What Do Women of Influence Want?

By Carolyn Lawrence, President & CEO, Women of Influence

We asked and you answered.

Finding balance and advancing careers is why women join our community (according to our annual survey, which received record-breaking participation – thank you!).

So, here are some of our best-selling offerings to help you advance:

Advancement Courses:

• Strategic Leadership & Influence
• Building Your Personal Brand
• Mastering Me

Events & Networking:

• Luncheon panel: Access to the C-Suite
• Luncheon profile: Head of Shell Canada, Lorraine Mitchelmore

What’s buzzing in our @womenofinflnce community:

• Cathy Engelbert has been named Deloitte’s first female CEO!
• How successful people quash stress

How do you find work-life balance? I have said it before, and I will say it again, I believe (as do countless role models profiled on our podium) that balance in terms of a 50/50 equal weighting of all you have going on is not necessarily the best model for our community of ambitious women.

No one is saying that life should be given a back seat to our work goals, but instead, we must all find a way to feel good about what we’re putting our energy towards.

Here are our most-read articles on balance:

• You can have it all, just not at the same time
• Top 6 Books that can help you find your balance
• Powerful people need balance in their lives: Arianna Huffington
• 3 Experts Answer “How do I achieve work life balance?”
• How to Achieve Better work life Balance

At the end of the day, it’s what you believe in

I believe that if we focus on achieving the balance that we want to have, instead of focusing on what we don’t have, then we can have it.

For example, if you know you can do a good job and meet your targets putting in 60 hours a week, and you know you feel good with five hours a week of working out, and four hours a week on community service or committee/board work, and 10-20 hours a week with your family, then you’re achieving your balance! (Oh, and all the while you’re still sleeping enough! If you’re not putting value on your sleep, read Arianna Huffington’s THRIVE right now!)

These are just examples, many of you will weigh in more hours being creative, reading, practicing spirituality, care-taking, but the point is that you know your recipe, you know what works for you, in your reality, because the fact that we only get 24-darn-hours in a day doesn’t look like it’s changing any time soon!

You can find your balance, and you can advance

You have the choice; you are in control of what gets done or what gets dropped. Just make sure to devote some energy towards believing in yourself and believing that you can do it. Whether that “it” is achieving balance, or advancing in your professional goals, if you believe, you can achieve.