Ringing Out the Old Year 2007

Ellen McColgan was the number one woman searched for on NewsonWomen.com in December07, closing out 2007. In ringing out the old year, I would like to list what I have learned from the women posted on Newsonwomen.com in 2007. I am not giving you a list of the ten most powerful women or the ten most important promotions, but a list of women who do things everyday that can help us all get ahead. My suggestions have been inspired by all the women I wrote about in 2007. We should take care in 2008 to do the following:

1. Share information like Gina Bianchini, CEO of Ning, whose company developed software that lets you create your own social networks. Harnessing the power of shared information will advance the cause of all women in business.

2 Branch out of your comfort zone and read about the different career paths of the women posted on this site.

3. Use your business associations to help advance the cause of women in business like the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association who worked with Booz Allen Hamilton to study what helps women get ahead in corporate America. They came up with six essential elements for companies and posted it on their website so all could benefit rather than just keeping the information for their members (find the link in the Newsonwomen.com November favorite women post).

4. Think big like the Hunt sisters who started the “Women Moving Millions” initiative to benefit women and girls in poverty, and Nell Merlino who started Count-Me-In.org and “Make Mine a Million” to help women entrepreneurs grow their companies.

5. Encourage all the women appointed hr execs and diversity officers in 2007 to build their sphere of influence and make extra efforts to get more women in leadership jobs in 2008.

6. Foster “leadership thinking” like the Stuart Country Day School which not only has women leaders come and speak at the school, but also opens the talks up to all in the surrounding area with no charge for admission.

7. Get involved with an issue you care about like Amy Keroes, a former Senior Counsel for Gap Inc, who left and started Mommytrackd.com, an online magazine offering resources to working mothers, or the “100 women in hedge funds” who raised more than $2 million in November07 for the iMentor organization.

8. Don’t get discouraged since you never know what the future has in store as we saw this year with Ellen McColgan, who was promoted at Fidelity in April07, left there later in the year and then was appointed President of the Global Wealth Management Group at Morgan Stanley this December.

9. Encourage others to consider advanced degrees as we have seen that many of the women put in leadership positions in 2007 have advanced education, and Education leads to Leadership.

10. Learn about managing risks and making a difference by reading the NewsonWomen posts on Alison Levine, the former Goldman Sachs Executive turned Explorer and Adventurer (crossing Antarctica as we speak!) who started the Climb High Foundation to help women in underdeveloped countries earn a living.

I myself will never have the sense of adventure or the talent to climb Mt. Everest, but reading about these and the other women featured on NewsonWomen.com in 2007 helps me realize I can achieve the success I am looking for each day.