4 keys to readjust when times are tough. #leadership #socent #women

The Brazilian martial art Capoeira teaches us a simple way to take stock, grow and develop:

Look for ways to train and learn as much as you can, in order to find these four elements in the same place, at the same time:


Focus, timeliness, (self-) control, and balance.

I have used this at times when I had difficulty making a business - or a life- decision - 
I have used this when i wasn't sure if what we did mattered at all.
It helps to realign your thoughts and your actions.
Please share!

Meet 9 women who tilt the world upside down

A massive "thank you" to all who have applied to the Women's Social Leadership Awards. Our amazing judges have selected 9 of them in 3 categories, in a very close competition.
These women are offering models for impact and showing leadership qualities that can be learned and replicated.

We are now opening the poll for the People's Vote! Select here your favourite Woman Social Leader and tell us why she deserves to win...

The winner will receive her award on June 4th 2013 during the Women's Social Leadership Awards event, held at OLSWANG, our Partners' venue in Central London, where we hope to meet you too!

Category "Leader in the Workplace | Intermediary" 2013 Jeroo Billimoria | Child Youth Finance International | The Netherlands | @JerooBillimoria @ChildFinance Kathryn Llewellyn | Positive Women | Wales & Swaziland | @positive_women @kat_llewellyn Marcelle Speller | LocalGiving | UK | www.localgiving.com |@marcellespeller @localgiving Category "Leader in Campaigns and Charitable Organisations" 2013 Akudo Anuanwu Ikemba | Friends Africa | Nigeria | @akudoikemba Brinda Crishna | VAANI - Deaf's Children Foundation | India | @VaaniDCF Madalina Mocan | Ratiu Foundation for Democracy | Romania | @ratiucenter Category "Social Business Leader" 2013 Benita Matofska | The People who share // compareandshare.com | UK | @benitamatofska @peoplewhoshare Dr Jane Davis | The Reader Organisation | UK | @readerjanedavis Sofia Bustamante | London Creative Labs | UK | @olasofia @LonCreativeLabs The awards are kindly supported by OLSWANG

8 Essential Questions to Ask Yourself - #women #socent

Panmela Castro - Anarkia Boladona - 
Political & Arts Activist
Leader Rede Nami (Nami Network)

From our conversations and research with women social entrepreneurs, most of them point at questions they wished someone had asked them when they started their venture. Here's a sample:

1. "What are your top priorities and what's your plan to achieving them?" In hindsight, if I was more focused and strategic about how I allocated my time, I would have achieved much more

2. "I once read that the perfect social business is the intersection of what you are passionate about, where your skill set lies, and what makes you angry about the world. I think this is a great filter to test any new ideas and when I was struggling at the beginning to find my voice, this would have been helpful.

3. "What makes you cross and what are you going to do about it?"

4. "If you drew a map of your life, how much would the career component cover?"
Sometimes ambitions don't align with a harmonious balance in life. I'm a lot happier now that I'm more honest about how I want to share out my life between my work and my family and everything else. 

5."What is your favorite quote and what does it say about what you want to do?"

6. "Are you ready to lead? "In order to lead, you’ll have to step out of your comfort zone. And that whilst some people will admire you for that, others will project their own fears onto you and give you a hard time for daring to be audacious."

7. "How passionate do you think you are going to need to be?" "The answer is... "very". But you need to align it with discipline. A lot of it.

8. "What question would you like to ask your 16 year old self?"

Read about other essential questions women social entrepreneurs ask themselves here.

If you feel it's time to step back and look at your current & future work, and/or your life direction, request a call back on how the Ogunte coaching can help you!

Do women social entrepreneurs face capital punishment?

Women and Girls can move mountains... Yet drastic inconsistency in capturing the real impact of women in general, and women social entrepreneurs in particular could have a slowing effect on growth.

Servane Mouazan, CEO of Ogunte, the UK organisation that accelerates women social entrepreneurs, says: 

"Despite media attention on women entrepreneurs on one side, and a growing demand for accountability and sustainable business practices on the other side, women social entrepreneurs' contribution in the economy is overlooked by policymakers and there's a critical lack of academic research on this topic.  

On top of this, we only start now to push gendered metrics in impact investment and there is still a lot of work to be done to standardise what already exists."

Ogunte's own research among successful women social leaders globally, shows that almost 1 out of 4 women social entrepreneurs state "capital punishment" as the first barrier to grow their venture (sustained funding, commercial finance). One out of five cite lack of packaged external support ( combination of partnerships, mentoring, and technical assistance, pressure of mainstream cultural habits, sometimes unethical) as an obstacle to their development. Discrimination and prejudice comes third in their list of barriers. 

"So it's our mission to tackle these issues, by sharing processes that we've identified among successful Women Social Entrepreneurs and Activists, and that they use to further their cause, develop themselves to approach obstacles differently, and get results. It's a question of behaviour and structures...

1- Embrace flexibility: accelerate with focus

I am convinced that gendered focused accelerators and incubators are necessary to fill the gaps and contribute to produce great social ventures, supported by well branded communications, robust operations and smart networks. But they do not need to be in physical spaces. They should be conceived as smart networks first.

The women social entrepreneurs I know are travelling around. They also have got retails to run, patients to care for, green spaces to manage, employees or clients to train, materials to source and export, technology to develop, b2b or b2c meetings to attend. They are not all based in large city centres, some also live in rural areas, sea side, small communities. 

Not everybody needs to be linked from the womb to a computer in someone else's building, 24/7, nor do they have the space/time to add another semi-permanent location to their already busy schedule, and the transport to get there. Not forgetting their -shared- caring duties that don't simply vanish overnight and that force them to be back at home by 3pm.

Accelerators need to adapt to their needs, not the other way round. It's easier to include remote digital hangouts and occasionally introduce live meetings to create the necessary intimacy of confidential group discussions.

Accelerators are great when they focus on providing resources to facilitate collection of evidence, proof of impact, development challenges, real technical assistance and not just involvement from sector pin-ups or great orators, on top of an eco-desk and a fancy coffee house.

If acceleration is also about promoting the peer-to-peer learning and experimentation, it shouldn't add unnecessary logistic pressure to the venture.

One way to adjust offering is to ask a woman how she can use her phone or VOIP to avoid commuting or extra childcare, or what her best times are to attend events.

2- Reject social deviancy labels

Women are not a niche market. But sexism in parliament, girls sex trafficking, police refusing to record rape claims, white male board members as default setup in large companies, stereotyped so called "female sectors or occupations", girls forbidden to surf, all these news items, as extreme they can be, are just contributing to making women social deviants, sometimes victimised, sometimes ostracised, inconvenient outsiders. 

I am also a bit perplex about the stereotype that makes us believe that women are over-emotional beings, lacking confidence, risk averse individuals, and nurturing staff like mother hens. This is anecdotal, whereas evidence consistently leads us to other facts. See particularly the work on Gender and Business, by Dr Rebecca Harding from Delta Economics). 

Did you know that evidence shows that women in low and high growth businesses are better than men at identifying market niches or opening up new markets? And, also, that when women work part-time on their business, they are less likely to bring it to high-growth stage. 

So business support should start with provision of structures that enable women to work full-time and with quality on their business. This is how Shazia Mustafa from ThirdDoor justifies her venture, a co-working space with an on-site creche, based in South London, and working in total harmony with her local community.

Far from being in a pink bubble, the Social Enterprise sector is not immune from presenting worrying symptoms. Why? Because, with an increasing involvement of large companies or public organisations, as funders, mentors, clients of social businesses, you can expect bad habits to leak.

Women social entrepreneurs and their male supporters, colleagues and clients can join forces to accelerate and sustain change. We need evidence put forward, we need academics to propose research papers on the topic - and not be blocked. We need policymakers to reflect the real contribution of women (social) entrepreneurs in the economy and support bold regulatory measures. We need affordable and GOOD childcare, and support for carers (male included).

3. Be a smart connector not just a mechanical networker.

Successful women social entrepreneurs are great at maximising their opportunities by having a clear management of content and processes. Networking just for the sake of growing your mailing list isn't working - because it only covers a cosmetic process, it doesn't nurture your content. 

From what we've observed, successful women entrepreneurs build relationships to learn about their own field, their clients' and ever changing trends. They set up focus groups, mentoring relationships and peer support groups because they want to be surprised, maximise the flow of information both ways through word of mouth and experiential learning. 

Importantly, they seem to be very vocal about their cause but they still want challenges, debates, and influence from experts across industries. They want to build the business case.

Benita Matofska from The People who Share and Compareandshare.com does behave like this. She is contributing to growing the sharing economy movement with global networks, and is building a business principle.

4. Monitor mentors

Corporate mentors should be very clear about what they want to learn in the process of "giving back" to social entrepreneurs. If they fail to tell you openly what the real gain is for them, stay far away from them. 

I see mentoring as an interactive and equal content/process relationship. It should look more like an open innovation interaction. And in doing so, it is worth the investment in time and resources for women social business leaders."

Read Servane's interview with Hatty Richmond for the NextWomen.com 

Servane Mouazan CEO Ogunte a one woman social revolution

Women's Social Leadership Awards are open for nominations until March 11th 2013. More information here.

Why McKinsey won’t get its moms back

Featured Article by Anke Gosch. This article first appeared on her blog UEBERFLIEGER.

An article by Leslie Kwoh in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal claims that McKinsey wants its moms back: “the big consulting firm is quietly reaching out to female employees who left some years ago—presumably to start families—to see whether they are ready to return”.

I am quite sceptical about this initiative, and even more so of the article itself. The first is the underlying assumption that those moms are now “managing a household“ (as the article portrays it) and are waiting to be called back into the workforce. I remember reading a study by one of the Big Four accountancies during the dotcom era. When they were considering calling “their moms” back, they found out that almost all of them were actually already back at work – somewhere else! It’s hard to imagine McKinsey alumnae would be any different. Many women (including me) actually leave McKinsey because of lifestyle issues before they even have children. Here are two prominent women who quit McKinsey in recent years before ever having children and what they did after:

• Chelsea Clinton – joined hedge fund Avenue Capital, now a board member and senior executive of major non-profit initiatives
• Kathy Minshew – founded the Daily Muse, included in the Forbes 30 under 30 list and voted among INC’s 15 women to watch in tech

Closer to home, my business school companions who left top consultancies due to lifestyle issues include founders of a high growth fashion startup, a director of a specialty chemicals company, a Vice President of Marketing of a FTSE 100 company and severalhigh profile social entrepreneurs. The “McKinsey moms” that I know are no different. I don’t know a single case of a recent McKinsey alumna who just decided to “manage a household” for longer than couple of years (in fact, I don’t even know any who did it for less than a couple of years, but let’s say for argument’s sake it might happen for a brief time). I do, however, know plenty of women who quit consulting once they started thinking of having a family and are now founders, CEOs, freelance consultants, Oxford university professors, senior members of ministries for economics and development in their countries, and managers of bluechip companies. Are they sitting on the playground for years, talking about babies? Sometimes, but certainly not for long. Are they likely to come back to a consulting role? Hardly. Because here’s a piece of news: highly skilled women today aren’t sitting at home for years waiting for outdated corporate models to change. They have taken things into their own hands (and by the way – increasingly, men don’t want to put up with unsustainable lifestyles either – now here’s a problem for corporations!).

What gives me such confidence to claim the alleged initiative is not going to take off (there isn’t actually any data in the article to back up that such an initiative even exists, not even what you would call anecdotal evidence) ? Let me give you an example: following the Lehman bankruptcy in September 2008, investment banks fired thousands of workers in panic, expecting a total collapse. Among those was a friend and McKinsey alumna turned Goldman Sachs banker in London. She told me that about a dozen bankers in her team were fired on the spot and used the opportunity to take a year off work to travel the world and plan new ventures. A couple of months into their travels, somewhere on the beaches of Australia, these same ex-bankers received an unexpected call from their former bosses at Goldman Sachs:business had picked up again, and would they like to come back? Do you think anyone cut short their surfing holidays? You guessed right: not a single member of the team accepted.

I imagine much the same would happen if those who quit McKinsey were called back – most will already have started a new career and will be too busy and happy in their new role to go back. And those who are actually really sitting at home waiting for that call – they might be the least likely group willing to make the sacrifice. Chances are, McKinsey knows this, and the lack of actual facts for this alleged initiative in the WSJ is a reflection of that. In my time at McKinsey, I have actually seen female alumnae hired back – as career coaches or communication experts working freelance providing training for junior consultants. This is the most likely way in which McKinsey and “its moms’” paths will cross again in the future.

The most ludicrous claim in the article is that before returning to work, “women first need to brush up Excel skills and social media tools” so relevant for businesses today! If there is one group that is ahead of the pack when it comes to Facebook and Pinterest, it is the millions of moms with iPhones! It is much more likely that sleep-deprived McKinsey consultants working 70-hour weeks have much to learn in this respect, as their lifestyle leaves them little time to browse the web, tweet and check Facebook status updates (admittedly, I was the exception, composing blogposts on my blackberry during my constant flights and taxi rides)! Chances are, McKinsey will hire them back as social media experts, working according to their own schedule and on their own terms!

If there is one piece of advice I remember from my time with McKinsey, it is that given by the Firm’s managing director at the time, Ian Davis, speaking at one of our analyst trainings. He said that being a success at McKinsey doesn’t mean making partner. Success means that later in life, when you look back at your time, you have no regrets, because you learned a lot, enjoyed your time and met great people. I am confident most people who leave consulting feel exactly that way. But then they move on, never to look back.

About Anke Gosch:
Anke studied psychology and international relations, graduating from the University of St Andrews (UK) in 2004. After working long hours as a strategy consultant at McKinsey, she embarked on an MBA at the London Business School, during which she worked on the trading floor and at a hedge fund in Mayfair, and has worked as a trader at a global investment bank in London ever since. Her first day on the trading floor was the day Lehman Brothers went bankrupt! Most importantly, recently she had her second daughter who is just as wonderful and miraculous as the first one! She is enjoying the flexibility of her maternity leave to dedicate more time to her ultimate passion of blogging at ueberflieger.net and tweeting

Make a Wave PI host | Suzanne Biegel #3 | How can I access philanthropic circles?

As promised, here's another guidance article inspired by Suzanne Biegel, Angel Investor and Entrepreneur, host on Make a Wave P.I. live seminar, on 14th of January 2013.

One participant asked about Philanthropic circles. This community doesn't like to publicise too much. A recurrent question among social entrepreneurs is "How can we know which philanthropists are interested in which causes...! And how can we find them?"

In essence, you have to put yourself in the skin of a recruiter!

Suzanne advised to go hunting on the web and social media to start a search for philanthropists interested in specific causes. Just start with simple key words and see what blogs or articles come up.

Start with search terms that are connected to the industries relevant to your venture.

Explore twitter lists with specific hashtags/key words.

Look at similar entrepreneurs' stories.
If you work with young women offenders, for instance, look at Working Chance and Jocelyn Hillman,their Founder and Chief Executive.
Jocelyn created Working Chance because she saw first-hand the barriers to employment faced by women ex-offenders and the lack of coordinated support on offer to them on release. The recruitment consultancy places ex female offenders with companies such as Pret a Manger and M&S.
They have approached Impetus Trust that specialise in poverty alleviation and fights economic disadvantage. Impetus have a very clear purpose, totally related to Working Chance. (read the story here)

Look up for foundations specialised in Girls and Women:
Eg: Women's Foundation - Supports projects that protect vulnerable women and girls in the UK. 
Eg: Community Foundation Women's Funds

Then look up for the aggregators, the connectors, the match makers who gravitate in and around these networks, they are the ones who talk the most, advise the most, appear in most networking events that both entrepreneurs AND funders visit.

What are their networks made of? What do they look for? Who do they work for?

Next, you have to identify who are the intermediaries - these are individuals or organisations who work on behalf of some angels, family foundations, investors. They do the due diligence - or a big part of - and also work by themes or specific industries.

Generally, they will be your point of contact. You might not be successful in accessing philanthropists directly. (They are submerged with requests... not a good way to start!)

Have a look at incubators and accelerators' events, or entrepreneurial competitions, that will be visited by all sort of finance people and other entrepreneurs.

Once you have identified potential "candidates", reverse the process, do the due diligence on these organisations. 

Have they got industry experts on their board, how do they work with their investees. What are their drivers. 

Do they understand your industry and the specific objectives you have.

What is their pipeline like. 

How do the successful deals or grants look like, their conditions, their exit strategies.

Bottom line, save a large chunk of time for this search, it is part of your strategy.

Make a Wave PI host | Suzanne Biegel #2 | What angels might expect from you

Following up on our latest post, here's another set of tips by Suzanne Biegel, Angel Investor and Entrepreneur, host on Make a Wave P.I. live seminar, on 14th of January 2013.

What do you wish entrepreneurs have prepared, by the time they come to you?

Knowledge/Skills

I'd like to feel you are clear on what you know vs what you don't yet know.

I want to hear about what you want to learn in the next year, to move your business forward.

Money

How far will my capital take your business, how much of a cushion/buffer do you need.

Valuation

Is your valuation rational, does it fit with the amount I want to put in?

Impact

Are you clear on the social and environmental impact you would be in position to make if you grow.

Marketability

I'd like to see a service/product that has been validated by paying customers.

Team

Can the entrepreneurs tell me about hard decisions they had to make regarding their team, and how they made them.

This counts as well for business choices.

Due Diligence Pack

Entrepreneurs should know what investors are going to ask them, or look for. Entrepreneurs really need to be in position to provide answers or most answers.

And I want to see good references!

Angels who have burnt their wings investing with their heart rather than with their head, really want to see the business value of your proposition. You might have a great story every one will fall in love with, a great cause to fight for, a fabulous brand, but if you haven't worked out the logistics to bring your product to market or planned ahead to bring enough capital to make all this happen, you will not be in position to move forward.

In fact, you might even get propositions to expand and scale rapidly but, by not having the logistics planned ahead, or the skills in your team/board to move forward, this will be the kiss of death, and the potential end of your business.

So as an Angel, I want to hear about a solid USP, I want to have the evidence that customers or buyers feel they are missing something, and they they would want your product/service.

I want to see the evidence that you are building your business first, rather than working only on the story!

Specifically for entrepreneurs with family or caring responsibility, at the end of the day, I want to know that you can be available when needed. So is your private logistics in order?

What are typical blinders you come across among entrepreneurs?

"You are so in love with your own story that you cannot hear input."

"You are so in love with your own idea for a product/service but haven't validated it with the market"

"You haven't done your homework on how the business makes money"

"Have you really figured out your social impact AND is this the best use of money to get to that outcome?"

"Have you really thought smartly about doing this on your own vs. partnering up for it?"

"Who is handling the day to day blocking and tackling - billing/invoicing, collecting, managing financials, managing inventory, keeping YOU reigned in?"

"Who is asking you hard questions and there for you when things get rough? Do you have the right people in your world  who will challenge you and support you?"

Read Suzanne's bio at the end of this blog.