Funny How We Changed the Rules By Picking Up Our Toys and Going Home

Point A to B 

Points of Interest. Shortest Point. Get the Point.

post by Tina Crouse
Head, WIL Ottawa 

Photo: Authentic Parent

Funny How We Changed the Rules By Picking Up Our Toys and Going Home

(Originally posted Nov. 2013)

The business world is full of criticisms of women: we don’t go after capital or go into debt; we don’t stay at our post (we actually take maternity leave and don’t come back); we don’t play the game. Yep, heard it before; men’s rules and the demand that we follow them. But with the uptick in female-led businesses exploding all over the world and people coming to realize the value of having women AND men work together and the positive impact on the bottom line, well, I’d say the rules are changing. Finally.

Interestingly, these changing rules are spreading, even into places that are considered sacrosanct like investment.  So while I stated that women don’t go after investment, there is a new kind on offer, the type that comes with understanding, mentoring, coaching, SYMPATHY and yes, money. Women held out for the good stuff and it’s arrived (see Forbes article Accelerate Women Now )

I like this shift. Those old rules weren’t made for us; they didn’t make sense and they made us uncomfortable, so a lot of us wouldn’t play and sure enough, the other team got tired of playing by themselves. Now this is not to say that all the other players are on onboard; many like the old game where they made the rules and got to win most of the time. We also have to remember that there were a lot of women who had to change sides and learn the game inside out in order to succeed within those rules. Luckily, those women then decided to help the rest of us. And, here we are.

STATS  

• Over the last 20 years, Canada has seen a 200-percent increase in the number of women-owned firms. 
• In 2001, nearly half (47 percent) of all small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Canada had at least one female owner 
• Firms with at least one female owner employed 2.6 million people producing annual commercial revenues of $72 billion.  

I say, ‘Let’s Keep Going’. Why not? We’re finally rounding 3^rd and we’ve got 2 more on base: our daughters and our sisters. Surely, we’ll win the game this time.

Point A to B 

Points of Interest. Shortest Point. Get the Point.

post by Tina Crouse
President, WIL Ottawa 

Photo: Authentic Parenting

Funny How We Changed the Rules By Picking Up Our Toys and Going Home

The business world is full of criticisms of women: we don’t go after capital or go into debt; we don’t stay at our post (we actually take maternity leave and don’t come back); we don’t play the game. Yep, heard it before; men’s rules and the demand that we follow them. But with the uptick in female-led businesses exploding all over the world and people coming to realize the value of having women AND men work together and the positive impact on the bottom line, well, I’d say the rules are changing. Finally.

Interestingly, these changing rules are spreading, even into places that are considered sacrosanct like investment.  So while I stated that women don’t go after investment, there is a new kind on offer, the type that comes with understanding, mentoring, coaching, SYMPATHY and yes, money. Women held out for the good stuff and it’s arrived (see Forbes article Accelerate Women Now )

I like this shift. Those old rules weren’t made for us; they didn’t make sense and they made us uncomfortable, so a lot of us wouldn’t play and sure enough, the other team got tired of playing by themselves. Now this is not to say that all the other players are on onboard; many like the old game where they made the rules and got to win most of the time. We also have to remember that there were a lot of women who had to change sides and learn the game inside out in order to succeed within those rules. Luckily, those women then decided to help the rest of us. And, here we are.

STATS  

• Over the last 20 years, Canada has seen a 200-percent increase in the number of women-owned firms. 
• In 2001, nearly half (47 percent) of all small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Canada had at least one female owner 
• Firms with at least one female owner employed 2.6 million people producing annual commercial revenues of $72 billion.  

I say, ‘Let’s Keep Going’. Why not? We’re finally rounding 3^rd and we’ve got 2 more on base: our daughters and our sisters. Surely, we’ll win the game this time.

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.

Point A to B

Points of Interest. Shortest Point. Get the Point.

Is Women's Leadership a tired, old subject?

written by Tina Crouse, President

There are a lot of conversations about the lack of women in the Board room ( I even wrote about it for the Ottawa Citizen on International Women's Day 2013) and the lack of women investors  and the lack of women entrepreneurs but how can this be? There is no shortage or 'lack' of women anywhere.
We are in abundance everywhere, every day and at all times. What we 'lack' is representation.

So Women in Leadership - Ottawa has created a blog to do just that - REPRESENT.

We'd like to represent your voices, your businesses and your commitment to bettering people's lives. We'll cover the issues and many of the women involved by profiling women who are beginning to lead, who have been leading and who are our leaders - in every sector. We will cover Women's business, Social business and Women's lives because for us, Women's Leadership is as new and fresh as each new day. And just as exciting.

Think you've heard it all? Really? Check in here and we guarantee that you will find some of the most interesting content on women to be found on the net. 

There's nothing tired or old if you're learning. We are and we intend to share.

Look us up for who we'll be representing next. Guaranteed to inspire you.