The Art of Leadership for Women Calgary 2018: Conference Summary by The Art Of

Calgary | June 26, 2018

CONFERENCE SUMMARY

CONTENTS

CONFERENCE SUMMARY

About The Art of Leadership for Women

Laura Vanderkam Time Management and Productivity

Tammy Heermann Elevating Women in Leadership

Arianna Huffington Leadership and Peak Performance

Dr. Annie McKee Emotional Intelligence and Employee Engagement

Tiffany Dufu Diversity and Leadership

Executive Panel

Bill Williams Closing Remarks

Sponsors & Partners

At last, women in leadership roles have both hands on the wheel and we are steering our lives, careers and the world for ourselves. But empowerment comes with questions. Is it okay to admit that you don’t know everything? How will I make time work for me? Is an unconscious bias sabotaging my opportunities? As we work our way up the ranks, we’ve come to realize that men still need our help to step it up for equality’s sake. We need to work together to create a better world as we focus on the positive. Little by little, we’re getting out of our leadership comfort zone to really commit to the things that make us happy. People and organizations both benefit from a greater sense of enjoyment, productivity, and purpose and why not? Our feelings, emotions and the empathy that women bring to the boardroom is finally being seen in a positive light, allowing us all to rise up like never before.

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Laura

VANDERKAM Bestselling Author and Time Management Expert

Build the life you want… in the time you have.

TIME MANAGEMENT AND PRODUCTIVITY Mind your hours You’re never too busy to track your time. We all waste time, but let’s be real about it. Try tracking your activities for a week to help you prioritize. Define for yourself what you really want to do with your time vs. what things need to get done and off your plate.

Move time around There are never enough hours in the day, but we have weeks to live in, not just days. You have 168 hours each week to fill. Just because you have a routine, doesn’t mean that things have to happen at the same time each day. There is no perfect time. Find the gaps in your time and fill them with exercise or whatever you desire.

Look forward Looking forward helps you to organize your time with a bigger picture view. Write down and define the 3 things you wish to do with your professional and personal goals.

Build in space If you see an opportunity when there’s space in your schedule, grab it. Ask yourself, “would I do this tomorrow?” You can also build in those spaces and use that time to get caught up. Don’t say yes to everything. Triage your calendar. Ignore, minimize,

delegate and lower your standards to free up time. You won’t feel like you’re always behind, rushed or forever late. Get enough sleep Easy to say, hard to do. Make time for yourself. Make time for sleep and exercise. Anything that adds to your energy is time well spent. Do your activities based on your energy and you’ll come out ahead. Spend less time on your phone Collect those little bits of time and use those 5 minutes to read, look around or delete email. Collecting time in minutes can add up over the course of a week, so make each moment count for something.

First things first Is what you’re currently doing a priority? People spend time on things that are urgent but not important. Time is elastic, and what you choose to do with your time is your choice. Make a short priority list (career, personal, relationships) and try planning for the week ahead on Friday afternoons. You’ll hit the ground running on Monday morning.

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Tammy

HEERMAN Leadership Transformation Expert and Senior Vice President at Lee Hecht Harrison

There is a path forward!

ELEVATING WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP You are in control Never before have women’s issues been debated, dissected and discussed like they are today. From women in politics to wage disparity to the #MeToo movement, we are more confused than ever about our role in leadership. Rather than give up, there is a way to move forward. We are in control of ourselves, our development and our mindsets. There are three dimensions that need to be in place to bring about change—individual behaviours, culture, and organizational practices. Critical behaviours and beliefs Changes start by having a clear, shared career plan and by being someone who advocates on their own behalf. You influence upwards and delegate work to promote teamwork. You believe there are no barriers to advancement. You’re confident and you take risks to learn new skills. While you cultivate mentors and sponsors, you network with stakeholders who can help your career. You’re a savvy business and financial operator who speaks strategically. You know you don’t

CONFERENCE SUMMARY

have to work harder, you work smarter, but the sacrifices are worth it. Culture: Why not me? You could be the one holding yourself back. Are you your own worst enemy? Do you doubt your own potential while missing the bigger career picture? Do you keep your strengths and successes to yourself? Do you believe that only the experts should speak up? Are you a good corporate soldier, picking up all the grunt work while keeping your head down? Maybe you’re not working at the right level, or you’re someone who refuses to relinquish control, striving at all times to be superwoman.

Organizational Practices Recognize that diversity and inclusion will be only as strong as your leadership culture. Managers who champion female talent do things differently. They create inclusive opportunities to network. They support and showcase women to senior leaders and decision makers. They use coaching and career conversations to challenge negative self-perceptions while providing coaching and feedback that builds business acumen. Finally, they challenge themselves and others to avoid unconscious biases to avoid stereotypical judgments. In short, who you work for matters, big time, to your career.

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Arianna

HUFFINGTON Founder of The Huffington Post, Founder and CEO of Thrive Global and New York Times Bestselling Author

Our goal as women should not be to sit on top of the world, but to change the world itself.

LEADERSHIP AND PEAK PERFORMANCE Eliminate Self Doubt Women should be changing the world itself, because it is not working. We can do this by eliminating the voice of self-doubt within ourselves. Silence the voice of self-doubt within yourself by giving your body the rest it needs. A fresh mind leads to better decisions, which leads to more success. Exerting yourself constantly can lead to mistakes, which increases the voice of self-doubt in you. Don’t become your own worst enemy to your success.

Multitasking is a Myth When we decide to do two things at once that involve cognitive effort, we end up doing neither. When we focus on one thing, and give it all of our input, we naturally perform better. Peak performance does not come from trying to do more within the time that you have and tiring yourself. Multitasking seems to be the solution to everything, but in the end we don’t get the results that we want, and end up burning out.

Keep Your Company Healthy The culture of a company is its immune system, letting us identify and fight problems almost instantaneously. If the companies culture is not strong, problems proliferate and infect every part of the business. Allowing people to thrive and refuel lets them perform at their highest level consistently. The best culture is a performing one. In fact, employees who are burnt out are 35% more likely to change jobs.

Avoid the Burnout There is a popular belief that the key to success is being ‘always on’, and the price for success is burnout. Software and machines were created to reduce downtime, but for humans, downtime is a necessity. Downtime is essential for our performance, wellbeing, and our health. We need to realize that downtime is important for our success. Employees who are burnt out are 35% more likely to change jobs.

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Dr. Annie

McKEE

Bestselling Author, Emotional Intelligence Expert and Senior Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania

Using emotional intelligence is common sense, not common practice.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT Love and work go together like... How we reach our goals are through people. Yet, leadership skills are something that few actively develop. Many think that leadership is about being the one with something to say when the two most important things in life are love and work. We discount emotional intelligence and happiness as the means to success.

work environment fosters creativity and increased production because we feel good. A negative one focuses on our fears rather than what we’re supposed to be doing. When you focus on your strengths—figuring out what they are and then leveraging those skills rather than what you’re doing wrong, you’ll be growing both your leadership skills and your emotional intelligence.

Myth 1 The leader is always the smartest one in the room. Not so. Emotional intelligence is the greatest indicator of a strong leader. Many organizations don’t focus on their people. Instead, they foster an environment where people are more focused on hitting their targets, creating a performance-driven culture instead of an emotionally intelligent one. Women are raised to be empathetic to others, they come by emotional intelligence naturally. Using your emotions to get things done can be powerful.

Myth 3 You have to be a superhero. Burnout is an epidemic. To avoid the superhero trap, take control of both your working and personal lives. The whole work-life balance thing doesn’t exist.

Find a rhythm that works for you. Find a way to make decisions and stick to them. Banish the fear and insecurity, open yourself to a culture that lets you align your values with where you’re going. How to be happy at work Happiness doesn’t come with success. In order to be successful, we need to be happy. Life is too short to be unhappy. The belief that your lives are worthwhile, that you’re contributing something to the world gives us purpose. Embrace organizations that have goals that you care about and gives you happiness at work.

Myth 2 Emotions are a destraction in the workplace. How we feel impacts our work. A positive

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Tiffany

DUFU Leadership Luminary, Bestselling Author and Former President of The White House Project

Drop the ball and release your unrealistic expectations of doing it all.

DIVERSITY AND LEADERSHIP Don’t be the Omni-manager If you want something you’ve never had before, you’ll have to do something you’ve never done before in order to get it. Many women are reluctant to abdicate responsibility in the one place their authority is often unquestioned while trying to succeed as a professional. Don’t fall into the trap of imaginary delegation. There isn’t only one correct way to do anything. Focussing our perfectionist ideology to all facets of life leads to disappointment.

that don’t. What you do is less important that the difference you make when doing something yourself. Instead of focussing on being perfectly busy, find what matters to you the most, and focus on those tasks for you to accomplish. Drop the Ball 1. Drop the ball of our unrealistic expectation of who we are supposed to be. Be clear about what matters to you the most. Redefine the set of roles you want to live up to in a way that works best for you.

2. Drop the ball of our unrealistic expectation of what we are supposed to do. Prioritize your to-do list and to what matters most to not feel overwhelmed. Remember, what you do is less important than the difference you make. 3. Drop the ball of our fear of asking for help. Nobody can complete tasks like you, so delegate with joy. Dropping the ball and inviting others to help pick it up can in fact strengthen your relationships.

We Can’t Do It All We want women in more leadership roles, but we fail to realize why there aren’t: Women are very busy. Women often site that they are pulled. Too many women feel an invisible pressure to live up to a set of roles, which can make life exhausting. Find your High Payoff Activities Slow down and prioritize. We can’t do everything, so what do you really want? Focus on what matters to you the most and drop the ball on others

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EXECUTIVE PANEL

HELEN WESLEY

DOMINIQUE GRĂ&#x2030;GOIRE

PATTY WICKSON

Executive Vice President Finance, IT and CFO

Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer

Executive Director

Women hold themselves and others to an incredibly high standard as we are constantly striving for more. As Women we need to focus our energies on what we want to be great at, as opposed to trying to excel at everything. Our success is in our hands.

Striving for more women in leadership is not about trying to make people understand its importance, It is about enabling those who already do to be able to do more. Voice your goals, seek mentorship and guidance. Our silence only stops ourselves from moving forward.

Be the change that you want to see. We all have it as leaders within us to leave the right legacy behind. We want to be remembered for bringing positive change transforming our organizations, moving them forward.

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CLOSING REMARKS Behind every successful women is a tribe of other successful women who have her back! You can build the life you want in the time you’ve got. So put first things first! Going to bed early is how grown up s sleep in. Women leaders influence upwards and believe in no barriers. Be comfortable being uncomfortable. Leadership transformation is: “Why not me?” “I’m Possible.” Your success is limited only by your mindset. Women need to change the world because the way men created it is not working! #TheThirdFeministRevolution Downtime is an essential part of living life and creativity. It’s a feature not a bug of the human operating system. To be the best you, to have that competitive edge, you need to sleep! Being present means being well rested. #Thrive. We need to learn to rest not quit when we are tired. Don’t listen to that obnoxious roommate living in your head. Everyone has a story, a vivid real-life story that comes with us to work everyday. Remember happiness comes before success! Happiness is a human right. You are worth it! It’s ok to drop the ball to release unrealistic expectations of doing it all. It’s ok to ask for help. If you want something you’ve never had before, then you’re going to have to do something you’ve never done before.

Bill Williams Host

CONFERENCE SUMMARY

To know and not to do is really not to know. To learn and not to do something with the learning is really not to have learned. Bill Williams