Kristin started by wishing everyone welcome to the 9th 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 9th, 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
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