Each year I go to the Women ETC conference and I leave thinking what a great day. To have an opportunity to sit and listen to some of the most successful, influential women around the country pioneering innovation, disruptive technology and incredible leadership - its awesome. This year, we heard from the CEO of HP, Meg Whitman; the founding engineer for mint.com, Poornima Vijayashanker; the head of serious gaming / gamification for business at IBM, Phaedra Boinodiris; and Courtney Ferrell was the emcee. Each one of these women gave me a take away that I'd like to share.
"Put a little struggle back in your life" - When Courtney Ferrell told us the story behind this statement I was SOLD. She was spot on and in a society where we are racing to check off our to-do lists we glaze over the more challenging obstacles. The harder the struggle you overcome, the greater the reward. Run to challenges!
"Recruiting is brand building" - Poornima shared a number of stories that really resonated with me. When a bad recruiting experience impacts sales for Starbucks you start to understand what she means. For me, running a recruiting firm, you realize that EVERY encounter can have a future ramification; thus, you shift your perspective on the candidate experience. A bad recruiting experience can impact everything.
"Whiners" - Meg Whitman makes it a point to surround herself with glass-half-full people. Because there will always be adversity and challenges in business - you need problem solvers, not whiners!
"Define winning even in tough times" - Another gem from Meg; its easy to get marred in negativity when you are faced with downturns. As a leader, you have to constantly re-calibrate winning especially when things are not going well.
Did I already mention that this conference rocks?
Best Technology Conference in RVA
Written by: Sonny
October 23, 2015