Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

It was a wonderful Contagious Confidence Conference and it was made possible by all of our wonderful attendees, staff, and volunteers! Thank you for your support and for your participation.

During the day we spoke of leadership skills, where we are now and what we needed to work on, how confidence is key, how we get in our own way, how to develop your own description of what you do (really!) and how to modify your communication skills for each team member. We also worked on time management challenges, the impact of stress and the needs and pet peeves of many personality preferences.

It was a wonderful day of learning about ourselves and others, as well as how we can be better leaders of our own lives and the voices in our head, along with leading employees!

What did YOU learn yesterday?
Thank you so much for being a part of our 5th Contagious Confidence Conference. Stay tuned for details on our next event and we look forward to seeing you there!
Stay Contagious!

Michael J. Fox said Optimism is Contagious!

In watching the first episode of Michael J. Fox, The Incurable Optimist, I was overjoyed to hear him talk about the sense of hope in times that most of us have not seen or experienced in our life time. Yet, what stood out the most for me is when he shared that Optimism and sense of hope is contagious!

Everything we do, optimistic or otherwise, is contagious. How you feel and what you say about the economy, your own abilities, your environment, and so much more is contagious. We need each other and "hope doesn't exist in a vaccuum". This topic and many more WILL be covered in our next conference on May 13th. The Contagious Confidence Conferences help you not only learn from other women in the session, but also to learn how you can be an even better you than you thought possible or had seen before.

If you could use a dose of incurable optimism, contagious enthusiasm about leadership, life, or the voices in your head, then make plans to join this women's leadership conference.

I'll see you there!
Monica

Why attend the Contagious Conference: Leading in Tough Times?

Why should you send some of those you work with, spend a day away from work, even ask your boss for the time, or take time away from what you are doing to grow your own business to attend the May 13th Contagious Conference: Leading in Tough Times?

Here are a few of the top reasons:

• You will learn how to effectively work with change (recently inspired by a participant who wanted more on this topic – thanks Renee!).
• You will gain unique techniques for dealing with whiners, nags, negative neds and nellies who can suck the very life out of your day.
• You will be able to boost your own confidence, which means you will be better able to ask others for help, develop teams, and admit when you don’t know the answer, without looking silly.
• You will interact with others from the business community who may turn out to be your next job lead or your next customer.
• You will get the chance to practice delivering coaching to an employee and selling your idea in a tough crowd.
• You will gain the ability to actually identify what an employee’s problem is and the skills to address it effectively once and for all.
• You will learn why micromanagement has value (and when to use it or not!).
• You will get a MUCH better understanding of why you have stress and how to eliminate most of it and keep it from affecting you daily.

Those are at least the highlights. The Contagious Conference: Leading in Tough Times, is a full day training course. And oh, did I also mention, we have continental breakfast, lunch and dessert, and a cocktail hour after the class, as well as over 15 vendors with services you don’t have time to shop for when you ARE at work.

This is more than just a conference, this is a way for you to feel better about what you are doing, particularly if you have been promoted, but not prepared and what to know what to do when you have people reporting to you.

Join us on May 13th in Orlando at Leu Gardens. Limited spaces are still available and for more information, go to www.contagiousconferences.com. Can't wait to see you there!

What Women Want...

Do you remember the movie What Women Want with Helen Hunt and Mel Gibson, in which he could literally "hear" her thoughts? eek! I'm not sure that is what women want but I do know we want a few other things...

We want to be understood
We want to be recognized for our talents
We want to be noticed for all that we do
We want to loved
We want to be accepted
We want to be seen as unique individuals
And often, we want to be seen as powerful, well respected and approved of people

You can be all of that! Some of these elements can come naturally, I suppose. Others of them require new skills, effort, and the development of communication that lets others know what we want.

These skills and more are what you will gain at our next Contagious Conference on Women's Leadership Skills: Leading in Tough Times. Join us on May 13th, 2009 in Orlando to get not only what you want, but what you deserve.

Women are wired to be fantastic leaders and yet we often fail to find that middle ground between being a leader without having to ride a broom or carrying a picket sign in promotion of feminism. We look forward to seeing you!

Stay Contagious!
Monica