Point A to B 

Points of Interest. Shortest Point. Get the Point.

post by Tina Crouse
President, WIL Ottawa

 from www.strongwomenblog.com

Are You on the Edge? 

So Who Isn't?

How many of us really have it together so that we can say, "Nope, I don't need any help and stress, me? no way." If this were the case, there would not be such a high use of anti-anxiety medications nor would this be the number one topic of conversation for mothers, female employees, even charities because they can't find volunteers for their efforts. It isn't that women no longer care about things, we just don't have good ways of assessing where our energies belong and who deserves it. The lines of our lives are blurred and are actually bleeding one area into another: worker time; family time; personal time; emotional time; health time. Most repeated noun? Time. Think you can make more of it? Not likely.

Sometimes the discomfort is useful, even meaningful. We can change once we are aware, once we have tools. And yes, sometimes all that is required is a vacation but we all know that 'life waits at home', so if everything is still there behind the front door, what to do?

Women in Leadership Ottawa has teamed up with Dale Stevenson of The Leadership Group to help you get off balance even further but NOT to head into chaos or burn-out. We want you to regain your balance, to learn your edges and to gain comfort in your life.  On Saturday November 30th, WIL Ottawa will be presenting Dale's workshop 'EdgeWalking'. This full version will be 2.5 hrs and will be interactive, physical and a grade above anything else that you've attempted to help gain balance in your life. Participants from the mini version held at Canada's 1st Women in Social Business Forum were excited and audible about their enthusiasm for Dale and her exercises and many women asked for more. 

If you'd like to register for EdgeWalking, use the eventbrite link here. Knowing one's edges can mean so much in a busy life and as a leadership tool, who wouldn't want to know where to draw the line and feel good about it? 

Imagine being out on the ledge and knowing that you won't fall off. Imagine that the answer is knowing that you could move it. Take a couple hours and find out.

Point A to B 

Points of Interest. Shortest Point. Get the Point.

Resiliency Has Many Faces But Only One Action: 

Getting Back Up.

Photo from Autism Aspirations 

As someone who has faced her share of personal adversity, I find the conversation of resiliency in business an interesting one. If we don't learn from our personal experiences, how could we hope to stay strong in business? BUT if experience is our only guide, we certainly will not be resilient.

Rosabeth Moss Kanter wrote an interesting post for the Harvard Business Review about surprises and bouncing back in business. There's a lot of research leading to business advice, particularly for leaders to be persons who exhibit resiliency because they show everyone else that things will be okay, that they will turn out in the end. From my perspective, I would define downturns and upturns as a normal business cycle and I wouldn't equate senior level experience with being resilient; but I would view a leader who is humbled and learning and who honestly talks about the business failings as someone who is capable of resiliency because it is those learnings that will give you the hope to get up again.

Resiliency is, for me, more than experience. Some things you will have to try at, fail and try again; other things may be beyond your point of reference. How many of us are prepared for, and knowledgeable about, how to counteract geopolitical upheaval? But the desire to get up and go forward separates the leaders from the followers. The leader will know that everyone must rise; the followers will wait to hear the call to action.

So what place does resiliency have in small businesses, often owned by women? We touch so many people. We set examples for our children. We are seen by our neighbours. We are the influence least measured but most often felt. We embody the human spirit which is to go on. Science has narrowly identified this as biology; don't believe it. It is our desires, our examples PLUS our experiences of the world that tell us to get back up, go back out and reset our business aims. Why do women go into business anyway? Because we can do good with it and we know it, so we do. No, resiliency is not just our experience; it is our spirit and our desire to do more and many, many women exhibit this trait.