MAKE OCTOBER THE MONTH OF “YOU”
 We know this sounds like some kind of 1990s “ME” thing, but we are just trying to encourage you to make this the month you invest in yourself. October is a month full of the kind of Board of Trade events that can help enrich your life and your business. On October 17 you can learn how to get part of your life back – the part that’s consumed by BlackBerries, emails or the new iPhone. And, make this the month you focus on finding your “sponsor.” A just–released Catalyst Study shows that sponsorship is key to women’s business success.
There are other really interesting events this month such as real estate’s Bubble Trouble? and Google Canada’s Managing Director and the Hon. James Moore talking about the edge Canada can have if we lead the digital economy (Economic Edge Conference on October 26). Turn off your computer, grab some business cards and come do some networking. Meet The Board’s new CEO, Iain Black, and get engaged, informed and inspired. That’s why it’s the Month of You.
PLUM ASSIGNMENTS & BIG PROMOTIONS
 This press release from Catalyst should get everyone’s attention: “For women especially, it takes more than meeting expectations to get noticed in today’s workplace. Female employees who work hard and play by the rules are often overlooked when it comes to plum assignments and big promotions.” According to Sponsoring Women to Success, the latest in Catalyst’s groundbreaking series of reports, effective sponsorship is critical to accelerating a woman’s career – from getting her noticed by senior-level executives to being considered for her company’s top jobs.
Catalyst’s key finding:
- Senior-level executives must recognize sponsorship as a necessary component of good leadership.
- There is no “silver bullet” for attracting the attention of a high-level sponsor.
- Smart companies create environments where sponsorship thrives.
- High-performing employees, particularly women, gain critical, career-accelerating experiences and advancement opportunities.
- Sponsors receive valuable feedback from protégés and build reputational capital as leaders committed to building a robust pipeline of talent.
- Organizations increase employee engagement, retention, talent development and the strength of the talent pipeline.
We know you are busy, but do this for yourself: Take the time to read this 28 page report (PDF) and start building your plan for plum assignments and big promotions!
GET YOUR LIFE BACK
 …or at least part of it. We are all time-strapped and time-stressed, and one of those big “time suckers” is a 24/7 Techno-Octopus who has wrapped her arms around our lives. Therefore, we recommend this luncheon event, The Digital Diet, on Oct 17. It could be the best time saving investment you make all year!
Emmy-nominated technology reporter Daniel Sieberg’s new book, The Digital Diet, will share a very sensible set of solutions for individuals and businesses to better manage technology. Nicholas Thompson, Senior Editor, The New Yorker, says this about Sieberg’s Digital Diet. “It’s also deeply important: many of us use technology too much, without realizing it. Sieberg has had his own problems with overuse and overload, and now he’s emerged with a very sensible set of solutions for helping people restore balance to their lives. It’s the rare diet book that might actually work.”
As Leigh Gallagher, assistant managing editor of Fortune magazine, says about Sieberg and his book: “Anyone who thinks he or she doesn’t need a digital diet is in denial. Sieberg nails the sad truth of what our tech-triggered A.D.D. has done to us and offers solutions for breaking away — and re-incorporating these same tools in a healthier, more meaningful way. If you’ve got your nose in your BlackBerry as you read this, this book is for you.”
When you register, ask to join the WLC Table at this event hosted by a member of our WLC Advisory Council!
Sponsored by BCIT’s School of Business and The Vancouver Board of Trade’s Small Business Council.
BUBBLE, BUBBLE, TOIL AND TROUBLE?
 Bubble Trouble? is a very appropriate topic for the bewitching month of October. On October 21, David Podmore, Chairman & CEO, Concert Properties Ltd. and Richard Wozny, Principal, Site Economics Ltd. tell us what’s in that witch’s brew of real estate challenges and opportunities. They are the experts to answers these questions: Are we running out of land, do we need to adapt our approach to the land that is available? What effect has heavy foreign investment had on the market, should this be regulated? What can be done to fast-track residential projects to ensure affordable housing? How do we reduce development costs to increase regional appeal for office and retail projects? And what about that 30 per cent increase in the average price of a home in Vancouver? Come to this event because you and housing is one the toughest nuts to crack thanks to having the pleasure of living in the Lower Mainland.
Sponsored by TD, McCarthy Tetrault, Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, and Vancouver Regional Construction Association.
"I LOVE YOU CEO"
 By Lisa Martin, CEO, Lisa Martin International and WLC Advisory Council Member
“Many people want to come work for Coast because of our television commercials,” said Tracy Redies, CEO, Coast Capital Savings (Coast) at the first WLC event of the fall. “We promise to be and do the best for our customers, and to do that, we must do the best by our employees,” added Tracy. “We keep our word, show we care and listen.”
Tracy elaborated that Coast Capital’s unique culture and its focus on inspiring employees to work at their very best has had a tremendous amount to do with the credit union’s success. For example, during the Stanley Cup playoffs, a customer service representative suggested Coast Capital close its branches early on the night of Game 7 to let all staff enjoy this moment of history. After some careful consideration, the company agreed.
Within a few hours, an email was sent from Tracy to all staff communicating that they had received this suggestion, and had decided that it was indeed the right thing to do. Immediately, Tracy received a flood of emails from staff that were “wowed” by this decision. She even received an email from an avid hockey fan that said “I LOVE YOU CEO!!!”
“While Game 7 wasn’t what we had hoped for, this was a way for us to show we cared about what was important to our staff,” explained Tracy. “If we had looked at it the traditional way, we would have missed an opportunity to engage our staff and customers.”
Novel approaches like this is why Coast Capital’s employee engagement is up 10 per cent over the past year at 82 per cent, and that 29,000 new customers came aboard in 2010 bringing the total customer base to more than 450,000. In addition, Coast’s operating profit before tax was up 40 per cent over last year and earnings were more than $65 million in 2010.
All this is proof of Tracy’s conviction that: “An inspired workforce helps your bottom line.”
NO MORE MISSES?
 Time magazine reported that a new campaign by French feminists is “now underway to blot out the word “mademoiselle” — or “Miss” — that detractors say publicly brands women as unwed (and possibly unwanted) in a public manner French men are spared. To that end — more than four decades after American feminists demanded to be called “Ms.”, and 39 years after Germany’s 1972 decision to strike “Fraulein” from official use — French feminists want “mademoiselle” deposited on the ash heap of sexist history to make way for “madame” as women’s generic answer the male “monsieur”.” This may be a worthwhile bit of knowledge if a trip to Europe is on your agenda or for the next time you are on a call to a French businesswoman.
Read more here.
KEEPING THE PEACE AT WORK
 LinkedIn recently asked more than 17,000 professionals around the world "what’s your pet peeve at work." The top five were:
- People not taking ownership for their actions
- Constant complainers
- Dirty common areas
- Starting meetings late or going too long
- People who don’t respond to emails
As reported by Nicole Williams, Connection Director at LinkedIn (and a UBC grad by the way!), “Office pranks rank highest in Japan, with Brazil getting most peeved by excessive gossiping. You’ll want to turn down your mobile ringer when working in India and apparently you can get away with a higher hem in Sweden. While seemingly harmless, the reality of one-too-many peeves in the workplace is a lack of productivity and this you need to take seriously in the face of a highly competitive job market.”
She goes on to say that the best ways to handle these irritations are:
- Don’t let it build: Have a calm conversation, preferably with a solid example of the behavior that’s driving you crazy.
- Keep it professional: Don’t try to get back at the person.
- Presume the best: Don’t assume that people know that their behaviour is driving you crazy.
- Ask around: Do a bit of self-reflection and ask a trusted colleague whether you are someone who is guilty of the top-five peeves.
See the survey results
Join us on LinkedIn to tell us your pet peeves at work.
WHEN SOMEONE POUNCES
 We encourage people to go to networking events with a work colleague because tag teammates can be a great help when the unexpected happens. Who hasn’t been in the situation where you and your colleague are chatting with a person you’ve just met, only to have someone pounce on you (OK, not literally) and drag you away into a new conversation. It may be the enthusiasm of the moment (yes, people are excited when they see you!) or perhaps it’s just the wine… If you have a tag teammate and someone pulls you into a new conversation, your tag teammate can stay in the original conversation, rather than leaving that person high and dry.
Here are five other reasons to go with a tag teammate:
- If you are anxious networking, it’s great to go with someone. You don’t have to be attached at the hip, but you are back up for one and other. If your tag teammate is trapped in a cling-on conversation you can rescue them.
- It’s a perfect way to cross-market if you go with someone from your firm who works in another division, different part of the practice, etc.
- It gives you an opportunity to use The Glowing Introduction™ and sing your tag teammate’s praises. “Janine is our top tax lawyer. She recently won a landmark ruling that you may have heard about…” (Note: Janine cannot introduce herself this way. “I am the top tax lawyer in our firm…”)
- Your tag teammate can introduce you to their network at the event and you can do the same.
- With a tag teammate it is much easier to go over and break into a new group.
THE ONE TRILLION DOLLAR WOMAN
 Do you know the name of the woman who runs the fifth biggest asset management company in the world? Mary Callahan Erdoes of J.P. Morgan Asset Management oversees $1.3 trillion as their chief executive. Forbes magazine says she is "a rare female comet in the male dominated firmament of Wall Street… Erdoes long ago gave up on the idea of achieving a work-life balance and opted for what she calls ‘work–life integration.’ She sometimes heads to her children’s school for afternoon pickup and then returns to the office… ‘There is a little luck along the way, but there is no substitute for really–superhard work, first in, last out.’"
Erdoes also “can take offense at the idea of special treatment for women. During this year’s World Economic Forum she spoke of her disappointment with the conference’s new gender quota system at lunch with Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg. Erdoes then hopped on CNBC with Jamie Dimon by her side and said, “Unfortunately now when people come to Davos, they may look at some of these women and wonder, ‘Are you here because you are a female or are you here because of your accomplishments?’”
Read the Forbes story by Nathan Vardi
(photo from Forbes article)
Join WLC LinkedIn dialogue: Do you agree or disagree with Erdoes taking offense at the idea of special treatment for women?
LAST MONTH’S NEWSLETTER M.I.A.?
 Due to a technical glitch September’s WLC newsletter did not make it to all members. If you missed the newsletter here it is. Read about the Khan Academy (very cool, gotta know about that!) and a welcome from your new WLC Advisory Council chair, Evi Mustel.
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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