the colour of your hair and not by your work ethic, experience and knowledge. However, we all know, that stereotypes play havoc in the workplace and this could quite possibly be another sad example.

How would you vote in the poll? Do you think women should dye their hair if they expect to be seen as more youthful and somehow more valuable to an organization? Or do you think that grey hair suggests a wealth of life and work experience that should be valued? Do you look at a woman with grey hair differently than a man with grey hair? Do you find yourself thinking a woman with grey hair is old and out of date? All important questions to ask yourself. Take part in the discussion by leaving a comment.

Check out this week’s interesting links.

A Checklist for 2012: Learning from Mentors -  The Glass Hammer by Jessica Titlebaum. If you are still struggling with setting your 2012 goals, Jessica shares a few action items she has learned from her mentors and provides a checklist that has helped her achieve her career goals.

Friendly Fire -  Huff Post Parents by Glennon Melton. Tried of the stay-at-home/working Mom debate. Glennon writes a great post on the insanity of this discussion. Glennon suggests we all do a great job of beating ourselves up through Mommy guilt and we need to quit beating each other up over the issue.

10 Things Not to Do When Making An Elevator Pitch - The Grindstone by Meredith Lepore. If working on your elevator pitch was a goal for 2012 Meredith offers up some great advice on how do to that effectively.

Development: Taking Charge of Your Career  - ANS Nuclear Café by Elizabeth McAndrews-Benavides and Jennifer Varnedoe. Some great career advice here from North American Young Generation Nuclear members.

Women Constantly Undermining Each Other In The Workplace? Total Myth -  The Jane Dough Business News we Knead by Amy Tennery. "Women actually feel worse watching their same-sex counterparts being mistreated at work, according to a new study from researchers Texas A&M University and Buena Vista University in Iowa."

To-Do Lists Don’t Work -  Harvard Business Review by Daniel Markovitz. Daniel makes come compelling arguments against using the to-do list. Personally, I’d be lost without mine but I wanted to share a different point of view.

Women’s Role in Fixing the Women’s Role in Fixing the “Pyramid Problem”  - The Glass Hammer by Caroline Turner. Caroline writes an excellent article on the importance of getting men on side to fix the lack of advancement of women to senior levels. One of the best written articles with very rich content (check out the links in the article as well) I’ve read in a very long time. A great article to share with senior leadership in your organization.

Do you have any interesting links you’d like to share with WiNfluence readers? Pick one thing that inspired you this week and post the link in the comments section below.

January was chosen because it is the month when people make resolutions and set goals for the upcoming year and the organizers thought, “Why not resolve to mentor?” The alternative to that would be, why not resolve to find a mentor?

Much has been written about mentoring. Catalyst has done some great research on this topic, including, “Making Mentoring Work”, with the added benefit of tools to help you achieve success in your mentoring relationships.  Most recently Catalyst has offered up new research “Sponsoring Women in Success” that takes mentoring to a new level and suggests that seeking out a sponsor, someone who can advocate on your behalf, may be a better way to support your career goals to the senior levels. Sponsorship is a more influential and specific professional relationship.

Whether you choose to ask someone to mentor or sponsor you, keep a few of things in mind:

1. Respect - You are asking them to give up valuable time to meet with you so be very flexible about meeting times, which very well may need to be re-scheduled at the last minute.
2. Preparation - Come prepared to ask for advice and guidance. You may want advice on how you handled a specific situation or you may want to review a project or assessment that you are working on. Make sure you demonstrate leadership, initiative and self-reliance. Think about different ways to ask questions or gain information other than simply asking your mentor. It is always good to show that you have explored other avenues before you come to the meeting.
3. Career Goals - Come prepared to discuss your career aspirations along with your strengths and weaknesses and concrete ideas of how to strengthen your weaknesses.
4. Homework - Be prepared to go away with homework. It may be a book or an article to read and be ready to discuss at your next meeting.

The second piece to National Mentoring Month is a Mentor Appreciation Day to thank those people who have mentored you over the years and helped you accomplish your goals. Take a few minutes before month end to think about all the wonderful people who have contributed to your career over the past year. Send them a short thank you expressing your appreciation of their efforts and tell them how their mentorship helped you achieve your goals.

Check out this week’s interesting links.

Five Lessons From World Changers  - Harvard Business Review by John Coleman - John Byrne's new book, World Changers.* In it, Byrne recounts discussions with 25 entrepreneurs who have changed the world — people like Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, and Richard Branson. Byrne focuses on allowing those people to tell their stories, but in reading them, John finds several valuable lessons for world changers in the making, which he shares.

The Future of Work? Top 10 Employers of Gen Y Workers - Forbes by Jenna Goudreau -  A new study released this morning by Millennial Branding reveals how and where Generation Y is working today, and may shed light on the future of work.

5 Ways Body Language Can Cost You The Job - Career Realism by Debra Wheatman -  - What your body conveys can tell far more about your feelings than you suspect. How you stand, your eye contact (or lack thereof), and the position of your hands, among other things send a message. Depending on your body’s language establishes a tone you subconsciously convey.

Train the Brain to Focus  - Harvard Business Review by Paul Hammerness and Margaret Moore - The good news is that the brain can learn to ignore distractions, making you more focused, creative, and productive.

New Research: How Girls Can WiN in Math and Science - The Daily Beast by Caryl Rivers and Rosalind C. Barnett -  Now that we have reason to believe that gender stereotyping starts much earlier than previously thought, we also need to accept that countering it requires more sophisticated approaches than those we now use. If girls continue to lag behind in STEM areas, our future economy and competitiveness could suffer. It’s critical that we start our efforts in the primary grades and look beyond the obvious to succeed.

Do you have any interesting links you’d like to share with WiNfluence readers? Pick one thing that inspired you this week and post the link in the comments section below.

Check out this week’s interesting links.

Career Advice: 5 Steps to Transform Yours Now Huff Post, Women by Linda Descano - Linda explores how to get started if you are thinking about a career reinvention.

Why You Need a Better Elevator Pitch Harvard Business by Jeffrey Hayzlett - “Today, elevators are much faster and attention spans are much shorter, so you've got to amp up your pitch. You've got to have a 118.”  That’s 118 seconds are you ready?

New Report Reveals Steps Women Must Take to Attain More Senior Level Positions, Germaine Consulting . “A new report, Women and The Paradox of Power, based on research by Dr. Anne Perschel of Germane Consulting and Jane Perdue of Braithwaite Innovation Group finds that corporations are leaving money on the table and forgoing future success by failing to place more women in senior leadership roles. Perschel and Perdue also claim that businesswomen must prepare themselves to take on these executive roles by understanding and using power more effectively.” Five actions for women are identified.

Ten simple and powerful body language tips for 2012,

“the effective use of body language plays a key role in effective leadership communication. From The Silent Language of Leaders: How Body Language Can Help - or Hurt - How You Lead, Carol provides 10 tips she has learned during the past two decades of coaching leaders and their teams around the world.”

A 7-step process to achieving your goals, Harvard Business Review by Alexandra Samuel. Having trouble keeping those New Year’s resolutions. Alexandra provides 7 steps to help you achieve your goals.

Women and Success, Huff Post Women by Kathy Caprino. Having trouble talking about your successes? Read on to find out why women have difficulty tooting their own horns.

How you can benefit by bragging, Forbes by Nancy F Clark. Still having trouble talking about your success. Nancy shares the benefits of bragging.

The New “Getting Ahead”: What it takes to succeed in 2012 ,The Glass Hammer, by Robin Madell . “To get the New Year started right, The Glass Hammer spoke with a diverse group of women in leadership positions in law, technology, and finance—as well as workplace experts in other industries—for practical strategies that you can really use.”

Three Steps to Getting What you Want, One New Thing by KW. Ask for what you want and see what happens!

Do you have any interesting links you’d like to share with WiNfluence readers? Pick one thing that inspired you this week and post the link in the comments section below.

As if making New Year’s resolutions wasn’t enough pressure, someone in their wisdom declared Jan. 5-9 as Women’s Self Empowerment Week.

Did you miss the ribbons, lapel pins and the huge amount of media coverage? Me too. (Don’t feel bad I couldn’t find any evidence of fan fare for this week of self empowerment.) Apparently, it missed everyone’s radar.

But seriously, as we move into 2012, January is that time of year when we should really take the time to think about our past accomplishments and set goals for what we want to achieve in the year ahead. Self reflection and goal setting are probably two of the best paths to empowerment, so I guess it makes sense to have a week in early January to celebrate all of that.

So before this week with zero awareness disappears, take a few minutes to take stock of your life, pat yourself on the back for all you have accomplished, think about the important role you play in your community and let all of those warm and fuzzy feelings inspire you to set your goals for 2012.

Writing down your goals for 2012 and posting them to review daily, weekly or even monthly will help you stay on track and remember what is important in the sea of deadlines and daily tasks. Sharing your goals with others will move them from resolution to proclamation. 

In that spirit, I want to share one of my goals for 2012. I proclaim to call people (and by people I mean both men and women) on gender stereotypes this year. I actually started doing this in 2011 and I found it quite interesting to see how others reacted. Almost every time I pointed out someone’s behaviour they were absolutely amazed how what they said or what they did was perceived. Almost every time I got the response, “that wasn’t my intention.” Proving once again that things like gender discrimination and stereotyping are very deeply seeded in our culture.

I have given myself permission to take charge of my work place and call colleagues and superiors on this type of behaviour. Of course when calling people on their behaviour you have to be kind about it, don’t call them out in the middle of a meeting or presentation in front of their peers. But a kindly worded email, a phone call or a short personal conversation after the event to explain how a particular statement made you feel, as a woman in the audience, goes a long way. Mostly I found the people I spoke with gave my comments some important reflection and thanked me for raising the point.

Self empowerment is all about taking small steps to improve yourself and your life. So take control of your life and start living it like you want to. Celebrate your self empowerment all year long, not just on one week that no one seems to pay any attention to.

I receive a lot of content each week through my Twitter feed and other news feeds that I often think is worth sharing with WiN members and other colleagues. I share a lot of this information through links on my Facebook wall but I know that only reaches a few Facebook users. In order to reach everyone who follows the blog I am starting a new feature this year. Each week I will share some interesting links that I have come across in an attempt to get more content out to you in an easy format. The information shared is not necessarily something I’m endorsing but information that I think is thought provoking and worth sharing.

Check out this week’s interesting links. You’ll notice a trend - all links are about helping you set your career goals for 2012.

Nine resolutions that will make your career better in 2012 - The Grindstone - Meredith Lepore - Meredith speaks to Shelly Gorman, Director of Career Management at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business school, about some proactive resolutions whether you are trying to move up higher in your current field or land a new job. 

Five top career investments for 2012 - Forbes - Glenn Llopis - “it’s time to get serious about investing in yourself, your career and your immediate future.”

New Year’s Resolutions Beware! - Aubrey Daniels - “Here are some practical suggestions to help you be successful should you want to carry on the New Year’s Resolution tradition.”

Do you have any interesting links you’d like to share with WiNfluence readers? Pick one thing that inspired you this week and post the link in the comments section below.

* WiN-Canada membership continues to grow with an 11% increase
over last year.
* We held our first ever election in 2011 with competitions for most positions.
* We had diverse attendance from companies in industry at our annual conference. We very much appreciate the sponsorship we received from the industry, which helped to realize a profit of $34,000 to be used for 2012 programming.
* We participated in 13 Skills Canada dinners across Canada, helping to sponsor 4 dinners.
* We facilitated a successful full week summer GIRLS Science Camp, a 2-day March break camp and 5 club sessions. Other chapters are doing outreach in schools, attending community events i.e., Dove Days in Pembroke and Spirit of Sisterhood Event in Durham Region.
* We finished off the French version of The Catch video and the English and French version of the supplementary educators’ guide for The Catch video in partnership with The Learning Partnership. The video and guide is being accessed by all high schools across Ontario and beyond.
* We reached over 2,000 young people in the past year through our GIRLS Science, Skills dinners and outreach programs - this does not include students we reached through The Catch video, insertion of the nuclear operator family in Skills booklets at every secondary school, and our new position paper, Women in the Skilled Trades and Technologies - Myths and Realities.
* We secured continued support for the full time Executive Director position from Bruce Power and OPG.
* We completed our new position paper, Women Working in the Skilled Trades and Technologies, Myths and Realities and launched the paper at a breakfast in Toronto with many stakeholders in attendance.
* We sat on the Communication Working Committee, the Social Media Working Committee at the CNA and participated in Industry Association Alignment meetings with the industry. We also hold a seat on the Electricity Sector Council Ontario Working Committee.
* We helped organize and participated in a very successful Parliament Hill Day with over 40 participants attending meetings with 20 senators, MPs and parliamentary staff.
* We participated in the WiN-Global social media campaign to provide information on Fukushima to the public through Facebook and Twitter. 

* We raised $5,000 for Fukushima through sale of wristbands.
* Our website drew over 27,108 visitors from 155 countries. The blog was read 14,057 times over the past year and the women on WiN feature drew 5,672 page views.
* We continue to work on the incorporation of WiN.
* We held a number of local chapter activities mentoring young people and covering excellent topics through great speakers in our meetings, helping to better educate our members.

It has been a very busy 2011 and 2012 proves to be just as active. All this work is the result of our dedicated members and leaders in the nuclear community who are committed to WiN’s success and helping the nuclear industry be successful. I  hope you all come back renewed and ready to take an active role in all WiN's activities in 2012.

As this is my final blog for 2011, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all the happiest of holidays. Enjoy your time with family and friends. It has been a great year for Women in Nuclear (WiN) and we look forward to bigger and better things in 2012. 

WiNfluence will be back in January 2012. Watch for a new feature on the blog in January.

In 1991, a handful of men in Canada, which included the late Jack Layton, decided they had a responsibility to urge men to speak out again violence against women. Wearing a white ribbon would become a personal pledge never to commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women.

Shelley Rolland-Poruks, Chair of the Eastern Ontario chapter of WiN-Canada wrote the following in an email to her members:
“If you’re like me, December 6 is an important day in my life. I remember very clearly in 1989 learning about the 14 women from l'École Polytechnique de Montréal, who were murdered on December 6 while studying to become engineers.  I will never forget how I felt that day - scared, confused and angry. I knew then as I know now, that as a woman I shouldn’t be ashamed of wanting to learn and to have the choice of any career that I worked hard for.”

No doubt that day touched many Canadians and will not be forgotten. It was unthinkable to imagine that such a terrible thing could happen in Canada and that those murdered where chosen only because they were women studying Engineering, what was perceived by a disturbed man as a male only domain.

Shelley closed out her email, “Regardless of the career paths we have each taken, I believe it is important to reflect each year on this Canadian tragedy.”

We should all reflect and take action to stop violence against women. Wearing a white ribbon is a way of saying, “Our future has no violence against women.” A donation to a local women’s shelter helps those folks who do heart-wrenching work every day to help keep women and children safe and move on from abusive relationships. Talking about violence will bring awareness to this very serious issue and help empower people to speak out against violence. Remaining silent suggests that you condone the behaviour.

For help to know how to talk to an abuser or seek help for the abused visit http://www.neighboursfriendsandfamilies.ca/index.php.

We all have a leadership role to play in ending violence. Start today.

Last week, More magazine reported on their third annual workplace survey, looking at women’s attitudes toward their jobs. The results showed that “in search for balance, women are sacrificing ambition. Forty-three percent of women described themselves as less ambitious now than they were ten years ago; only 15 percent reported feeling more ambitious. A full 73 percent said they would not apply for their boss’ job. Why? Thirty-eight percent said they don’t want the politics, pressure and responsibility.”

Declining ambition was also noted by Ellen Galinsky, President of the Families and Work Institute  pointing out that “in 1992, 40 percent of women ages 35 to 44 said they wanted a job with more responsibility and by 2008 that figure had fallen to 35 percent.”

On the other hand Catalyst’s  research, “Women and Men in U.S. Corporate Leadership: Same Workplace, Different Realities? 2004, found that 55 percent of women and 57 percent of men want to occupy the most senior role within an organization and that women who had children at home were just as likely to desire the corner office as those who did not.

I personally believe there are a number of factors that affect women’s ambition for a top job. I believe corporate culture is the biggest factor and that women simply give up trying because there are too many barriers to get to the top. One such barrier was identified by Galinsky from the Families and Work Institute. She suggested flexibility is the key to women’s success in the workplace. “Flexibility means that you have rights and responsibilities: You have some right to decide how or when you’re going to work. At the same time, you are also accountable for doing your work.”   Ninety-two percent of More survey respondents overwhelmingly said that career flexibility is what they want.

What do you think? Are women simply not as ambitious as their male counterparts? Are they sacrificing top level jobs to focus on family or are the stereotypical biases in the workplace just too numerous to overcome? Get involved in the discussion by leaving a comment. I’d love to hear your perspective on this topic.

Before heading to the hill to talk to Members of Parliament, Senators and staffers we were provided with some great training on how to effectively present a message. One session facilitated by the Christopher Leadership Course provided some great insights into both the non-verbal and verbal portions of a presentation.

One tidbit I learned that I’d like to share with you is the make up of how people receive a message. The leaders explained that 55% of communication is non-verbal. That is the body language used including facial expression, eye contact, stance, hand positions, and gestures. Vocal makes up 38% and includes composure, breathing and pausing. Only 7% is verbal!

I don’t know about you but I can tell you that I spend the majority of my time when preparing for a speech or presentation on the words - those words we use that only make up 7% of how our message is heard. I quickly realized from the training that I am spending way too much time on the words and not enough time on preparing for the non-verbal and vocal part of my presentation.

Here are a few tips I learned:

Non-verbal:
1. Make sure your facial expression reflects your words.
2. Look at your audiences’ faces.
3. Find a comfortable stance with your hands at your sides.
4. Make sure your hand gestures flow with your words.

Vocal:
1. Give yourself a pep talk before you begin and do something physical - something as small as shaking out your hands and feet to get rid of the nervous energy.
2. Breath! Be comfortable with a pause, resist the temptation to say “umm or ahh” while you are thinking about what you are going to say.
3. Use pauses effectively. The average person speaks 150 words per minute. Use the pause to provide your audience with time to reflect on your words.

These are techniques I will be practicing as I continue on in my public speaking journey. Do you have others to offer? If you do leave a comment and tell us what techniques help you to communicate effectively.

In her interview she talks about the positive effects motherhood has had on her career.

She identified five areas:

“1. Sustainable Perspective
When working with businesses toward sustainability, senior executives often tell me they “want to build a better world for my grandchildren.” The older we get, the more we are forced to internalize the fact that our world is not permanent and that we leave a legacy. The desire to improve the world at large is augmented by our kids because it forces us out of our own individual perspective. Suddenly, life is about more than just ourselves. Being a mother requires a certain amount of selflessness, and we have the power to reflect that in our career as well as our family.

2. Flexibility
Being a parent pushes us way beyond previous limits. We increase our capacity to multi-task. We’re forced to try things that we never thought we would. Meeting all our new responsibilities is a stretch, but that “stretch” can mean that we’ll be adaptable multi-taskers.

3. More Accepting of Other’s Challenges
Being a parent forces us to accept and live with imperfection. We work with our kids to overcome their challenges. Being a parent reminds us that our co-workers were children once, that they had their own struggles, that their childhood experiences helped them become the person they are today. That kind of tolerance and acceptance doesn’t have to be left at home; if we can take that with us to the workplace, it can benefit everyone.

4. Letting Others Grow
We strive to be the kind of parents that nurture and teach our children while letting them develop their own skills and abilities. Mentorship has an important place at work, and we can build relationships that are similarly rewarding and require similar skills as those with our children. And if we can use our nurturing capabilities to help others grow without controlling them, our companies benefit as well.

5. Relief
This makes some mother’s gasp but honestly, some women feel stifled at home. Advancing their career is a choice that brings fulfillment, challenge, and stimulation. The office can be a break from the chaos at home. By balancing both work and home, we maximize our enjoyment on both turfs.

Being mothers, just like being women, doesn’t make us unfit for the workplace- it just makes us different, and in many ways, more accomplished. We shouldn’t constantly try to separate our parental lives from our careers, because they’re both part of who we are as individuals. Work and life can coexist and complement each other; they don’t have to be opposites.”

Now, think about how your own motherhood experiences can be brought into the workplace and identified as competencies. Be creative you know you have lots of ‘mom’ experiences that transition very well into the workplace. Talk to your supervisor about how you can use the competencies you’ve identified when being considered for special projects, job promotions, etc. As women we need to think differently about the experiences we have outside of the workplace be that as a mom or in our volunteer work and find ways to translate that into workplace competencies that are recognized and valued.

Do you have any ‘mom’ competencies to add to the list? Leave a comment on the blog and share what they are.

The report explores the progression of women in senior management positions over the past 22 years.

Here are some of the findings that I thought were important to share with you:

1. The proportion of women in senior management positions has virtually flatlined over the past two decades, even though there has been a steady increase in overall female labour force participation.
2. Since 1987, men have been two-to-three times more likely than women to be senior managers and one-and-a-half times more likely to be middle managers.
3. Contrary to popular belief, women have not made significant progress toward gender equality at the middle management level in either the private or public sector.

The report suggested women’s educational choices in the arts and humanities as opposed to entering more technical disciplines, corporate cultures that are inhospitable, as well as gender stereotypes as possible barriers.

Successful companies are using nine good practices to increase the number of women in senior leadership:

1. Use accountable search techniques - ensure female candidates are on all short lists.
2. Identify talent and provide succession planning initiatives.
3. Set up mentoring and coaching programs.
4. Offer job rotation opportunities.
5. Ensure ongoing measurement.
6. Create an inclusive work environment.
7. Avoid putting women in precarious positions without giving them the support and preparation needed to succeed - a woman’s failure in an executive role may be attributed to her gender rather than to the circumstances of the position.
8. Highlight role models and communicate success.
9. Ensure senior management support.

I have to admit I found it shocking, not to mention very disappointing, that there has been no improvement in the number of women in senior management in the past 20 years. I assumed like many others that women were slowly cracking the glass ceiling.

Success in the business world is all about building relationships. What better way to build relationships with clients or business contacts than spending a day on the course playing in a company golf tournament. Golf can be a very valuable business marketing tool.

In male dominated industries golf is one of those informal networks that we have talked about in the past. The lack of access to informal networks has been identified as one of the barriers to women’s advancement in the workplace. Golf may help you work your way into the informal networks at work and put yourself on an “even playing field” with your male colleagues. Learning to play golf may increase the level of camaraderie in the office, contribute to team building and lead to big opportunities. It is in those informal networks that you hear about that great new project coming up and have the opportunity to express your interest long before it is formally introduced in the workplace.

WiN-Canada saw the value of women playing golf back in 2007, when we planned our first annual golf tournament. The idea was to introduce all members to the game and provide them with a safe environment to learn more about the etiquette of the game and feel comfortable on the course. We have held our tournament each year since then to help more women become comfortable with the game and hopefully be able to join in on company golf tournaments with their male colleagues.

This year our WiN-Canada 5th Annual Golf Tournament will be held on day two of our annual conference at the Oakville Executive Golf Course, September 23, with registration beginning at noon. We welcome all WiN members to come out and play. If you are a beginner we will help you learn the game of golf. If you are more experienced we are happy to have you partner with a beginner golfer to pass along your knowledge and experience on the course. We encourage everyone to come out and have fun. If you are interested in joining us please register by filling out the form and sending it in as instructed on the registration form.

Come on out, have some fun and add another tool to your business marketing toolbox. Get yourself into the golf informal network. You may be surprised how it supports your career.