A decade of connecting – Happy Birthday NZBWN

One woman’s vision to connect career-minded women in the middle of the financial crisis has resulted in thousands of women connecting, supporting and building each over the past decade.

The roaring buzz #WeSpeakKiwi chatter of 200 Kiwi women coming from the atrium of Clifford Chance was testament to Bronwen Horton’s vision at the 10^th birthday celebrations last week. They were just a few of the thousands of women who have used the network to connect on a professional and personal level, providing everything from mentoring to networking, to lifelong relationships.

MC for the night Emma Keeling, who many of us will remember as TVNZ’s Europe correspondent, paid tribute to the 10,000 plus hours Bronwen has given to the network.

“Bronwen, this is all made possible thanks to your vision and drive. We thank you for having this dream and allowing us to be a part of it.”

Relationships to the Power of X was fittingly the theme for the night, with some of the best speakers from over the years inspiring the crowd with their stories of building businesses and their brands. We’ll be bringing you their inspirational stories over the coming months through the newsletter. In the meantime here’s a taster of their key messages and top tips.

Speaking from New Zealand Maggie Eyre, who has had an amazing career, including as Helen Clark’s media advisor, shared her story about the connections and how one connection changed her whole career – just by sharing her story. She also plugged her new book, ‘Being you. How to build your Personal Brand and Confidence.’

The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups 

by Daniel Coyle

Review by Michelle Telling

Every couple of months or so I venture south on the train from Bedford into London and meet up with an inspiring group of Kiwi women enjoying coffee, brunch (@ Ozone Coffee Roasters), and a lively chat about a book. The book we read, The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle, was really well received and everyone was clearly engaged by it with loads of positive discussion.

For me, the book can be summed up with these five words and some quotes taken direct from the book:

• Safety – ‘safety is not mere emotional weather but rather the foundation on which strong culture is built’.
• Belonging – ‘belonging cues have to do not with character or discipline but with building an environment that answers basic questions: Are we connected? Do we share a future?
• Listening – ‘the most effective listeners behave like trampolines, they aren’t passive sponges but active responders’.
• Thank-you – ‘thank-yous aren’t only expressions of gratitude; they’re crucial belonging cues that generate a contagious sense of safety, connection, and motivation’.
• Vulnerability – ‘vulnerability is less about the sender than the receiver…a shared exchange of openness, it’s the most basic building block of cooperation and trust…the vulnerability loop is contagious’.

Helen Clark – the Future of Leadership
By Julia Hitchcock

The ‘Future of Leadership’ was the overarching theme for NZBWN’s intimate dinner event with Helen Clark at the lovely Modern Pantry.

Helen spoke to a room filled of NZBWN members as part of a celebration of our successful mentoring programme.
This included current mentees on our leadership group, previous mentees from the last few years, current mentors and guest speakers, industry and community leaders and our mentoring programme team.

The evening began with each table discussing their respective leadership-focused questions covering diversity, support, challenges, examples, sources of inspiration... and the rest!

Helen then spoke to the attendees on leadership in the political and corporate world as it stands and the evolution of these throughout her career. She spoke both about the positive change that she has seen concerning females in leading roles and the obstacles that are yet to be overcome.

Helen answered questions regarding where she finds support herself, her role models and what she deems as the Future of leadership going forward.

The night concluded with each table reporting back on their assigned topics with insights into real world examples of role models, constructive leadership traits and how women can support each other to both shape and continue to be the leaders of the future.

The event was an amazing success and a memorable night for all!
Helen is truly tuned in with the economic and political worlds and her perspective on the evening’s topic was hugely inspiring.

The golden nugget of the evening was Helen’s clear message that all of us in the room needed to help women up the ladder from behind and this could be as easy as a few words of support.