Welcome to the new look and feel of the Southern NH Women’s Business Network newsletter! Our hope is to inform, inspire and support you in your professional and personal growth as a woman in business. Our roles as working women are as varied as we are, but we all share in the situation of being female in a mostly male-dominated business world. Fortunately, we can use our unique femaleness to our advantage and we’re finding that our natural way of doing business is actually being recognized as an effective managerial style as you’ll see below. We want to hear from you! Every month, we’ll pose a question to our readers and pick an answer to include here, in the introduction, of the next month’s newsletter. Each issue will include informative articles with tips and advice, as well as website and book reviews on resources we think will help support you. Here’s to expanding our business horizons!

Best Regards,
The SNHWBN Board of Directors

A female style of management is particularly well suited to today's workforce, since most employees are now more interested in working on a team than in a hierarchy.

Here are seven keys to managing more like a woman.

1. Focus on connecting with people, not dominating them: Build relationships with your team based on shared experiences, interests and goals. If you listen closely to conversations, you'll notice that men often tell stories to prove that they're better than other people; Women share their experiences to show how they're the same.
2. Follow your intuition: Men like to make decisions based on hard data, while women are more likely to trust their gut. Often, women will have intuitive feel for the right direction and then check the data to see if it supports that move.
3. Rather than conquering others, invite them to join: Instead of a more male-oriented approach to leadership, which might be to identify a mountain and then command your people to storm to the top, a woman will often lead in a more inclusive and collaborative way, talking to people about their objectives and concerns and persuading them that where she's headed will be good for them too.
4. Read the subtle signals: Women tend to be more empathetic than men and more sensitive to the nuances of communication. A female leader is more likely to pick up on subtle cues regarding how an employee is faring and also to have an intuitive feel for whether a potential hire is right for the team.
5. Have more going on in your life than just work: Women lead complex lives, generally playing many more roles in a day than men do. She may be a CEO, but she's also a mother, a wife, a triathlete, a book club member, a volunteer for the school auction and the sibling that's looking into extended care for her mom. In other words, a woman is usually engaged in many activities that have meaning for her. Since work isn't her only focus, she's able to roll with the ups and downs at the office more easily.
6. Talk. And listen: Women are strong communicators, and that bodes well for their management success. By taking the time to talk with your employees, you build stronger relationships. And make sure you're not the one monopolizing the conversation; you learn more by asking questions, and then truly listening to the response.
7. Nurture your employees: Women manages often spend less time testing their employees mettle and more time helping to develop their careers. Work with your people to build on their strengths and improve their areas of weakness. Women bosses tend to realize that helping others be more powerful makes them more powerful as well.

These women in business management tips and advice are provided by Elizabeth Cogswell Baskin, author of How to Run Your Business Like a Girl.

www.womensmedia.com

An information-packed website for working women, with articles related to work, growth, leadership, balance, money and coaching. It was started by three friends who are dynamic business women with varied backgrounds and shared passion to help other business women. There’s always an “Expert-of-the Month,” who provides, well, expert information in their area of expertise. The articles are a nice mix of inspiration, information and advice that will help many working women navigate their careers and be successful in the process. One thing I didn’t see represented on the site was specific information for minority groups of working women (ethnic, lesbian, etc.) and I would have liked to have seen information targeted to single mothers and low-income women, as well. All-in-all, it was a worthwhile site that I would recommend visiting.

– Corissa St. Laurent, Vice President, SNHWBN

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Article: How to be the boss without being mean.

Website Review: WomensMedia

Question-of-the-Month

Upcoming Events

New Members

QUESTION-OF-THE-MONTH

If you could choose one woman leader to meet and interview, who would it be and why?
Let us know your thoughts: info@snhwbn.org

UPCOMING EVENTS

Network with SNHWBN and the WBC
May 14, 2009
5:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Highlander Inn
Register Today!

Taking Control: A Financial Management Workshop for Women
May 30, 2009
10:00 am - 4:00 pm
20 Market Street, Manchester, NH 1st Floor Main Ballroom
Register Today!

MEMBER'S EVENT

Michael Thomas Salon
Spring Style Night
May 15, 2009
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

33 South Commercial St.
Manchester, NH 03101
Call to RSVP:
603-622-1717

Read Facebook Invite

NEW MEMBERS

We would like to introduce you to our newest members:
Hilary Badoian

Aristo Events

Deborah Bailin

Hade Hodes

Donna Chagnon

Donna Chagnon, C.Ht., RMT

Joan M Freeman

Project Exposure Magazine

Monique Harrington

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company

Cynthia Gadberry

ReMax Properties

Judy Guertin

Eaton Partners, Inc.

Susie L Moulton

Pre-Paid Legal Services Inc. and Identity Theft Shield

Mary C. Murphy

MassMutual Financial Group

Suzanne Steele

Balanced Wellness LLC - Nikken Independent Consultant

Erin E. Toby

Clark & Lavey Benefits Solutions, Inc.

Piper A Turgeon

New England Interior Design Studio

Rita Zolubos

New England Interior Design Studio, LLC
Become a Member Today!