March 2007

Introduction

Vision

The association views itself as a "platform for the inspiration and empowerment of women.”

Values 

The association subscribes to the following values:

• Professionalism
• Integrity
• Empathy
• Accountability
• Commitment
• Success
• Respect
• Passion

Mission 

The association is established to support, connect and grow women in business.

“We do this through lobbying, mentoring, networking, strategic alliances, development and recognising excellence in women.”  (2007 strat plan)

The above have been taken from the BWA constitution.  I have inserted the vision, values and vision into my report as I need to internalise them and ensure that all our members live them in order to ensure that we achieve the objectives we have set ourselves.

Adherence to values is critical.  Values help us achieve our mission.
Performance + Values = SUCCESS
Values need to be made real and not just put on a plaque on the wall.

To make a success of whatever it is we set out to do, we need to use the ‘inside-out’ approach.  In other words, be change agents in our own circles of influence.  This will make us all powerful agents of change.

As this is my second month of operation as executive head, my scope of activities to report on is very limited (See Annexure A).  However, I would like to share with you the plans that the head office team have put in place.

“The call and need of a new era is for greatness.  Tapping into the higher reaches of human genius and motivation requires leaders to have a new mind-set, a new skill-set, and a new tool-set.”
Stephen R Covey

The team at head office, which is currently made up of myself, Yvette Montalbano, our Acting COO and Busi Mkhabele, our Executive Coordinator, have been hard at work setting the scene in order to face the challenges that lie ahead.  We have held several meetings and have come up with our own Team Purpose Statement in order to support the organisations vision and mission.  We believe that every team should have a purpose and a vision that connect with the larger organisation.

(Purpose:  Your essential reason for existence; the value you provide.
Vision:  What the team’s purpose looks like when achieved with excellence)

Our team’s purpose is:

To serve BWA members by:

• dentifying opportunities for empowerment and job creation
• helping our members achieve business growth and finding suitable markets for their products and/or services
• attracting more corporate members
• raising sufficient funds in order to award more bursaries to young women who want to study and acquire relevant skills in order to address the skills shortage in SA
• develop a culture of excellence

The question the team needs to continuously ask itself is:  How do we continue to maximise the great innovations of the past in a way that enables us to improve on them, ie, think out of the box.

Council's Strategy for 2007

At the strategic planning session held in January this year, council articulated the following expectations:

• Develop a governance plan
• Develop effective internal processes
• Develop trust and commitment
• Focus on people and resources

Please click here for more information.

Four Imperatives of Great Leaders

• Inspire trust:  Mediocre leader:  I get things done because I’m the boss.  Great leader:  I get things done through personal influence and credibility.  Leadership is a choice, not a position
• Clarify purpose:  Makes work meaningful and thereby attracts, retains and motivates outstanding people
• Unleash talent:  You are where you are today because somebody believed in you and your capacity enough to entrust you with significant responsibility – maybe beyond what you thought you could achieve
• Align systems:  Set up win-win performance agreements as opposed to the traditional carrot and stick ones

Questions That Our Team Needs to Answer to Ensure Effectiveness and Clarity of Purpose

(Council to validate what we have done thus far – are we on the right track?)

Please click here for more information. 

Clarity of Purpose

• A purpose is clear when every member of your team can repeat it back to you accurately and with a full understanding of what it means.  Until this condition is met, you have not made the purpose clear
• A compelling purpose is such that, when it is clearly understood, people want to naturally volunteer their best efforts to complete it
• It is compelling because of the analysis put into it and the involvement people have had in shaping or understanding it
• It is compelling when people deeply believe that it is worth achieving

Conclusion

To become great leaders, we should not allow life to act on us.  We need to invest, to create space that allows us to reconnect to our highest, most inspiring purposes – to how we want to lead.