Are You Taking Any Prisoners?

As a coda to the conference on women entrepreneurs, last night there was a gathering at the Innovation Center in Philadelphia to hear the results of a survey on the same subject.  I was still on a roll from the previous day, which was a flashback to my first consciousness-raising group in the early 70′s.

As I went on about finding alternative ways to do business when you get blocked, Gloria Rabinowitz, the managing director of Golden Seeds in Philadelphia, an angel venture group that supports women entrepreneurs, said to me  “I like your ‘take no prisoners’ attitude.”

So I have to ask myself, why do I not take prisoners?  Are women expected to?  I haven’t ever been accused of ‘emotional blackmail’ but I guess that would be the equivalent of prisoner-taking.

So here it is, the whole truth, albeit according to me:

If you take prisoners, you take on burdens and distractions.

You will become the imprisoned one.

And my simple advice, whether you are an entrepreneur or not:

Take No Prisoners.

Seeing Obama

Barack Obama was in Philadelphia and a friend got me a ticket for the supporters rally.  It’s been a very long time since I went out of my way to see someone running for office in person.  Political rallies, at least for my generation, bring back memories of Robert Kennedy’s assassination.   But this was fairly peaceful.  The worst I saw was a security guard being a little bit churlish with a large African American man of my generation who I had been chatting with just moments before.  The guard was younger and more stressed, the hour was late and cool heads prevailed.  It was both annoying to have to stand in a long line, wonder if I’d have to take my shoes off, get  my handbag searched and body scanned, but it was also reassuring.

The crowd reflected Philadelphia in its diversity of gender, race, age and even style, from the business suits to the students to the occasional parent toting a baby in a backpack or holding hands with the youngest generation, the ones we are supposed to be leaving this country to in the not too distant future.

Obama spoke of that time – the future.  His message was of hope – the hope that my generation felt in the sixties.  And the audience was with him, committed to that vision that we can have peace and justice, caring and growth.  I, who rarely use the camera in my phone, had to record that moment.

Moments of hope are to be treasured.And shared.

May this be a time of hope for you too.

A Great Moment for Women in Leadership

I have to admit I’ve never met Carly Fiorina but I’m still not over her leaving the top post at HP. It’s just that there are so few women who are both driven to get to the top and who are accepted, supported and cheered on into that role. But corporate isn’t the only place for women leaders. That’s why it was such a thrill to read about Cathy Scott, AFSCME DC 47′s new leader, in this morning’s Philadelphia Inquirer. She replaces the retiring Tom Cronin, who led the the union for 27 years, just at the time Philadelphia is replacing its mayor, most likely to be Michael Nutter, who was quoted thus: “I think she’s a very smart, sharp person who is certainly going to be a strong advocate for the members of her union, but I also know she cares a great deal about the city and our challenges going forward…we’ll have serious and frank discussions.” And she says: “We think there are areas where we can work in a very positive way with Mr. Nutter.”

It gives me hope. I live and work in this city and it sorely needs the kind of leadership that is serious, frank, positive and collaborative. Here are two people with Vision. I am making that assumption about Michael Nutter, whom I’ve never met, based on what people who do know him have told me. But I know Cathy because we at The Gabriel Institute worked with her as leader of Local 2187, helping her develop her board’s leadership. I know she is a woman with a Vision – from her Role-Based Assessment and from watching her grow in that very responsible position. As I emailed Cathy to share my best wishes for her, I reflected on how far she had come from when I first met her, working tirelessly, ceaselessly, intensely, so faithful to her constituents. And how responsive she was to input that respected her Vision and helped her shaped and communicate it. She is not a woman to waste words. And so when I read her response, I took it as the highest compliment about what we do that this is what she said:

Working with Gabriel really helped focus me on Vision.

Thanks for encouraging and supporting a fellow woman in leadership. May our numbers increase!

The Making of an Entrepreneur

Teaching is almost always a trip into the unknown.  This time, teaching Entrepreneurship in the Health Professions at Temple, the light has been turned on.  We gave the class access to the assessment at www.Tools4Entrepreneurs.com and by the time I got to class Monday, it felt like I knew all of them.  In fact, I did, since when you know someone’s Role, you know the most important things about them.  Case in point, a fabulous Watchdog.  I commented that Watchdogs were generally drawn to work in the financial world and she said she’d worked in the field but left because she didn’t like that people were sold products that were wrong for them.  Just like a Watchdog, such a great protector!  She’ll make a wonderful team member in whatever she ends up doing.

We had a guest entrepreneur share her story with the class.  What an inspiration!  Marie Frisbee is a single mother of three who is driven by a dream.  She started The School of Medical Massage in Philadelphia to teach massage without funding or an MBA – just a huge amount of heart and the soul of the social entrepreneur.  She’ll do well by doing good.  Providing people with HIV/AIDS and other diseases, pain and injuries with services that are complementary to the the usual medical modalities, her students have a waiting list for their $30 hour-long massage.  You don’t even have to be sick or in pain to enjoy that!  The best part is she is growing the next generation of Medical Massage Practitioners, just in time for we, the Baby Boomers, to have a happier old age.  Thanks Marie!