Did you know that 1.7 billion adults are unbanked and 56% of them are women? How about that the economic opportunity gender gap will continue for another for 202 years, if it continues at the pace it is today? Those are just some of the shocking facts that Lena Giakoumopoulos shared with the attendees during the kick off the 2nd Annual Global Women’s Leadership Network event hosted by the Iowa Sister Society.
The GWLN’s vision is to “provide women with opportunity and resources to make a measurable difference in the lives of each other, in the lives of credit union members and in their communities.” The GWLN is celebrating their 10th Anniversary by launching their app (available in the apple store or google play store) growing the number of sister societies (up almost 50% from 2017) and continuing to provide engagement programs to places such as Australia, Puerto Rico and Kenya.
The event continued with Erin Wolf of Suite Track LLC presenting on 360 Degree Leadership in a Gendered World where we discussed the difference between leaders and managers. The focus was on how leaders have multiple groups they lead, their reports (direct and indirect), their peers and their superiors. As a leader, you may have to have different approaches for how you interact with all of the groups you lead. Lastly, we talked about feedback and the triggers you feel – truth, relationship and identity. The most important tip for receiving feedback is to defend yourself sparingly. Which may sound odd to some, but more than likely the person has already made up their mind on the situation but instead of defending, respond by explaining that not how you see yourself and ask questions for clarification on the situation and how to improve.
After a great networking lunch, Erin came back to talk about The Power Game. We started out by discussing do women have ambition, do they handle the same as men? We ended on the fact that everyone has ambition – It just may appear different due to self-sabotage. Most people are waiting to be ready; the answer is you will never be ready – go for it now! We wrapped up by talking about the four types of power – powerlessness, power by association, power by achievement, and power by reflection. You need to build power by owning your ambition, energy, focus, confidence and knowledge! Remember, in order to be a good leader, you have to own your ambition and your power!
It was a great second event put on by the Iowa Sister Society and they are already planning the 3rd annual event! Be sure to stop by and chat with them while at the Iowa Credit Union Convention and watch for more information on the event next spring! A huge thank you for Collins Community Credit Union for hosting this amazing event! #GWLN #iowa #tieyourpinkon
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