Thanks to our very own, Kovie Biakolo, for having the guts try out this week’s #MCGConnect chat sponsor- Barre Bee Fit!  Kovie is much more equipped for this type of… er, testing… than I am.  Today’s post is part 1 of Kovie’s 2 part series.  To win free BBF classes, join #MCGConnect chat tonight (Wed 1/18 at 8pm CST).  Not in Chicago?  Don’t worry, we’ll be giving away a Jamba Juice gift certificate too!  Also, get excited for Kovie’s regular column “Kovie in Chicago” which will be posted on Thursdays starting TOMORROW! -Nicole

I always feel awesome when I’m at the gym and people ask me if I’m an athlete. I mean I run a couple of times a week (though I will admit less so in the winter). I also do strength training, even if it means I do it at home with Chris Freytag.  I do Zumba, cardio kickboxing and yoga fairly regularly too. Some people think I’m kind of a health nut, and in addition to working out, being a vegetarian/pescetarian strengthens this view.  Any health nuts out there who can relate?!

Still, I went through a two-week period without working out in December.  Additionally, I like cookies and wine so my health “nuttiness” is well balanced with those two things. I think working out is very important for your body and for your mind. I also think enjoying life is very important for your body and your mind which sometimes means enjoying food. Sure, like anyone else I might over do-it on the cookies once in a while (cookies really are my thing) but for the most part, I eat healthy and exercise does not intimidate me. To be honest (and obnoxious), I generally tend to think I’m pretty good at it. Who else would say they are pretty good at exercise?  What do you do for your workouts?

So, you can imagine how confident I was when I got the opportunity to work out at “BarreBeeFit.”  For the record, it’s pronounced “Barbie” and that said, I was thinking –“how hard can it be?” I mean it’s called “BarreBee Fit!” How hard can a studio called “BarreeBeeFit” work these muscles? What, am I going to do? Lift  2 pound weights and feel the burn?  I showed up to the studio sniggering with that thought in mind (and with red shorts and a bright yellow shirt) and my overconfident athletic abilities.

You know what they say, “Confidence is a funny thing- not enough, and you think you’re a fool;  too much and you are the darn fool.” And that’s all I’ll say for now. But I do want to know, what do you think of when you think of when a studio is called “Barre Bee Fit?”

Stay tuned for part 2 of my Barree Bee Fit experience in my follow-up post “My Post Barree Bee Fit Experience!”

My name is Kovie Biakolo and I am the Events Coordinator for Ms Career Girl Meda. It has taken me a while to post an entry because I wanted to gain some experience writing (on my own blog) and because I have been following a couple of amazing bloggers like Nicole and thought it would be best to learn by observation as well as experience.

Event Coordination is something I have a passion for. Event Coordination for benevolent causes is a potential long-term career path. So what better way to begin my first guest blogging experience, than to talk about a fabulous event that is taking place in Chicago called “Dance Out Loud”; I couldn’t think of any, so here it goes:

DanceOutLoud is the brain child of an amazing lady, Stacy Bennett. Stacy’s story begins with her mother, who was diagnosed with Stage 4 Ovarian cancer seven years ago and  passed away five years ago.  Although she was not able to have surgery, given the stage of the cancer, chemotherapy was an option and gave Stacy and the family, two more years with their mother.  Whilst alive, and after her diagnosis, Stacy’s mom learned that she had the BRCA 1 mutation (http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/BRCA)  and  shared this information with all the women in the family.  Stacy learned that she too has the gene and since then has undergone a preventive surgery and will undergo another one to fight cancer and specifically Ovarian and Breast cancer. The story is much longer than this and much more complicated than one can put in a paragraph but ultimately it is a story about turning a challenging and trying period in one’s life, into something positive. That’s where “Dance Out Loud” comes into the picture.

On 11/11/11/, Dance Out Loud will be held at the Brownstone Tavern from 7PM-1OPM. If you’re like me and wondered why on earth “Dance Out Loud” and why 11/11/11 (other than it being a cool date), there is in fact a method to the madness. Ovarian cancer is known as the “silent killer” so it is easy to understand how dancing out loud would be countering that. As for 11/11/11, that’s Stacy’s birthday, and if you’ve ever seen an ad for “more birthdays,” it makes perfect sense and is quite frankly, pure genius.

So, why should you go to and/or support this event? Here are my 3 reasons:

1. All the proceeds go to Bright Pink’s ovarian cancer awareness.
2. You get to dance to music  from the 80s, 90s and 00s AND dress up as your favorite decade! (Plus prizes will be given fr the best ones).
3. If you’re reading this, you either are a woman or know a woman who is a mother, a wife, a sister, a cousin, a friend, and you never know whose life you could be changing.

A note from Nicole: Today’s post is a MUST READ for every young female professional out there! Regardless of what industry you are in- this doesn’t just happen in business, ask your friends who are teachers- you are likely to face some pressure (if not just plain old insecurity) about appearing too young.

I’ve personally dealt with this quite a bit, especially when I was selling mortgages to people more than twice my age at my first job, and working with seasoned business owners, attorneys and bankers at my second job.

I made the same efforts that Melody did in the post below until my Mom (an experienced businesswoman/owner) said, “Who cares!  If you’re good, you’re good. Focus on doing a great job, serving your clients and getting back to them right away if you don’t know the answer to something.  Believe me people won’t care how old you’re if you’re doing a great job.”

And she was right.  As a new manager, I just finished a long round of interviewing and hiring two new marketing coordinators for my team.  In hindsight, there’s no doubt that my final choices were made largely on self-confidence (not experience or age).  Keep these stories in mind before you waste time doubting yourself or trying to make yourself look older!

Thanks for a great post Melody!

–

By, Melody Sabedra

As a young female professional with a baby face, I often find it hard to gain the acceptance of the older executives within my company. Once when I was in the process of being hired, my then boss stated that because I looked so young I should try to dress in darker colors. He claimed that only younger people wore bright colors. Being that I had just been offered a job in this down economy, I took the advice with a smile on my face. I mean, the person had just hired me so they couldn’t possibly be criticizing me, right?

Since that date, I experienced many more times when I was told how to dress, look or appear in order to be perceived as older and more professional. At first these suggestions were welcomed, as I was completely unaware that I was appearing too young to look professional. However, after a while I started to get upset. These repeated suggestions made me wonder, does it really matter how young or old I look to be successful in my career? I got my answer as I was walking into the attorneys section of a courthouse when someone inside the room said, “this room is only for attorneys young lady.” I shut the door and went to the bathroom to hide from the embarrassment of not looking like an attorney when I was one.

That statement definitely lead me to the reality that no matter what I think or how I feel, others perceive me as a ‘young lady.’ My next thought was that I had to try to do something to make myself look older so that I could appear more professional. In an effort to accomplish this goal, I tried numerous things. I first decided to cut my hair into a short angled bob style. As a result, my hair went from below my shoulders to right about the height of my chin. Although this was a drastic change, when I came into work the next day the first thing my boss said to me was, ‘I like that haircut, it is very professional.’ Apparently the haircut was a success.

Then I attempted wearing more makeup to work, as I had heard that maybe wearing more makeup would make me look older. Now, I generally always wear a little mascara, powder, blush, and eye shadow, which I thought was pretty standard. In an attempt to look a little older, I decided to wear darker eye shadows and more blush. This looked ok, but I found it kind of an onerous task for an everyday habit. I also tried to wear lipstick, which I NEVER wear. The result of my makeup extravaganza is that I ended up feeling stupid, like a young girls trying on her mother’s makeup. I started to give up trying to look older.

Then one day during a lunch conference, I noticed a ‘young lady’ that was a guest speaker at the event on the due diligence process of acquisitions (exciting stuff!). Although this woman appeared pretty young, there was something about her that made her appear very professional. While I was at the conference I couldn’t put my finger on just what it was about her. When I got back to the office I sat and thought about why that woman caught my attention. At first I thought it was the fact that she was speaking at an event, which would make anyone appear professional. Then I came to the conclusion that it was not that she was speaking or that she was wearing a nice suit, she looked professional because she had an exuberant amount of confidence. This confidence made her look and appear older and more professional than I am sure she was.

From that day on I realized that persuading others to trust you in business is not always about what you look like. Sometimes all it takes is just a little bit of confidence. Through my experiences of being an extremely fresh faced attorney, I have learned that I need to portray confidence to my client in order to be respected. Obviously a client is going to trust an attorney who appears to know what they are doing over someone who stares at them like a deer in headlights.

Just think about it, when you are in any type of a business meeting with people who have been in your field longer than you, what draws you into listening to some people and not others? I did this one day at a meeting. I looked around the room as everyone talked and I took notes of who I actually paid attention to and who I caught myself day-dreaming to. The result was that the people with the loudest voice and the most charisma caught my attention more than the quiet wallflower type who was only speaking because he was forced into doing so. It was their confidence that made me listen to them. It is confidence that can turn you into a true professional, not a haircut or a fabulous suit.

So next time someone tries to tell you that you should look a certain way to appear more professional, don’t take offense to it. Rather, think about how you are presenting yourself to other people. Ensure that you are always portraying an image of confidence, even in your weakest moment.

By, Patricia Brehm

Today I found a fascinating TechCrunch article by Aileen Lee, “Why Women Rule the Internet.” The idea is that women are now the matriachs of the vast web abyss. Namely, the idea goes that since women are more inclined to work with the social networks, engage in online networking, building e-based professional relationships etc. In another fascinating article posted on  SEOmoz, about “Tips for Link Builders” recommends “being a girl” and if you search through blog posts as well as forums, you’ll find numerous mentions of finding a female community manager or social media specialist.

In contrast, the realm of Information Technology, the driving force of code and script that creates social media, seems to be an industry containing mostly men. According to Wikipedia (source of all reliable information nowadays), the desire to drive women into computing careers seems high. In technology communities, a number of resources have sprung up to foster fellowship amongst females in high-tech industries. For example, Sarah Blow founded Geek Girl Dinners as the result of being fed up with a lack of females at technical events. Even geek chic pioneer ThinkGeek has started a line of heroine t-shirts, including Ada Lovelace,  who is considered to be the first female computer programmer. If you go to Slideshare you’ll find a presentation entitled “How to Be An Awesome Community Manager,” written by Marta Majewska, dealing with how to manage an effective social network.

According to Ms. Lee’s article, not only are women powerful in developing a business presence on the web, but female consumers also play a critical role in Internet commercial success. Her article cites astounding sales figures driven by female consumers. So whether it’s electronic retail or driving social networking, the idea of a matriarchal web presence seems to be pervasive and powerful concept.

What are YOUR thoughts?  Is being a female really an advantage when it comes to online branding?  Do females have more power?  If so, why?

Even though women, for the first time in our country’s history, represent over fifty percent of the workforce, and even though more women than men hold degrees in advanced education, there still remains a wage gap. According to an Institute for Women’s Policy fact sheet, women earn 77 cents for every dollar men earn. Although experts have attempted to account for the wage gap in various ways, it’s been firmly established that part of the problem is women are much less likely to ask for raises than do men. Here are a few tips:

Don’t follow the assumption that you’ll simply get a raise without asking.

Women especially tend to believe that if they work really hard, at least one higher-up will notice and reward them. Unfortunately, raises don’t work that way. If you want a raise, you’re going to have to ask for it.

Timing is everything, so figure out when approaching your boss would be best.

Finding the right moment to ask for a raise is critical. Do it when it would make most sense, like if you just took on an extra project and successfully completed it, or if you’re up for your annual review.

Be prepared to demonstrate why you deserve a raise.

While asking for a raise is a critical first step in successfully netting one, you can’t just ask for one without bringing your accomplishments to the negotiating table. Figure out how, precisely, you’ve helped your company and don’t be shy in bragging a little.

Research your worth.

In addition to discussing your accomplishments, it also helps to do a little research to find out how much the average person makes in your position with your level of experience. Payscale.com is a great starting point.

Don’t make it all about you.

According to research by Harvard University’s Hannah Riley Bowles, who studies women and negotiation, women may need to take a different approach than men when asking for a raise in order not to be perceived in a negative light. Bowles suggests that women shouldn’t ask for a raise directly. Instead, they should use language and persuasive techniques to demonstrate how raising your salary would be good for the company or good for relationships within the company.

For more tips based on Bowles’ research, check out a New York Times article published earlier this year, “A Woman’s Toolkit for Seeking a Raise“.

I’m very lucky to have the Mother that I do.

Born to Italian immigrants, my Mom did what most 1st generation Italian-American kids do: she joined the family Environmental Drilling business (honestly, she probably started there around age 6- labeling soil sample jars). At the ripe age of 15, my Mom’s boyfriend joined the business as well. He was a manual laborer and she handled office work.

Today that boyfriend is her husband of 28 years and he is also my Father. But, the weird part? These two crazy love birds still work together and even share an office with two desks in one room! They worked with my grandparents for 20 years and have since started two of their own very successful companies.

Not only has my Mom led three multi-million dollar companies to continual growth, she has also led our family to continual growth. Somehow she managed to pull off long days at the office, laundry, planning vacations, making our Halloween costumes, helping us practice the piano, handling all the finances in our household AND cooking fantastic meals. She definitely didn’t do this alone- we had Katie our nanny of 10+ years and we had plenty of friends and family around too- but at the end of the day my Mom was always the leader of the pack.

Perhaps she still sounds like an ordinary working Mom to some.

After 20 years of working together in the family business, family relationships were at stake. My parents reached their “point of no return” and resigned. It was Good Friday. It was not a pre-planned resignation. This was the only business they knew and the only source of income our family had.

By Easter Monday, they had incorporated a new company, worked with a neighbor to get a logo made; they rented a drill rig, had their admin person working out of our dining room and found a small office space to rent. They were back in business.

I was so proud of my Mom for standing up for what she believed in. She put a smile on her face and did everything in her power to make sure our lives stayed as in-tact as possible.

The energy and excitement they had while starting this business was contagious. My Dad was back out in the field drilling holes like the old days and my Mom was doing the work of 4 people. If my Dad had to leave for a job at 4am, she would get up with him, make his coffee and lunch and start working. During the first two years of this business there were many days until they worked until 10 at night. A truck would break and my Dad would have to fix it and then get up at 4am again to do it all over again. My Mom stood by his side and ours through all of it and she never complained or showed fatigue.

There’s something really cool about a Mom like mine. Obviously she is a rare breed: first, her high energy is a rarity in itself. Second, she knows what she wants and she does whatever she has to do to get it. But most importantly, she always kept her family and marriage her #1 priority.

I only remember one day of my K-12 years that my Mom was home for me after school. It was that Good Friday. And it was totally weird. My Mom was not a Brownies troop leader, she did not bake cookies after school, she did not come on field trips, she did not drive us to all of our lessons and she did not go to every meeting or parent conference in High School. Some of you might be saying, “oh that’s terrible,” but I never felt that way.

My Mom gave me so much more than cookies and rides. She taught me the art of multi-tasking with grace. She taught me about positive thinking. She demonstrated what unconditional love and commitment to a marriage and family is. She showed me that sometimes you have to make really tough decisions and stick with them. My Mom made work look fun and exciting. She taught me that being financially successful is a great thing because it provides endless opportunities for your family and for all the other families who are on the payroll.

Although my Mom told us we could do anything, she didn’t even need to say it. Because to us, she was already doing it all!

Thank you Mom! I love you.

By, Ashley Crimaldi

A few days ago I decided to deter my morning schedule and catch up on a little Oprah. Typically, I’m a non-believer in shows like Oprah. I tend to approach them with a highly cynical and skeptical attitude. These shows are just for bored housewives, right?

Somehow this episode caught my attention. It featured Dr. Oz speaking about inner/outer beauty, and tips on how to better care for your self. Being the beauty junky I am, I soon found myself scribbling notes on a scrap piece of paper- what to look for in a face moisturizer, why exfoliating is so important, what to eat to keep from aging. . . and the list goes on.

Then they got to the part about cellulite- pen in hand, I was ready to get some notes on THIS section!

Ready, Set . . .

NO CURE!? What? No cure? Seriously, Dr. Oz you have to be kidding right? If there is no cure, then why does every brand of lotion come in a firming variety these days, and why are there tons of anti-cellulite creams on the market? Dr. Oz goes on to tell us that even liposuction wouldn’t cure cellulite. So what do we do? He says, accept it and move on. Ok, duh Dr. Oz thanks for the life changing advice, that’s what I’ve been doing MY ENTIRE LIFE.

Like most women, I’ve had stretch marks for years, loads of cellulite on my ass and I have no doubt that I’ll develop under eye bags with age. While I thought Dr. Oz was a magical beauty wizard that was going to behold all the anti-aging secrets, he simply re- affirmed everything I already knew: Having the perfect thighs doesn’t define success, happiness or being a sexy woman at all.

There I was so consumed by the show, and devastated by all my anti-aging short comings (ok let’s be honest, I don’t work out enough or eat nearly enough blueberries) that I was ready to run to CVS and purchase some serious anti-aging skin care products. Then I realized how ridiculous I was acting- I’m 21 years old, why am I already obsessing over anti-aging secrets, watching this consumer driven garbage instead of being on time for work?

But yes ladies, we should take care of ourselves. We should eat as healthy as possible and work out when we have time – but above all else, we should focus on our own personal happiness. Would having less cellulite really make us feel more fulfilled? Or is that just what we’re told by our capitalist society? What if we lived in a society where cellulite was sign of good health? Sounds crazy right? But believe me- I’m not that far off. The truth is, 90% of the time, I feel really confident about my appearance and my size. Its only when I’m told these things are important that I start to doubt myself.

So surround yourself with some self-confident women! Give a female co-worker a compliment on her personality, and slather on some cheap non-firming body lotion on today, because anything else is just not worth it!

It’s official: Iowa is the first state to break the Midwest’s stereotypically old-fashioned and conservative views!  Iowa has approved gay marriage!  Check out the New York Time’s article for details here.

I’m wondering if Iowa’s approval of gay marriage will start a trend among other typically conservative states.  

I also wonder how gay marriage will affect employee benefits.  Is this a whole new animal for companies or have companies anticipated the change and made adjustments to their benefits plans? 

Do you think that gay marriage will lead to more acceptance in the work place amoung Iowan’s now that it is official and legal, or do you think those who are openly married will face more scrutiny and perhaps challenges among their co-workers?

By, Ashley Crimaldi
Written in 2008

My little sister is fourteen years old, and she is beautiful. She has perfect straight white teeth, a toned tan body, perfect complexion and mysterious green eyes. She also has a great personality, a free spirit and a fun sense of humor. Sometimes I wonder if people notice those things first about her, or if they are merely transfixed by her beautiful persona. If I were to guess, I’d probably say the latter. Unfortunately, I can’t help to admit, it can’t hurt to be beautiful in a world dominated by sex appeal and consumerism.

But let’s face it; her perfect white teeth and bronzed skin didn’t come without a cost. She is a 14 year-old girl who somehow finds money to tan despite the increased risk of skin cancer. Due to the heightened popularity of tan skin, my little sister wears power foundation much darker than her natural skin tone and then tops it off with puffs of bronzer with little specs of glitter in it. The result: a “bronzed beauty” that resembles so many models in advertisements today. But there is something plastic about the standards of beauty we’ve come to accept today. Whatever happened to rosy cheeks? The ironic thing is, the beauty industry is telling us to want what we don’t have naturally. Black women are shown with fair skin and often foundations are difficult to find in dark enough shades. White women are told that they should have a “bronze glow” or go tanning to hide natural pink pigmentations and blemishes in the skin.

I can’t complain about my sister too much, because I’m a cosmetics queen. I love dabbling in the art of makeup each morning. It brightens my day to know I have some great cosmetics waiting for me to play with when I wake up in the morning. But then are those days when I simply don’t feel like it; and then what? People have to see what I really look like? My teenage sister, and myself for that mater, have fallen victim to idealized standards of female beauty, and this idea is nothing new.

Joan Brumberg quotes numerous girls throughout history who have been dissatisfied with their bodies in her book The Body Project. Brumberg quotes Carol Merano a 16- year old girl from the 1960′s, “I’m too ugly. I’m too fat. I have a crummy personality.” This is the sort of negative self-talk we hear as women every day. Whether it exists within the confines of our minds or the mouths of our friends, women are constantly dissatisfied with themselves. Is it within out nature? Or is this merely a product of our culture? Sharlene Hesse-Biber points out in her book The Cult of Thinness that, “The stakes of physical attractiveness for women are high, since appearance, including body weight, affects social success.”

Even this is true in my little sister’s case. When she was in elementary school she wasn’t involved in any sports or extra curricular activities, and when she would come home from school she would plop down in front of the television and snack. She started gaining weight, and didn’t have many friends. My mother encouraged her to join the soccer team. With newfound physical activity she was able to make new friends and slim down at the same time. The truth is, the world is a lot less cruel to a beautiful woman. Luckily she changed her fate early on.

Recently, I met up with my little sister while she was at a soccer tournament in St.Louis. Having not seen her in three months, I was very excited to see her. When I noticed some changes that had occurred in her body over the past few months, I made a comment about her body becoming more “womanly.” By that I meant curvaceous, which in my book is a compliment. Instantly, she started accusing me of calling her fat. Of course that was not what I had intended. It was sad to me that the word “womanly” had such a negative connotation for her. As if it was a nice way for me to say fat. For the rest of the night she seemed upset, and refused to order a meal at dinner.

Dieting is something that has become widely accepted. Even parents have started to accept dieting as a reality for their daughters. It is encouraged so that their children will be perceived as more attractive, and a positive reflection of themselves. Small gestures and comments from parents shape female perceptions of thinness for the rest of their lives. Girls today are expected to be perfect. They should have the perfect bodies and smiles, and they are willing to do anything to get it.

We are the most educated generation in history, with over 60% of us enrolling in college and record numbers of us pursuing graduate degrees. We grew up in the most diverse classrooms in our nation’s history. 40% of us were Hispanic, Black, or Asian. But even if Koombiyah sounds like an appropriate theme song for our generation, are we ready to lead the world from recession to sustainable growth as we approach the next decade of the twenty-first century?

Yes and no. But mainly yes! As a member of this rising generation and a leadership development professional, I concur with Greenberg and Weber that I’m a part of a pretty awesome group. We are poised to ensure that our collective desire for change translates into results-oriented action.

While many of us millennials still need more hands on experience, relationship building, and skill development to fully realize our potential, many of us bring to our campuses, careers, and communities a nice toolbox of leadership qualities, skills, and values including articulating compelling visions, keen collaboration and negotiation skills, and a deep respect for balance, authenticity, and transparency. We might have hated our constant immersion in group projects and real-world simulations, but they taught us a lot about how to thrive in a team-oriented culture.

Some of the strongest millennial leaders are young women. We still make $.79 to a man’s dollar, compose just over 16% of Congressional members, and have a 1 in 4 chance of encountering domestic violence. But as evidenced by last Wednesday’s Women of Courage gathering which included powerhouse women from First Lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton to Malyasian lawyer Ambiga Sreenevasan and Iraqi NGO leader Suaad Allami, international women have been rising to senior leadership positions in record numbers for some time.

Millennial women, like Women of Courage honoree 12-year old Reem al-Numery of Yemen (who could not attend the celebration for she is in court fighting her arranged marriage to her 30-year old cousin), are not only growing into strong and effective leaders, but are demanding that their voices be heard and counted today.

Millennials have often been critiqued for expecting too much too fast without putting in their dues like their Gen-X, Baby Boomer and traditionalist predecessors. However, this sense of entitlement has undoubtedly been useful to young women who believe it is both their responsibility and their right to start businesses, organize fundraisers, and bring communities together to address economic, social, and environmental inequity.

We were told that we could be the best if only we worked hard enough. While I’d argue we’d have been better served if our parents, teachers, and mentors had substituted hard for smart, our constant affirmations have definitely empowered us not only to think without the box, but also to believe we can make a positive contribution to our companies and communities.

In her book, Your Child’s Strengths: Discover Them, Develop Them, Use Them author, educator, and strengths-based leadership expert Jenifer Fox recommends that if educators, parents, employers, and other people who interface with young leaders want to empower them to peak performance, they should start with their strengths, the specific abilities that we enjoy doing and make us feel strong.

No matter how important we or someone else might tell us it is to overcome our weaknesses, strengths-based researchers from the fields of education, psychology, business, and leadership have proven that humans consistently grow the most in the area of our strengths and should be given every opportunity to play to them. American businesses currently waste a lot of talent and employee satisfaction, creating opportunities for only 12% of workers to play to their strengths most of the time, according to The Marcus Buckingham Company.

For young women looking to become more effective leaders, awaken to their authentic leadership style, and discover how to use their gifts and resources to make the maximum possible positive social impact, they can start by answering the following questions:

What is the leadership quality that my peers, parents, teachers, and/or supervisors most recognize in me? What opportunities exist and can I create to use this strength on a regular basis?

What is my preferred communication format? (e.g. face-to-face/one-on-one, small group, or in front of a large audience) How do I make sure to employ this format in my leadership so that I feel comfortable and can perform at my best?

What activities/tasks and causes/issues am I most passionate about? How can I consistently align “what I like to do” with “what matters to me”?

What are my leadership areas for growth and improvement? Who can I partner with that is strong in these areas?

What are the short and long term social, economic, and environmental impacts of the choices I make on my local, national, and international community? How can I ensure that the choices I make are always for the greater good?