WOMEN in BUSINESS - February/March 2009 - (Page 11)

FE At u R E Change is in the air at ABWA. if one thing is constant in life, it is definitely change. Certainly, in the 60-year history of the American business women’s Association, women’s roles in the workplace have changed completely. no longer merely consigned to the secretarial pool, women have become equal players with men in the C-suites, the boardrooms of major corporations, and as entrepreneurs, women are second to none. Just as certain, AbwA played a significant role in paving the way for women to succeed in business by providing a network of community based groups around the country where women come together to learn business and leadership skills, and develop their network of professional colleagues and mentors. “the American business women’s Association has always been an organization to support working women in achieving their career goals,” says rené street, executive Director. “And if you think about what has changed from 10 or even 5 years ago in the world of work—then you recognize that our Association’s challenge is to help our members surf the leading edge of continuous waves of change facing working women.” it’s not just change that is the one constant in life—it is accelerated change that is the constant. we meet and make friends and business connections on Facebook and Linked-in, we blog, twitter, and text our friends and colleagues. technology continues to merge our personal and working lives to the point where we’re now connected to work 24 hours a day. we live in a world where we can expect to have multiple careers, speak multiple languages, and learn many new skills to stay ahead of the game. “the most important thing we can do right now is to give our chapters and networks access to the tools, technologies, skills, and personal networks they need to thrive,” says street. “we need to remind ourselves ‘who we are, what we do and what we continually strive to do’ in AbwA” says street who has been citing this mantra for the past four years. “And we are definitely on track!” BuiLd A PLAn on BEst PRActicEs in any business or non-profit organization, you can’t merely react to the challenging conditions in the marketplace and expect to achieve success; you need a plan to achieve your goals. the AbwA national team has developed a plan to secure the Association’s future for the next generation of working women. so what was the inspiration for the AbwA plan? Four years ago, street had an epiphany. she noted that while many AbwA groups were struggling with membership others were actually thriving and growing. the AbwA national team knew if they could “crack the code on what makes chapters/networks thrive (versus fail), the Association would reaffirm its claim as the leading Association for working women,” says street. so the national team keyed in on the thriving groups to better understand what makes them so successful. the simple answer is thriving chapters/networks created a compelling experience at each monthly meeting. “this was not by accident,” says street. “by studying these thriving groups, we could see that they utilized several business disciplines like planning and budgeting, marketing and communications, etc. the result: groups like the Charisma Charter Chapter, neapolitan Chapter and the river City express network (to name a few), consistently outperformed other chapters/networks located in their same district! “we’ve taken the best from the best,” says street, “and, codified their practices, to develop a standard of excellence in managing AbwA’s chapters/networks. we’ve finally cracked the code, and have a ‘blueprint for success.’” writ ten by LEigh ELMoRE F E B / M A R 2 0 0 9 w o m e n i n b us i n e s s 11

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of IN BUSINESS - February/March 2009

IN BUSINESS - February/March 2009 Contents ABWA Member Benefits Letter from the Executive Director Letter from CEO ABWA Board News A New Era Unfolds Money Matters ABWA Announcements Personal Skills Style Breaking Down Barriers Legal Matters Business Spotlight Workplace: Working Online to Build ABWA Teams Mind & Body Workplace

IN BUSINESS - February/March 2009

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