Last week I had the honor of opening Women of the Channel West. This conference focuses on women in the information technology channel community -- some of our top technology sales strategy leaders. The San Francisco event was the first time this conference had come to the west coast and I think we did a great job hosting. Here is a gracious summary of my keynote by Kari Hamanaka, including quotes from the audience. It thrills me that they found the ideas actionable and that they plan to put them into use.
My slides are here and I’m happy to talk with anyone about the meat behind the images. I had the chance to push the limits of how we might "lead by letting go" across work, leadership, education, and mentoring.
The full speaker list is here (click for abstracts), including the amazing closing keynote by Holly Green on being “elite.” The workshops were also standouts and I especially enjoyed connecting with Luanne Tierney as she is part of the growing Santa Clara University women in business network. Her 12 strategies for for success in the future world of work are dead on.
The Big Picture
Kari Hamanaka also did a great job summarizing the sessions by Riverbed’s Michele Hayes and Avnet’s Therese Bassett. Keys: Be willing to be afraid, promote your wins, and understand your employees’ needs and goals. Some of my favorite moments:
- Hayes’ story of her escape from Alcatraz swim and the perspective that puts on work.
- Bassett speaking the truth of, "There is no greater buzzkill than to say we want you to be engaged so that you can pound out more work.”
Don’t stop with my snippets, take a look at Hamanaka’s summary and the full list of the talks and workshops. Let me know if you'd like to know more about how you can lead by letting go.