"A Woman's Mind Half Naked "

VOICE+INNOVATION+LANGUAGE = POWERFUL LEADERSHIP

Jennifer ann gordon — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:38:58 GMT

VOICE + INNOVATION + LANGUAGE = POWERFUL LEADERSHIP

Voice, Innovation and Language are the three primary colors from which all the vibrant colors of successful leadership are created. All of CONFIDENCE’s leadership programs for women proceed from our conviction that these three power-bases are the key points upon which to focus for strong leadership and a healthy organization.

VOICE IS POWER.

“A voice is a human gift; it should be cherished and used, to utter fully human speech as possible. Powerlessness and silence go together.” -- Margaret Atwood

The most powerful leadership training we can provide our teams is that of our example. In full voice ourselves, we give others permission to be. By their example and their willingness to listen, leaders in full voice are transparent, trustworthy and set the standards of the organization.

Your voice is your power to make positive changes as a leader. Your power and willingness to speak up. Your power to lead and engage others, and to create unity and collaboration.

Your voice is the expression of your clarity, confidence, courage and conviction.

Again, Voice is courage. Sometimes finding your voice means to apologize, even publicly. Sometimes, it means taking an unpopular stand which is in line with your inner convictions and responsibility to lead your organization.

Your voice manifests your ethics. How you use your voice and how you don’t use your voice are both very important. Wrong uses of voice-- gossip, blame, complaint or shutting people down --damage the organization.

Non-use of voice -- maintaining silence when you need to speak up or express appreciation, gratitude, humor, compassion or humanity -- dampens the spirit of your team and your organization. Both wrong and non-uses of voice increase your powerlessness and act as poison in the organization.

Women, specifically, often have a very difficult time being in full voice because we are taught to be “nice” above all else. Being in full voice doesn’t mean being “mean;” it means being clear, courageous, powerful, honest, transparent, trustworthy and a leader. Being in full voice doesn’t mean that you have to bellow or emulate the male leaders in the organization. Often, being in full voice involves a lot of listening and quietude to be heard.

By choking our voices in favor of being thought of as “nice” or because we are afraid of repercussion, women create their own glass ceilings (in addition to the ones that already exists). If this choking is chronic, then we might not even be aware of when we’re choking, diminishing, or skewing our voices. We render ourselves inaudible. And, being inaudible is good for no one.

Merely telling women to use their full voices doesn't help them be in full voice. Dr. Barbara Cavalier, one of our Catalysts of CONFIDENCE for Women Who Lead, explains that “women are listened into voice.” This is exactly why the CONFIDENCE program is so important. Through a process of deep listening and experiential learning, we work together to recognize when and how we’re silencing our voices and how to discover and develop our true voices in order to be powerful leaders and agents for positive change.

INNOVATION IS POWER.

“Learning and unlearning are prerequisites for innovation. Unless we learn and understand something we have not understood before -- and unless we challenge and overrule existing wisdom, thereby creating new wisdom -- we probably will not innovate.”

-- Dr. Bettina von Stamm, Founder and Director of Innovation Leadership Forum and Catalyst of CONFIDENCE for Women Who Lead

Innovation is the gorgeous art of business. Our power to innovate is what makes our organizations ALIVE. Innovation is our power to solve problems -- personal, in-house, those of our markets and our world -- creatively. Innovation sees "problems" as "opportunities." Innovation is inside-out. It is a a way of being, a way of seeing, a way of living.

Innovation is your power to respond, rather than react. Innovation is pro-action, rather than non-action or reaction. The power of sustained curiosity and openness. Innovation is the willingness to seek, learn and see creative solutions from surprising and diverse people, resources, and experiences.

Innovation is your power of sight - insight, foresight, and hindsight -- and the continual creation of new knowledge and its application. Your awareness of current conditions combined with a fresh perspective. Innovation lets go of past beliefs, systems and approaches which are no longer serving you or your company.

To innovate is to stimulate your and your team’s creativity on a sustained basis. To see open doors where everyone else sees a blank wall. To think in terms of "and," rather than "either/or." Innovation is the ongoing discovery and use of the best tools for the job at hand.

Innovation is "dymaxion." (Thank you, Buckminster Fuller.) Innovation achieves maximum efficiency and effectiveness, with a minimum expenditure of materials and energy. Innovation is invention. The ability to maintain active curiosity, rather than assumption or the continuation of patterns based on past information. Innovation has no auto-pilot, but is a conscious, present tense, and alive way of being.

CONFIDENCE for Women Who Lead is a discovery-based, experiential and interactive program to ignite, kindle and catalyze innovation as a way of being, a way of seeing. CONFIDENCE for Women Who Lead brings you fabulous tools to create new knowledge for sustained innovation, as well as the support and inspiration to create and lead an innovative enterprise.

LANGUAGE IS POWER.

"Everything we do and say is Language. Language is our power to transform thoughts into worlds." -- Jennifer Ann Gordon, Contributor to "The Future of Innovation"

Language is the inside or truth of yourself and your organization made visible to the outside. Yes, Language is your thoughts, intentions and aims made visible. Language is your power to articulate your vision, your purpose, your ideas in ways that your audiences can wrap their minds and hearts (and, in certain situations, their dollars) around.

Language is your power to connect diverse groups of people. To form valuable connections with you shareholders, clients and customers, strategic partners, team, your company, your community, and your world.

Language is your power to cut to the chase. To create a new world. To form new relationships. To entice, engage, inspire and inform.

As a leader, If your language is inconsistent, weak, enigmatic, domineering, muddled, trivial, confusing, blaming, aggressive, insincere, dishonest, closed, frustrated, fearful, or otherwise negative, then you will communicate that your organization is as such. If your language doesn’t have big spaces between the words – the space of listening - then your impact will be weak at best and damaging at worst. Misuse of language will greatly hinder your organization in every facet, but, especially for non-profits, a lack of mastery of your and your organizational language with inhibit your ability to get funding. As for for-profit enterprises, The Wall Street Journal reported back in 2000 that U.S. companies alone lose billions of dollars every year due to poor use of language.

Language is a reflection of your organization’s leadership. Paying attention to your language requires paying close and careful attention to your organizational thoughts, attitudes and goals, the people you need to reach, the environment and any shifts, your investors’ mindset and priorities, and to your company culture.

CONFIDENCE for Women Who Lead is designed to catalyze a deeper awareness of individual and organizational language, and to provide the tools and the inspiration to examine both the collective thoughts and language of the organization in order to strengthen your leadership.

VOICE + INNOVATION + LANGUAGE = POWERFUL LEADERSHIP. Throughout 2010, we're holding free events, the focal points of which are these three primary colors of leadership. Our CONFIDENCE for Women Who Lead Retreat will be 14-18 October 2010.

"7 Ways to Increase Your Wuffie Factor"

Jennifer ann gordon — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:49:04 GMT

This morning, I came across "7 Ways to Increase Your Wuffie Factor," by Fast Company's Expert Blogger, Tara Hunt.

Tara Hunt, co-founder of Citizen Agency and author of The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business, appears on Fast Company's, "The Most Influential Women in Technology: The Evangelists."

Tara Hunt sagacity and spunk really need to be devoured in their entirety, but just to whet your whistle, here is a quick recap:

1. Be human.
2. Be willing to admit when you are wrong.
3. Listen and respond...but mostly listen.
4. Pro-actively look for ways you can contribute.
5. Lean towards being more open and transparent.
6. Think customer-centrically.
7. Remember that everyone has an audience. Influencers and bigwigs aren't the only ones with audiences anymore. Everyone has an audience and the ability to influence.

I so appreciate women who lead ... who boldly express the feminine in their businesses. I lift my glass and shout, "Renao, Tara Hunt, renao!" ("Renao" is "hot and noisy," as in a fabulous night club, in Japanese.)

Symptoms of Severence from the Leader Within

Jennifer ann gordon — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:50:28 GMT

"A healthy woman is much like a wolf: robust, chock-full, strong life force, life-giving, territorially aware, inventive, loyal, roving. Yet, separation from the wildish nature lets a woman's personality become meager, thin, ghostly, spectral. We are not meant to be puny with frail hair and inability to leap up, inability to chase, to birth, to create a life. When women's lives are in stasis, ennui, it is always time for the wildish woman to emerge; it is time for the creating function of the psyche to flood the delta.

How does Wild Woman affect women? With Wild Woman as ally, leader, model teacher, we see, not through two eyes, but through the eyes of intuition which is many-eyed. When we assert intuition, we are therefore like a starry night: we gaze at the world through a thousand eyes."

- Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D.

"Women Who Run With the Wolves" by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Jungian analyst and ethnographer, is the richest, most pragmatic and joyful guide for strong, instinctual leadership for women that I've read to date. I'm on my third reading now.

Clarissa explains "the feeling-toned symptoms of a disrupted relationship with the wildish force in the psyche." She writes, "To feel, think or act in any of the following ways is to have partially severed or lost entirely the relationship with the deep instinctual psyche. Using women’s language exclusively, they are:

-- Feeling extraordinarily dry, fatigued, frail, depressed, confused, gagged, muzzled, unaroused.

-- Feeling frightened, halt or weak, without inspiration, without animation, without soulfulness, without meaning, shame-bearing, chronically fuming, volatile, stuck, uncreative, compressed, crazed.

-- Feeling powerless, chronically doubtful, shaky, blocked, unable to follow through, giving one’s creative life over to others, life-sapping choices in mates, work or friendships, suffering to live outside of one's own cycles, overprotective of self, inert, uncertain, faltering, inability to pace oneself or to set limits.

-- Not insistent on one’s own tempo, to be self-conscious, to be away from one’s God or Gods, to be separated from one’s revivification, drawn far into domesticity, intellectualism, work or inertia because that is the safest place for one who has lost her instincts.

-- To fear to venture by oneself or to reveal oneself, fear to seek mentor, mother, father, fear to set out one’s imperfect work before it is an opus, fear to set out on a journey, fear of caring for another or others, fear one will run on, run out, run down, cringing before authority, loss of energy before creative projects, wincing, humiliation, angst, numbness, anxiety.

-- Afraid to bite back when there is nothing left to do, afraid to try the new, fear to stand up to, afraid to speak up, speak against, sick stomach, butterflies, sour stomach, cut in the middle, strangled, becoming conciliatory or nice too easily, revenge.

-- Afraid to stop, afraid to ask, repeatedly counting to three and not starting, superiority complex, ambivalence, and yet otherwise fully capable, fully functioning. These severances are a disease not of an era or a century, but become an endemic anywhere and anytime women are captured, anytime the wildish nature has become trapped."

["Women Who Run With the Wolves," by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D., pages 11-12]

Innovation ... the Opposite of Zombi-ism

Jennifer ann gordon — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:15:34 GMT

Innovation - as is everything else that's real and valuable -- only takes place in the NOW. Innovation is always real-time. Dwelling in the past or the future bogs us down, and pulls us away from the present opportunities.

Without consciously acknowledging and receiving the good right now, we cannot innovate within our companies or our lives.

Sometimes, I plow through my days without taking the time to receive the gifts handed me ... to consciously acknowledge them and say, "Thank you." To digest. To breathe. To rejoice. To feel the WOW of everything taking place. To trust the process of gestation.

"Shaun of the Dead," the parody on the zombie movie, "Dawn of the Dead," comes to mind. When I allow myself to be pulled out of the now by anxiety or the biz world madness that doing is more important and profitable and establishes our worth more than being, then I feel like a zombie, the walking dead.

On these days, read more ...

CONFIDENCE 2010

Jennifer ann gordon — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 06:25:24 GMT

For strong, smart women who lead ...

WHAT:

A stellar, nourishing, and catalyzing leadership retreat for women who are passionate about organizational voice on the frontlines of sales and service, the human aspects of innovation and creating a more honest, open and sincere language.

DATE:

Thursday, October 14 - Monday, October 18, 2010. Put CONFIDENCE 2010 on your dance card!

LOCATION :

We're still deciding, but you can be sure it will be very special ... an optimum venue -- extremely comfortable, anthropologically connected to the work we'll do there, rich in history, and a beautiful environment -- for our leadership laboratory/think tank/consortium/cavortage (okay, I made up "cavortage").

COST:

TBD, depending on venue. We'll let you know soon.

WHO:

Jennifer Ann Gordon is the Director of CONFIDENCE 2010. Please email or call her with your questions:

E: jenniferanngordon@jag-a.com | T: 530.903.7016

The Confidence Beneath the Confidence

Jennifer ann gordon — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:18:43 GMT

In my experience, confidence is not a destination. Nor is it ever a "done deal." Rather, confidence is an approach, a way of being, that continually deepens and evolves. Rather than feeling confident about external situations, I am confident in my ability to know what to do when I am not feeling strong and to respond to intimidating situations with fresh inspiration, insight, learning, and enthusiasm. This is the "confidence beneath the confidence," or confidence from the inside out, rather than the outside in. My confidence arises from:

1. Emotional honesty with myself and others. It takes great personal and professional courage to remain visible, vulnerable and emotionally honest at all times. When I'm doubting myself, my first step is to acknowledge that I'm feeling shaky. Once I am being emotionally honest with myself and others and admit that I am struggling, then the doors open for innovation, creation and hope.

Too often women (and men) are taught to have a tough, impenetrable exoskeleton in order to survive and lead. Who the hell came up with this approach? This is the opposite of collaboration and community. The beauty of emotional honesty is that it clears the rooms of elephants and gives others permission to be emotionally honest without fear of repercussion. Emotional honesty is essential for effective leadership.

2. Staying in close touch with my instinctual self, the wild woman (as Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes refers to her in "The Women Who Run With the Wolves"). When I am not feeling confident, it's usually because I feel disconnected from my instinctual self ... that inner wisdom ... that trust in myself and what I do ... my intuition .. my compassion and humanity, which are my inner gyroscope. This usually happens when I haven't nourished myself with quiet, introspection, exploration and stimulation on a daily basis.

3. Listening to others with undivided attention and without judgment. Oftentimes, I'll ask myself at the end of day how my listening was. Did I talk "at" my colleagues? My children? Did I talk a lot more than I listened? "The Sacred Art of Listening" by Kay Lindahl (author) and Amy Schnapper (illustrator) is a fabulous resource for learning how to deepen all relationships by listening.

4. Being intently curious. I always loved Rudyard Kipling's "The Elephant's Child" with its "insatiable curtiosity." Being curious is vital to lead and innovate. That's why "managing" people and things is such a dangerous place to be mentally. The attitude of "managing" rather than "leading" with curiosity is a joy-kill.

Curiosity is a life-saver during difficult conversations, too. Rather than defending ourselves, we are inquisitive and wondering how that other person is seeing things. "Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most" by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen, and Roger Fisher is a fabulous resource!

5. Identifying myself as a LEARNER, rather than an "expert," a "CEO," etc. Business is so much fun when I am conscious that I am a learner, that I don't need to have all the answers. How wonderful to approach challenges as a " learner!" This approach opens the doors for creativity, innovation and hope. Toby Coop, founder of Unfrozenmind, Ltd. in Paris, calls this "being an expert beginner."

In a nutshell, confidence is the outcome of:
1. Emotional honesty.
2. Intimate acquaintance with instinctual self.
3. Listening to others with undivided attention and without judgment.
4. Intense curiosity.
5. Staying conscious that I am a "learner" in every situation at all times. (Even when I'm teaching.)

"The Future of Innovation"... Woohoo!

Jennifer ann gordon — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:05:12 GMT

Drs. Bettina von Stamm and Anna Trifilova joined forces to create "The Future of Innovation." They sent out invitations to innovators the world over to ask them to contribute five-hundred words that begin with "The future of innovation ..." The response was overwhelming! They received over three hundred fifty responses, all of which are published online.

They selected two hundred fifty of these contributions to be in The Book, published by Gower, and available this November. The preface to "The Future of Innovation" is written by Gary Hamel, author of "Leading the Revolution: How to Thrive in Hard Times by Making Innov...," and other ground-breaking books.

The gorgeousness of "The Future of Innovation" is that its creation is innovation-in-action. Bettina and Anna have been and continue to be lively examples of innovation throughout the entire process of "The Future of Innovation."

Innovation is this world's saving, amazing Grace. For INSPIRATION and LEARNING, as well as to become acquainted and interact with some very creative people -- to join us all in creating the future of innovation, upon which the world depends -- visit THE FUTURE OF INNOVATION. Interact, amble through the wondrous contributions, sign-up for the mailing list to stay connected, and feel your hope for the future swell.

A More Honest, Sincere and Open Language

Jennifer ann gordon — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:02:00 GMT

The future of innovation will require a more honest, sincere and open language, a language with more space around words. This spacious language of innovation will be free of hyperbole, superlatives and blame. It will be the language of being at cause, rather than at effect. And, most importantly, it will be the language of listening. Read more ...

Painting A Clear Picture of Expectations and Terms

Jennifer ann gordon — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:56:45 GMT

I was in charge of producing a video and ran into some problems with our Camera Guy (who, originally, was our Sound Guy and Editor Guy, as well). This was a small, low-budget project and the founder of the company had told me to use this man. There were problems from the outset.

For example, Camara Guy felt the project to be his personal territory. He didn't really want to collaborate. Also, Camara Guy behaved somewhat like a Prima Don. He did not return phone calls promptly, did not know how to schedule the shoots. And, because he was "cutting the company a deal," he did not want to provide a date certain as to when the video would be completed. Whenevahhhhh just doesn't fly. He wanted to film our cast members being interviewed in an office talking about the organization because it was the most convenient use of his time. Boring. And ... blechhhh!

So ... I shared my frustrations with our CEO. He told me that he fully supported whatever decision I made as to whether or not I keep Camera Guy on board. I decided to let him go. I called Camera Guy to set up a meeting. I planned to meet him at the ubiquitous Starbucks Coffee, rather than at a restaurant, so I didn't have endure the longish process of menu gazing, ordering, eating, etc.

Driving to the meeting, my stomach was doing flip-flops. A few miles from our meeting place, Camera Guy called. "Jennifer, I haven't eaten all day. Do you think we can meet at that Mexican restaurant on the corner instead?" Hmm. Well ... I couldn't fire him on an empty stomach. That would be cruel. My clever pain-avoidance strategy flew the coop. Yes, I could have said, "No," and probably will next time, but I didn't. Sigh.

To make matters worse, when I arrived, he was overjoyed to see me ... gave me a big hug ... had his laptop ready and waiting to show me his latest work. I thought I might throw up. An hour later, after tortilla chips and salsa, a quesadilla and a diet Coke, I told him that I didn't want him on the project. I didn't know how else to say it. It was an abrupt change of conversation, but I knew that if I didn't blurt it out, the purpose of the meeting would be lost entirely and I'd still have this BIG problem to handle.

His eyes welled up with tears. He didn't understand. And, no matter how I tried to explain what was wrong, he didn't get it. Finally, I copped out. I told Camera Guy to call the CEO, that he'd explain. Wimpy, wimpy, wimpy. We parted with Camera Guy avowing that he loved our organization and just had to be a part of this project.

I still felt like throwing up. When I returned home, I emailed our CEO immediately to tell him that I failed miserably at firing Camera Guy and deferred my responsibilities to him. I lay down on the couch and tried not to think. CEO responded with a short email, "I don't think he understood." I thought about this.

Then I went to bed. I awoke at 3 a.m. and knew exactly what to do! I realized that Camera Guy hadn't understood because I hadn't painted a clear picture from the outset of the project of my expectations and terms. I wrote the email in 10-minutes and sent it off. Here is what I wrote:

Dear Camera Guy,

Thank you for our meeting yesterday. I realized I told you what I didn’t like yesterday, but did not paint a picture of what I expect. My bad. I’ve given some thought to all of this and here is what I need from you in order to continue our working relationship:

1. A date as to when the video will be completed. I don’t want this project open-ended.

2. Your availability for shooting – 3 different options (It’s much better to ask our cast members if they are available on certain days, rather than to ask them to give me their availability for the summer.)

3. Your willingness to collaborate fully with another fabulously creative alumni, XXXX, and myself. XXXX is an expert communicator, an extremely collaborative guy, is in the film industry, and is a lot of fun to work with. I want him there with us every step of the way – creative direction, scripting, editing, and shooting.
I ask you to be very careful not to view this as your personal project. I want buy-in and collaboration in its creation. More fun, don’t you think? It’s okay if it’s “underproduced” and over the top creative and pertinent. Our market is the YouTubers, not the rich and famous.

4. I’d like you to respond quickly to my calls and emails. I don’t want to have to hunt you down.

5. You remember that you work for me, not the other way around. So, if I tell you I’m uncomfortable with something, you need to make it right, even if you do not understand my reasoning or disagree with me. I don’t have time to waste convincing you I need certain things. I will do my best to understand your needs, too. XXXX will be very helpful in this area.

6. If at all possible, another phone number whereby to reach you. Your layers of telephony, techno-Bach, being put on hold only to wait and then get a message that you are unavailable, are really frustrating and unnecessary... not good for business.

I am directing this project and my first five requests are non-negotiable. If you are amenable and fully agree to the above requests, then we can continue working together. If not, then please refund our down payment of $XXXX.00.

I copied our CEO and he replied, "Stunning!"

Camera Guy was openly relieved to know what was expected of him. He agreed to my Terms. I could see him trying hard to comply. Later on, though, he refused to collaborate and I was able to dismiss him from the project easily. All I had to do was refer to my missive, tell him he wasn't keeping his end of the bargain, and it was over.

I realized that EVERY hard spot I've been in as a leader has stemmed from my assumptions that we're all on the same page, that everyone is clear on his or her roles and from not painting a vividly clear picture of what I expect and the terms of engagement, even if they seem obvious to me. I learned that painting a clear picture of expectations and terms is KINDNESS and RESPECT for my colleagues. I'm still practicing and, sometimes in my enthusiasm or hurry-up, I forget. Inevitably, I have to retrace my steps, untangle the mess, and begin properly.

Peeling the Orange is Good Business

Jennifer ann gordon — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:32:29 GMT

Labels – NOUNS: persons, places, things -- are the peeling we wrap around ourselves and others for our own protection and identity. Labels are cement shoes. They lead to unconsciousness which means that we are no longer paying attention to the open doors in front of us ... to the people around us.

Who are we without our friends? Our degrees? Our backgrounds? Our style? Our cars? Our possessions? Our grade point averages? Our I.Q.? Our family members and history? Our ages? Our gender? Our political bent? Our neighborhoods? Our bank accounts? Our mobile phones and other modes of connectivity? Our ethnicity? Our weight, height? Who are we stripped of all external identifiers?

We really have nothing to do with these external things to which we hold onto so tightly.

The only "I" or YOU that exists is, ahem, the ORANGE ... the succulent, juicy, delicious, nutritious, fragrant, complete, ripe YOU. Unfettered by stats, charts, descriptors.

You defy description with mere mortal language! You are. That is enough for me! And when we know this and act from this knowing, the people around us are a lot more comfortable. And that’s good business.

The Confidence Connection

Jennifer ann gordon — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:30:36 GMT

Observing when I feel most confident, I realized that patience is a key element. It's a mobius strip. Patience and Confidence feed each other seamlessly. Confidence and patience go hand in hand. Without patience, confidence lacks the oxygen it needs to breathe, grow, and relax.

Patience ripens good ideas. Patience lets unprofitable ideas fall by their own weight. Patience deepens relationships.

Is patience passive? Does "being patient" mean letting things lie? Quite the opposite.

Patience is a pro-active choice ... a decision ... a vibrant, curious, inquisitive, humane practice. It is doing something. Patience creates open space and safety for new ideas to flourish. Patience allows people to find the right words and their own power.

Patience is the nutrient we need to grow our confidence. Patience is listening. Staying curious. Always seeking creative solutions. Trusting the process of integrity and the power of focus, clarity and diligence. Patience is paying attention to the details. Patience understands the "Law of Gestation," and gives people and new ideas the space they need. Patience leads by example. By listening deeply. Patience always has the big picture in mind.

Impatience is born of fear, hurry up, equating "doing" with worth and accomplishment. We cram our days and our nights with doing, anxiety, noise, connectivity -- and myriad other distractions from being fully present and open to the now.

Patience requires feeding ourselves silence. Patience cultivates awareness of and receptivity to the open doors before us. It is an active state of peace whereby we pay attention to and focus on our great work without fear.

The worse kind of impatience is impatience with ourselves, with our perceived shortcomings and professional and personal development. This kind of impatience is harsh and forgets to trust the gorgeous growing process. When we are impatient with ourselves, we end up being impatient with others and situations. Impatience prevents us from making the right decisions at the right time and from taking the appropriate actions.

The more patient we are with ourselves, the more quickly we're able to respond to an opportunity, an injustice, a new idea and to one another.

Patience is the Confidence Connection.

Passion for Leadership ... Voice for Change

Jennifer ann gordon — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:45:18 GMT

Taos, New Mexico. Yoga every morning. Bountiful, gorgeous, nourishing meals around a big table. Wine and cheese every night. Adobe softness, rather womb-like. Fires in the fireplace. A lot of laughter. Some tears. Storytelling. Creating. Crafting. Listening. Listening. Listening. Questions. Exploration. Learning. New Mexico sky.

This was my Taos experience, the first real vacation I’d had since my twenties. The women’s leadership retreat, Passion for Leadership... Voice for Change expanded my universe. Catapulted my confidence to the next level. Encouraged me to be fully myself. Showed me what wonders occur when a woman is listened to with undivided attention and without judgment. And gave me eleven more incredible women to include as “family.”

I left Taos a whole woman. In the words of one of the women who attended this leadership retreat, “Do whatever it takes to get there.

More Than A Manicure

Jennifer ann gordon — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:11:42 GMT

"As women, we cannot do enough for ourselves. We may get a manicure and say, "Look what I am doing for myself." Yet, we could allow ourselves so much more love, self-care, pleasure, fun, power and authority. We have to believe that we deserve a bigger place in this world, that we have lots to say and our stories and ideas are important. CONFIDENCE 2010 will really address this and help women create their own transformations.”

-- Dr. Barbara Cavalier

Catalyst of CONFIDENCE 2010

& Co-facilitator of

Passion for Leadership ... Voice for Change