It’s a wrap! We just finished the last and sixth month of the PWA Mentoring Program. Accordingly, all Mentors and Mentees, should by now have revised their goal lists, ideally leaving a fat check-mark by each one of them.
Now we would like to test whether this is actually the case through the recently launched on-line Feedback Survey. The main outcomes of this survey will be shared with all PWA Members early in 2012.

Let us give you some insights into the current state of the project. There have been some significant changes in the organizational set-up of the program. As already mentioned in previous communications, Valerie Ryder is stepping down from the Program Leader role.
Her shoes will be filled by Gini Dupasquier, a mentee in the 2010 program and a mentor in this year’s edition, who, through her consulting business, is engaged professionally in helping companies achieve better gender balance. Gini will lead the 2012 PWA Mentoring Program supported by Lee Smith, whom you already know from this year’s Program, and Karolina Wrobel, another new entry in the team.

We would like to take the opportunity to thank Valerie for her commitment and the amazing job done so far. We will do our best to keep up with the high standards she set.

The 2012 Edition of the PWA Mentoring Program kick-off is scheduled for March 2012. We will keep you updated as the new application deadlines and all relevant details firm up.
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email us

President – Monica Pesce
Vice President – Maria Lassila
Treasurer – Raffaella Monzani
Program Director, Speaker Events – Jiska van der Kooij
Program Director, Networking Events – Zoe Flaherty
Communications & PR Director, Silvia Siliprandi
Membership Directors – Viviana Cavalli & Irene Yi Qi
Professional Services Director – Gini Duspasquier
Corporate Members Director – Marta Paiar
Style & Newsletter Editor – Suparna Gupta

Quorum was reached with 120 votes – 55% of the 217 eligible members.

PWA thanks committee members Donatella Pianciamore and Valerie Ryder for organizing and overseeing the election process.

Wednesday, 23 November, 7-9.30 p.m.
Entrepreneur & EPWN Paris Member Margaret Milan presents:
“Success Story: Garage Start-Up, French Style”

Join PWA to hear the story of successful entrepreneur and fellow European Professional Women’s Network member Margaret Milan.

Margaret will talk about her experience over the past twenty years, building her business, Eveil & Jeux, from scratch to France’s leading educational toy brand with sales of € 150M. The company is unusual in that its sales are equally split through retail stores and the web providing a unique window on the fast changing retail environment.

She will share stories of the fast growth, entrepreneurial first decade, including the sale of the company to France’s luxury and distribution group PPR, as well as the transformations of the past decade in the face of the on-line revolution.

There will be ample time for questions for Margaret on her professional and personal journey as she built the business with her husband, Gilbert.

About Margaret
Born and raised in Scotland, educated in England (BSc Engineering, Warwick) and the United States (MBA Harvard), Margaret Milan has lived in France since 1979.

Her initial experience was in consumer marketing with Procter & Gamble (Pampers, Always). After a short break to enjoy her young daughters (now 23 and 26), Margaret set up her own mail order toy company, Eveil & Jeux. From an archetypal garage start-up in 1990, the company grew rapidly to become France’s leading educational toy brand with sales of €150M in 2010. The company was sold to the French distribution group, Pinault Printemps Redoute in 2001.

She returned to the company with her husband, Gilbert Milan, in 2006 to carry out the fundamental transformations necessary to compete in the fast-changing retail and on-line environment. They also accompanied the sale of Eveil & Jeux by Fnac to its new owners, ID Group, in 2010.

Margaret was one of the initiators of European Professional Women’s Network and was President of the European Federation from 2005 to 2007.

NH Hotel President, Largo Augusto 10 (MM San Babila, Duomo)
Networking Cocktail: 7 – 8 pm. Presentation: 8 – 9:30 pm

Entrance: Free for members, 25 euro for guests, payable in cash at the event.

Please register in the calendar section of EPWN (EuropeanPWN.net).

For more information, please send an email to speakers@pwa-milan.org

Nordic countries (Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) continue to hold top spots having closed over 80% of their gender gaps, while countries at the bottom of the rankings still need to close as much as 50%”.

Italy ranks 74, stable compared to 2010 and 2009.

If you want to read or download the full report, click here.

Which are you, a Ditherer or a Plunger?

Were you fortunate enough to spend time by the swimming pool or near the sea this summer? Well if you’re like me, and enjoy observing people, you will have noticed that the world is divided into two types of swimmer: the Ditherer and the Plunger!

The Ditherer takes half an hour to get from their sun lounger to the edge of the pool or sea. They fiddle around with their things, reapply sun lotion, reposition their swim costume, all the time thinking about getting in the water but not actually doing it. When they do eventually get to the water’s edge, they put first one toe in, then another, just to test the water. A knee follows, then eventually the waist. A good 45 minutes can go by between the decision to go swimming and them actually taking the plunge!

And then there are the Plungers. They decide they are going swimming, and before you can say “swimming costume” they have taken the plunge, disappearing beneath the waves only to re-emerge refreshed and exhilarated 100 metres out to sea.

We deprive ourselves of the opportunity to achieve
This business of the Ditherer and the Plunger is an excellent metaphor for how many of us behave in our lives when it comes to achieving our goals. Although we know what we need to do to achieve our goals, we approach such tasks with hesitancy and uncertainty, a bit like the Ditherer on the beach who hovers at the water’s edge. We talk about our goal, we think and dream about it. We even take small steps towards achieving it. But we never really commit ourselves fully and so deprive ourselves of the opportunity to fully achieve our goals.

Commit your whole body and mind
Hovering at the water’s edge with your feet in the water is all very well. Yes its cooling, it even gets you wet. But it is not swimming. To be swimming (in other words, to achieve your goal) you need to commit your whole body and mind. You need to take the plunge. Jump in! Dive in! Launch yourself dramatically off the nearest diving board. However you choose to do it, do it with conviction. The sea may at times be cooler or rougher than you expected but any initial discomfort will quickly fade beneath the thrill of dancing with the waves and gliding through the water’s surface towards your goal.

Dreams, Hopes and Wishes will only get you so far
When you talk about your goals what language do you use? Do you tell people that you Dream of running your business, that you Wish you could give up your job and travel around the world, or do you talk about all the things you Hope to do one day when the circumstances are right. The language we use is an indicator of who we are when it comes to achieving our goals. Which are you? A Dreamer, a Hoper, or a Wisher?

Dreams Hopes and Wishes are of course an important part of the goal process. Without them we would not be able to imagine a better life for ourselves, nor be able to see that life as possible. But to dream, to hope and to wish is not enough. Because when we go through life as Dreamers, Hopers and Wishers, two things happen:

1. we wait for circumstances beyond our control to improve or turn in our favour, such as a better economic climate, a change of employer; and
2. we take small steps towards our goals, fooling ourselves that we are making real progress, when all we are doing is dangling our feet in the waters, each resulting in a failure to fully realise our goals.

Make the commitment, and strange things will happen
If you really want to achieve your goals you need to have Great Expectations of yourself. This means making a full commitment to what you wish to achieve. Then and only then will your goal become a reality. When you do this, strange things will happen:

• instead of being a passenger in your own life, you’ll become the driver and can choose the direction you want to go in;
• instead of wallowing in comfort, you’ll find the courage to step outside of your comfort zone, into the zone of discomfort where real change and learning takes place;
• instead of feeling like a powerless victim of circumstances, you’ll start to feel powerful;
• instead of being crippled by self doubt, as a result of taking decisive action you’ll start to believe in yourself;
• instead of waiting for change, you’ll discover more and more ways to initiate it;
• instead of standing still, your life will gather momentum and you’ll start to move forward,

Do what you’ve been avoiding
To truly commit yourself means to do the one thing you’ve been avoiding doing because the circumstances aren’t right or because you feel you’re not ready. Usually it is the thing that fills you with the most fear. Asking for a promotion or pay rise; walking out on a dead-end relationship; or approaching a big corporation for work for example. Whatever it is, you are not truly committed to your goal until you’ve done it. Until then, you’ll just be sitting by the side of the swimming pool with your feet in the water, watching other swimmers reach their goals and wondering why you aren’t one of them.

Begin it now!
If you want to succeed, it is no good dreaming, wishing or hoping. The only way to get results is to commit yourself bodily and mentally to your goal by taking the one significant step that you’ve been avoiding or putting off. This is your Great Expectation, it is what you must expect of yourself, and it is the key to your success. In the famous words of Goethe:

“ Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it now!
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!”

About Caroline
Caroline is a coach, writer and speaker who has a passion for personal growth and for discovering new ways to help others achieve fulfilment in their lives. Read more at her website www.carolineflanagan.com

ATM’s Board of Directors has added Elisabetta Oliveri and Alessandra Perrazzelli, both of whom were included in the 2011 Edition of PWA’s Ready For Board Women project (RFBW). Elisabetta Oliveri was in fact nominated by PWA for the board position, making us doubly proud!

Universita’ Statale di Milano announced that on their future Ateneo board, at least 3 out of the 8 positions will be women.

Read the full article (in Italian) here

“In this paper we investigate the state of the art of women representation in Italian corporate boards, trying also to assess its determinants”.

Download the report here (in English, despite the first pages in Italian)

This presents a challenge in structuring our activities in such a way that we cover all of our members’ needs. When we began our mandate in 2011 the willingness to put a special focus on the specific needs of existing and potential entrepreneurs was an objective shared by the incoming PWA Board, given that our activities had traditionally been less concentrated in this area.

That is the reason why we have three specific events this fall targeting our entrepreneurs, be they budding or full-fledged:

• October 12 – our sold-out skill-building workshop on how to prepare your venture’s financial plan, held by financial management consultant and PWA Member Lynn Chasson
• November 16 – a second workshop aimed at developing your skills in making effective presentations once you have your business plan, run by partner-level consultant and PWA President Monica Pesce
• November 23 – our monthly speaker meeting focusing on the story of two decades of successful entrepreneurship in a changing world, featuring accomplished businesswoman and past President of EuropeanPWN Margaret Milan

 This is only the beginning. There are a number of new special programs and events to come in 2012!

Empowering women is “smart economics,” the World Bank says in a report whose message resonates with white-collar workers. “We will not release the full potential of half of the world’s population until globally we address the issue of equality,” World Bank President Robert Zoellick told students in Washington last week. Read full article.