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There is no better way to validate your life’s experience as a woman business leader than to use your accumulated knowledge to give back. When I have the opportunity to really help someone through a mentoring program, I feel that I get as much out of the experience by giving and sharing as the recipient of the mentoring gets from me.

What I find really exciting is the opportunity to move beyond my past ideas and experiences and watch as they reemerge in new and progressive ways through those that I mentor. And,  I love the idea of having new opinions layered and added to past experiences.

Above all though, I believe that you cannot mentor successfully without having passion for mentoring and for the opportunities you are providing. To be an effective mentor, Mindtools suggests you need to do the following:

1-Have the desire to help
You should be willing to spend time helping someone else, and remain positive throughout.

2-Be motivated to continue developing and growing
Your own development never stops. To help others develop, you must value your own growth too. Many mentors say that mentoring helps them with their own personal development.

3-Have confidence and an assured manner
We don’t mean overconfidence or a big ego. Rather, you should have the ability to critique and challenge mentees in a way that’s non-threatening, and helps them look at a situation from a new perspective.

4-Ask the right questions
The best mentors ask questions that make the mentee do the thinking. To do this, try asking open questions that cannot be answered with just yes or no. Or ask more direct questions that offer several answer options. Then ask the mentee why they chose that particular answer.

5-Listen actively
Be careful to process everything the mentee is saying. Watch body language, maintain eye contact, and understand which topics are difficult for the mentee to discuss. Showing someone that you’re listening is a valuable skill in itself. It shows that you value what the person is saying and that you won’t interrupt them.

6-Provide feedback
Do this in a way that accurately and objectively summarizes what you’ve heard, but also interprets things in a way that adds value for the mentee. In particular, use feedback to show that you understand what the mentee’s thinking approach has been. This is key to helping the mentee see a situation from another perspective.

Mentoring truly is one of my great accomplishments, and I’d like to share a few of my favorite blogs on mentoring here: “7 Ways Women Business leaders Can Motivate and Mentor Others,” and “Create a Mentoring Group for Women Business Leaders  in 5 Easy Steps.”

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Over the past few months, I have been fighting and conquering breast cancer, an event that has thrown me into a retrospective state of evaluating my life. And while I travel this journey as a woman business leader and breast cancer survivor, I keep coming back to authenticity, facing fear, trusting my intuition and accepting my weaknesses while embracing my strengths. If you have been reading my blog, you know that these are subjects that we keep coming back to. So, in our continual journey to find our core and make meaning of what we do, I offer you some of my observations :

1. Maximize dreams and aspirations – As you imagine “what can be” open your mind a little wider and imagine the path to get there.

2. Seize opportunities — Stay open and tuned in to opportunities by focusing on the outcomes rather than fear the unknown.

3. Accentuate your strengths — Don’t put energy into working on your weaknesses, rather use and cultivate your strengths, which will override your perceived weaknesses.

4. Cultivate a culture of care and service — This notion extends to everyone who you come in contact with from your customers to your co-workers and everyone in between.

5. Focus and commitment — Once you have set your goals stay committed and focused on where you are going and articulate this to your team.

6. Innovate –Continually look for new ways to solve problems and come up with solutions that meet your needs and your principles. Look beyond the norm and expected with creative ideas that can be put into action.

7. Develop win-win strategies to benefit all– I know that the notion of win-win sounds like a cliché but it’s all about balance. Make sure that your partners, co-workers and associates feel comfortable with outcomes.

8. Lead & brand — Be a leader in your field and stay true to your value proposition.

9. Listen to & reward your team -Believe that people on the front lines are literally your most important people. Ensure that every team member feels valued and is essential to the overall health of the company.

10. Stick to principles & core competencies – Markets change. Competitors appear. Do not compromise the essence of what your business is and the principles for which it stands. Stay passionate and true to your beliefs.

I hope my suggestions give you some inspiration. Here are a few more of my of my favorite blogs: “5 Qualities Women Business Leaders can Cultivate to Become Remarkable,” and “7 Ways Women Business Leaders Can Encourage their Team’s Creativity.”

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I have been blogging for about 18 months now and while I have enjoyed the writing,  I’ve also had an unexpected bonus.  I started blogging from my perspective of feminism vs. femininity in order to share my thoughts with other women business leaders and entrepreneurs – but soon learned that I really had to dig into my soul to make an impact. In doing this, I learned about myself and how to take those experiences and ask,”What does this teach me?” Needless to say, this had an enormous impact on how I am dealing with my recent diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer. Blogging can be a wonderful experience and I thought I’d share these blogging tips from Jeff Hayden with you.

Jeff  wrote the following list to help you avoid some typical business blog mistakes, and I think you’ll appreciate his tips along with his humor:

1. Don’t write in the dead zone
   Commenting on breaking news is smart since timely relevance attracts interest. But there’s a definite timeliness window; fall outside it and you always lose. Either immediately post your thoughts on breaking news or wait months or years to let time and hindsight provide the spark for re-imagining the topic.
2. Don’t play the catchy headline game
   Headlines need to spark interest, but misleading or over-selling is the blog kiss of death. Never write a post based solely on a catchy headline, and never tack on a click-generating headline unless those are the last clicks you actually want to generate. Be clear, straightforward, and whenever possible, include the benefit to the reader.
3. Don’t write because it’s on your calendar
   Lots of experts say publishing on a schedule is necessary to establish predictability and build an audience. They’re probably right, but schedule or not, writing a throwaway post just to maintain a schedule is a waste of your reader’s time—and your time.
4. Don’t try to be Bill Simmons
   ESPN’s Bill Simmons’s Sports Guy columns are a cool blend of sports, movies, TV, and pop culture, written without pretense of neutrality.  He’s arguably the most popular sports columnist in America—and one of the most imitated. If you’re struggling to find your style, just write like you speak. You may not build a huge audience … but you will build a long-term audience.
5. Avoid writing “I Think” posts
   Qualifying words make sense if you’re a lawyer or working in compliance for a financial services firm and need to make sure you don’t make promises you have to keep. Otherwise, be bold and direct. Take a stand. Don’t share rambling, unfocused thoughts; provide solutions.
6. Don’t preach to your choir
   Readers want to learn new things and take new perspectives. While you should never be contrary just for the sake of contrariness, write and respond thoughtfully and your readers will too, and they’ll gain respect for your opinions even when—sometimes especially when—they don’t agree.

I have certainly learned a lot during my blogging career so far. And I have appreciated to advice from industry experts like Jeff. If you’d like more tips on blogging, here are a few of my favorites, “10 Questions Women Business Leaders Should Ask Before Starting to Blog,” and “Women Business Leaders: 3 Tactics for a Better Business Blog.”

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As a woman business leader and business owner, I am often asked if I “do social media.” I could liken this question to, “Do you do in-person meetings?” Social media is merely a communications channel that should sync with your overall branding efforts. A company is like a living thing in that it has a “persona” or personality that should be understood by the entire team in order to be effective across all channels. This brand personality should be extended through the voice both on and off line.

Here are some things to think about when planning your brand’s social media strategy I’ve condensed from an article by public relations professional Mickie Kennedy:

Whether you realize it or not, your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media profiles all play a key role in your branding efforts. Unfortunately, too many companies have a social media voice that doesn’t fit with their brand.

Here’s an example. Recently, 7-Eleven posted a Facebook update (they’ve since deleted it) that was seemingly poking fun at mentally ill people. Obviously, the person who made this update on behalf of 7-Eleven didn’t understand that this type of humor didn’t fit with the brand’s voice.  It was a clear example of the company’s social media voice not matching the brand.

There’s nothing wrong with showing some personality with your social networking. It’s a good thing, but it also has to make sense within the structure of your brand. If you’ve created a brand that’s seen as serious and thoughtful and you have a silly, funny social media voice, it just won’t ring true with your customers. It will confuse them and undermine your branding efforts.

How can you make sure your social media marketing meshes with the rest of your branding efforts?

It all comes down to training the person who is managing your social media accounts on the voice of your brand. That person needs to understand what your brand is about, what kind of image you’re trying to create, who your target audience is, and how you want them to interact with and perceive your brand.

I’m not saying you need to run every Tweet and status update through a committee for approval, but you do need to remember that everything you post influences how others see your brand. Consistency is the key to building brands customers trust and connect with. Maintain that consistency in everything you do.

I agree with Mickie’s thoughts on maintaining a cohesive “brand” throughout your marketing and social efforts. Does it make you wonder about a brand when its social voice is disconnected  from its overall brand voice?

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If I have learned anything over the years,  it’s that change is inevitable. At times, we are totally at the mercy of the “stuff” that happens to us, whether it’s the economy, the environment or as I have just learned, my recent bout with breast cancer. Each day, we have the opportunity to choose how we react to unforeseen or extenuating circumstances.  And, as women business leaders, it’s essential to assume the innovator role when looking at creating change from within and moving yourself or your company into new territory and uncharted waters. But no matter what the catalyst, I always feel genuine excitement  in precipitating effective change.

Here are three websites Small Business Trend founder Anita Campbell collected, offering tips that I hope may inspire your business creativity:

1. Don the Idea Guy
   Don “the Idea Guy” Snyder is an author, speaker and freelance innovation consultant who helps businesses brainstorm and otherwise inspire creativity. His to-the-point blog posts cover a range of topics, such as how good innovators are like Silly Putty and the three roles you can play in any brainstorming session (Pirate, Politician or Painting). These aren’t academic posts you’ll have to wade through—they’re fast reads to give you a jolt of energy in the morning. In fact, one of the nice things about Don the Idea Guy is his focus on not just inspiring you, but actually motivating you to get things done.
2. Creativity Central
   The man behind Creativity Central, Martin Baker, describes his blog as a “repository for all things creative—creative thinking, innovation, ideas and brainstorming.” A former award-winning creative director who has worked with client companies of all sizes, Baker is also the president of Inotivity, an innovation firm that helps clients accelerate the development of new ideas. If you like Creativity Central, check out the Inotivity blog, where recent posts have included innovation lessons from Nobel-Prize-winning physicist Richard P. Feynman. You can read these posts in 15 minutes or less, but they’ll have you thinking and pondering long after.
3. Innovation 360 Institute
   This global innovation management consultancy uses systematic innovation methods and leadership development to help companies of all sizes become more innovative. Although Innovation 360 primarily works with businesses that are based or have a presence in the Middle East, its website offers a wealth of knowledge companies anywhere can access to help develop their own innovation strategies. You’ll also find information on related topics such as creativity, business model design, change management and entrepreneurship. You’ll need to set aside some time to get the most from these tools—but the results will be well worth it.

Innovation is a term that is used frequently,  but not necessarily used correctly. What does innovation mean to you? Please share with us your innovative stories and your business may end up being featured in one of my upcoming blogs.

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Social Media has taken communications and information sharing to a whole new level. It has advanced the way we communicate and share ideas — which has greatly enhanced our knowledge base and access to information. But should we as a culture use social media as a tool to extract personal information from those we may want to work with … and then use this information to form potentially biased opinions (whether we think they are or not)?

Here are some potential pros and cons to “social media profiling” compiled by HR executive Tresha Moreland. As women business leaders, we should consider these issues carefully before requiring job seekers to divulge their social media account information in the interview process:

Pros:

• This will enable police, correctional and military agencies to tell if prospective candidates are engaged in unlawful activity, not yet caught.
• It allows employers to see if a candidate has the propensity to bad mouth customers and/or workplaces.
• It is easier to keep up-to-date records when people automatically update their social network profiles.

Cons:

• Social networking profiles may include information that is unlawful to ask about during an employment screening process, such as gender, age, national origin, and so on.
• It is no different then asking for someone’s house keys. It could be considered violating an individual’s privacy.
• A good and legal screening process such as background and reference checks, already in place, is meant to uncover unsavory activity and most importantly convictions.

On a very personal note: I fled from South Africa in the early 1980s, motivated by my lack of individual privacy and my personal feelings that people should not be judged by the color of their skin. So to me, asking employees for access to their personal Facebook information reeks of “big brother” tactics, and I find this most distasteful.

What do you think about this?  Should employers ask job seekers for their social network user passwords and account information as a requirement for applying for a job?

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Susan, a really good friend of mine who is also the editor of a magazine,  has been reading my blogs. This in itself makes me really nervous as she is a wonderful writer and demands excellence in her publication, but she was most intrigued by my advice on balance.

We sat on the sidewalk sharing a bottle of Pellegrino to discuss my sage wisdom around this subject – me looking to her for comments on my writing and she looking to me for a panacea for creating balance in her life.  I could talk about balance theoretically, but when she probed, as all good journalists do, I realized that in reality my life is sorely lacking balance. What upset me even more was that as I look at my breast cancer as an opportunity to reset and reevaluate my days – I can see I am back in the women business leaders quagmire!

Once again, I offer advice from a time-management blog by Justine Grey – hoping that I can share with you that this time it worked – I have balance!

1. Exercise
   Since joining a gym, I’ve fallen back in love with my business, had more energy for my children, and found myself happier throughout the day. I’m more motivated and focused than ever before.
2. Television
   A great, lazy way to escape the stress of unfinished to-dos and future plans is to watch TV for a few minutes or an hour.
3. Reading
   Reading will allow you to venture outside yourself and enjoy the pleasures of someone else’s life for a while. You’ll get much more from reading than just escaping—you’ll become a better thinker, writer, and speaker too.
4. Pursue a passion
   Make a list of the things you’ve wanted to do in life but have never had the chance to explore. My list contains figure skating, tennis lessons, soap making, and pottery classes. What about you?
5. Attend a retreat
   The benefits of any retreat, regardless if work is involved, is the chance to get away from all other distractions for a week or a weekend and give complete focus to one thing you’d like to improve.
6. Make mornings calmer
   I really enjoyed reading Inc’s interview with 37signals founder Jason Fried because it offered a glimpse into his interesting life. Jason said: “I try not to grab my phone and check e-mails first thing. I used to do that, and it’s just not good for you. Instead, I’ll go and brew some tea and try and relax a little bit.”
7. Coffee dates
   I got a taste of freedom one day when I walked my daughter over to preschool and then decided on a whim to head over to a nearby coffee shop until I had to pick her up. Why not schedule in a fun coffee date for yourself as soon as you finish your most pressing matters for today?
8. Sing it like you mean it
   My entrepreneurial uncle once told me that every time he had a meeting with a client, he would spend the entire drive over with the car radio blasting, singing along at the top of his lungs. My uncle said singing made him feel happier, more confident, and more energized every single time.

When is the last time you evaluated your life with the intention of finding a way to achieve balance? Have you found it yet? Share your story with us here.

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Having gone through a life-altering event like my recent breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, I have come to realize that time is the ultimate commodity.  How you choose to spend your time will shape your memories and obviously shape your lifestyle. It was really scary for me to have to essentially stop my life while I devoted myself to healing. Through my flurry of emotions, I have decided to be present and find meaning in each moment and experience. For me, procrastination is not an option.

Rachel Karu, founder of a consulting firm in Los Angeles, offers these tips on how to stop procrastinating — and get things done.

Tune in to your strengths and weaknesses
Set aside some time to map out which aspects of running a business fall into your line of expertise and which ones don’t. What you consider to be your weaker areas may be reflected in daily operations: If you love making decisions but loathe accounting, chances are your financial chores are among the last to get done. Consider outsourcing tasks that fall outside of your competencies.

Just say no
When you feel as if you should do something, but don’t really want to, it’s easy to drop the ball, Karu explains. Before you agree to do something, take time to consider whether the project is really something you’re interested in. If it isn’t, say “no” or ask if someone else can handle the job.

Understand how long things really take
In reality, many tasks take longer than we expect. To break this cycle, get a grip on just how long things take. Better yet, schedule extra time: If you think a sales meeting will last two hours, plan for three, Karu suggests. You’ll have a more realistic outlook on what you can accomplish during your day.

Adhere to a schedule
Once you’ve estimated how long tasks take, look at a project you’ve been putting off — and work it into your schedule. Next, give yourself a deadline for completing the project. The date looming on your calendar can help spur you to get it done.

Fight distractions
When you’re working on something that’s necessary but painful, it can be tempting to check email, help a co-worker, or give in to other distractions. A better plan: Do whatever you dislike the most first thing in the morning for a short period of time, Karu says.

Following these suggestions can be a challenge, especially the last one. What techniques do you use to fight the urge to procrastinate?

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As a life-long entrepreneur, I have followed a variety of career paths. While I may not have considered myself a woman business leader at the time, as I look back at my choices I can see that I made some pretty progressive decisions early on in my career. At the time, I knew I was discarding the status quo but I would not have actually qualified my decisions as  ”innovative.” I can see now that my penchant for taking calculated risks could be interpreted that way!

I thought a recent article by Thomas D. Kuczmarski on businesses that are innovative offered some great pointers for business owners and entrepreneurs. Here are some results of his survey of 87 U.S. product and service companies:

1. An innovation strategy counts
   Sixty-six percent of the successful companies have an explicit innovation strategy that is aligned with the overall corporate strategy. Only 22 percent of the unsuccessful firms have such a strategy.
2. Focusing on high-risk—but higher-return—innovation matters
   In successful firms, 26 percent of new product and service revenues come from new-to-the-world innovations. Among the unsuccessful, the figure is just 7 percent.
3. Innovation leadership is central to success
   There is a clearly defined innovation leader in 64 percent of the successful companies; 50 percent of unsuccessful firms have such a leader. The two numbers seem oddly close until you understand that in the successful firms, the innovation leader reports to the CEO in 47 percent of the cases—compared to 15 percent among unsuccessful firms.
4. The CEO must be the innovation leader
   In 62 percent of the successful firms, the CEO is active in the process of planning new products and services, compared with 30 percent of the unsuccessful firms. The reasons we heard for the failure of new products or services include poor planning and execution, lack of understanding of market needs, and lack of internal support. Overall, fully 68 percent of the reasons given for innovation failure were things that can be controlled by an organization.

Innovation is a word that is easy and convenient to say. Making it happen is an important leadership role!

Photo by NEXT Berlin

I have often blogged about feminism versus femininity – underscoring the need for women to embrace their femininity and all the characteristics that are inherent in our gender. I would like to think that we are operating on level playing field where respect, humility and human kindness transcends the gender gap. Am I dreaming?

While I feel women have equal opportunities in business, I do think there is always room for improvement. Here are some ways women can ramp up their business acumen from another female entrepreneur, Geri Stengel:

1. Women need to take more risks
   When women start businesses, they opt for career paths that seem safer and more flexible than running a major corporation. Liz Elting, CEO and founder of global language service provider TransPerfect, advocates another tack: Go for broke when you are young and have nothing to lose. Don’t worry about what your life will be like in 10 years. Dream big and follow your dreams. When your business grows, so do your options for work/life balance.
2. Women need to get tougher
   Nice girls please people. CEOs have to make tough decisions, from firing people to cutting services. In a man, that’s being strong; in a woman it is seen as being bitchy. “If you want everyone to like you, you will have a hard time doing what is necessary,” Elting says.
3. Men need to get over themselves
   At home, men must share in household responsibilities, recognizing that their partner’s career is as valuable as their own. At work, men need to be more inclusive. Networking events shouldn’t be just guy things. Deals are done in informal settings after the conference or out of the office — on golf courses and in the corporate box at the ball game. Yes, some women like sports, but a lot are left out of that schmoozing and dealing.
4. Women need to get over themselves, too
   Whether in peer groups, such as the Women Presidents’ Organization or through mentoring women starting out, women need to support and mentor each other. As Sheila Lirio Marcel, CEO of Care.com says, “We must lift as we climb, bring others along with us and collect talented people as we rise.”
5. Everyone needs to build more flexible businesses
   Let’s start firms that don’t follow the same old business model; let’s build a model that can accommodate the differing needs of GenY, parents, Type A workers, and those who want to work reduced hours. You can retain and grow talent by being flexible — flexible about taking a year off for family without losing a rung on the career ladder; flexible in working hours; flexible about telecommuting.

Changes now, in attitudes, awareness, and culture could end the stagnation of small women-led businesses and make them into the economic drivers we need.