On Monday, September 30th, 2013 Women In Leadership Foundation – Toronto Chapter welcomed over 200 women (and a few men!) to the TD Toronto Women In Business Luncheon at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel.
The attendees were welcomed by Rose Gage, Vice-Chair of the WIL Toronto Chapter who noted that proceeds from the event go to support WIL’s Mentorship Program which is being launched for 2013 on October 2, 2013.
Dianne Buckner, Host of Dragons’ Den and Business Correspondent was the panel moderator. She 
was joined by (from left to right) Sue Cummings, EVP Human Resources, TD Bank Group. Sangeetha Chandru, VP, Corporate Strategy, Sobeys Capital Inc., and Janice Detta Colli, Managing Director, Boyden International.
The theme of the panel discussion was “Authentic Leadership.”
Some of the points raised by the moderator and panel are as follows:
- when job opportunities are presented and say for example there are ten requirements for the position, often men will be confident enough to apply when they have 5-7 of the boxes checked whereas women will sometimes hold back unless they feel they can check off 7-9 of the requirement boxes; with the right support and confidence-building activities women can be encouraged to apply for more opportunities
- sometimes women sell themselves short and are apologetic when asking for what they deserve whereas men don’t think twice to ask to be paid what they deserve
- when asked to apply for a position which was outside her comfort zone one panelist set up an 8 person advisory board of men and women she could call upon when she needed support, who had greater belief in her abilities than she did
- be stubborn, learn from your failures, mentor, and give back
- confidence without substance is just cockiness; build your domain expertise
- when building a team have a clear separation between your friendship with them and what the job expectations are; it is important to know the little things about your staff and be there for them, have their back; get obstacles out of your team’s way so they can succeed and you will thereby succeed
- there was some question of whether leaders can really enjoy work/life balance – that there are concessions and priorities that need to be considered; make conscious choices and come up with workable solutions to fit your personal life needs with the needs of the position
Special thanks to the event sponsors TD, Sobeys, Fairmont Royal York, PSAV, MCAP, Hill’s Florist & Fruit Baskets, See Creative, Enbridge, Worley Parsons, Canlan Ice Sports, and Ian Liwanag Photography.
For more information on Women In Leadership Foundation visit www.womeninleadership.ca
Follow updates about the Women In Business Luncheon on Twitter with hashtag #WILTL
Last updated: October 2, 2013 by G. MacDonald