Fiona’s keynote speech began the day, which was organised by Camden Speakers Club and Progressive Women, with her tips on how be a leader (see quotes below).
We are extremely grateful to all the speakers and trainers (all listed here), and the volunteers who gave up their time and expertise to make it an inspiring, enjoyable and educational day.
Thanks for all your Tweets too!
Read Emma-Louise Hardman's guest post on the Progressive Women website here. And a piece from Kathryn Perera, who spoke at the event, on her Sheblogs website here.
See photos from the day, taken by Kirsty McCall Thornley.
Listen to podcasts of the discussions on the route to leadership and overcoming the challenges of leadership.
Inspiring ideas
Fiona Mactaggart, MP, Shadow Junior Minister for Equality: "Base everything on your values. Work harder than everybody else. Help other women."
Lee Chalmers, leadership coach, who also delivered a workshop on leadership: "Be authentic and know who you are. Whatever you lead, you have to do it first.”
Louise Doughty, novelist: "Tell the truth. Develop a hide as thick as a rhino, which is good for you – shows you how hard you have to fight. Have fear, but do it anyway."Kathryn Perera, Labour Women's Network, barrister and writer: "To be a leader, you have embrace feelings [about things being tough]. Self-doubt is important; all leaders feel self-doubt.”
Deborah Cameron, Oxford University linguist and author of the book ‘The Myth Of Mars And Venus: Do Men and Women Really Speak Different Languages?’: "We have to challenge the myths [of gender differences, for which there is no scientific evidence]. Challenge them in everyday life. The truth is, no one is good at multi-tasking!"
Vicky Booth, Lib Dem Campaign for Gender Balance: "As a woman, you have to deal with perceptions [prejudices] that people have of you."Boni Sones, Executive Producer, Women’s Parliamentary Radio: "My motivation as a leader is Henry Moore. He said: 'I kept going and the others dropped out.'"
The training sessions were as follows: Ellie Cumbo (debating), Gilly Hollis (public speaking), Pia Henderson and Nicola Preston Bell (communication and confidence), Lee Chalmers (leadership), Christine Kerrison (assertiveness) and Kristie West (empowerment).Three tips for public speaking from Gilly Hollis (via Inspiring Leaders delegate Athos Athanasiou):
- Audience: understand who they are
- Rehearse: no actor will go on stage without a good rehearsal
- Talk: the best speakers just talk to the audience...and answer questions in the same tone.
I just wanted to drop a quick email to thank you so much for your words at the Inspiring Leaders conference on Saturday – I really enjoyed hearing from you. It was wonderful to meet with women from all walks of life and to hear from those who are leading in all sorts of fields. I would love to stay in touch and I wanted to tell you a little more about our work: Women for Women International (WfWI) provides women survivors of war and civil strife with the tools and resources to move from crisis and poverty to stability and self reliance. More than one million people have benefited since 1993, including direct assistance to 243,000 women and their families, through the distribution of direct aid and micro-credit loans. In 2006, WfWI received the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian award.
ReplyDeleteWfWI currently works in Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo. Our core mission is to work with women who may have lost everything in a conflict and often have nowhere else to turn. Participation in our one-year programme includes:
· Financial support for one year: anchored in a sponsorship programme that involves individuals from the UK and other parts of the world, who invest £20 a month in the training and development of women who have survived war. The investment is also used to meet women’s immediate basic needs, such as food and schooling for their children.
· Educational Programme: sponsored women are placed in groups to undergo a training programme that addresses health, social, political, and human right issues. Life and literary skills are offered as well.
· Vocational and business skills training: basic business skills in planning, budgeting, and marketing are taught along with vocational skills that address local market needs (e.g. food processing, farming techniques and textile production.)
This year we also launched an exciting annual campaign to celebrate International Women’s Day called Join me on the bridge and we are going to run it again in 2012, to mark the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day. To find out more about the event please go to www.womenforwomen.org/bridge - we would love to engage more women and your networks with this event and if you are interested in joining us in London, promoting or hosting a bridge event on the 8th March 2011, I would be happy to pass on more details.
My best wishes for now,
Nora Russell
Major Gifts Officer
WOMEN for WOMEN International
32-36 Loman St
Southwark
London
SE1 0EH
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7922 7766
nrussell@womenforwomen.org
www.womenforwomen.org
That's an interesting quote from Ms MacTaggart. What if a woman has medical problems or other responsibilities that mean she can't work harder than anyone else? How does she get her views across?
ReplyDeletePS Like the new profile pic, very elegant.
There are many different ways of working hard and many different ways of being a leader. I’m sure what Fiona meant was that you have to work hard in relation to your circumstances. If you have a medical condition or similar, you have to work hard just to do the ordinary things that other people take for granted, and this may well make you a stronger person with the determination to do something outstanding and be a leader.
ReplyDelete