The Leadership Forum, held by the Centre for Executive Leadership at the University of Ottawa’s Telfer School of Management, will gather more than 40 people over the next seven months for five interactive sessions framed around the idea of achieving "excellence" in business.
The first session was led by Philip Townsend, advisory services partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, last week.
Upcoming speakers for the 2010/2011 session include Christopher J. Hodgson, group head of Canadian Banking at Scotiabank; Jennifer Camelon, CFO and vice-president of finance for QNX Software Systems; Michael Coates, president and CEO of Hill & Knowlton Canada and Sir Terry Matthews, founder and chairman of Wesley Clover.
“The Forum was created to give Ottawa’s business leaders an opportunity to create long-lasting relationships with other rising stars, as well as gain valuable insights on current business issues through discussions with seasoned executives,” said Peter Cleveland, Forum founder and executive-in-residence at the Telfer School of Management.
“Together with our sponsors we hand pick the participants to ensure we deliver a unique opportunity for networking and professional growth.”
Among this year's participants are a handful of women nominated by the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance’s Women in Technology Forum.
“At CATA-WIT, we focus on providing women with the tools to help them progress in their careers,” said Ella Mar, CEO of P2Peak Consulting and Chair of CATA-WIT Ottawa.
According to a recent study by CATA-WIT, 36 per cent of women working in the IT industry ranked the lack of an influential mentor among the top five barriers to career advancement.
Robin McIntyre, chair of OCRI's board of directors, said professional development opportunties such as the Leadership Forum address that need.
“As women, typically our careers really start to take off in when we’re 30 to 40 years old. Coincidentally, this is when most of us are totally focused on raising our kids, and doing all the things that come with running a household,” said Ms. McIntyre.
“Not a lot of us are thinking about the importance of networking and positioning ourselves for a senior leadership role within our company.
“I think the challenge for women is that they often don’t realize how critical networking and this kind of professional development is until their kids are gone and they have the time to think about it,” Ms. McIntyre added.
Each season, CATA-WIT and The Leadership Forum sponsors the seats of a handful of local women executives in the tech sector.
“Probably the area that I valued the most was the opportunity to step back and really think about the kind of leader that I want to be,” said Ms. Mar, an attendee of the forum in 2007 and 2008.
“When you’re an executive in a fast-paced business you are moving so rapidly that you rarely get to step back and think beyond the day-to-day aspects of your job on how to evolve your leadership style to best meet the needs of your business.”
“It was a breath of fresh air for me,” added Kim Dixon, vice-president of sales and marketing for Talkswitch, who also attended the Forum in 2007. “It had been such a long time since I was in school, or actually tasked with the role of just sitting back to listen and learn.”
Upcoming Leadership Forum dates
Oct. 28, 2010 Implementing corporate plans
Nov. 25, 2010 Negotiations
Feb. 23, 2011 Professional services
March 23, 2011 Creating successful high-tech companies
