A wise expert on management coaching, John Keyser, asked me to pen some thoughts that might be helpful to women seeking leadership positions in business.   John is one of the guys who gets it; he knows that men are promoted because of their potential while women must prove themselves
over and over to be promoted.  The research group Catalyst has confirmed this in their studies.

Much has been studied and shared about women’s leadership and the lessons that must be embraced for success.  Here are some helpful ideas for women to consider for advancement in the work place:

1. Get ‘investors’ behind you.  Find people who will go to bat for you and ask them to think of you for projects, committees, speaking opportunities, etc.  Ideally this would be a senior ranking male in your firm who knows your skills and will comfortably recommend you for projects and promotions.    Men will often say to a CEO; “I want to work for you”.  Women need to be bold and say the same. 
2. Share your wins.  As a general rule, women are averse to ‘bragging’ yet this often means they are overlooked for promotions as their accomplishments are not showcased or not known by the leadership.  After leading your team to completion of a successful project, write a thank you to all members of your team, with a cc to the CEO, that details these accomplishments.   Then the CEO will have clear data on your work and efforts. 
3. Raise your hand.  Find out what associations are applicable for your industry or sector -- where the leaders you admire are involved.  Join these groups and volunteer for committees.  The chairs of these committees are well respected and connected individuals and will notice the work of a good committee member.  Their recommendation of you for a position will be well received. 
4. Be your best friend… and saleswoman.  I am often in awe of how men introduce themselves compared to a woman’s modesty.  Humility works for sure but women must make sure they don’t discount what they have accomplished.  Try an introduction that truly summarizes the breadth of your work; “I am an  entrepreneur who has built four successful businesses including a real estate company, a health care practice, a consulting practice, and a national nonprofit organization.  All of my work incorporates women’s empowerment around their bodies, leadership, money, and the true ownership of power.”
5. Report to a Board that looks like you.   If you hear the leadership say, we can’t find any women for our Board, refer them to this smart list of resources.

 

Jennifer Buffett will change the world. You may not know her now, but when all is said and done I believe she will own the title, The First Lady of Women’s Social Change Philanthropy.  Jennifer is the life size symbol of NoVo – to alter, invent.  The NoVo Foundation she created with her husband Peter is based on the premise that if you give a girl an opportunity, she will become a successful woman who will in turn create successful communities, businesses, and families.  Jennifer’s story is just that.

After deep examination of the focus of their philanthropy and a personal examination of her own expression of her values and influence, Jennifer is speaking around the world sharing her personal story and experiences. She and her husband Peter spent years examining the interrelation between systems, culture, and relationships to determine place of impact and opportunity for change before launching the largest foundation serving women and girls, the NoVo Foundation.   Jennifer has incredible perspective to offer activists, social change drivers, and philanthropists and after hearing her recently, I distilled these ten concepts that are worth sharing; 

1. Look at the roots of the problems, examine patterns and themes and find the programs and the stories that rule the world and which ones make sense.
2. Acknowledge two conflicting truths:  1. Girls and women are the primary drivers of change.  2. Cultural attitudes and systems put girls in a vicious cycle; blaming them and affirming that they are not valued.   The girl effect demonstrates that if you invest in a girl, her family thrives, she contributes to her community, and eventually her country succeeds.
3. Invest in places where value is held and not yet recognized.  Note:  there are 600 million adolescent girls living in the developing world who are currently ‘undervalued assets’. 
4. Value balance and partnership and affirm feminine values. 
5. Encourage women to use their voice, say what is want and needed, take credit, and invite men to join as equal partners and co-creators. 
6. As a woman, choose to be seen and heard and work to change the course of the boat named Earth Community. 
7. Improve gender dynamics by recognizing that the qualities in the masculine ‘toolbox’ - force, hierarchy, punitive, and a focus on head not heart - are learned, normalized, and internalized. 
8. Honor and showcase the characteristics found in the feminine toolbox; listening, connectedness, experiential learning, honoring innate cycles and rhythms, and wholeness. 
9. Establish learning environments that allow for inquiry and participation. 
10. As conduits of feminine energies, allow the most precious qualities of clarity, strength, knowing and vulnerability of yourself to come into full light. 

photo © 2006 Riza Nugraha  | more info (via: Wylio)

Seriously, how fun is it to celebrate and dance and how often do we do either of these things?  I love Emma Goldman’s statement – “If I can’t dance I don’t want to be part of the revolution.”  At the Women Moving Millions session we heard from the co-chairs, donors and leaders – all who danced as they came on stage to share their stories and ideas.   

 One of many highlights for me was the dancing!  Chris Grumm, Helen LaKelly Hunt and I dancing with the audience as we all took ‘back’ the word REVOLUTION moving to Tracy Chapman.  Next session we will be moving to Miriam Makemba’s Pata Pata.  

After hearing updates and perspectives on the campaign from the leadership and a distinguished panel of women, including Dobkin Family Foundation founder Barbara Dobkin, Mama Cash Executive Director Nicky McIntyre, Women Moving Millions Co-Chair Jacki Zehner, ACCION USA's Elizabeth Bueno, and Women's Foundation of Greater Kansas City President Dawn Oliver, I encouraged people to check in with our own individual experience of philanthropy and “moving millions” in our own lives.  

I believe that a key aspect of a good leadership is the practice of consistently looking at our own motivations and experiences around giving and receiving.  Spending time to reflect on what it is that keeps us open to receiving and to giving and understanding the conditions or environments that help us feel more generous is a good growth opportunity.    

Feel free to take some time to look at an exercise that I created that examines – “What is it that allows me to give time, talent or treasure with joy and ease? And how can we move towards this?”

I had the honor of being part of the Women’s Funding Network Worldwide Conference where women from Serbia, Mexico, Australia, Scotland, Nigeria, Canada, and every place in between, descended upon Brooklyn, New York for three days of convening and learning.  We spent time together skills sharing, relationship building, and listening to impassioned speeches from some of the world’s most dynamic female thought leaders. 

From the opening keynote featuring Marjora Carter, eco-entrepreneur, MacArthur Genius and founder of Sustainable South Bronx, to the closing keynote featuring Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile and first Under Secretary General and Executive Director of UN Women, we all were in the presence of the power and resiliency of women leaders and the global women’s movement.  Being part of this ‘movement’ to me means that we choose to reassert feminine perspectives (also known as ‘a gender lens’) wherever it can heal cultures and communities.   

One of the panel discussions was hosted by filmmaker, scholar and founder of the Daphne Foundation, Abigail Disney. Abby spoke about the ways in which the feminine perspective has been erased from the media coverage of war across the world. Her documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell and her four part series called Women, War and Peace, which documents war through the eyes of women in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Columbia and the Congo, shows women’s contributions to war efforts on both the front lines and back lines. 

When we think about war, we think about combat. We think about the front line. Abby’s work showcases the role that women play from the back lines in conflict and the impact that these conflicts have on women’s lives.  The work shows how women are targeted with systematic violence in wartime and how, with incredible fortitude and strength and little support, they hold their families and communities together.  Abby and her team are successful in bringing visibility to the tragedy of their invisibility and dismissal from their solutions and peace building work. 

After showing the series trailer, Abby talked about how rape is being used as a strategic tactic of wartime violence. She recounted stories of deliberations by the United Nations Assembly about whether or not to try rapists as war criminals when the acts are being perpetrated as a tactic of war.  Abby’s series, Women, War and Peace is scheduled to debut on PBS this fall. I hope you’ll all find some time to watch it and extend your role in the movement in any way that works for you.

(Photo credited to Pray the Devil Back to Hell.)

During a recent gathering of 600 dynamic women working for social and economic justice (2011 Women’s Funding Network Annual Conference), I facilitated a discussion  with my friend and frequent co-pilot, Ellen Landis, founder of Sharevision. The discussion was on donor activism (which later turned into a great conversation on power!) with the goal to create a safe space for women to vocalize their engagement and feel more confident and empowered to be the social change leaders they are.  As well, we had an intentional sharing of donor activism work from a mind, body, and spirit focus which helps people enter the “activist” conversation from different perspectives.

For that hour and a half these 40 women were able to share their successes, their challenges, their personal and professional triumphs and tragedies with each other. And, when it was over, almost all of the women remained to engage with each other like old friends with so much to learn from each other.  

The format of the donor activism work session was exercises that could be done with staff, donors, community leaders, Board members, etc.  One of the fun tools we used, that I am sharing, was the attached Donor Activist Bingo game.  We had the attendees go around and inquire of each other whether they were associated with or had used one of the action items (i.e. been a vocal advocate for an issue or has donated time to a campaign or made a bequest to an organization and told someone about this).  After this exercise, attendees were directed to find and listen to one other person talk about their proudest successful activism activity.  Finally, attendees were asked to move to another person in the room and imagine that she/he was a mentor in their life, describe what the mentor represented for them in their activist life, and then tell their success story again to their ‘mentor’. This is a good ‘get to know the people in the group’ exercise.  

I hope you found this helpful and feel free to let me know how it went!

photo © 2005 j9sk9s | more info (via: Wylio)

March Madness – I call it 'March Moving Mountains!' After playing basketball every day for more than a third of my life, the sounds and feel of the game is in my ‘bones’.  And yes, I was recently in the gym, shooting around and contemplating getting in a pick up game with men three times my size.   

As the President of the Point Guard Club of the Americas, I was excited to see the touted freshman point guards from Louisville, Tennessee, and Baylor. When these women were seven years old they were given an extraordinary gift.  Their childhood was spent watching role models in the WNBA. They had ample opportunity to play and be coached as future ‘pro’ athletes thanks to Title IX, and they have the desire and heart to play through ‘no matter what’… including the size of their opponent! 

Whenever people ask about my size and being a point guard, I gently remind them - quickness, smarts and speed can come in any size.  That said, the physical size and power displayed by 10 women on a basketball court is an expression of strength and feminism like no other!   Where else but during a women’s basketball game do you see women taking up space with such spirit, force, and courage?  

Early in March, a collegiate ski jumping championship took place in the U.S. for the first time in 31 years, but this time, the competition included women. In February, the U.S. Senate, passed a resolution in honor of the 25th National Girls and Women in Sports Day. It states, among other proclamations on the importance of sport in girls’ and women’s lives, that “women’s athletics are one of the most effective avenues available for the women of the United States to develop self-discipline, initiative, confidence, and leadership skills.”  I would also add to this resolution - the confidence to display their power, voice, and strength in all settings.  

Stay up to date on the women of the NCAA, WNBA, boxing, hockey, rugby and every other sport you’re interested in by checking out Women Talk Sports and the Women’s Sports Foundation now and throughout the year.

“Success has been earned from hard work and sleepless nights. I got my start by giving myself a start - you have to get up and make your own opportunities.”  Madame C. Walker

• Women to receive recognition for works and contributions
• Reminds people that women hold up half the sky
• Girls see themselves in the history books and dream of possibilities
• Provides forum to change perceptions
• Forces the issue 
• All stories have not been told
• Allows us to set the record straight
• History is being made every day 
• If we lose our history, we lose our way
• Why not?

Links to key current projects that are telling the story of women’s work in a variety of forums:

International Women’s Day 2011: 100th Anniversary “Annually on 8 March, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate achievements. A global web of rich and diverse local activity connects women from all around the world ranging from political rallies, business conferences, government activities and networking events through to local women's craft markets, theatric performances, fashion parades and more.”

International Museum of Women "I.M.O.W. is a groundbreaking social change museum that inspires global action, connects people across borders and transforms hearts and minds by amplifying the voices of women worldwide through global online exhibitions, history, the arts and cultural programs that educate, create dialogue and build community. With its unique focus on cultural change, I.M.O.W. advances the human right to gender equity worldwide."

The National Women’s History Project, “founded in 1980, is a non-profit educational organization committed to recognizing and celebrating the diverse and significant historical accomplishments of women by providing information and educational materials and programs. To learn more about the organization, click here.”

World Pulse “uses the power of interactive media to build a network connecting the world of women – one voice at a time.”

Amidst the political banter, I would imagine that there is consensus on one thing;  there are far too many great organizations going unnoticed.  I call them diamonds in the rough.  Meanwhile there are thousands of folks who need their services and funders who would appreciate their smart work.  How do we resolve this issue in the philanthropic community and inspire donors to invest in marketing and technology?  

Everyone knows that a business spends a tremendous amount of money bringing their product to market.  They do focus groups, create brand profiles, build marketing plans for several audiences, and use a myriad of avenues to promote their product.  For a nonprofit, it is challenging to get a funder who understands that 1.  Spending money on marketing will make money, 2. Doing marketing is imperative for success, 3. Nonprofits are a business with customers, and 4.  Smart branding, media relations, and marketing is not cheap.  

Time and again at the Women’s Sports Foundation we struggled to fundraise for dollars that would pay for consulting help for a marketing plan or to underwrite promotional pieces about the programs.  We would build the costs into the annual budget to do marketing events, hire public relations firms, pay for print materials, etc. and always, when budget challenges arose, this was the place that was cut first.

Thankfully, the work we did was not so edgy or radical that corporations were willing to step up and carry the logo or message on their packaging.  This helped build the visibility of the organization for sure.  But it took a sophisticated donor who agreed to release some of her endowed gift to help update the organization’s brand, messaging, and website; an organization’s most important marketing platform.  I promised her we would return the funds to the endowment within a year because the new look and website would build shareholder confidence.   Donors had made it clear the image did not match the level of excellence of the organization.  As a former corporate marketing executive, she got it.  And yes, within a year we did repay the $300,000 to the endowment.

I know that some of you are thinking – wow, $300,000 seems like a huge sum of money!   But guess what, that is what it costs to do it right!  Recently I had lunch with Jason Franklin, the Executive Director of Bolder Giving, a great next generation mind and spokesperson for what I am calling the “generosity movement”.  He and his organization have a three year history of providing quality resources for giving and, with a recent matching gift from Gates Foundation, they are investing wisely in marketing. 

The investment Bolder Giving is making in a branding consultant, social media coach, and web development and media relations teams has paid off.  The organization was named or referred to every other week in the Chronicle of Philanthropy for three consecutive months and they are well on their way to meeting their fundraising goal with a dollar-for-dollar match by the Gates Foundation. 

Jason is engaging regularly with writers from more than 50 philanthropic outlets and, in so doing, is building public engagement on ‘what is enough?’ and making bolder gifts.  “We have made an investment of more than 25% of our budget on media, web, and communications and we know this is already paying off with increased interest and investment in the work,” says Jason.  

Suffice it to say, the next generation gets it.  The challenge is convincing some of the longer standing or smaller organizations Boards and funders that this is important.  

For additional resources on branding and use of social media check out Beth's Kanter's Blog, Big Duck, Non-Profit Marketing Guide and  Non-Profit Marketing and Fundraising Zone. 

photo © 2009 Tan-Anh-Khoa Pham | more info (via: Wylio)

I love working with Board members! There is something really special about a volunteer who tears up when you ask what inspires them about their work. Or a Board member who says that they have a moral duty to share their education model with others, if it is effective. And what about a Board chair who can be an ambassador, a door opener, cultivator, and ‘closer’?

All of these amazing individuals were in the room when I led a Board training session recently in Denver. This dedicated group came together to learn how they could be smarter fundraisers for this unique educational organization that champions the lives of babies, teen moms, and their families. The weather was 70 degrees, people were playing golf right outside the window and yet, for four hours on a Friday afternoon, these folks were fully engaged!

The topics we discussed ranged from “when you were asked for money, what worked?” to “what is your personal connection to the mission?”  to, my favorite, creating a leadership brand statement. To do this, we first talked about the levels at which a nonprofit markets its brand.  Remembering that the brand is the leadership, accomplishments, reputation, logo and visuals, it is important to ask ‘what are the values that are expressed in your brand and are you marketing these values?’

An organization is typically introduced to a community in phases. First: its broadest passion (safety, community, responsibility, etc.). Second: its core issues (human rights, housing, economic security, the environment, etc.)  Third: its policies or legislation (the point at which most nonprofits market their message.) These could be Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, Fair Pay Act, No Child Left Behind, or TANF (Tax Assistance for Needy Families). 

Most groups are always looking for ways to reach new audiences or get people engaged.  Find folks and speak to them about the beliefs that underlie your shared attitudes and beliefs.  Talking to someone about their core values gets them to open their hearts, inquire more about charitable work that they can relate to, and eventually open their wallets.

For this exercise, each Board member tried on a new way of introducing their role and the organization to the public.  As we know, most folks always say, “I am a Board member of Florence Crittenton Services where we offer programs and schooling for teen moms.”  There is nothing wrong with this but what about this sentence really lifts up my curiosity or opens my heart?  There were 20 great responses all summarizing the work in a heartfelt and compelling way.  My favorite combination of a couple of their leadership brand statements was “I am a champion for a pioneering organization that works to end the cycle of poverty in Denver by empowering and educating teen moms and their babies who lives are being dismissed by society.”

Feel free to try this exercise out with your staff or Board and see how they ‘come out’ as fundraisers and become empowered to be spokespeople and storytellers for the cause!

For additional resources on branding and use of social media check out Beth's Kanter's Blog, Big Duck, Non-Profit Marketing Guide and  Non-Profit Marketing and Fundraising Zone. 

While talking recently with a philanthropist about her giving focus, I asked ‘What would commitment to that issue look like, feel like?’  We then ventured onto a deeper conversation about what qualities come up around commitment.    Trust, communication, flexibility, and respect were themes we both agreed were part of commitment.

With the work I do with leaders, we often co-create affirmations or sayings that provide a reminder or grounding place on a topic.  For this conversation, we developed ‘I am committed to philanthropy that fully engages my mind and heart while demonstrating impact’.   From here, we reviewed what this would look like with some of the groups and projects she was evaluating for her giving.

I love these conversations as they are the fabric of true social change and movement building - committed funders, staff, and activists.

I found this great poem in The Scottish Himalayan Expedition that I often referred to at the Women’s Sports Foundation when I was working with some of the volunteers around fundraising.  For those who had played sports, they got it right away.  For others, it was a start for understanding the powerful and magical principle of fundraising success using visualization, stories, and goal setting.  Enjoy!

Until one is committed
there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back,
always ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation),
there is one elementary truth,
the ignorance of which kills countless ideas
and splendid plans:
that the moment one definitely commits oneself,
then Providence moves too.
All sorts of things occur to help one
that would never otherwise have occurred.
A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one’s favour all manner
of unforeseen incidents and meetings
and material assistance,
which no man could have dreamt
would have come his way.

I have learned a deep respect
for one of Goethe’s couplets:
“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.”

W.H. Murray 1951