Women Leaders Words of Wisdom

It’s been a big month to gather with talented, fabulous women and gather words of wisdom. I have been so enlightened by 3 women leader panel discussions over the last few weeks in Portland. I moderated 2 panels and was a guest for a 3rd. Here are my take-aways. Any of them resonate for you? I sure hear these same things over and over again.

1st event: Women of Influence Awards, hosted by the Portland Business Journal. My dear friend, Brenda Meltebeke, Firm Chair of Ater Wynne LLP was honored and I was her guest for the annual awards luncheon. Lisa Sedlar, Pres./CEO of New Seasons Market, rocked the house and made it really fun! 25 women were honored and 4 were chosen as the outstanding women executives. Below are their words of wisdom:

Woman Executive of the Year (Small/Medium Company) Katherine Durant, Atlas Investments Women need to support each other. Women also need to be able to argue and not hold a grudge.
Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Holly Files, Velocx Speak up ladies! Always ask "how can I help YOU!"
Woman Executive of the Year (Large Company) Lisa Sedlar, New Seasons Market If you listen deeply, there is a "kernel of truth" in everything someone has to say.

Woman Executive of the Year (Nonprofit) Merris Sumrall, The Library Foundation Be willing to be the understudy

2nd event: Innotech Innotech Women of IT Forum. I had no idea that the technology word was suffering from a significantly lower number of women executives than the norm...which is already pitiful! I moderated an hour long panel of 3 fabulous CIO's and then participated in 15 minute speed mentoring for 6 women of all ages...THAT was intense! The panelists were

Denise Coyne, CIO, Chevron Corporate Departments and Services Companies We need Sponsors as well as Mentors in our career.
Sherry Swackhamer, CIO & Dir. of County Assets, Multnomah County, Oregon Collaboration creates great change.

Nancy Cox, Services Transformation Communication Mgr, Intel - Don't talk incessantly about your kids at work. When you're at work, get the job done and leave on time.

This week, our event, at The Link For Women, Leaders' Secrets, highlighted 3 amazing women influencing the world in very different ways. They were candid, open and all very funny. Overall:

- Each speaker had a mentor or sponsor at critical parts of their careers.
- Life balance is an illusion – we make choices
- All three women had men who recognize their talent(s) and believed, as well as, invested in their development as leaders and professionals in their field.

I asked our members and their guests to send me their 3 take-aways from the event. I consolidated them to make it easy for you to absorb:

Take risks – Even when you quickly realize that this step is in the wrong direction, you learn a valuable lesson of who you are and where you want to be going.
Slow down – whether it’s to enjoy the life you’re living now, to really listen to the people around you or to mentor and guide someone else, we risk losing so much when we rush through life.
Have a support system (friends, mentors, relatives who will help you achieve your goals)
Find a mentor (or a dozen) – people often see more in us than we see in ourselves (especially in us self-deprecating women) and learning from someone else, getting their feedback, absorbing some of their wisdom can help us take chances we wouldn’t have taken otherwise.; I must choose mentors carefully so they click with my own values to make it a lasting relationship
Who are my mentors versus sponsors and know the difference.
BE a mentor! Share the knowledge that was passed on to you
Be true to the core of who you are; Keep your own identity - be yourself and you’ll be your best; Be the best you that you can be---don’t try to be someone else or morph into other’s expectations
Don’t underestimate your capabilities and contributions; Don’t limit yourself, and don’t listen to those who want to limit you
Do what you love – don’t be afraid to make a change if you aren’t happy where you are
Don’t be afraid to take that leap of faith to do what you are really passionate about.
Look around corners, what is my opportunity?
Stretch – oftentimes career decisions force you to stretch – it’s a good thing
Have a sense of humor
Be flexible and ready when opportunity shows up

Enjoy and learn from the tough times

Which ones are you going to use this month??

May Speaker Series Announced!

 

We are excited to announce our May Speaker Series! On Tuesday, May 15th we will be hosting a special panel of women leaders- Sue Hildick, Brenda Meltebeke and Lisa Sedlar- who will join us to share their Leaders' Secrets.The event will be held at Bridgeport Brewery in the Pearl at 5:30 pm, where we will enjoy drinks, appetizers, conversation and a Q&A session. Visit our website here to register for this great event!

Continue reading for more information on our fantastic line-up of panelists.

SUE HILDICK
President of the Chalkboard Project and Foundations for a Better Oregon (FBO)


Sue Hildick is a fourth generation Oregonian with a love of public policy issues. Sue has previously served as Legislative Director to former U.S. Senator Mark O. Hatfield, Director of Government Relations at Oregon Health Sciences University, and CEO of the Oregon Trail Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Sue is passionate about public service, particularly encouraging young women to lead, and broad-based citizen engagement. She currently serves on the board of the National Civic League, BlueCross/BlueShield of Oregon (community board), and the Oregon Chapter of the March of Dimes. In the past few years, Sue chaired the board of New Leadership Oregon (NLO) at Portland State University and was awarded 2009 Women Leader of the Year by NLO.

Her latest and most meaningful position is as a mother to her 3-year-old daughter, Clare Addison.

BRENDA MELTEBEKE

Firm Chair/Partner, Ater Wynne

Brenda Meltebeke has a broad securities law practice, including venture capital financings, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, public and private offerings of securities, and state and federal regulation of securities. She chairs the firm's Emerging Business Group.

Brenda has served as lead transaction counsel representing both privately- and publicly-owned businesses in a variety of industries, including the technology, life sciences, manufacturing, beverage and healthcare industries.

Brenda also has substantial experience in business counseling and general corporate law representing emerging growth companies in a variety of matters, including selecting an appropriate form of entity, forming and dissolving corporations, advising on corporate governance issues, and negotiating and documenting various contractual arrangements such as shareholder, investor rights and voting agreements.

Brenda serves on the Board of the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network, where she also chairs the 2012 Annual Fund Campaign Committee. Brenda has also served as a Board or Committee Member of Literary Arts, Inc., Friends of the Performing Arts Center, the Women's Investment Network and The Link for Women. Brenda is recognized in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business as a leader in her field in Corporate/Mergers & Acquisitions. 

LISA SEDLAR

President and Chief Operating Officer of New Seasons Market

Lisa Sedlar hails from the mighty Midwest but thinks living in Portland is like "hitting the Karmic jackpot'. We have loads of creative people here who have a deep passion for the environment, for the arts, and for supporting local, sustainably-grown food."

Lisa is a formally trained chef and has worked in retail food markets for over 20 years, in positions ranging from Store Chef to Director of Purchasing to Vice President of Sales and Marketing. She is on the board of directors for the Oregon Food Bank and the Portland Public Market. She also serves on the business advisory committees of the Food Alliance and the Food Innovation Center. Lisa is a member of the City Club of Portland and the Portland Rotary. 

Hope to see you all there!

Thank you, Michaela!

We had a great event on Tuesday night as we welcomed Michaela Murphy, of The Moth fame, to share her story. Michaela is a master storyteller who has turned her natural gift into a career, using this gift to guide clients in the digital and social media realm. We were lucky enough to spend an evening with her, as she taught us how to craft an effective and meaningful story, one that both engages an audience and benefits us as the storyteller.

One key takeaway to share with you is about fear. Fear can hold us back from becoming an effective storyteller, because we are afraid of dismissal or rejection. However, the stories we are most scared to share with others turn out to be the exact story that others needed to hear. We are all alike in our vulnerabilities and the way to connect ourselves is through sharing our stories!

The Garden Room was full, the fire was roaring, the food was delicious and the company was even better. All in all, a very successful night!

The April Speaker Series has been announced!

Join us on April 17, 2012 for The Link's Speaker Series! We are featuring Michaela Murphy, writer, playwright and storyteller, as she presents "The Art of Reinvention Through Storytelling". Register quickly as this event will SELL OUT!

More about this event:

When we tell a story, our intention is to share an aspect of ourselves. But what usually happens is we gain a new insight about ourselves, one rich and full of new perspective. Michaela Murphy, writer, playwright and storyteller, has greatly learned from such instances and desires to keep people talking, to keep us all telling stories.

Learn how to develop your own stories, to better engage your audience and observe how to translate this storytelling into a social media platform. Discover more about yourself as you relive major moments in your life- take a look back and see how embracing change and reinvention in your life has helped shape you, helped to develop you. Learn how this approach to storytelling can help guide you in your career and personal life.

Come hear her remarkable story and what compels her to be a storyteller!