New women's conference focuses on leadership.

Strengthening and honing women's leadership skills was the focus of the Northern Ontario Women's Leadership Forum held at the Valhalla Inn in Thunder Bay Nov. 17-18.

Women do not hold CEO positions in great numbers, Rebecca Johnson, Thunder Bay city councillor and initiator of the forum says. So how can the region assist women in developing leadership presence?

Eight women in Thunder Bay gathered with Johnson to brainstorm on ways to develop this idea. From those discussions other agencies were included in the October 2004 meeting. That was when the concept of a leadership forum was presented.

A task force was set up with each one of the eight women overseeing specific interests.

"I floated out of that meeting," Johnson says.

"This, I thought, is going to happen."

Women require a different skill set than men. Self-confidence building, delegation, public speaking, promoting visions, team building, conflict resolution, collaboration, achieving balance and addressing challenges are all part of the makings of a well-rounded female CEO.

Former vice-president of CNN and presenter, Gail Evans, says women need to become team players. Boys understand this at a very young age through team sports. It is the social conditioning that teaches boys to win and girls not to be discouraged if they don't.

"We have to go from the "I" to "we," she says.

Evans doesn't much care about what has happened in the past. It is what women are going to do to alter the future that interests her. They can draw upon their support system to share insights and discoveries, take credit for their ideas and coach one another. She wants women to ask for leadership positions or the raise they feel entitled to, but "we need to learn to ask smartly," she says.

"Make sure the words you use are words you can live with six months from now."

Speaker Margot Franssen, says women need to match careers with their personal and social beliefs. After selling Body Shop Canada Ltd. she embarked a new passion, becoming CEO and president of Bibelot Inc., a subsidiary of Accessorize in Canada. Accessorize is part of Monsoon Group of the UK and a founding member of the Fair Trade initiative. Franssen measures her success by how she treats the frail and weak, not by how much profit soared for the shareholders.

"I don't want to live long if it is the wrong life," Franssen says.

Catherine Daw, president of SPM Group, Jackie Dojack, owner of Dojack Associates Ltd. and Northern Ontario Medical School CEO Dorothy Wright all spoke on the importance of the willingness to take a risk, strengthen one's position, remain flexible, endure growing pains and keep the channels of communication open.

Martha Wyrsch, CEO of Duke Energy Gas Transmission, made a presentation on behalf of their sister company, Union Gas. Balance is key to her these days. Work and family consume the majority of her time. Learning when to say yes or no allows Wyrsch to keep focused on her priorities. Power and passion are transformable, she says. When one lives with passion they likely take others with them.

"When everything else is stripped away, character prevails," she says.

In 2007, northeastern Ontario will have the opportunity to host the women's leadership forum.

By KELLY LOUISEIZE

Northern Ontario Business