C-Link Suite Interview with Lesley Harris
One of our 27 recipients of the 2009 Ascendancy Awards for Business Women, as president of Travelocity Business, Lesley Harris leads one of the fastest growing travel management companies in North America. From its origin in 2003 serving unmanaged business travelers, Travelocity Business now has more than $800 million in travel spend under management. Prior to Travelocity Business, Harris was vice president of sales and customer care for Travelocity, responsible for leading Travelocity's offline global call center enterprise in support of consumer sales and service. Before that, she was vice president of the small business division for Sabre Travel Network where she transitioned the small business division from direct account management to a service center structure. Prior to her experience in sales, Harris was vice president of North America operations services for Sabre Travel Network. Harris started her career with Sabre in 1995 and held various positions in finance, operations an...
Author: Jean Lewis

C-Link Suite Interview: Nina Vaca
Nina Vaca, CEO of Pinnacle Technical Resources, Inc., one of the 27 winners of the w2wlink 2009 Ascendancy Awards for Business Women, two-time winner of Hispanic Business Magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award as well as Ernst & Young’s 2005 Entrepreneur of the Year award for Technology and Communications for the Southwest Region, founded Pinnacle in 1996. Pinnacle is an information technology services provider to the Fortune 500. The company’s client base includes industry leaders from the telecommunications, financial services, health care, technology, consumer products and business process outsourcing sectors. Pinnacle’s services include enterprise data warehousing, custom application development and architecture, system/network integration and installation, and call center technologies. Under Vaca’s leadership, Pinnacle has become the second fastest growing firm in a $20 billion dollar industry, and now includes approximately 1,500 consultants across 38 states. She is a gradua...
Author: Jean Lewis

Tips on Building Customer Loyalty
Customer loyalty is an area about which professional women have a special understanding. Women being generally relationship oriented and social in nature have an inclination toward maintaining and building good relations.  For more information on relationships as a factor of importance to women in the workplace, see In the Company of Women, (Heim et al.,Tarcher, 2003). "The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer." Peter Drucker, Brainyquotes.com. Coffee shops, hair salons, and restaurants have long used the buy one or buy some number, get one free program to much success. Hallmark Card’s customer loyalty programs have become well known for successfully driving repeat customer business in times of fast emerging competition on the Internet. New ways to build customer loyalty develop with new ways to track it as well as with the development of new kinds of technologies for product. The best ways to create customer loyalty programs start with knowing your customer and know...
Author: Jean Lewis

Dallas Business Journal Interview
Lisbeth McNabb, 47, has more than 20 years of experience working in high-growth environments -- and she wouldn't have it any other way. A couple of months back, she left a two-year CFO position at Match.com to found w2wlink.com, a Web site geared toward professional women in times of growth. In early 2008, she plans to launch a networking concept on the site, where women fill out confidential profiles and w2wlink.com matches them in appropriate groups. Why women, and why now? McNabb says the marketplace is ripe: There are more than 34 million professional women in the United States, and 70% to 80% of small business launches are by women. Their buying clout tops $2 trillion. "I'm leveraging a lot of realities," she said. "The market is gigantic and the buying side is very compelling." McNabb was interviewed by Correspondent Karen Nielsen. Q. What's it like to go from a Fortune 500 company to an Internet startup? A. I'm very atypical for someone at a Fortune 500 company. I'm very ...
Author: Karen Nielsen

7 Strategies for Leading in Times of Change
As successful executives and business owners, we are "entrepreneuring" 24/7. We wake up with a full schedule of things to do and, as professional women, we juggle our personal and our family’s activities as well. Whether man-made or natural disaster, while unexpected events may be catastrophic in nature, it is the emotional intensity that may overwhelm our senses and good judgment. To best cope with the emotional intensity of crisis so that we may lead effectively and stay calm, here is a quick checklist.  It will enable you to set up a solid foundation on which to stand firmly grounded,  as well as to operate best when the pressure is on. Strategy #1: Assess the situation. If you are facing an unexpected event, whether it ranges from a catastrophic-like event to the loss of a significant family member or friend, ensure your own safety, your family’s safety and the safety of those who work with you. You cannot blink in choosing people first. Strategy #2: Concentrate on your "here an...
Author: Dr. Gabriela Cora

Women on Boards Equal Strong Financial Performance
Fortune 500 companies with the highest representation of women board directors attained significantly higher financial performance, on average, than those with the lowest representation of women board directors, according to Catalyst’s most recent report, The Bottom Line: Corporate Performance and Women’s Representation on Boards. In addition, the report points out, on average, notably stronger-than-average performance at companies with three or more women board directors. The study, which is the second of Catalyst’s Bottom Line reports, looked at three critical financial measures: return on equity, return on sales, and return on invested capital, and compared the performance of companies with the highest representation of women on their boards to those with the lowest representation. “Clearly, financial measures excel where women serve on corporate boards,” said Ilene H. Lang, President of Catalyst. “This Catalyst study again demonstrates the very strong correlation between corporat...
Author: Site Contributor

The 3 D's of Leadership for Professional Women
As professional women take on the task of leading teams, mastering the 3 D's of team leadership: Decision-Making, Delegation and Diplomacy allows them to fulfill their roles in impressive fashion. For professional women, there is an emphasis on the Delegation "D," because they often believe they have to prove their value by doing it all themselves Decision-Making Decision-making is at the core of team leadership. The best skill team leaders can develop is that of helping a team build consensus to make decisions. This is both an art and a science. It is a skill that can be taught and improved with practice. Solely the executive women, as leader, must make some decisions, but when working with teams, it is important for morale and motivation to involve team members. In Alan Weiss’ "Best Practices Consulting Seminar," he identifies five approaches to decision-making. The skill is in knowing when to apply each of the five following approaches: 1) The leader makes the decision by hersel...
Author: Skip Weisman

Be Heard in Meetings
Many women complain about the difficulties they have in being heard by men in meetings. When we learn to understand the gender differences in a positive and constructive light, we can learn new ways to increase the effectiveness of our communication that will increase our productivity and success. This four part series of articles is geared to helping professional women communicate more effectively during meetings so that they will be more successful in having her ideas accepted and utilized. Four skills will be discussed, starting with the art of interrupting for professional women. How to View It The first specific skill that professional women need to learn is the art of interrupting. This is hard for women, because as a group they are interested in sharing and listening. The custom for women is to listen with the understanding that after someone is done talking it will be your turn. This behavior pattern begins in very early childhood. When women talk with each other the custom ...
Author: Robert Schwarz

The Risk of Heart Disease in Professional Women
Heart disease is the number one killer of women, and with the pressures that professional women face, heart disease is an especially important issue to that subgroup in particular.  To some of you this may come as a shock, but I assure you, this is nothing new. In fact, over the past decades while the death rate for heart disease in men has been declining, for women it is increasing.  There are many reasons for this discrepancy, including the fact that women have not been included in major studies looking at heart disease.  Even to this day, on average, only 25% of studies on heart disease include women.  Needless to say, women need to know their risk and how to do something about it, so they don’t become just another statistic in this epidemic that was once known as only a man’s disease. It was recently overheard that, "the more women live like men, the more they are going to die like them."  There are multiple risk factors that lead to heart disease besides age and family history, s...
Author: Suzanne Steinbaum

The Four Magic Numbers for Professional Women's Heart Health
Professional women are busy. We have lists upon lists upon lists. I have a Palm Pilot, cross referenced with my Blackberry and detailed in my Filofax (yes, very old school) for just about every task that needs to be done. Each meeting has an alarm synchronized to my watch, each deadline is highlighted in yellow and every event for my son is in iridescent blue. As professional women, this is simply part of who we are. Get out a red pen, because there is something to add to your to do list. Every year, at least once a year, from age 20, it is time to get your cholesterol checked. You might as well make it this month. Years ago, Hallmark declared February the official Heart Month for Valentine’s Day, and now it is Heart Health Month for awareness and prevention of Women and Heart Disease.  If that reminder slipped by you this year, it is time to make a doctor’s appointment. You need to understand your risk for heart disease and checking your cholesterol is one of the first pieces of inf...
Author: Suzanne Steinbaum

5-Question Self-Quiz: Cholesterol and Professional Women
Super Basic Heart Health Quiz for Professional Women Professional women are especially in need of having their awareness raised on the importance of caring for their hearts, as heart disease is the number one cause of dealth to women, and professional women balance unique work-life issues and deal with enormous amounts of stress daily.  Brighten your heart by taking a moment and letting yourself do this quick little 5-question care-for-your-heart self-quiz, and and then if it raises your awareness, go ahead and pass it along! Answer the following questions True or False (T or F) as of one year ago. 1. ___I know my blood pressure. 2. ___I know my cholesterol. 3. ___I know my LDL. 4. ___I know my HDL. 5. ___I know my triglycerides. Bonus___I know that drinking more than 2 diet sodas a day is not healthy. Scoring: Give yourself one point for every question that you answered "True." 1 = Not good enough, but glad you knew one of them. As you can see, the very basics of heart heal...
Author: Suzanne Steinbaum

Blood Sugar Facts for Professional Women
When did diet soda become a healthy food? I think it was sometime in between the commercials of skinny women drinking the pink cans from the 70s and the fabulous super-models slurping down a silver can in the middle of tumbleweeds in the dry west. So, a little diet soda in the middle of a cubicle can’t hurt, right? We can’t exactly emulate their lives, so why not at least drink what they do? As busy, discerning professional women, we can choose to buy products and brands that reflect our self-identities that also do not risk our blood sugar levels going into pre-diabetes states. Well, here’s the reality. It all comes down to sugar. How you metabolize it and how much you eat of it does have something to do with it. As sugar gets eaten or drunk or ingested by whatever means, the body releases insulin. Insulin helps metabolize the sugar and bring the levels down. When you eat a simple sugar, like those found in cupcakes or white pasta, these insulin levels go up and up and up. And, over ...
Author: Suzanne Steinbaum

Professional Women Be Heard: Repeat from a Different Angle
In part one of this four-part series on techniques for professional women, I discussed the importance of professional women learning how to interrupt when in meetings with a lot of male energy. We stopped at the point at which you have made your first foray into the fray and your ideas have not been immediately accepted. So now we move on to the next phase: The art of repeating from a different angle. So what do you do if your ideas are ignored or discounted? How to view it: The male culture is based on cooperation by competition. I know this seems like an oxymoron to the female perspective. My son just got X-Box 360 live. This allows him to play interactive computer war games in a virtual world against other people (95 percent of them are male). He is in heaven! From the male perspective, the best ideas are forged in the crucible of competition. So the men expect the other players, including themselves, to fight for their ideas. Whereas the female perspective is, the best ideas are ...
Author: Robert Schwarz

NAWBO Women's Business Conference
National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) Power Your Dreams Women's Business Conference Chicago 2009 June 24 - 26th, 2009 In business, when a keen sense of urgency combines with the deep vision of forethrough, powerful opportunities emerge. The NAWBO Women's Business Conference 2009 propels these opportunities to the forefront. Executives from among America's 10.1 million women-owned businesses - from diverse cultures and perspectives - will gath together on June 24-26...to Power their Dreams.  Cick here for more information: 
Author: Site Contributor

Business Travel Made Easy
Cancelled flights …  lost luggage …  presentation programs that won't run …  the list of potential business trip challenges is virtually endless. In fact, when it comes to business travel, it seems that problems and delays are the norm, not the exception. The key is to be prepared for anything that comes your way. Only then will arriving at your destination be as simple as your morning drive into the office. Unfortunately, most business travelers are unprepared for even the smallest of travel glitches. And although they may have made numerous business trips in the past, each with its own problem or two, people still don't plan for setbacks when the next trip rolls around. As a result, they get frustrated when traveling and view business trips as a hassle they wish they could avoid. If you have to travel for business, take the approach that everything will go wrong. That way you're prepared to handle whatever comes your way and no challenge will derail your business plans. Following a...
Author: Christi Youd

2 Steps to Effectively Communicating Your Analysis
How to view it -- Step 1: The key words here are "my" and "analysis." Let’s start with the word "my." Focusing on "I" or "me" is not the lead value for professional women. For women, supporting the group or the team is big. In the last twenty years corporate America has talked a lot about teams and team building. But the fact is that men tend to focus on individuality. Team sports have "stars". Everyone knows Tiger Woods or the Gold medal winner. But no one knows the #20 ranked golfer in the world or who won the bronze medal in anything. Men tend to do individual tasks in teams. It is the exceptional team where people truly think in terms of we rather than I. A man’s sense of self-esteem comes from doing. He thinks, "I am valuable based on what I do." That is how they tend to think about others in the work world. How to do it: So If you want your ideas to be valued, you need to claim ownership to your work. You must get comfortable saying the words "I" and "my," "I crunched the numbe...
Author: Robert Schwarz

Creating an Exit Plan for Your Business
It is estimated that somewhere between 7 and 20 trillion dollars of value in businesses will change hands in the next 10 - 20 years. All business owners will exit their businesses at some time. The question is not if but when and on whose terms? Now is a good time to review your "exit plan." There are several good books for business owners and leaders seeking more information on exit plans.  Consider John H. Brown’s  How to Run Your Business so You Can Leave it In Style or Richard Jackim’s  The 10 Trillion Dollar Opportunity. Each gives the business owner or leader an overview of how to plan for the opportunity to "monetize" the investment they have spent their life’s work on. Brown now heads the Business Enterprise Institute (BEI), a network of professionals who practice exit planning. Likewise, Jackim heads the Exit Planning Institute (EPI.) Much more information is available from their Web sites; BEI’s www.exitplanning.com and EPI’s, www.Exit-Planning-Institute.org. A High Level L...
Author: Simone Velasquez-Hoover

C-Link Suite Interview with Dr. Marsha Firestone
Deciding to start your own business is a monumental decision, and to help you make the decision or better execute it, w2wlink.com conducted an exclusive  interview with Dr. Marsha Firestone, founder and president of the Women Presidents' Organization (WPO), a womens' organization whose members are a select group of entrepreneurial women presidents. Membership in the group requires annual gross revenue be over two million dollars. Dr. Firestone in 2003 was appointed to the National Women's Business Council. The Council reports to the President and Congress on issues of importance to women in business. Dr. Firestone understands what kind of mindset it takes to start, grow and lead a multimillion dollar woman-owned business better than most. The average member of Women Presidents' Organization grosses $12M. During our interview Dr. Firestone speaks about the entrepreneurial mindset of the WPO members that distinguishes them from women entrepreneurs who have not flourished quite so quick...
Author:

Build Your Business While Making a Difference to Others
We all have at least one cause that’s dear to our hearts, a tragedy we'd ike to help alleviate, an injustice we’d like to remedy, or an illness we’d like to cure.  But it’s not easy to take time away from our hectic lives to raise money for charity, especially if we have a business to run.  Yet we can use the business to raise funds for the charity, and the fundraising can actually help the business grow. How do we do it? Believe in our cause, and utilize what we've already established in our businesses to advance our philanthropic goals. I won’t lie. It takes time and a great deal of ingenuity. But it’s well worth the effort. By creating a partnership between your business and the cause of your heart, you create a symbiotic relationship that enhances both. The more you build your business, the more power you have to make an impact on those less fortunate, and the more you make a difference, the more successful your business will become. Too good to be true? It’s not. Believing in y...
Author: Brenda Novak

Letting Go of Limiting Beliefs
As host of the radio show "The Empowered Mother," I have the privilege of coaching moms and moms-to-be across the country. A recent session proved particularly interesting and is a wonderful example for many professional women. Who: Kristen, a 37-year-old mother of two boys, starting her own business. Issue: "I have so much already in my life and I am grateful. But, I’m starting my business and I want it all and I want it all right now!" Background: Kristen has two small boys, ages two and four. She used to be the fashion director for "Cosmo Girl" magazine and has been a stay-at-home mom the past few years. Recently Kristen has been itching to start up her own business. She is enthusiastic about her business ideas but worries that she isn’t moving fast enough. The Coaching: After hearing Kristen describe both excitement and frustration with getting her new business rolling, I asked, "How good are you with patience on a scale of one to 10?" Kristen figured she was a three or four wh...
Author: Amy Kovarick

Self-Quiz: How much do you value customer loyalty?
How much does your business really value customer loyalty?  You may think you do, and that your business does.  Answer the eight questions below to find out and also learn about building customer loyalty more effectively. Directions: Circle an answer, true or false, beside each question. T  F  My business has at least one customer loyalty program. T  F  Customer loyalty is a figure that I or someone at my business tracks. T  F  Maintaining existing customers usually costs less than acquiring new ones. T  F  Repeat customers are more likely to refer than one-time customers. T  F  Customer loyalty is addressed at our meetings explicitly. T  F  Customer loyalty is considered a priority by the senior management team. T  F  The front line staffers are asked about what they notice brings customers back. T  F  My business says we care about customer loyalty. Scoring: Add up the number of true answers _________. Answer Key:  If you answered Tr...
Author: Jean Lewis