February 17, 2012

Chrysalis Executive Director Authors Guest Opinion for Des Moines Business Record

GUEST OPINION: 'The female vision' in the workplace



By Terry Hernandez



Women view life differently than men. No surprise, yet often we try to assimilate not only our views, but our behaviors and practices as well – particularly in the workplace.

At Chrysalis, this is a notion we work to dispel, supporting the belief that women are a powerful force in business at every level and bring an advantage to offices and corporations embracing their leadership.

Executive leadership coach and author Sally Helgesen has a keen perspective on what benefits women offer in the workplace. Her new book, “The Female Vision,” and her popular best seller, “The Female Advantage” (co-authored with Julie Johnson), suggest that women must learn to take initiative on their vision. Find allies, remain present, set boundaries – these and other strategies can create conditions for success, in business and in life.

Helgesen’s work points to three elements of “the female vision” that truly advance corporate success:

• Women’s capacity for broad-spectrum “noticing” widens the scope of information available to organizations and provides vital clues about relationships, shifting markets and potential conflicts.

• Women’s focus on the quality of day-to-day experience, rather than abstract measures of achievement, provides a way to restore balance to a 24/7 workplace where stress is routine.

• Women’s view of work in a larger social context offers a powerful means for moving beyond “game” metaphors (fight, win or lose, etc.) to engage motivation at a profound level.

For Chrysalis, female leadership is a priority flowing through our community grant awards, after-school programs and educational offerings. We believe that women intrinsically view the world as relationship-oriented, and we value our relationship with individuals throughout the community.

For this reason, we’ve created a new series of “conversations” with remarkable women experts to be kicked off the evening of Thursday, Feb. 23, at the State Historical Building.

“The Wisdom of Leadership” is the theme for Chrysalis Conversations 2012, featuring Helgesen on Feb. 23, global authority on human behavior Margaret Wheatly on April 18 and leadership and “sage-ing” expert Jann Freed on May 24.

Each will deliver a keynote message and host follow-up discussions with our guests.

Information and tickets are available by calling Chrysalis at (515) 255-1853 or online at www.chrysalisconversations2012.eventbrite.com

Chrysalis is a 23-year-old public charity supporting economic security and leadership for girls and women in Polk, Warren and Dallas counties in Central Iowa.

Terry Hernandez is the executive director of Chrysalis. She can be contacted at thernandez@chrysalisfdn.org



Read more: http://www.businessrecord.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=16523&SectionID=50&SubSectionID=276&S=1#ixzz1mezTM6Zj