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Welcome to the first Ottawa WIT e-news!
The newsletter features a Q&A with angel investor Caroline Somers, the first of a series of profiles of local women technology leaders. Legal expert Marcia Mills also provides her advice on how women who are aspiring to be leaders can make sure they are on the right path.
We welcome your input and comments as we strive to deliver a mix of interesting stories and practical information relating to the goals of CATA WIT Forum's Ottawa chapter. Feel free to contact any of the members of the 2007-2008 executive committee with your thoughts.
Best regards,
Naomi Morisawa De Koven
Chair, Ottawa Chapter - CATA WIT Forum |
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WIT e-bites
"By 2002, there were more than 821,000 women entrepreneurs in Canada who contribute in excess of $18.109 billion to the Canadian economy every year." (Prime Minister's Task Force on Women Entrepreneurs, 2003).
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"We found a perception that women are better at 'taking care' behaviors. In other words, they take care of their employees. And men were perceived to be better at 'take charge' behaviors. These are stereotypes that have made people have less confidence in the decisions of female leaders. Our research shows that women are very good problem solvers. It's the perception that they're not that is the problem." (2005 study Women Take Care, Men Take Charge by Catalyst).
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WIT e-words
Here's some new buzz words to drop into conversations at your next networking events:
Avatarsment - An advertisement featuring avatars (a digital representation of a person in a virtual world). Three virtual consumer actors will appear as talking avatars in a 30 second spot for Taco Bell's Fourthmeal - a clever new term for the fare you grub between dinner and breakfast, which you may know better as the munchies. The ad, or avatarsment, will debut during the VMAs on September 9 (courtesy Doubletongued).
Hyperconnectivity - In computer networking, hyperconnectivity is an accelerating market trend in which all things that can or should communicate through the network will communicate through the network. This encompasses person-to-person, person-to-machine and machine-to-machine communication. It is fueling huge increases in bandwidth demand and changes in communications because of the complexity, diversity and integration of new applications and devices using the network. The Canadian communications equipment vendor Nortel (TSX, NYSE:NT) has made Hyperconnectivity the platform for its new advertising campaign and CEO Mike Zafirovski and other executives have been quoted extensively in the press referring to the hyperconnected era. |
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We have a stellar line-up for an "informal" panel discussion at our Sept 27th networking event (5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Foundations in the By-ward Market). Janet Yale, Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs TELUS, Sheridan Scott, Commissioner, Competition Bureau, and Gail Di Cintio, Vice President Operations, Larus Technologies will be discussing the key strengths women need to have/exhibit in order to get ahead in their careers.
See details
| One-on-One with Caroline Somers |
 WIT Ottawa was fortunate enough to capture a few thoughts from Caroline Somers, Co-CEO of Cassidy Bay Group, Inc.:
What inspired you to first work for a technology company?
For me, working in a technology company was just an opportunity that arose at the moment. I was looking for a summer job in Ottawa at a time when Bell Northern Research was looking to bring business people into the organization. I started doing market analysis of technology opportunities. I loved learning about technologies and talking to customers about how they could be used. From there I was offered a full time position and moved into more and more technical jobs. At one point I started to take courses to get an engineering degree but quickly realized that I really wouldn't end up doing anything differently in my job. I realized that although I didn't have a technical degree, I was just as tech-savvy as many of my co-workers who were engineers. I actually think that the creative skills that I learned in university were as much of an asset is this community. As an angel investor I encourage companies to focus on who their customer is and what value they are getting from a product, so having a diverse team is a real asset.
What contributions have you made in the technology world?
I have done many things in my past but I am going to focus on what I am still doing. I have a number of things that I am passionate about. Being an angel investor is definitely one of them. I want to use my resources, both financial and experience, to help companies get started and let them have what I got from starting a company. It is so important to get new technologies and businesses out into the world. My second passion is to help build more diversity in the workplace. Most companies that I see do not have women on the team. I would love to see more. I believe that diversity in teams helps build better companies. Women provide a different perspective that opens up more opportunities for new technologies and start-ups. My last passion is to develop better leaders through mentorship and coaching. The challenges the Ottawa tech industry is facing is not as a result of a technology shortage, but difficulties in bringing products to the market. I believe that Ottawa's business leaders need more support to grow in their capacity.
How did you get where you are today?
I took opportunities as they presented themselves. When I heard about a new thing that I was interested in I pursued it - not knowing exactly what would come of it but knowing that I would learn something from it and grow as a person. Some of those opportunities came at a time in my life when I knew that it would be challenging, like founding a start-up company, but I also knew that there would be a lot of fun and lots to learn along that path. Most importantly, I never shied away from opportunities when they presented themselves.
What leadership skills would you look for in women who wish to climb the corporate ladder?
I am actually a big believer in the book From Good to Great and love Jim Collin's definition of a type five leader. These are the leaders who inspire people to work to their best, build teams that complement and challenge each other, are humble and know that it is not just them that is the reason these companies are successful, and most importantly having fun doing this. I believe that the biggest leadership skill is really being authentic - true to who you are. As women I believe it is even more true to acknowledge the things that we may do differently than men rather than try to act the same as men. This is the diversity that is so important in great teams and great companies. | |
| Aspire to Lead - Advice from an IT Lawyer |
Marcia Mills, General Counsel of Ottawa-based Mxi Technologies Ltd., has worked with many executives and leaders in her 11 year career as an IT lawyer. She was with Corel Corporation in the early days following the acquisition of Corel WordPerfect®. Prior to her current position, she spent four years with LaBarge Weinstein where she was responsible for protecting the interests of her clients in negotiations with giants such as IBM, Microsoft, and Nortel. At Mxi, Marcia executes transactions with the largest aviation companies in the world such as Lockheed Martin, The Boeing Company and Air France/KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, among others. These multi-million dollar transactions may mean the difference between a good and an excellent year for her company.
As a seasoned IT counsel, Marcia has had ample opportunity to observe the ripple effect when an executive fails to exercise the leadership skills required by their position. As well, she has observed the negative impact that growing technology companies run into when individuals, who are promoted on the basis of technical expertise or years of service, are not also provided with the necessary training on the intricacies of managing people or situations involving complex outcomes. She notes, "It would be stereotypical to say that all women are terrific communicators, natural networkers, caring mentors with superior abilities to multi-task and problem-solve, while all men are not. However, it is also stereotypical to say that women are not as committed to professional careers, or do not possess the necessary talents and skills to become executives. Some of the most outstanding mentors I have had in this industry were women. But, there are so few women at the senior executive level that more junior-level women will not have broad access to a variety of female mentors. Technology companies which are serious about developing the next generation of executive leaders must begin their search amongst talented women in the mid-level ranks and must focus on further education and development programs. Failing to search for successful female candidates means that companies are excluding fifty percent of the available talent pool when recruiting."
Marcia offers the following suggestions to women in tech companies who aspire to leadership roles:
Always act professionally -
Act professionally, like the leader you wish to be or become. Profanity, table thumping and theatrics are best left to the Oscar race. Although casual dress codes have become the norm in IT, remember it is 'business casual', not 'Saturday afternoon painting the house' casual. If you wear the same clothes to work that you wore to the beach, chances are you have missed the boat on the meaning of 'casual' dress code.
Develop connections outside of your comfort zone -
Get your nose off the grindstone often and connect with people outside of your work team and outside of your work life. In order to think strategically, you need to know what's going on in the rest of your organization and in your particular industry. You also need to have time away from work to get a broader perspective on life in general. The size and interconnections within Ottawa's technology community makes effective networking easier than in a larger city, such as Toronto. Groups such as CATA's Women in Technology, and more informal women's groups, are great places to gather information, make connections and find mentors (or be a mentor!).
Continue to upgrade your skills -
Take every opportunity to broaden your skill-set, especially in areas that you believe need development. Use your performance reviews (if you happen to get them with any consistency) to see where others think you need development (you might be quite surprised to see how your views about yourself differ from those who work with you). On the job training is great, but it can be myopic. You may miss out on development opportunities you didn't know existed. Being able to list a degree or certificate on your resume adds credibility to your list of skills.
Control your emotions -
While overblown emotional diatribes are never appropriate, like it or not, women who are blowing off steam are seen as emotional. Men blowing off steam are just men blowing off steam. Maintain composure, evaluate the situation objectively and learn how to explain the problem in factual terms. Substitute "You've obviously left your brain at home today" with, "this situation is a problem as it exposes the corporation to the following risks." This doesn't mean you can't identify when you are not pleased with how something was handled, but you have to be able to identify why you are not pleased and what you intend to do about it. The old adage "It's not what you said they will remember, but how you said it" applies ten-fold in stressful situations, where emotions tend to be elevated in any event.
Learn to delegate effectively -
Martyrdom is not a value add to any organization. Doing everything means you do nothing well. Find the people in your organization who have the skills to do the task and delegate to them. This doesn't mean you can abandon the matter (you still have to manage it and ensure it is dealt with properly), but it will allow you to focus on the strategic issues, instead of always focusing in on the tactical, day-to-day repetitive efforts. Leaders are proactive, not reactive.
Evaluate others and evaluate yourself -
There are many highly successful leaders - take time to analyze why you view a particular individual or individuals as good leaders and what leadership traits they possess. Determine if any of these traits are traits that come naturally to you and whether they could use further development. Don't try to emulate traits that do not come naturally - you won't be able to maintain this unnatural state of existence over the long term, and, frankly, people will catch on to that little ruse soon enough (see: Oscar race above). Once you determine what traits you have that are good, then take the next difficult step of evaluating traits you have that are not so good. Use performance reviews and seek out comments and assessments from others, particularly from those who you see as mentors or well-developed leaders. Examine situations where things went wrong and determine why. Was it your approach? Were you ill-prepared? Then be prepared to make the effort to eliminate the negative and develop the positive. Leaders are not static, they are dynamic. They are open to new ideas, concepts and approaches, even when it means delving in to the personal realm.
| CATA's WIT (Women in Technology) Forum is a community network designed to boost women's participation and advancement in the high-growth technology sector. |
Mission:
Our mission is to help women in technology companies advance in their careers and succeed as entrepreneurs through mentoring, networking, professional development and advocacy.
Vision:
Our vision is to be Canada's premier "go to" forum that is committed to the advancement of women in technology under the CATAAlliance innovation umbrella.
For more information about CATAAlliance WIT Forum please visit http://www.catawit.ca | | |
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