Commentary of Interest: Female CEOs still rare sight

My colleague Judith Dobrzynski wrote a fabulous commentary -- Female CEOs still rare sight -- that's published in the Chicago Tribune today (3/28).

Find out what's happening in Corporate Chicago with businesswomen and be glad you run a business!

Sound Advice: Entrepreneurship for Everyone

Since entrepreneurs are such significant contributors to our nation’s fiscal health, it is an economic imperative that anyone and everyone seeking to start and grow their own business be given the utmost opportunities to succeed. But in the current environment, minorities and women do not keep pace with the general entrepreneurial population.

The Kauffman Foundation is working to better understand these gaps and to develop programs to help ensure minority and women entrepreneurs are successful. Find out where women stand on entrepreneurial activity, angel investing and capital access here.

Podcast of Interest: CEO of Google Talks About Leading Innovation

Listen to what Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google, has to say about leading innovation, entrepreneurship (how you can tell when someone is an entrepreneur!) and career advice.

Interview of Interest: Men Dominate, Women Orchestrate

Author Margaret Heffernan explains how women entrepreneurs are altering the course, and the culture, of business today.

By every conceivable measurement, women continue to comprise one of the fastest growing segments in entrepreneurship. According to the Center for Women's Business Research, between 1997 and 2004, privately held, woman-owned businesses grew at three times the rate of all U.S. privately held firms, and woman-owned businesses created jobs at twice the rate of all other firms.

Furthermore, women did all of this with less than 1% of the venture capital that's invested in small businesses.

Margaret Heffernan, having run five different businesses in the U.S. and Britain, including Icast, Infomation, and Marlin Gas and Trading, has some thoughts on why women are altering the course of business today. In How She Does It: How Women Entrepreneurs Are Changing the Rules of Business (Viking 2007) Heffernan has compiled not only her own wisdom on the subject, but the collective experiences of such successful businesswomen as Geraldine Laybourne of the Oxygen Network and Mona Eliassen of the Eliassen Group to describe what she calls one of the most profound developments in the business world today—the female entrepreneur.

Recently, BusinessWeek.com staff writer Stacy Perman spoke with Heffernan, who is also a visiting professor of entrepreneurship at the Simmons College School of Managemen in Boston. Edited excerpts of their conversation can be found here.

Also noteworthy is that Margaret is one of our keynote speakers at our upcoming WPO conference in Scottsdale April 19-21. Further, I am just finishing up her book and will be talking it up here next week.

News of Interest: Office Depot Businesswoman of the Year is a WPO Chicago Member!

WPO member Francine Manilow, of Manilow Suites, wins Office Depot Businesswoman of the Year in our region. We are very proud of her. This is such a prestigious honor.

Here's what some of her peers had to say after hearing the news:

That is so wonderful and you certainly deserve it! 1000 Congratulations!

You are so deserving! God bless you!

I’m so happy for you! Congratulations!

Congratulations Francine ... WAY TO GO GIRL!

The recognition could not go to anyone who deserves it more than you!

Congratulations! Well deserved!

News release:

Office Depot Awards Francine Manilow, CEO and Founder of Manilow Suites, 2007 Chicago Businesswoman of the Year

Office Depot is proud to honor the Francine Manilow, CEO and Founder of Manilow Suites, as Chicago's 2007 Businesswoman of the Year. Francine was nominated by Office Depot's supporting professional women's association, Women Presidents' Organization, in recognition of her exceptional leadership, entrepreneurial spirit and support for women in business.

Francine was the first person in the United States to offer upscale short-term housing incorporating hotel services, numerous amenities and flexibility with arrival and departure dates. Manilow Suites offers beautiful apartments in 12 luxury high-rise buildings within the downtown Chicago area. In March 2007, the company will celebrate its 27th anniversary.

When she was 15 years old, Francine began her career with the formation of the International Van Cliburn Music Club to promote classical music among young adults. There were 15 chapters in the U.S. and numerous chapters throughout the world including Japan, Bangkok, London and Paris. In 1966, she formed her first corporation, employing stewardesses to work exhibit booths at trade shows in 16 different cities. She was also the first to offer secretarial services for the exhibitors at the trade shows with only the help of her little desk, two chairs, a typewriter and a small copy machine. Today, exhibit halls offer elaborate business centers.

From there, she was the first in Chicago to offer 24-hour film developing and then same-day film developing through various retail outlets. Francine also formed the largest company which provided housewives to offer food tasting in supermarkets on the weekends. Along the way, she acquired a stock photo company called "Piles and Files of Photos."

The award will be presented to Francine at Office Depot's Success Strategies for Businesswomen Conference in Chicago on Wednesday, March 20, 2007 at the Wyndham O'Hare. For more information or to register, visit www.officedepotsuccess.com

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Please join us in celebrating Francine's award on March 20th at the Office Depot Conference in Chicago. WPO will be represented by Sheila Liao of Pointe International. Please look for the WPO table, Sheila and of course, Francine! See you there.

Sound Advice: Books to Build Your Business

Here's what we are reading:

Made to Stick (featured and it's my absolute favorite this year!)

The Long Tail

The Definitive Drucker (a must-read)

The Three Tensions

Cut to the Chase: and 99 Other Rules to Liberate Yourself and Gain Back the Gift of Time

Article of Interest: Catfight in the Boardroom

I was reading the latest edition of Psychology Today last night and stumbled upon the article "Catfight in the Boardroom." Whether it's reality or perception, says Judith Sills, Ph.D., office pressures can make women uncooperative.

While digesting the information, I could not help but think how different the author's perspective is versus what we experience day-to-day at WPO. For example, the article begins with:

A gentleman complained recently that, though his private club had committed itself to increasing female membership, the admissions committee had thus far been unsuccessful. "No matter which woman is proposed," he said, "some other woman blackballs her."

Let me ask you this: Do you think a woman's worst workplace enemy is another woman? Do you think women hold other women back?

I don't. And at WPO, we are all about helping other businesswomen succeed. But read the article yourself and let us know what you think.

News of Interest: Enterprising Women of the Year Awards

And two of the winners are Chicago members! Congratulations to Linda and Shelly! Read more about the winners here.

Event of Interest: Affiliates Reception

Please join us at the National Association of Women Business Owners Chicago Area for their Affiliates Reception, February 22, 2007 from 5:30-8:00 p.m.


Details as follows:

Maggiano's Little Italy
516 N. Clark Street
Chicago

Participating Organization Members: $40
General Public: $55

Register online here or call 312-609-1300.

See you there and look for the Women Presidents' Organization (WPO) table!

Speech of Interest: Women on the World Symposium

Today, women are uniquely positioned to benefit from the strength of our country's economy, which is the envy of the world.

We are contributing to our nation's economy in so many ways. Women-owned businesses are growing at twice the rate of businesses owned by men. And small businesses are very important to workers and to the U.S. economy. Two-thirds of the new jobs created in this country in the last decade have been created by small businesses.

And women are playing an increasingly important role in public life. Over the past six years, President George W. Bush has appointed a record number of women to high level positions in his Administration, including five women to his current Cabinet. Today, the U.S. Senate has 16 women and the U.S. House of Representatives has 71 women. And to date, women have been elected statewide to executive offices in 49 out of our nation's 50 states. And there are 1,734 women state legislators.

This Administration supports many initiatives to help women succeed and balance work and family life. All of us have something in common, regardless of which position we hold. In any survey of working women, one of the most sought-after benefits is time: time to care for a child, or a loved one, or other important family matters.

Read more of this speech given by Secretary Elaine L. Chao, here.

Blog Post of Interest: Love Thine Enemy?

Do you want your competitors to thrive? Do you welcome their presence at industry trade shows, social situations or even in the reception area calling on the same customer? Read this provocative blog entry posted by Tom Peters. See what 56 other people had to say about it. While you're there, add your own opinion. Maybe you will reconsider the power of love, especially with your competitors.

Illustration courtesy of GapingVoid.

Event of Interest: Linking Professionals to Nonprofit Boards (3/8)

Join The University of Chicago Women's Business Group -- a WPO partner -- for an evening of networking on March 8 with representatives of Chicago-area and national nonprofit organizations and other Chicago professionals. Explore how your skills and interests will satisfy the needs of these organizations.

The speaker this year is Deborah R. Card, President of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

In the past they’ve had over 300 participants at this event and dozens of nonprofit organizations represented.

UCWBG Members: $60, Non-Members $80

For more information and to register, go here.

Article of Interest: Cross-Cultural Study of Entrepreneurs Has Surprising Findings

Do you think gender affects the revenues, growth, and profits of new ventures?

Find out here. Surprise. Surprise.

And I emailed the author, Corydon Ireland, to let him know about the Women Presidents' Organization. I also don't agree with all his findings. See what you think and let us know.

Article of Interest: The Best Boss For These Women? Themselves!

Ambitious young women (such as Emily Fitzgerald pictured) today are striking out on their own by starting their own businesses (and eventually joining WPO I might add!), and each day, a few more join their ranks.

They make up a good portion of the economic pie that embodies young, energetic entrepreneurs in this 21st century. In fact, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration, 10.6 million businesses across the United States are women-owned. These small businesses employ a large number of workers and contribute $2.3 trillion dollars in sales annually.

According to a study by UCLA's Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, one out of every 11 women in the nation is a business owner, and they account for almost half of all privately held firms.

While women-owned businesses have become a major economic force, their creation and growth can be bittersweet to the women running them. Passion and hard work are just two elements necessary for a business' success, but there are myriad other reasons some women-owned businesses succeed and others fail.

The Midwest (that's us!) is no stranger to women-owned businesses.

Read more, here.

IdeaCast: Brought To You By Harvard Business School

Harvard Business School Publishing’s online editorial director Paul Michelman sits down with Chris Trimble, co-author, with Vijay Govindarajan, of Ten Rules for Strategic Innovators: From Idea to Execution. As Trimble explains, even world-class companies, with powerful and proven business models, eventually discover limits to their growth. That’s what makes the ongoing process of strategic innovation so important.

But constructing tomorrow’s businesses while simultaneously sustaining excellence in today’s competitive environment demands a delicate balance. Trimble helps us understand the barriers faced by strategic innovators and how to get around them.

Listen here.

Report of Interest: Intuit Future of Small Business Report

The face of small business will dramatically change in 2017 as seasoned baby boomers, kids fresh out of high school, mid-career women, "mompreneurs" and new immigrants come together to create the most diverse pool of entrepreneurs ever. Those are among the key findings of the groundbreaking Intuit Future of Small Business Report(TM), a unique study that looks forward 10 years and examines the prospects, influences and profiles of small business.

Press release is here.

BusinessWeek article here.

Download report here.

Sound Advice: Can Focusing Too Much on the Competition Harm Profitability?

It is a common practice of many companies to focus their attention on grabbing market share from their competitors. But such efforts can actually be detrimental to the firm's profitability, according to Wharton marketing professor J. Scott Armstrong.

For years, Armstrong has been conducting research showing that competitor-oriented objectives, such as setting market-share targets, are counterproductive. After co-authoring a paper in 1996 that reached this conclusion, he and a different co-author, Kesten C. Green of Monash University in Australia, have written another paper summarizing 12 new studies that add additional weight to the original conclusion. Their study is titled, "Competitor-oriented Objectives: The Myth of Market Share."

Read more here and then ask yourself, "Has your objective always been to beat your competitor?"

Article of Interest: Smart Startup Ideas for '07

It's never too late to be where the action is. Check out this article where experts pinpoint emerging trends and tell entrepreneurs planning their next ventures which opportunities to consider.

If it's too much to digest at once, skip to the part at the end that reads: Click here for a slide show on nine-promising small-business opportunities on and off the Web. That will get you where you need to be.

Article of Interest: Women Entrepreneurs and Risk

Do you think women lack ambition?

Read the article, see what you think and weigh-in with your comments.

Article of Interest: Growing A Business Is Difficult, But Satisfying

Women face substantial handicaps, even self-imposed ones, and some advantages when they own businesses. Here's a snapshot from the article:

Of the roughly 23 million privately owned businesses in the U.S., just more than 1 million of them generate $1 million in sales or more, says Erin Fuller, executive director of the National Association of Women Business Owners. Of those companies, something like 850,000 are owned by men, and around 250,000 are owned by women, she said.

Learn more, here.