The Global Leadership Forum 2006

Working Groups and Workshops

During the W.I.N Global Leadership Forum, participants were able to attend a wide variety of skill building workshops and interesting working groups. The range of choices included favorites from previous years as well as new additions.

Workshops – Inspiring Personal Change

Among the returning workshop leaders were Helen Eriksen, author, international speaker and corporate storyteller, who lead close to 200 women in a workshop on how to find your mission. Her workshop was very inspiring and took participants through a process of creating a mission statement. By grouping them together in groups of two, she facilitated discussions that allowed participants to identify and clarify their core values, alter the way we act and in the end use more of our potential. The engagement was high and you could feel that many women made valuable progress for themselves.

Joanne Thomas Yaccato, who runs her own consulting group, led a workshop on how to reach the real world of women consumers. With a highly engaging style, she engaged a room filled with women by showing visual examples from every day life. At one point she even made the entire group leave the room to walk over to the sponsor area for a look at the Volvo car and its logo.

Another highly regarded workshop at the 2006 W.I.N event was Linda Love’s Pink Panter Program – biting the barriers to productivity. Linda, who is head of training & development at Adecco Group in the UK, lead a workshop that helped participants learn a practical way to achieve results at work. The room was completely full and as the professional women who had attended the workshop was walking out one could hear how many discussions continued even after the workshop had ended.

Working Groups – Discussion and Action

The working group on empowering women in developing countries was very well received. Moderated by Denise Andrews and with valuable contributions by Tina Tinde from UNHCR, Magdalena Musiala, Gabriella Kluck from UNRWA, Margaret Konima Sesay from Sr Leon, and Ralph Schonenbach from Trestle Foundation. With a goal to look at existing initiatives that we as women can support and at the same time identify other challenges around the world where help is needed, this working group generated valuable insights.

The working group on Women in Science and Technology was a welcomed addition to W.I.N 2006. More than 30 European, North America, Middle East, African and Asian people (29 women and 1 courageous man) attended the working group The session was moderated by Charleen Michel, W.I.N. International Board of Advisors and included Speakers and Participants from Cisco, IBM, Shell, Siemens, Hewlett Packard, Johnson and Johnson, Dow Chemical and private businesses who shared their immense amount of experience, knowledge and dynamism as we looked at the future of science and technology and explored how women can play an active leadership role to shape it in a positive way. The group generated a vast amount of valuable ideas and suggestions. One thing the group emphasized was the need to use technology as the enabler to support interaction with people. They also made the following recommendations for women in science and technology to play an active leadership role and to shape it in a positive way:

• provide cultural education online to facilitate understanding of difference between cultures
• Provide e-mentoring to support develop of others
• Use a common language for use in e-communications, e.g., email, Internet, etc.

The working group on Entrepreneurship was monitored by Diane Morris, VP TIAW and featured Fernandina Santico-Ong, Preethi Nair, Frederiuqe Clavel and Graziella Zanoletti. With an objective to look at the future of entrepreneurship and how to best support women interested in starting their own business Dianne lead a world-café style discussion.

The working group on Women on Corporate Boards was moderated by Mirella Visser, Founder of the Center for Inclusive Leadership and included Avivah Wittenburg-Cox, Managing Partner Diafora and Annalisa Gigante of EPWN. The working group aimed to provide insights and inspiration for women who are ambitious to serve on boards.

Courage to be the Change - by Kristin Engvig

Kristin started by wishing everyone welcome to the 9^th edition of the W.I.N Global Leadership Forum. She walked everyone through a short meditation exercise before going on with telling us about how she founded W.I.N and about how her upbringing has influenced her approach to life and work. Here is an excerpt from her opening remarks:

I grew in Norway and I didn’t really know how difficult the workplace was going to be, how hard it is in other countries. Don’t get me wrong  Norway is not perfect, but when I was a student, we had a female prime minister, and I think most of us, other female students and I, all knew, we can make it if we work really hard. One thing that I have learned is that, if you put your dream and desire into action, applying both will and generosity, you suddenly set a lot of things and people in motion. It is my vision to stimulate you to live more creatively and to help shape the future that is here to come.

So, by taking on challenges and acting on opportunities and injustice in this world, we put ourselves in a situation of tremendous growth and learning. Our patience is tested, our will, our generosity, our kindness, our ambition, our commitment and you become while doing a different person, a different you.

Every year, thinking of the development of the world, the state of the world, listening to women and companies, the questions for the program is born. It is always very exiting.  My own wish to live creatively and authentically, and not only for myself, but in a way that I inspire other women to do so, has gone hand in hand with my own study of all of these matters. I have done numerous courses and training here in Rome and it was exactly here in Rome were I was, walking earlier this year, and while passing the Coliseum, looking at the blue sky above, the little bit of grass around, the tourists, the women and men, the children walking by, I thought, this place has been here for years and years and looked the same for centuries, only the people have changed, women and men, young and old, talking and walking, evolving. This historical perspective interested me and it occurred to me how far women have come and how I have started to take for granted the fact that I can do almost everything I want, if I just try hard enough.

As I was walking here in Rome, thinking: Rome is such a grandiose place, it makes me feel creative, it makes me feel alive.  Sure it has its problems – immigration, traffic, people begging on the streets, bureaucracy, petty crime and all that belongs to a big city – but it also feels real. All of you who have traveled, seen the big cities of Latin America, Africa, know that a “pretty picture” of Switzerland is not the everyday landscape of most people.

Then I visited the Cavalieri and I immediately understood we had to come here. The place was so beautiful – and beautiful is exactly what we deserve. After all, we work so hard. And important organizations such as the Economist are writing “economic growth is driven by women" and the World Economic Forum is concluding that the most competitive nations also have the best living and working conditions for women.

So here we are, celebrating what we have achieved and enjoying this great opportunity to look at the status of things and how we want to shape the future. And on this note, I introduce you to this year’s theme: “Courage to be the Change..” With leadership comes responsibility - confidence and courage is thus needed.

I believe, women have a vital role to play, we must not waste time hesitating. Women know very well what has to be done and how; we have nurtured families, cared for communities since the beginning of time, we know how; be it at high level politics, on organizational platforms, in business and entrepreneurship or in their families.

What we need is the courage to do it, to formulate our vision, to acknowledge our power and to implement solutions that bear our caring and sharing fingerprint. W.I.N. 2006 is about the “Courage to be the Change”, stepping into the limelight, being more ourselves, defending what we believe in, inspiring nurturing environments and thereby creating the future.

I want you to feel alive at this event and I can tell you tat no matter where you are coming from; and whether this is your first W.I.N. or your 9^th, every voice is vital to the efficiency and success of both the journey and success of the forum, through dialogue, discussion, networking, support, celebration and securing results.

At W.I.N. we are interested in who you are and we want to inspire you to live creatively contributing with your own uniqueness, kindness, humor and clarity in anything you do. The how is important to us; and I was reflecting on this the other day when a friend of mine said “we will be remember for how we did things, a lot more than what we did.

Love and Courage,

Kristin Engvig

Being career change agents - Plenary

Time and talent are precious resources. Women now have the opportunity to become highly educated and are gaining valuable professional and personal experiences at home and abroad. Women can have it all; a job, a family and time for personal growth. Yet, who doesn’t feel the pressure of expectations from others about being successful, setting priorities, and doing it all? The question is how do we want work and life to be: would more of us step up to power, and feel great about it, if power, work environments and leadership were more inclusive, purposeful, caring and compassionate? We suggest it is time to move into a higher gear as we look at how the new authentic and feminine leaders consider power.

These issues and more were covered at this plenary session and speakers that contributed to the discussion were:

• Alessia D’Amato, Postdoctoral Fellow in Research and Innovation at Center for Creative Leadership.
• Carolyn J. Lutz, Lutz & Partners International Executive Search
• Meg Jones, Managing Director, Constructive Connections
• Michael Kimmel, Professor, State University of New York

Meg Jones, who is passionate about the economic empowerment of women, started the afternoon session by talking about women as change agents. How you need to use that feeling in your gut when you want to be a change agent. Trust that feeling and use it to make a difference. She also talked about how we have to realize and embrace the fact that life is a stage, from which you can not step down.

After Meg it was time for Michael Kimmel to take the stage. An expert on men and masculinity, he quickly won over the crowd over by saying that childcare is not a woman’s issue but a parents’ issue and how men should have the courage to be the change too.

Using jokes and funny images he engaged the audience in a lively discussion. “We (men) will invite you (women) to join us (men) and then when we (men) don’t like it”.

He did also make some powerful and important points as he talked about how privilege is invisible to those who have it. Women have made gender visible but it remains invisible to men. A key to success, according to Michael, is to confront men’s idea of entitlement and engage them into the discussion. In the end gender equality is good for both men and women and it will lead to men being able to live the lives they want to live. Ending on a fun note, he shared some interesting research on what makes the “best marriages” Did you know that men sharing responsibility of house and childcare does not only lead to a happier wife, but also happier and healthier children, healthier men and last but not least more sex?

Carolyn Lutz, who runs her own executive search firm in Switzerland, spoke about her life and work experiences. Before starting her own business she spent time in the US Marines, at the Wharton School in Pennsylvania, at Procter & Gamble and as a partner at Hedrick & Struggles. By sharing how relationships had influenced her, what decisions she had made and what she had learned from it all, she inspired all of us to stop and think about our own situation. What is our definition of success?

She also told us about a motto she had learned from her father: “If is doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger”

The Future of Work, Strategies for Action - Plenary

What does it mean to run today’s corporations? How do our corporate leaders integrate global and social responsibility, ethical governance, demands for a diverse and talented workforce into a stimulating work culture whilst remaining competitive? Speakers for this session were:

• Ceri Powell, Vice President – Exploration for the Middle East, Caspian & South Asia, Shell International.
• Sung-joo Kim, CEO, Sungjoo Group &MCM Products

• Helena Berstrom Pilo, Senior Manager Climate Control

• Fernandina Sandico-Ong, CEO, EarthHeaven Foundation

How is Shell helping business women in the Middle East? In several very substantial ways we learn from listening to Ceri Powell. With goals of filling 20% of technical position with women, hiring 50% female graduates (today 36%) and creating women’s networks around the world Shell hope to be able to attract, develop and retain talented women. There is still much to be done and it is up to companies like Shell International to rise to the challenge.

Sung-Joo Kim shared a very personal and courageous story with everyone at W.I.N. She began her speech by telling us about how she had been disinherited by her father because she refused to abide by an arranged marriage. She then went on to talk about how she started her career at Bloomingdale’s in New York before returning to Korea to launch her own business, Sungjoo Group. She talked about how it can be difficult to run a business in a Confucian, male-dominated society and how she, by implementing a value system founded on honesty, transparency made her business successful, even during the Asian financial crisis.

10% of Sungjoo Group’s net profit goes back to society and a fundamental value of their business is social responsibility. Sung-Joo also made everyone smile when she called herself a “self-employed slave” and told us how she had packed her daughter’s black jeans instead of her own. 

Fernandina Sandico-Ong learned the art of weaving and the importance of cultural preservation when she, at 13, spent time in the Philippine mountains. This knowledge has influenced her entire life and she is now creating an eco-village where she is involving the local community in building a sustainable weaving business. By combining her global know-how with Philippine traditions and resources she creates beautiful designs worn all over the world.

She also talked about her goals for the future and showed videos of weavers using banana fibres. Fernandina is proud to promote Philippine indigenous made products.

Helena Berström Pilo, a senior executive and a member of the female customer reference group at Volvo, talked about what the international carmaker does to meet the specific demands of women. It is important that the views of female customers are taken into account in the design process. What do women want? The same as men but more is the easy answer according to Helena. More specifically they prioritize storage, functionality and ergonomics. Is there one car for all women? Of course not, all women are different and prioritize different things.

Shaping the Future -Plenary

Once the opening ceremony was completed it was time for a quick coffee break before returning to hear about how women are “shaping the future.” What changes are taking place in leadership, entrepreneurship, society, global economic, politics and technology and how will these changes influence our lives and work? How can we learn to better engage in our environment, sense the opportunities and threats and set our own trends? Speakers at this session included:

• Jordi Kool, Manager Sales, sales support and customer service, HP
• Joanne Thomas Yaccato, President, The Thomas Yaccato Group
• Amanda Ellis, Gender Entrepreneurship Markets, International Finance Corporation
• Rosana D’Antona, Founder D’Andona & Partners

Each speaker made their contribution to the topic of the day and Jordi Kool led off the session by quoting Darvin: “It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who survive, but the most responsive to change.” His focus was on how technology helps women and men balance their work and private life and how making use cutting edge technology saves time and makes life easier.

Joanne Thomas Yaccato, focused on the power of female consumers and how companies slowly are recognising and starting to value their power. She talked about “gender intelligence” and how it is a way of viewing the world, through a special lens. Women want life impact and connection, health, family, physical, financial, spiritual, emotional, while men are more interested in status and features. She also presented a suggestion for a “New World Order” and key points to consider in this context are:

1) To intelligently recognise gender, 2) Provide relevant info, 3) A multidimensional mindset = holistic, 4) To live corporate soul – matching inside and outside, gender intelligent advice.

Amanda Ellis, who heads the Gender-Entrepreneurship-Markets global program at the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group, talked about the work she does to assist women business owners in developing countries. How the micro credit initiative is allowing women to become employed and is in turn becoming the root of social change.

Rosanna D’Antona, continued the afternoon session by discussing the important role of the media. How it is an amplifier of everyday activities and how the media contributes to form opinions and stereotypes of female perceptions. Does the media a mirror of who we are as women? How can we influence the influencers? Lessons from Rosanna’s speech included:

1) There is a gap between reality and fantasy (the way media represents us)

2) Few women are at the top of the media industry.

3) Alliances with the media and monitoring of their evolution are beneficial.

4) The courage to “outing” and feeding media with positive and inspiring stories like today’s WIN gathering is beneficial.

5) Let’s assure the media works for us.

Pre-Conference Corporate Forum

The morning was dedicated to women and men of corporations of international organizations who work with diversity and inclusion issues. With a participation of about 250 people, the discussion was both lively and stimulating. After a welcome coffee, the participants were asked to engage on the subject of “Making it Happen – Leveraging Leadership and Diversity.” The session was moderated by Helene Ratte, Director of Human Resources for Deloitte Europe. Her extensive experience in HR and her involvement and dedication to W.I.N. made her a successful leader in the discussion. The panel speakers were Irene Bellew, Group Legal Council, Whirlpool Europe, Noni Allwood, Senior Director of Human Resources for Cisco Systems, Josefine M.C. van Zanten, Global Head of Diversity and Inclusiveness for Shell International, Katharyn White, Vice-President of Marketing for IBM, for the Northeast Europe and, last but not least, Lisa Kepinski, EMEA Diversity Interim Director for Hewlett-Packard. We were delighted to notice the overwhelming presence of our sponsors across the board and in the audience.

The discussion began with a question of Impact: how women’s increasingly significant role in companies is impacting business and current business models. Josefine M.C. van Zanten, from the view point of her position in Shell was able specifically to address the issue of a woman’s impact in the very male environment that is the Oil and Gas industry. She stressed the importance of not only having an HR approach to diversity but also a business approach. The business case drives the change.

The panellists were asked to express their opinions on the question of support, and how companies are helping women bring a sustainable vision, diversity and inclusiveness into corporate life, in other words, how can a corporation ensure that the influence of women is a sustainable addition to the company. Noni Allwood discussed Cisco’s specific action in ensuring that women get the right support and help to contribute. Work/life integration is relevant for everyone in the company. For example telecommuting and flexible hours are embedded in their corporate culture. Another important aspect is to establish ownership of diversity from the top down. 

Irene Bellew discussed the issue of Advancement - how did she get to the top and how can we get more women to these levels. She talked about how the processes that help talent advancement and a bit luck came together for her, whilst expressing her vision for improvement within her company.  Lisa Kepinski addressed how women are getting to the top and what can be done to foster this growth. A key factor in her mind was the importance of metrics, networks and mentoring programmes.

Barriers was another topic of discussion: which barriers are proving most persistent and what are companies doing to overcome them? Katharyn White from IBM talked about inflexibility, balance between work and family life, and cultural acceptance as key aspects to consider. More specifically, she mentioned the importance of training managers and creating environments in which such issues become not only policy but culturally acceptable.

In a global company, it is important to understand that the challenges are different in different parts of the world. At HP, Lisa Kepinski talked about their global strategy with local adaptability. And Irene, in agreement with Lisa, said that a foundation on a global level and regional adaptability is key to overcoming barriers.

For more information on these companies, please consult their websites

The W.I.N Team

http://www.winconference.net/team.asp

The Speakers

http://www.winconference.net/speakers.asp

About W.I.N

http://www.winconference.net/win2006.asp

Welcome from Rome!!!

The W.I.N. team is proud and very excited about introducing the W.I.N. 2006 Global Forum at the Cavalieri Hilton Hotel in Rome, Italy.

With hopes of engaging close to 600 women on issues of leadership, entrepreneurship, science and technology, and visions for the future, we are launching the 9th edition of the W.I.N. Global Forum in just a couple of days. We are confident that this year's event will have the  ingredients of an influential women's forum: top speakers, powerful workshops, interesting discussions all with the signature W.I.N. caring and sharing approach.

This blog will be the perfect opportunity for conference participants - delegates, speakers, journalists - to follow the conference in real time. We hope to capture the true atmosphere on W.I.N. by recording the key moments of each day as well as the immediate impression of those who make it happen. whilst allowing those who have unfortunately not been able to join, to experience it with us. This is a place for interaction and sharing.

Most of the team has arrived in Rome. Last minute preparations are being finalized, the atmosphere is buzzing!!! We can't wait to start.

Looking forward to meeting you.