Category: Dream Companies

3 Important Lessons Learned on International Women’s Day 2020

IWD 2020 Celebration
Maya Kolaczynski McKinsey Canada

Stunned, we listened intently while our keynote speaker, Maya Kolaczynski from McKinsey Canada gave us the stats and facts from McKinsey’s report:  “Women Matter – The present and future of women at work in Canada” June 2019.

I was still reeling from the stats as I sat with our panel which followed Maya’s talk last Thursday at JLabs Toronto’s “International Women’s Day: From the Classroom to the Boardroom – Navigating Your Career as a Woman”. How could so little change from 40 years ago when I was an earnest young tax auditor at the start of my career? What lessons did I learn from my time at JLabs Toronto?

IWD 2020 – Lesson #1

The “leaky” talent pipeline reminded me that the under representation of women has been around for a very long time – 40 years and counting? The report showed modest progress since 2017 toward gender equality at the entry level. But the biggest gap still exists between men and women beyond the entry level

“None of the companies on the TSX 70 index – a cross section of the largest and most heavily traded Canadian stocks – listed a woman as its CEO.” 5.

IWD 2020 – Lesson #2

I have been and still am a strong proponent of mentorship, having developed a successful professional mentorship program for newcomer professionals. But I had neglected to also include sponsorship.

And although I also understand the importance of sponsors, I was abruptly “woke” when Maya presented the power of sponsorship on one’s career.

“Sponsors play a critical role in an employee’s career development and advancement … sponsors will introduce their proteges to influential connections, highlight their work to senior leaders, and recommend them for jobs and promotions.”

IWD 2020 – Lesson #3

The moment I made this immediate and gigantic mind shift towards sponsorship, I realized how I can help young women plug “the leaky talent pipeline”! Young women like our emerging and new scientists in the audience and who introduced themselves and overwhelmed me with their honesty, transparency, and vulnerability. Their authentic desire to up-skill was refreshing and I left the event knowing they will leave the world a better place. And there is no time like the present!

My sincere thanks to Amanda Raponi and #JLabs for hosting this special IWD event, Caitlin Gagnon, our moderator Global Head of Executive Search-Pharma, Johnson & Johnson, and my co-panelists: Jennifer Moody, COO Morphocell Technologies, Drew Taylor, CEO & Co-Founder, Acorn Biolabs and Marian Nakada, VP, Venture Investments, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JDCC for sharing their sage advice, and Maya Kolaczynski for sharing McKinsey Canada’s “Women Matter” report. #womenhelpingwomen #menhelpingwomen #whywenetwork  

Learn by Doing

I would like to spend the rest of my life creating social experiments, the simpler, the more powerful. Take for example, the social experiment by Daniel Pink. He quickly captured the attention of the graduating Class of 2016 at Georgetown University . It only took 20 seconds but it was unforgettable.

Inspired, I created my own social experiment although it is still taking shape even after 2 years. After teaching my first networking workshop in July 2017, our twelve adult learners decided they wanted to stay connected to one another. So I asked them if they would like to me to give them a “challenge” to complete and we would compare notes in a follow up meet up in six weeks which they agreed.

And although they leaned more towards introversion and didn’t know one another, they seemed to genuinely like one another. I often wondered what would happen if we threw together people randomly. What ideas would form? What types of conversations would emerge? Would they be able to build new relationships after a casual meet up? Would there be friendships formed, mentorship opportunities matched, even a little romance perhaps? I hope. Fingers crossed.

Random collisions

It’s been an exciting, this experiential learning. We’re still tweaking our format but after 14 Drop Ins, we’ve come accustomed to the random pairing of people, at times supported with prompt questions which are sent beforehand. I can observe and detect the range of emotions in their body language and facial expressions each time I approach a pair to ask if they are ready to switch partners. Everyone meets at least 4 -6 new people by the end of the evening.

Dream Network

Our Dream Networkers are courageous, compassionate, and caring people. Yoda would be proud as they “do or do not. (They know) there’s no try.” I also learn a lot from everyone. Meeting new people is not easy. We are vulnerable and manage a lot of different fears and anxiety. But once we realize our fear is exaggerated, then it becomes easier to face. When we visualize the best scenario, we’re energized and motivated to face our fears. And each time we meet someone new, we begin to trust ourselves a little more and gradually, we become more calm and confident and then we look for ways to help others. It’s like a dream and then becomes a reality.

Banza – Chick Pea Pasta!

How two brothers turned a failed tech biz attempt into a consumer in-demand unique and healthy pasta!  Love it!  Read on #foodentrepreneurs for #inspiration

From The New York Times:

How Banza, a Chickpea Pasta Start-Up, Thrives on Attention

Two brothers took their chickpea pasta from obscurity to the shelves of national retailers, successfully demonstrating the fine art of self-promotion.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/30/business/smallbusiness/pasta-start-up-thrives-on-attention.html?mwrsm=Email

Hashtag Talk #2 – Karma to help Kids with Disabilities

#karma

#hope

#kindness

A funny thing happened on my way to my #GoodLife  gym yesterday.  The speed of thought zooming through my brain yesterday was at supersonic Mach1 – inventions for kids with disabilities, volunteering at the junior squash tournament, first coaching session with my new client, squeezing in a spin class and a run, applying for an exciting part time opportunity to help newcomers, the men’s PSA squash final in Cartagena, Colombia etc etc etc. a jam-packed day

How was I going to accomplish this in one day?  My New Year’s resolution kicked in.  Being mindful of doing too much, too #fastfasterfastest, too soon, I made a  conscious effort to stop, rearrange my thoughts, and reverse the order of my day.  In doing so, an amazing series of occurrences led to boundless #hope #karma

Let’s take one thought – inventions for kids with disabilities. I am excited to submit my proposal as a social venture start up consultant to help commercialize two inventions thanks to my good friend, Karen, who is vacationing in Hawaii and took the time to email me the opportunity #kindness #karma.

I found a young CEO entrepreneur online who is associated with the same hospital and already in commercialization so I was a bit nervous about my pending conference call with him who is armed with a double Masters in neuroscience and design engineering!  I decided to skip my morning spin class (sorry Graham), move my run to end of day and have lunch (why not?) at Sriannie’s snack bar located inside the gym before our call.

I managed to place my fish wrap order seconds ahead of the next customer who bought up all her fish. #karma  After 10 minutes, we both returned at the same time for our orders. #karma  He started chatting with the customer next to me #karma and soon the three of us were praising Sriannie on her high level of customer service and good food.

Minutes later I learned that my new acquaintance is actually Mr. Fitness Business Aficionado and his spouse is an occupational therapist.  I told him about the inventions #networking and got his permission to email him the details. #karma #kindness

After lunch, I spoke with the very affable and congenial genius young CEO #kindness.  I mentioned my new acquaintance. #networking  He softly hinted at putting his invention into the hands of their hands for a demo and I said I would try. #karma #hope

At the end of the day, after a great coaching session with my client, refereeing junior squash players under age 11 and age 15 (some were under age 7!), running 5 km, picking up my lost scarf gifted by my dear client from the cafe where I met my new client #karma, and reaching home just in time to watch the PSA World Squash final, I collapsed in my bed.

This morning I reflected on how #karma played a big role yesterday.  Maybe we can make a difference to improve the quality of the lives for the kids in rehab.  When we see the “dots”, we can try.  We have a moral obligation to try. Let’s try! #hope #leadership