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Recent Events
Women in IT Shatter their Glass Ceilings!
For the second time, Sandi conducted an in-house leadership development program for female leaders in an international IT company. Following on from the success of the first program run late 2009, this second group were eager and ready to break through the barriers that have held them back in the past.
Particularly unique in the program are the systems that Sandi puts in place to ensure implementation of the learning continues long after the program's conclusion. Months later, women who attended the program are still meeting in their Action Partnerships and coaching each other in the successful aplications of the skills and strategies they learned.
Watch out - these women are definitely on the move!
Up and coming Leaders get some individual coaching with Sandi
As a part of their Learning about Leading program, participants at the State Revenue Office select a coach to work with them for the remainder of this year. Sandi was honoured to be selcted by several of the group to be their coach.
Sandi believes that, as a coach, her job is not to tell people what to do - or even give them "the answers", for that matter. Her focus is to help people find their own answers to challenges they face, decide on their own priorities in their learning and reflect on what is working for them and what they'd like to improve.
There have been plenty of "pennies dropping" and light bulbs switching on for these people - which Sandi considers an absolute delight and honour to witness and assist with!
Office Professional Celebrate!
National Office Professionals Day was celebrated by the Victoria Division of the Australian Institute of Office Professionals in conjunction with Melbourne and Olympic Parks.
Office Professionals (for example, receptionists, administrators, project managers, executive and personal assistants) are all too often the 'unsung heros' in our organisations. So it is only fitting we pause and celebrate their contributions on this annual day of recognition.
Sandi spoke on behalf of AIOP (the Australian Institute of Office Professionals ) to the large crowd assembled, explaining the benefits of membership of this dynamic and unique group. As a membership promotion on the day, Sandi also offered new members complimentary subscriptions to her popular e-Course on How to have 100% Confidence 100% of the time!
If you are an office professional, Sandi strongly recommends you seek out your local AIOP group and attend one of their monthyl forums. You'll be glad you did!
For all the details, visit http://www.aiop.com.au
The Department of Primary Industries learn about Mentoring
As we've mentioned in the past, it's disappointing that not many orgamisations have formal mentoring programs to develop their staff and provide sound succession planning.
But there are ways to obtain a mentor for yourself, as Sandi outlined at the innaugural EA/PA Conference for the Department of Primary Industries.
This was a particularly successful day, bringing office professionals from all regions of the department together for a day to learn, discuss vital issues affecting their work and to network and share information.
Autographed copies of Sandi's book, Women on the Move: How you can create your place in the world flew off her product table after her presentation. Clearly the women there are keen to move forward in their lives!
Building Team Esteem at State Trustees
In the afternoon session of their bi-annual planning day, staff at State Trustees took time out to explore what makes a team really work to its maximum potential.
Learning to deal with "difficult" people (not that there were any of these in the room that day!) was the 'hot' topic of the session, with attendees getting 'ah-ha's' as Sandi took them trhough a model on personality traits that helped them understand themselves and other peope better.
The group activity of Sandi's well-known 'Jelly Bean' game had people from the offices outside the training room coming in to see what all the laughter and shouting was about! Perhaps Sandi ought to return to run a special session of the game just for the curious observers!
Caring for the Carers
At their Networking and Training Forum, Sandi spoke with Family Day Care Coordinators and Field Workers about how to bring out the best in themselves and others during times of change.
Topics covered included how to combat your 'Urgency Addiction', the 5 Exemplary Practices of Leadership (the work of Kouzes and Posner) and how to communicate effectively, assertively and while maintaining rapport with others.
This is a wonderful group of very dedicated people who work tirelessly to ensure the safety of the children of many working parents. (Sandi and her husband used Family Day Care services when their son was much younger, so she found it immensely rewarding to give something back to this group of professionals.
Business Owners in Manningham develop confident Presentation Skills
Sandi ‘walked her talk’ at a recent Manningham Business Network meeting, as she spoke about how to promote your business with confident presentation skills.
"The best presentation we've ever had"
"Sandi broke things down into achievable steps - she made it so easy!"
"We were in the palm of her hands - great stuff."
It was delightful to be able to show people how easily these skills can be developed - like most things in life, all it takes is a little practice!
Want to get a Mentor?
Unfortunately, not many organisations have formal mentoring programs to develop their staff and provide sound succession planning.
But there are ways to obtain a mentor for yourself, as Sandi outlined at the Australian Institute of Office Professionals monthly Forum last February.
Sandi advised the group that being able to answer these 3 critical questions are the start:
Why? A prospective mentee needs to be very clear on what they want to achieve from a mentoring relationship.
Who? Give careful consideration as to who would be a good 'fit' for you, in terms of their personality, skills and experience.
What? At the start of any successful mentoring relationship, time is spent with both parties being very honest and specific about their expectations of each other, and the boundaries in the relationship. Before asking a potential Mentor for their support, Mentees need to be clear on what they expect in regard to frequency and duration of meetings and any contact desired between catch-ups.
If you're interested in discussing how easily a Mentoring Partnership Program can be established in your organisation - call us on +61 3 9844 4612 - we'd love to help.
Group Collaboration gets a boost
Microsoft recently engaged Sandi to help their staff develop greater collaboration skills – especially to be able to work across diverse geographical areas.
The challenges of working effectively and harmoniously across multiple time zones and cultures are significant, and the 1-day program covers key strategies and approaches that can successfully mitigate these challenges.
An amazing simulation exercise is used as both a 'pre' and 'post' skills development activity - with great results! Much more success the second time around!
Stepping up to Leadership
Learning about Leading is a major and intensive leadership development program conducted by the State Revenue Office – and Sandi was thrilled to be chosen to facilitate their 2-day residential to launch the 2010 program.
Having worked with this organisation for several years, Sandi understands the culture and challenges of this group - and it was delightful to see this year's leadership recruits 'stepping up to the plate' to take on more responsibility and initiative in respect to their roles.
Particularly fun is the evening's team challenges - including things like Sandi's well-known 'Balloon Bum Burst' game and the frenetic Scavenger Hunt. Lots of fun and learning was had in our brief 2 days together!
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Women in Speaking - kicking more goals!
Having succeeded in getting National Board approval for the formation of a group to specifically address the issues impacting women in the speaking industry, Sandi recently conducted the first national Webinar for the National Speakers Association of Australia.
Interviewing Lisa McInnes-Smith CSP CPAE on the topic of "What does it take to run a hugely successful speaking business?", lots of issues were raised and discussed, such as how to secure the kinds of clients you want to work with, what to do when the client changes their mind at the last minute and transforming our physical products (books and CDs) into digital formats.
Sand is exceptionally proud to have launched the very first Special Interest Group within the National Speakers Association of Australia - and the group is proving to be a very dynamic and vibrant bunch of women.
Watch out - the women are definitely on the move!
If we can help get you and/or your organisation on the move - call us on +61 3 9844 4612 - we'd be delighted to help.
Ever want to know more about what's coming up? Just send Tracey and email with "Tell me the news" in the subject line. She'll subscribe you to our monthly e-News, which always the most efficient and quickest way we have of sharing new events and opportunities with you.
Keep living your leadership!
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