ELLEN DEGENERES HEADLINES THE POWER OF WOMEN IN VANCOUVER
 Ellen DeGeneres, television icon, entertainment pioneer and talk show host, headlines the Power of Women Leadership event on August 12th, 2011 live at Rogers Arena. And, if you have watched Ellen on TV you know she is going to be interesting, timely and funny! Suzanne Somers and Marlee Matlin are just two of the other high-profile speakers that day who will deliver a wealth of knowledge in areas that affect women’s personal and professional development including: Finance, Health and Wellness, Effective Leadership, Discovering Your Passion, Marketing, Technology and much more. But, it would be worth every penny if only Loretta LaRoche showed up. Loretta is an acclaimed speaker, author and stress management consultant who helped kick off the WLC inaugural event back in 2007. She will have you laughing until you cry—in a good way. Ellen and Loretta on one bill—pretty amazing! Take your team, go with a group of friends, for this all-day event and then plan to have dinner together after the event. Ask everyone to share their top three takeaways. It is fun to debrief such a rich experience.
This fantastic summer event will attract business leaders, entrepreneurs, academia, community and government leaders, health care professionals, students and professionals from B.C., Alberta and the U.S. So, while you there, talk to people you don’t know. Turn around and introduce yourself to the people sitting behind you and beside you. Make friends for those 8 hours.
Join us for this incredible day. Early bird WLC member discount available. Register now.
STRUGGLING TO MAKE SENSE?
 Are you still trying to make sense of the riot that happened in Vancouver? While this is not the typical summer-lite reading material, The Sexual Paradox: Troubled Boys, Gifted Girls and the Real Difference Between the Sexes by Susan Pinker, it may be a worthwhile read. Leonard Sax is another expert worth reading.
“Where Leonard Sax’s remarkable study Why Gender Matters (2005) www.leonardsax.com stated a strong case for a new look at teaching methods based on an understanding of sex differences, Pinker goes further. She sets out to explore what men and women want and why they want it. This is a well-trodden path in itself, but her approach is original. She writes with balance, capturing nuances of behaviour. Her scholarship is based on extensive research but she also acknowledges the sometimes tenuous link between research and experience, and accepts that group averages say little about any single, real person. As both a developmental psychologist and newspaper columnist, she complements the science with telling anecdote and case study.” (From a review by Tony Little, headmaster at Eton College)
CONGRATS TO OUR NEW BOARD OF TRADE CHAIR
 Wendy Lisogar-Cocchia was interviewed by The Vancouver Sun, just prior to taking over as chair of The Vancouver Board of Trade. “If Wendy Lisogar-Cocchia needed any affirmation the Vancouver Board of Trade was on the right track, she got it on a recent trip to the Big Apple. There to learn from the best practices of the various New York chambers of commerce, the hotelier and president of the Absolute Spa Group instead found herself responding to her hosts’ questions about ‘how the heck’ the B.C. business organization was able to attract so many members. ‘We have over 5,500 members, which, proportionately, is absolutely phenomenal,’ she said. It comes down to philosophy. ‘The Vancouver Board of Trade has always been really actively engaged in promoting not only the economy, but also the social well-being of the region.’”
Wendy walks the talk. Her annual Media Golf Tournament, the work that Absolute Spa does with The Empty Stocking Fund and her work with autism and other issues that matter to the community are examples of her engaged leadership.
If you attended The Board’s AGM last month, you couldn’t help but notice “women power” at work. On stage with Wendy Lisogar–Cocchia were legendary broadcast journalist, Lesley Stahl and B.C. Premier Christy Clark. It’s a pleasure seeing a woman premier and a woman running the leading business organization in western Canada — actually it’s downright refreshing.
Read more…
WILL THERE BE WI-FI?
 Sure, we all complain about emails, but what if we woke up one day and there was not one new email—and it wasn’t because the Internet was down! Many of us have a minor (or major) addiction to the little buzz of anticipation on seeing emails. Vacations are supposed to be times to turn off the devices. If it’s hard to do, here’s a little advice on why leaving our charger at home may really help you relax.
Richard Lovett in Getting Away From It All (Psychology Today) says, “On vacation some people are determined to keep the cell phone charged up and ready to rip wherever they go. After all, they say, wouldn’t you want to know if the dog runs away or your house burns down? In a word: No. Sometimes ignorance really is bliss. That’s because there’s a link between cardiovascular reactivity and vigilance. The former is a laboratory measure of how your heart responds to minor stressors. It’s kind of “like being jumpy” …The latter reflects how much you’re on the alert for potential problems. To some extent, being vigilant in an unfamiliar environment is natural, but one type of tension is avoidable: the nagging concern that the office may call at any time. To most effectively reduce cardiac stress, plan a vacation where your employers don’t even know how to get hold of you.”
Did that last sentence just give you one of those ‘jumpy’ feelings? If so, then leave a telephone number where you can be reached. Maybe you can’t completely untether yourself!
WHAT WOMEN WANT FROM WORK
 Charis Greser in an article at www.ft.com (What do women really want from work?) provides an interesting discussion on varied research done in the UK, U.S. and Canada, on the reasons why women, particularly those at mid–career, don’t make it to the senior-most positions. Is it the “marzipan ceiling” or what the Women on Boards (UK) research calls the “leaking pipeline?” Ms. Greser poses the question, do women “have less ambition than men, or a different kind of ambition?” Her article is interesting because some of the research is contradictory: “There is survey evidence to suggest that women’s career ambitions do lag those of men. What is striking, according to research by the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM), is that women set their sights lower from the outset. The survey also suggests women lack confidence relative to men; are more cautious about applying for jobs; and are less clear about where their careers are heading. Other data raise different issues: research by consultancy firm McKinsey reckons women actually remain highly confident throughout their careers, but as they age their desire to move up dissipates faster than men’s.”
What Ms. Greser’s article points out is we may be looking at it all wrong. Maybe it’s not lack of confidence or more caution. An often overlooked piece of the puzzle might be women’s own choices and preferences — and Greser talks about data she deems persuasive: “The US’s Center for Work–Life Policy indicates how women rank a number of career priorities, such as flexible work arrangements and collaboration, ahead of compensation.
“Susan Pinker, Canadian psychologist, refers in her book The Sexual Paradox, to the importance women attach to “intrinsic values,” such as an ability to make a contribution, compared with pay. Power, for its own sake, is just not that appealing to most women. In fact, it turns out to be the goal highly-qualified women care least about.”
All this data, research and work by experts creates more questions than provides answers. Could pay matter less if there are two income earners? Is caution applying for jobs more a case of a woman not wanting to get into a job where she doesn’t know the actual time commitment? She may not feel she can go gung-ho 24/7 and do men take jobs with the attitude “I’ll do whatever it takes” because they know someone else will take the child with the ear infection to the doctor or make sure the kids get fed? This article is worth a read and perhaps someone would like to start the discussion on the WLC LinkedIn page.
GO TO CORNELL THIS YEAR?
 E–learning is a great way to fill in some gaps in knowledge, particularly if your education leaned more to arts than commerce, except now you are in the thick of the world of business! It’s worth checking out The Vancouver Board of Trade’s VIBE courses offered by eConcordia or eCornell. A Financial Management certificate through Cornell’s online learning could help you gain confidence in decision making and scouting out new opportunities. Check out the six course certificate series at vibehome.com.
NO GLOBAL AMBITIONS?
 On July 4, the National Post reported: “Largely sheltered from the global recession, 69% of small– and medium–sized enterprises in Canada say they have no plans to ever enter global markets, according to new data released Monday. The Angus Reid poll, commissioned by UPS Canada, surveyed owners of Canadian SMEs whose reluctance to pursue export markets may have insulated them from some of the harsher effects of the recent recession.” The UPS press release goes further to explain, “In addition, while SMEs’ global outlook has improved significantly many are still somewhat insecure about going global themselves. In fact, 27% said that they have never considered exporting because they don’t think there’s much of a market outside of Canada for what they offer. In addition, one in five SMEs doesn’t believe it can compete with counterparts in emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil.”
To read the complete article, Canadian SMEs Broaden Global Outlook
COMPETITION FOR GISELE?
 We would just like to thank WLC Advisory Council members Janet Austin, Rita Bellano, Yvonne De Valone, Evi Mustel, and Jill Schnarr as well as Jen Schaeffers for being such good sports and volunteering to be the models at the Nygård Fashion members’ reception event last month. Nygård also graciously donated one of the dresses worn by the models to Dress for Success, a non-profit organization for low-income women. To see more photos from this fun event go here.
YOUR FEEDBACK
We would love to hear from you. Send your comments, ideas for this newsletter, for speakers, for content to: info@wlcircle.com
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