Forum Recap

When did doing something “Like A Girl” become an insult? We are here to take back “Like A Girl”! Especially for NAWIC women, “Like A Girl” should represent strength, power and tenacity!
Our theme #LeadLikeAGirl is following suit with the Always campaign of reclaiming the phrase Like A Girl from being negative and tying that in with leadership development. The seminars and workshops were focused on the various aspects of women becoming leaders in their workplace, regardless of their role.

Friday Speakers

Career Advancement - Overcoming to Up and Coming!

Pat McCarthy, Pierce County Executive & Denise Dyer - Pierce County Economic Development Director

Pat and Denise both have positions in the public arena. This offers it’s own unique set of barriers and challenges. They shared their real world stories on the bumps and successes they have encountered to advance to the positions they have today.

Pat says to remember the Five P's: Purpose, Passion, Persistence and Patience. Denise Dyer shared an inspirational story of the building of her successful career, she never stopped when others felt that her being a women was a professional disadvantage. She left us with an article from Mass Transportation Magazine, July 1943 “Guide to Hiring Women.” You can read it here: "1943 Guide to Hiring Women"

Keynote & Follow up Workshop

Meg Winch, President - Communication Resources

Keynote

Meg delivered an amazing keynote. Here are some key points from her talk:

By your behavior, you bind your organization
What you allow, you endorse
As a result, the world requires a higher standard of care

She also talked touched on the three kinds of people you will encounter in the workplace:

Kind people who apologize when they hurt someone or say something inappropriate.
Those without the mental capacity to realize that they are being inappropriate, hurtful or unkind.
Bullies - those that seek out humiliation, know the rules and policies, etc, and just do what they want because they find pleasure in it.

Based on these points, she encouraged us to take care of our staff. To support and encourage all employees. To nurture them, to let them create, to trust them and to keep the integrity of your company. To celebrate the good things, work together to fix the things that need to be fixed. To have the courage to get the people out of your organization that refuse to follow the rules, policies and are bullies.

Workshop: Performance Metrics for the Modern Leader: Updated Strengths-based Competencies for Women in Leadership

As a follow‐up from the morning keynote, Meg Winch worked with us in an interactive session focused on the core leadership competencies necessary for the modern leader. We were split into groups and encouraged to think about a Nordstrom shopping experience and what we felt was important in customer service. And then we talked about applying that strategy in our businesses. A few tips she gave us were:

Start every meeting with a + Δ or "positive, change" - one thing that's positive, and one thing that needs fixed or changed
Use the "Mom" politics in dealing with conversation, but you need to move on, hear from someone else etc. (i.e. "That's a great idea Jane! I'm going to write that down, but right now I want to hear what Astrid thinks").
Transfer vision to action. Modern leaders need to drive action. Figure out what the vision is.
Don't work for crappy clients
Use the "Starbucks LATTE Method" Listen, Acknowledge the problem, Take the problem-solving action, Thank them, Explain what you've done.

Addressing Mental Health Issues in the Workplace

Calvin (Cal) Beyer, Director of Risk Management - Lakeside Industries

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the construction industry often lands among the top 10 industries at risk for suicide. Untreated or mistreated mental health issues can be very costly to the workplace through direct medical costs as well as reduced productivity. Cal walked us through this difficult but important subject with a personal story, and how we can take steps in our workplaces to help recognize and assist with this issue.

Click here to find the resources, posters, and articles he shared during his presentation.

Taking the Lead in Disaster Preparedness

Kris Alberti, Executive Director - Northwest Independent Contractors Association

Last year the New Yorker published an article “The Really Big One” regarding a cataclysmic earthquake that is due in the Pacific Northwest. Even if “the big one” doesn’t hit in our lifetime, are you prepared for any sizable earthquake or other natural disaster that could occur? Is your place of work or job site ready? Kris gave us instructions and tools necessary to make sure we and our workplaces are prepared. She walked us through basic disaster preparedness and
the supplies, plans, and attitude we need to not just survive an disaster, but be a responder to the people that mean the most to us.

She shared a link to the website Prepare Smart for "Go Bags" from a local Washington State man. You can check them out by clicking here.

Here is a similar talk she gave at TEDxYakimaSalon in 2015

Some points from her talk were:

Have a plan of place to meet and a secondary plan.
If you have to leave or evacuate your planned meeting place LEAVE A NOTE
Have a Go Bag for every family member
You will have a choice when disaster strikes, sometimes the choice is made for you. Rescuer, Shelter in Place, Victim. If you are a rescuer, do what you can safely while keeping any loved one with you safe.

Saturday Speakers

Leading in Technology—Drones in Construction

Brian Holl, Owner - Aerial Scouts

The use of drones is one of the fastest moving technologies on the market today. Brian discussed drones and how they are currently being used in the construction industry. Some of the capabilities include close up, within five feet to a building wall for visual inspection, aerial video and photographs, 3D modeling and elevations. You can click here to visit his website for more information.

Being a Leader in Safety

Mandi Kime, Director of Safety - AGC of Washington

Getting the job done and getting it done safely is sometimes looked at as two different things! Mandi discussed her role as Safety Director for the AGC and how we can help lead our workplace into recognizing the importance of safety. She shared with us that "Leadership" is a verb, not a noun. It's an action word. True leadership requires action (hey! that's reiterating what Meg said!)

She shared with us the Five Levels of Leadership by John C Maxwell

Boss: has subordinates, not followers
Coach: gives permission, makes things fun
Producer: People follow them because they things done
Provider: Does things for their people, in it for long term growth
Champion: Larger than life, motivate, best in class, people follow because of who they are and what they represent.

You can click here to view her presentation

You can click here to view her handout

Leading Across the Generations

Anna Liotta, Speaker and Author - “Unlocking General Code”

Anna told us the crazy story of how her family grew to be something like 19 children - that spanned the generations, and that was the introduction to her talk on generations. With four generations meeting in the workforce for the first time in history, leaders are challenged daily to find ways to meet each generation’s unique set of values, attitude, beliefs, expectations and demands.

Anna Liotta shared with us how to turn the generations competing needs from obstacles into opportunities. She told us some very interesting things about Baby Boomers being parents first to GenXers, getting divorced, remarried, and changing their parenting when they now had Millennial (GenY) children. She spoke about how companies are now just as invested in having the parents think it's a great place to work, as it is for their kids - because Millennials talk to their parents about EVERYTHING! The main takeaway was that everyone communicates differently and has a different world view depending on the generation they are from. It boils down to listening to others and having an understanding of where they are coming from and why they have some of the quirks they have.

You can click here to view her handout

You can click here to view her website

Here is a video of some key points she shared from a different presentation: