The Scariest Thing Of All

Happy Halloween!

 

What a special time of year this is for those who love Halloween!  I happen to be one of those that adore this time of year, however I know that not all share that joy.  If you happen to fall into that category, you can skip this next paragraph!

 

So, flying home from Montreal last night, I decided to just try to relax and enjoy the 4.5hr flight.  I had my aisle seat, exit row with no one beside me and thankfully, was on Air Canada as they offer movies and TV shows on demand for free.  So, what movie did I pick for my first half of the flight?  "Dark Shadows", with Johnny Depp and Michelle Pfeiffer.  It seemed like a great choice with Halloween being next week.  What a great, fun-filled, spooky tale with lots of laughs!  A definite must see if you are renting a movie off iTunes this weekend.  Johnny, or "Captain Jack" as I most often refer to him, is one of my favourite actors and he certainly did not disapoint in this one.  The pleasant surprise was seeing Michelle Pfeiffer back on the big screen.  It seems like forever since she starred in a movie. 

 

Given my delight with her, my second movie of choice was "People Like Us", again with her.  A mini "Michelle" marathon, if you will.  Okay - this one is a definite MUST see for everyone.  A tale about how fruitless it is to hang on to old hurts and misconceptions about people.  Truly, is not judging one another the scariest thing of all in life?  How easily you can miss out on the fabulous gifts others can bring to your life by labelling or being too quick to dismiss.  I always try to remind myself that there are no coincidences in life.  That everyone that you meet or cross paths with is indeed an intentional happening in the grand scheme of your life.  The question then when dealing with those we find challenging is to ask oneself, "What am I supposed to learn from this encounter?"

 

Can you imagine what the world would be like if we met everyone with an open stance and mind?  Are we, in our lives as EWI member representatives being "open" and welcoming to those guests and new members?  I truly hope so!  We must always remember that there are no second chances for making a great first impression. 

 

Monday was our first official board meeting of the year.  What a fabulous group of women with truly "open stances" I have beside me.  I thank them for the blessings of having them in my life and being able to lead such an amazing organization. 

 

Today, my first day back from my business trip, was spent catching up on emails, listening to all the great ideas flowing with the 75th Anniversary Committee and then mapping out plans with the Personnel Committee.  A quiet week for EWI, but will need to do some work on the November Connect message this weekend. 

 

Have a great weekend everyone and I hope that somehow a little bit of that Halloween magic will visit your front door!  BWA HAA HAA!

 

- Karen

Our Community

 

“One can acquire everything in solitude except character.”

-         Stendhal

 

 

This week I had the pleasure of attending my monthly Chapter meeting.  I say, "pleasure" because it was a very special evening.  What a comfort it is to walk into a room and be greeted by so many dear friends and yet also meet new faces!

 

The theme of the evening was “Celebrating the Past, Present and Future.” The board honoured our Chapter Life members and Sustainers, along with each past Chapter President in attendance.  Then, the outgoing board was recognized for a great job done over the past year and we “pinned” our outgoing Chapter President.  It was then time for the installation ceremony, and I was reminded again how important this is to the culture of EWI.

 

The installation theme that was used was the Book/Literacy theme found under best practices on the corporate website.  It is such an amazing analogy of how a board is like the key components of a book; cover, title page, chapters, binding.  I love one component of this ceremony though because it focuses on the pages of the book…the Chapter members! 

To quote, “Without you, there is no organization.  Every page of a book is essential for the reader, and each of you is essential to this organization.  If one page is missing – it changes the whole book.”

What a fabulous quotation and oh, so true.  I would even go so far as to say that we can have our book filled with pages, but unless they are engaged, they do not add to our story.   

It is custom at our October meeting to have sign up sheets posted around the room wherein no member leaves without having signed up for a committee.  Or, at least that is the objective.   

As I have shared before, we must all understand that EWI is a hands-on learning experience and serving in different capacities is how we grow.  Learn, Lead, Mentor!  If you have not volunteered for committee work yet within your Chapter, please do so.  We are also still seeking volunteers from the membership to serve on the corporate committees.  If you are interested PLEASE reach out to me personally and I will ensure that you are put in touch with the right Chair.   

Now – just for everyone’s information, the Executive Director position is still being studied by our Personnel Committee Chair, Carolyn Woodmansee.  She is working diligently with our staff to determine the full scope of tasks involved and what the best approach for the position is, i.e. on-site or remote.  As soon as the Board receives the final recommendations we will be posting the position.  I am sure you can all appreciate that we want to fully understand the benefits and risks before proceeding in any potential new directions. 

The conversion to MemberPoint, slated for November 01^st is progressing.  Thank you to Shannon at the office for spear-heading this important project that will help to alleviate chapter operations.   

Board meeting is on Monday, so better get started on my notes! 

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

 

- Karen

How Much Is Too Much?

 



 

 

                                   First Snow!

 

 

 

Yes, this was the view from my living room Thursday morning; first snow and gloomy all day. Just 24 hours later it is all gone and the sun is shining once again.  My outlook seems to have matched the weather each day of this shortened week, which thankfully bodes well for the weekend!

 

I thought I would start by offering just a few updates from last week's blog, which, if you did not read it, I am sorry, but I have inadvertently deleted it and now you can't!  LOL!  I am still learning all about blogging, so bear with me!

 

First of all, I am happy to report that we had 7 of the board members jump on the first "Coffee Chat Call" last Saturday morning. It was fun and really gave us a chance to get to know each other a little better.

 

Second update is that I am thoroughly enjoying reading Ashely Judd's "All That Is Bitter and Sweet".  She is an amazing Christian woman who has very quietly and humbly turned the power of her fame into bringing light to some incredibly dark, disturbing issues for women around the globe.  I am about half way done the book and when finished I will make my final recommendation to the Board, LCAM Committee and office as to whether or not we should pursue her as a guest speaker for Friday's lunch.  She first came to my attention as a possible fit after I watched an interview with her.  Best of all is that she is passionate about literacy and the options it brings to women everywhere.

 

I had a member ask me this week, "How much time is this new role as President taking each week?"  So, I thought that today I would share some actual stats with all of you from Sunday until today:

• 287 EWI emails hit my inbox
• 2 hours and 10 minutes spent with a Judge, our counsel and accountant
• 4 conference calls
• 13 phone calls
• about 2 hours of paperwork, writing, reviews, etc.
• 1 hour on a great webinar with 56 other of you, and....the day is not yet done! 

Now, I am not sharing these stats to frighten off anyone.  That would be counter-intuitive to my purpose for this blog in trying to inspire others to serve at this level.  Rather, I offer you these realities with the disclaimer that I would not change any of this time spent!

 

I have learned so many things this week that I would not have ever been exposed to otherwise.  So, this is my current learning platform within EWI.  Where is yours?  Are you learning something new in the way of knowledge or skill sets through your current level of engagement?  If not, you should be!  I know for a fact that Chapters and the Corporate Committees are still looking for people to step into roles that are still vacant.  Just reach out and let leadership know what your interests are and what skill sets you need to develop for your firm.  We are here to help you develop!

I offer you this quote to consider;

"The value of anything can be determined by how much of your time and life you are willing to trade for it" - Brian Tracy


Last month I booked my neighbor some flights.  I have lived next to this gal for about five years now and we are friendly but not overtly.  You know, the chats in the back yard during the summer, running in to her at the mailbox, grocery store, etc.  I had forgotten where she worked and was intrigued when her email came in.  I checked out her company and realized that we do not have a member firm in this classification in our Chapter, so I diarized to call her this week and invite her to our meeting next Wednesday.  She was thrilled to be invited, accepted the invite and said to me, "I was hoping you would ask me one day"!  She had noticed the logo for EWI on my email and seen the EWI license plate I have on my car and had looked us up.  Have you asked your casual acquaintances and neighbors to a Chapter meeting yet?  They could just be waiting for you to ask!

Everyone that was at LCAM received a window decal.  I sure hope you have placed it somewhere prominent.  Better yet, order an EWI license plate for yourself or for every member of the Chapter.  Great, really inexpensive marketing.  Jordan in our office also created a specifc email signature logo for each Chapter!  They were just announced in the Leadership Connect on Wednesday with a link to the website.  Please use them if you can.  It could lead to some great discussions about EWI with potential new members.

Just checked my inbox and it is a GREAT day for EWI!  Those two hours and ten minutes on Wednesday were worth every second!

Enjoy the weekend!
- K