Volume 5, Issue 1 – January 2004
Institute for Women’s Leadership eNews
Welcome to IWL’s eNews designed to inform and inspire you about the progress of our global leadership community and commitments.
1) Alumni Profile
Gretchen McCoy, Visa International
1) What are your name, title, organization and accountability?
Gretchen McCoy, Senior Vice President, Technology Management Group, Visa International. I am responsible for delivering global, business-driven technology direction and optimal solutions for the Visa organization.
2a) When and why did you attend Executives Leading Sustainable Change?
I attended the first ELSC program, ELSC 2002, because I wanted to understand the challenges that other key executives were facing in the area of effectively leading large scale, complex global initiatives. Networking with other executives was also a reason why I attended this session.
2b) When and why did you attend any other IWL programs (ELSC, PLC, etc.)?
I made arrangements with IWL to bring the ‘Leading High Performance Teams’ program onsite at Visa. I had my global team attend the course and had very positive results.
3) What skills have you used the most since the program(s)?
This applied learning experience provided communication tools and leadership techniques which enabled the global team to achieve breakthrough resulting in several million dollars of savings. This was accomplished by applying the newly acquired collaborative dialogue and discovery technique skills.
4a) What results are you most proud of having produced at work? What did the results allow for?
In addition to the breakthrough cost savings in several million dollars for Visa, the impact that the programs have had on me personally have been to make me a more effective leader. I have shifted my perception and thinking, and improved my communication skills and my day-to-day practices.
4b) What results are you most proud of having produced anywhere else (optional)?
By applying what I learned in ELSC, I am generating a new and expanded level of trust and deeper relationships with people.
5) What resources do you want from or do you have to offer the rest of the IWL community as you continue your leadership journey?
I would like to continue to stay connected with the alumni network and share my experiences and help others along their leadership journey. We are all in this together!
Gretchen can be reached at gmccoy@visa.com
2) Coach’s Column – Being Open to Coaching Moments: An Essential Leadership Quality
…I was not in the best of moods as I approached the tollbooth. The attendant had a beaming smile and an emphatic greeting, “I love you too much! I love your friend too much! You just have a wonderful evening!”
Discover what Heather learned from a tollbooth attendant and its value to you.
3) Book Review of ‘Attracting Perfect Customers,’ by Stacey Hall, Jan Brogniez
As I read through ‘Attracting Perfect Customers,’ I kept noticing how much the method shared by authors Stacey Hall and Jan Brogniez, is aligned with IWL’s Leading by Context™ approach. Like Leading by Context™, ‘Attracting Perfect Customers’ provides a refreshing place to stand to create a ‘world that works’ by ‘being,’ ‘declaring,’ and working WITH the flow (or laws) of the Universe. More.
5) A Note from Rayona
Happy New Year! Can you believe that it is already 2004? By the time you get this I will be putting the finishing touches on my daughter’s university selection tour. Yes, Chelsea is almost 17 and finishing her junior year in high school. Some of you will remember stories I have told about her since she was a toddler and now she’s almost off to college! I hope those of you with younger children are enjoying every free minute that you can with them because the time flies by quickly.
Well, 2003 was a fantastic year for IWL. We continued on our journey of double digit, profitable growth in a down economy and completed major projects in the US, Australia and Canada. I fully expect 2004 to continue this trend and I’m hoping that you’ll continue to be an active part of our community.
IWL continues to grow and change. We recently said good-bye to Jenell Sausser who did a fabulous job of putting in infrastructure for IWL and has moved on to being a benefits manager for companies between 2-20 people.
We welcome aboard Gwen Rubin who is handling some of Jenell’s previous responsibility and has an even bigger task of supporting me as an executive assistant.
We have also added Loretta Booker and Victoria Castle to our coaching faculty and very importantly we have hired Jeannette Nelson to manage our entire Women Leading Change (WLC) and Partners Leading Change (PLC) programs portfolio.
We are growing by leaps and bounds while continuing to sustain a culture of communication, collaboration and co-creation, which can be very challenging during a high growth period. My newly found freedom of operating with grace and ease has been tested more than once, but all in all it is still winning out over ‘nose to the grindstone.’ ☺
We also have forged some partnerships with colleagues from Linkage Inc., Catalyst, the International Museum of Women, Women of Silicon Valley, Apartment Professionals Magazine, University of California San Francisco Center for Gender Equity and Women in Technology International (WITI) all of whom are deeply committed to women’s leadership development. We continue to believe that it is through collaboration that our greatest dreams for the equal partnership of women and men will be realized. I do not have all of the details of how these partnerships will unfold yet, and you can be sure that I am seeking direct benefits for you as IWL Alumni.
January 12th launches the official start of our new executive development program called, Executives Leading Sustainable Change. As you may remember we piloted this very successfully last year and now have added somenew curriculum that will be featured in the business section of the San Jose Mercury News in mid-January. Just to give you a sense of some aspects of this new curriculum we have partnered with IWL alumni Staci Haines and Ariana Strozzi Heckler to include work with both ‘equine guided education’ and ‘somatic sensibility and presence.’
I am committed to bringing the most innovative work being done in leadership development and blend it with our own Leading by Context™ distinctions so that clients get the full range of possibility in developing knowing, doing and being capabilities.
Last but not least I am putting the finishing touches on a book chapter to be included in the 2004 Linkage Women’s leadership book. As soon as the book is available I will let you know how to purchase it.
Please keep on the lookout for our new website makeover, thanks to PLC alumni Eddie Olson. I’ll send out a formal announcement as soon as we go live!
In the meantime, please do keep in touch and let us know how we can be of service to you, whether it is in celebrating your accomplishments, looking for a new job, or bringing us into your company to spread Leading by Context™ throughout your team or entire organization. We’d love to work with you to transform the way work gets done and the ever expanding opportunities for you to make your fullest contribution at work!
Stay in touch and love,
Rayona
Rayona Sharpnack
President, IWL
rayona@womensleadership.com
