Hello everyone,

Women in Business Discussion Group Tuesday 28 June May 2016 | 5.45pm – 8pm | CPA Centre Level 3, 111 Harrington St

For our June session we are excited to welcome Kate Mills, CEO of the Financial Executives Institute and CEO/Founder of ProfessionalMums.net, to present “How to find a mentor and build a successful mentoring program”.

In this insightful presentation you will:

•        Understanding the difference between mentoring, sponsoring and coaching

•        Where to find a mentor

•        The FEI Mentoring Program

•        How to make your mentoring relationship a successful one

Kate is a highly experienced business journalist turned strategist with a particular focus on innovation, business and not-for-profits. This includes:

•      Mentoring advocate as the CEO of Financial Executives Institute of Australia (FEI).

•      Gender diversity innovator as the CEO and founder of ProfessionalMums.net.

•      Business speaker with a particular focus on digital strategies, finance, diversity and content frameworks.

•      Freelance Editor and Content Strategist @ The Business Mills.

•      Regular Business Commentator on Sky Business and ABC.

Kate previous roles include Editor BRW and Editor CFO Magazine.  Her focus is on:

•      Education and learning in the finance sector

•      Diversity in the workforce

•      Living in the digital revolution and what it means for the way we work and business models

•      Work-life balance

•      Economics and business news

To attend, please RSVP to Reis at cpawibfb@gmail.com or via Facebook by 5pm Friday 24 June.

Women in Business Discussion Group Tuesday 24 May 2016 | 5.45pm – 8pm | CPA Centre Level 3, 111 Harrington St

For our May session we welcome Stacey Ashley to present How to Fast Track Your Leadership Without Stress & Long Hours. 

In this interactive event you’ll learn how to:

·         Stop being reactive

·         Stop rescuing & start building accountability in others

·         And become the leader you want to be

You’ll discover:

·         The 3 keys to strategic leadership

·         How to move from problem solving to value adding

·         How to save an hour a day, using the right questions

·         How you don’t need to be the expert to be an effective leader

Nominated for the 2013 Telstra Business Women’s awards, Stacey Ashley is the Managing Director of Ashley Coaching and Consulting.

Stacey is a Master Coach and leader within the Australian coaching community and holds an impressive array of national and international accreditations. Stacey is also a certified trainer and she regularly shares her expertise with others by delivering the most highly accredited workplace & business coaching programs in Australia. She works with executives, senior management and teams from many of Australia’s leading corporations, along with private clients.

Stacey believes we can all achieve our potential and focuses more and more on the creation of Coaching Cultures in organisations, and Happiness at Work, enabling leaders and individuals to bring out the best in themselves and the people around them.

Her passion lies in the personal and professional development field, where she utilises the latest thinking in neuroscience and positive psychology combined with ancient wisdom to support the development of authentic leadership. As part of her on-going self-development she is also the only coach within Australia to hold three specialised practitioner qualifications in the emerging fields of The Science of Happiness at work, Story Coaching and mBraining.

Prior to becoming a coach, Stacey held Senior Leadership positions in Telecommunications, Finance and IT including GM Business Support Systems, GM Billing & Provisioning Services and GM Future Technology. She has an outstanding track record for leading and developing teams across a multitude of disciplines.

Stacey has been featured in national and international publications such as SMH, The Age, Canberra Times, NETT, Australian Business Solutions Magazine, Management Today, Leaders in Heels, Women’s Agenda, HRD, HR Online, The Educator, Business Director and CEO Magazines, ICF Coaching World, Global Coaching Magazine and InTheBlack Magazine and is a co-author of Understanding Y. She is also a regular speaker on mBraining, Workplace Coaching and Happiness at Work.

Ashley Coaching & Consulting has been nominated for the Telstra Business Awards in 2015 & 2016.

She is a speaker and corporate story teller who will raise your awareness, equip you with new skills and inspire you to take action...

Stacey is passionate about leading and facilitating great change. Enabling people to be their best, to bring out the best in others, and create extraordinary results for themselves and their organisations

To attend, please RSVP to Reis at cpawibfb@gmail.com or via Facebook by 5pm Friday 20 May.

Women in Business Discussion Group Tuesday 26 April 2016 | 5.45pm – 8pm | CPA Centre Level 3, 111 Harrington St

For our April session we welcome Mark D’Silva to present Thali of Confidence. 

Thali in Hindi means "plate" – the Thali is a round platter used to serve food and offers 6 different flavours of sweet, salt, bitter, sour, astringent and spicy on one single plate (a perfect balance).

In this forum Mark reveals: his Pakistani heritage, the transformation from being introverted to becoming confident and how his life changed through speaking.

You will be served 6 Confidence building strategies including:

·         Talking your way to success

·         How you walk can make a substantial difference to your confidence 

·         Visualising to build confidence

·         How using one special word can build relationships

·         Discover this one secret guaranteed to make you confident!

Bring your appetite with you!

Mark D’Silva is CEO and founder of Speak 2 Peak. His mission is to help people speak like Leaders: with confidence, sincerity and passion.

Mark is three times NSW Public Speaking champion and has represented Australia at the World Championship of Public Speaking finals held in Canada.

Mark coaches people including business owners and CEOs to deliver messages that influence and inspire.

Mark runs corporate workshops, speaks at conferences and is publishing his up-coming book ‘Zing! Speak like a Leader’.

To attend, please RSVP to Reis at cpawibfb@gmail.com or via Facebook by 5pm Thursday 21 April.

Women in Business Discussion Group Tuesday 22 March 2016 | 5.45pm – 8pm | CPA Centre Level 3, 111 Harrington St

For our March session we welcome Steve Skinner to present “The Digital CFO and Transforming your Finance Function”.  If you are looking a new perspective on how Finance collects and turns data into valuable, decision making information, attend this insightful presentation.  Steven will guide you through questions such as:

1.       Is my finance function where is needs to be today?  If not, what is tomorrow’s risk for your business?

2.       What plans do I have in place to transform my finance function?

3.       What resources and skill sets do I need to have in order to transform the finance function?

Steven has spent more than 20 years in the corporate world rising through the ranks and becoming a CFO & Company Secretary for an ASX Listed organization.  Steven is an experienced Director, Chaired an Advisory Board and participated on numerous board sub-committees. Steven has led 2 large business transformations programs for Gloria Jean’s Coffees and a division of Sonic Healthcare. Steven created, ran and sold BTO Group, a professional services firms that helped organisations with technology enabled business transformation programs.  Steven is currently working for NetSuite as part of the Finance Centre of Excellence team across the APJ region.  Steven believes that Governance, People, Processes and Systems are fundamental principles for any organization willing to transform their business.

To attend, please RSVP to Reis at cpawibfb@gmail.com or via Facebook by 5pm Friday 18 March.

Women in Business Discussion Group Tuesday 23 February 2016 | 5.45pm – 8pm | CPA Centre Level 3, 111 Harrington St

For our first session of 2016 we welcome Dr Claire Scobie to present Storytelling for Leaders - How to ensure your message is heard in 2016

Have you ever delivered a presentation to your team and known they weren’t listening? It’s not a good feeling. At work we often forget to talk like we do with friends and family. We forget to tell stories and use anecdotes to illustrate what we are trying to say. We rely on power points, jargon and complex language. No wonder people stop listening.

Stories can influence in ways that stats can’t and those businesses that tell the best ones will thrive in the 21^st-century. We are all hardwired to listen to stories, especially value-rich and motivating stories. They create meaning and connection between people. Too often we roll out a new strategy with data and facts, giving our team little reason to listen let alone implement the strategy. If a leader can harness the power of story it has a better chance to stick.

Dr Claire Scobie works with medium to large companies on how to harness the power of storytelling during times of change. She is accredited to deliver the Storytelling for Leaders™ program under license from Anecdote. She particularly enjoys working with women who want to accelerate their careers and communicate more effectively so their message is heard. Claire is the award-winning author of Last Seen in Lhasa, The Pagoda Tree and Basser, Baxter & Goldstein. She writes for numerous publications including Acuity, the Sydney Morning Herald and London’s Daily Telegraph; mentors corporate leaders; gives keynotes and facilitates workshops; and hosts literary tours to India with Abercrombie & Kent. In 2013 she completed a Doctor of Creative Arts degree at the University of Western Sydney. www.wordstruck.com.au.

To attend, please RSVP to Reis at cpawibfb@gmail.com or via Facebook by 5pm Friday 19 February.

Women in Business Discussion Group Tuesday 24 November 2015 | 5.45pm – 8pm | CPA Centre Level 3, 111 Harrington St

For our last session of 2015, we are delighted to welcome Dr Rosina McAlpine to present “Starting 2016 with clarity, conviction and confidence”.

Did you take advantage of the opportunities that crossed your path in 2015 or were you too busy simply trying to keep up with the fast pace of life?

Imagine what it would be like to start the new year with clarity, conviction and confidence – stepping into life with no self-doubt, no self-criticism and no negative self-talk. It is possible when you understand how your negative beliefs limit your potential and how even a small shift in your perspective can open exciting possibilities. In this talk, Dr Rosina McAlpine will explore the difference between self-esteem, self-confidence and self-efficacy and explain how understanding the distinctions can lead to a new self-concept and a more empowering way to approach your relationships, parenting, friendships and work.

Self-esteem and self-confidence are not the same thing, yet most people fail to understand the crucial difference. Self-esteem is the judgment you make about yourself. Take a moment to reflect – would you say you have good self-esteem or low self-esteem? Perhaps you feel confident and have positive words of encouragement for yourself – even when you make a mistake or fail. Or if you’re like most people, you may project confidence to the world, but inside you doubt yourself and your worth. Perhaps you look to your achievements or to others to feel of value. Over the coming weeks leading up to this talk, think about how you esteem yourself. Are your thoughts about yourself predominantly positive or self-critical or a mix of both? Take a mental note of how you talk to yourself and reflect on the choices you’ve made during 2015 based on your beliefs about what you could or couldn’t do.

When you learn to truly appreciate yourself just for who you are – and realise that you’re only limited by your own thoughts and beliefs  –  you’ll be able to step into 2016 with a new clarity, conviction and confidence.

Dr. Rosina McAlpine is an Associate Professor at the University of Sydney Business School and has a Masters degree and a PhD in education. She is an internationally recognised, award-winning researcher and educator receiving 5 outstanding teaching awards and 5 international best paper awards. Rosina’s research interests include navigating and negotiating work-life balance and gender equality. Since becoming a mother, she has developed the Win Win Parenting program to help working parents overcome the challenges of modern day parenting. Delivering her parenting program in the corporate world, Rosina’s clients include: Lendlease, Macquarie Bank,  CPA Australia, The Australian Human Rights Commission and Red Balloon among others. A keen researcher using the latest research in child development, Rosina has edited a book with chapters from leading minds around the world in psychology, neuro-science and biology for the book entitled Inspired Children: how the leading minds of today raise their children.

This will be a fun, enlightening talk, followed by canapés and lucky door prizes.  To attend, please RSVP to Reis at cpawibfb@gmail.com or via Facebook by 5pm Friday 20 November 2015.

Women in Business Discussion Group Tuesday 27 October 2015 | 5.45pm – 8pm | CPA Centre Level 3, 111 Harrington St

This month we welcome Career Coach and Personal Leadership Expert Holly MacCue for a talk on ‘How to Design Your Own Career Success’.

Have you ever asked yourself what success in your career actually means to you?  Can you relate to the feeling of getting caught up in what you ‘should’ be doing to achieve success, or have you ever found yourself panicking about where you are ‘supposed’ to be by now?

Do you feel that you have done everything ‘right’ to get to where you are today but still sometimes find yourself asking ‘is this IT?’?  Can it sometimes feel like advancing your career and getting to where you want is an endlessly moving milestone? 

Would you love to know how to stop ‘chasing’ your career success and start designing it?

In this talk Holly will share the 7 simple strategies to designing your own career success on your terms.  This is the exact step by step system that enabled her to move from stress and burnout in her marketing career to learning how to align her passions to her work; achieve personal meaning and fulfilment (without quitting the corporate world to teach yoga on the beach), and create two successful businesses in a new country with no networks.  Holly’s passion for this work is driven by the desire to empower other women to connect their career success with what is really important to them.

In this talk she will cover:     

·         The big ‘problem’ with success that could be holding you back from achieving your biggest career breakthroughs, and how to overcome this.

·         How your mindset can make you or break you; an introduction to the ‘science of positive thinking’ to understand how you can mentally and physically keep yourself stuck.

·         The 7 simple strategies to start doing things on YOUR terms so that you can achieve personal meaning and fulfilment in your career.

·         Building our ‘success consciousness’ to easily attract more of the opportunities you really want.

·         How to unlock your ‘Inner Winner’ and channel your ‘Inner Critic’ to learn how to get out of your own way.

·         The best way to fast-track your results (that ironically most people do everything possible to avoid).

·         Proven techniques to achieve your goals in a balanced and sustainable way.

Originally from the UK, Holly has lived and worked in England, France, Spain and Switzerland before choosing Sydney as her home in 2013. Holly passionately helps clients all over the world to find the clarity and confidence to ‘unlock their most courageous self’ in order to design their own career success.

With a background in Brand Management working for leading multi-national organisations on million-dollar brand portfolios, Holly leverages her corporate experience and capability insights to help her clients to create an authentic, personal brand that accelerates their career success and fulfilment.

Having experienced several years in multiple fast-paced and challenging corporate roles, she understands and values the power of a positive mindset as the enabler to long term success.

This personal experience has led to a long term interest in the impact that our ‘Inner Winner’ and our ‘Inner Critic’ can have on every aspect of our career performance, as well as our overall quality and enjoyment in all areas of our lives. Holly leverages the power of the subconscious mind in her coaching programs to help others understand, develop and implement their ‘Inner Winner’ strategies.

Holly is a firm believer that we each have the ability to design our own success, which led her to create her hugely popular ‘Career Success by Your Design’® 1-1 coaching program.

Holly is also Founder of a successful training business ‘Future Focus Training and Development’ through which she delivers personal leadership programs that equip emerging talent across educational and corporate organisations. 

Holly is a strong advocate of personal development and has studied with the industry’s top thought-leaders for the past decade.  A qualified Personal Performance coach, she attained her Diploma with Distinction from the world’s largest coaching organization, The Coaching Academy UK. Accredited in DISC profiling, Workplace Motivators and Emotional Intelligence, Holly incorporates these multi-science tools into her training and coaching programs with powerful results.  She is a Neuro-Linguistic Practitioner, certified by NLP co-creator John Grinder, as well as a Licensed Goal Mapping Practitioner; the unique world-leading success system developed by Brian Mayne, and is proud to be the only Practitioner in New South Wales. 

To attend, please RSVP to Reis at cpawibfb@gmail.com or via Facebook by 5pm Friday 23 October 2015.