Energetic Women - Energizing Response
Stephanie Menning, MEA

“It was one of those rare moments in life; I was on the receiving end of an idea that could have a significant impact”. You know how it is, you’re there in your own world when someone comes to you and says something brilliant. That’s exactly what happened that day last spring, when Jim Kuchler, an MEA Volunteer in Chicago, pulled me aside during a meeting. “Steph”, he said, “I promote and hire a lot of women in this industry and you folks really have no one to talk to… you should start a group. Call it Energetic Women”.
Considering my job is really to listen and respond to member needs, I thought Jim’s suggestion was exactly what I needed to hear. I saw it as a powerful way to improve satisfaction and increase results while having a great time.

Energetic Women could give us a chance to connect women in the utility world and offer them an avenue for growth, positive influence and leadership. It was easy to see the value for them and their organizations. Inspired, I crafted an outline about what this group could be and how we could make it happen. After sharing this idea with others in the industry, I was certain this was a worthy pursuit.

So here we are, almost a year later, and Energetic Women has been launched. We have an extremely talented leadership team from utilities across the US, and have defined our mission: To Increase the Pool of Promotable Women in Energy Operations and Engineering. Our initial survey received an over 20% response rate (unheard of by any stretch). It’s like that old commercial…I told two friends, and they told two friends, and so on and so on. The response has been… energizing!

You know how it is. It’s one of those rare moments in life; when you’re on the receiving end of an idea that will have significant impact. I urge you to attend the inaugural Energetic Women’s Conference in Chicago, June 24-26. We have an excellent program planned with leadership, communications, and professional development training, plus plenty of opportunities to connect with each other. This will be our forum to share our struggles and successes, and learn from our peers. We hope you can join us and bring two friends!

Yes, Jim I was listening. Any other ideas…

Check out the Podcast Interview with Kris Nichols, Energetic Women Chair at www.energeticwomen.org.

Alice Eagly, PHD - Through the Labyrinth
E. M. Fischer, MEA

Forget about the glass ceiling. Women can and do make it to the c-suite. So what defines the women who make it? How can you learn by their example?

Alice H. Eagly, a social psychologist who publishes widely on attitude change and the study of gender and social behavior, is co-author of Through the Labyrinth: The Truth About How Women Become Leaders. She is the keynote presenter at the Energetic Women Conference 2008. Dr. Eagly knows that defining the true obstacles to women in leadership is the first step to successfully making it to the c-suite. There is no one obstacle, she says. “As many women have proven, there is a route to the center. It is more difficult, but by understanding you can succeed, you can find the center.”

Some women succeed quickly, making their way to the center with little trial or error. Others take rights instead of lefts and find their route to the center takes a little more time. Groups like Energetic Women and the Energetic Women Conference can impart to you the skills for making your way to the center of the leadership labyrinth.

When most employees are asked what makes a good boss, their definition is of a ‘transformational’ leader, someone who mentors and empowers their employees. Today people look for encouraging leaders. This is the traditional female leadership style. So help redefine leadership and success at your organization to a more holistic definition, one that includes both women and men. Drive for change that will bring about great personal fulfillment and excellent business results.

Learn how to negotiate the many turns along the way, such as residual prejudice, the misunderstanding of female leadership styles, demands of family life, and most importantly the underinvestment in social networks of both women and men. Be the architect for change in your organization, bring back and share your free copy of Through the Labyrinth to “increase people’s awareness of the psychological drivers of prejudice towards female leaders and work to dispel those perceptions”.

Join us June 24-26 at the Hotel Orrignton in Chicago, Illinois.

Develop your skills
Own your success
Increase your role
Take action in leadership

DO IT!

Recommended Readings
Good book suggestions from Energetic Women:

Harvard Business Review on Women in Business (www.HBSPress.org)
Outlines eight different articles on women in business, each with an executive summary, and providing concrete examples from leading organizations, including their methods in establishing systemic changes, in response to recognize, attract and keep talented women in their business.

Vital Friends by Tom Rath co-author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller How Full Is Your Bucket? “People who have a ‘best friend at work’ are seven times more likely to be engaged on the job."

Vital Friends proves that friendship at work is not only necessary for your general wellbeing but it improves productivity, safety, longevity and much more organization wide. The book includes a free membership to www.vitalfriends.com where you can assess your friendships against the eight vital roles: builder, champion, collaborator, companion, connector, energizer, mind opener, and navigator.

Conference Highlight:
Conversation Corners

One of the unique features of the Energetic Women’s Conference is the Conversation Corners. These are informal gatherings in-between scheduled sessions and are designed around 3 key pillars:

Learning: our intention is to provide attendees with an opportunity to learn something new and applicable to their personal or professional life through an exercise, discussion or conversation about a presentation, topic or a guest speaker seen at the Energetic Women Conference.

Connection: each Conversation Corner break allows time to develop connections with a variety of strong female leaders with a variety of career and organizational backgrounds in the energy industry.

Motivation: an outcome from this event and these Conversation Corners is to leave attendees feeling inspired to try something new, or motivated to achieve their own personal success through new connections, insights or engaging dialogs.

Conversation Starters: There will be several items for use in the Conversation Corners such as articles about women in business, icebreakers and exercises on leadership, management, change and success.

We hope you will share a simple conversation with those in your corner by offering your experiences in the energy industry.

Join Our Online Community for Energetic Women
Do you have a concern or issue? Would you like some immediate feedback? Or perhaps you’d like to share the wisdom of your experience with others. We have the technology to help! Visit the Energetic Women Forum.

There is no login or password required and your company does not need to be a member of MEA to participate in Energetic Women.