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B L U E P R I N T F O R S U C C E S S

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

T R A I L B L A Z E R

A W A R D 1

L E A D E R S H I P

D E V E L O P M E N T

W O R K S H O P

2

E V E N T S 3

B O O K R E V I E W 4

O U R M I S S I O N

Join us as we promote

career advancement

and leadership skills

of women in the build-

ing industry to ulti-

mately increase the

number of women

industry leaders.

This year at the NVBIA President’s Ball held in Janu-

ary, WBI started a new tradition by awarding the first

ever Trailblazer Award to Alicia Skoug, Heather

Haynes-Long and Soledad Portilla, the founding WBI

Committee Steering Co-Chairs. The award is given “In

Recognition of Outstanding Efforts to Advance Women

to Positions of Leadership in the Building Industry.”

Outgoing NVBIA President Mike Sandkuhler presented

the award to Soledad who accepted on

behalf of her colleagues.

WBI President Erin Thiebert said she

hopes this is the beginning of a great tra-

dition for WBI, and looks forward to pre-

senting the award next year to an individ-

ual who advances the WBI mission.

Inaugural WBI Trailblazer Award

Presented at NVBIA President’s Ball 2017

Members of WBI,

Thanks so much for your participation in our activities during the first quarter of

2017, which has rolled out with great energy and purpose. I greatly appreciate

those that take extra time to further assist our mission on our Public Relations Com-

mittee, Events Committee and Community Service Committee, headed so ably by

Carmela Patrick, Lauren Duvall and Karen Garceau, respectively. Joining a commit-

tee is a great way to develop relationships and deepen friendships, not to mention

help WBI spread its message to the full membership of NVBIA. I encourage you all

to consider it — a minimal time commitment for a great return.

This year I would like to bring attention to NVBIA member companies who have com-

mitted to our mission of advancing women into leadership positions within the build-

ing industry. I have a few companies already on my radar, but I'm asking the mem-

bership of WBI to personally reach out to me if their companies have established or

are considering establishing women's leadership programs. I want to hear about

them. Email me at ethiebert@thelandlawyers.com. See you at spring activities!

Erin Moore Thiebert, WBI President

Letter from the WBI President

L E A D E R S H I P D E V E L O P M E N T W O R K S H O P

Page 2 B L U E P R I N T F O R S U C C E S S

The Women in the Building Industry committee held its first major leader-

ship program in March, inviting Joan Fletcher, president of Winning Ways, to

walk us through “Handling the Difficult Conversation.”

Fletcher, a leadership coach who specializes in corporate leadership edu-

cation and training, provided a hands-on workshop that walked the 40+ at-

tendees through a step-by-step worksheet on how to have a difficult-but-

necessary conversation, which should take no more than 10 minutes.

She highlighted the fact that many of us have a missing conversation in

our professional or personal lives and, by avoiding the tough conversation,

we let small irritations build up to the point of resentment.

She touched on the importance of mindfulness — a critically important

quality of effective leaders—and pointed out that we cannot change how oth-

ers react; we can only control how we react. She reminded us that

“Conversation doesn’t have to be a confrontation; it’s a care-frontation.”

Fletcher later asked attendees to find a partner to work through their re-

spective conversations and serve as “accountability partners” to ensure that

their difficult conversations occur. As Fletcher said, “This forces us to use

this information and not waste our time here today—which goes back to

mindfulness and being present in the moment here.”

Joan Fletcher & WBI Presi-

dent, Erin Thiebert

For further reading,

Fletcher recommended

the following two books:

Language and

the Pursuit of

Leadership

Excellence

by Chalmers

Brothers and

Vinay Kumar

Fierce

Conversations

by Susan Scott

The February 15th WGB Clothing Sort was a big success! Approximately

20 volunteers worked in multiple shifts during a three-hour time slot to

help organize and sort incoming donations, as well as organize the

“sales” floor. WGB Directors shared several stories about how WGB is

helping women and their children in crisis by providing free new or like-

new clothing. The store is always in need of donations of gently worn

clothing for women and children so please check out their website for

more details: http://womengivingback.org/

W O M E N G I V I N G B A C K C L O T H I N G S O R T

Page 3 S P R I N G 2 0 1 7

W A N T T O

R E C E I V E W B I

N E W S A N D

I N V I T E S ?

If you would like to

receive event

invitations, upcoming

community service

activities, or WBI news,

please make sure you

provide information on

sign-in sheets at events

or email NVBIA asking

them to add you to the

WBI distribution list.

APRIL 6 Book Club Discussion & Happy Hour

5pm - 7pm at Dogfish Head, Fairfax

Book: Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg

APRIL 18 Book Club Discussion & Lunch

11:30am - 1pm at Bad Wolf Public House, Old Town Manassas

Book: Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg

APRIL 22 Tree Planting with Fairfax ReLeaf in the Laurel Hill Community

9am - 12pm at 8380 Laurel Crest Drive, Lorton

Open to all NVBIA members & families

MAY 2 Mixer with Young Leaders Committee at TopGolf Loudoun, Ashburn

3pm - 4pm Networking Mixer in private room

4pm - 6pm Golf Play in outside bays

SEPT 12 Wine Tasting Summer Mixer

5pm - 7pm at Paradise Springs Winery, Clifton

Benefiting HomeAid’s Welcome Home Basket program

U P C O M I N G W B I E V E N T S

B L U E P R I N T F O R S U C C E S S Page 4

B O O K R E V I E W

Review written by Meg McEvoy

Own It: The Power of Women at Work by Sallie Krawcheck

Right out the gate, Sallie Krawcheck's book, "Own It: The Power of Women at Work,"

had to convince me as a reader. Krawcheck, a veteran Wall Street manager and the

entrepreneur behind Ellevest, an online investment tool for women, based her book

on a premise: That women have unique attributes that are an asset in the workplace.

I was a bit skeptical because I tend to think that we lady-types aren't all the same

– we aren’t necessarily all more compassionate and collaborative, or less ambitious

and cutthroat. Aren’t women’s personalities as diverse as, well, men's?

Yet, Krawcheck convincingly uses her background as a financial research analyst

in explaining what's special about women in the workplace, offering research to back

it up. Studies show that women’s brains are better able to manage complexity and

to see problems more holistically, Krawcheck writes. Women outperform men in

emotional intelligence tests. In addition, women are more risk-averse (Krawcheck

calls it “risk-aware”), a quality that she believes could have helped avert some of the

financial crisis. Women think long-term, according to Krawcheck, and we love to

learn, which makes us more adaptable in the workforce. Hey, pseudoscience or not, the vision Krawcheck offers is

appealing.

“The future is ours to seize,” Krawcheck writes. “But we aren’t going to seize it by contorting ourselves into the

male version of what power and success look like.”

Krawcheck points out that women control $5 trillion in investable assets in the United States, and account for 80

percent of consumer purchases. In addition, Krawcheck says, women are starting businesses at double the rate of

men. Further, the daughters of working mothers earn 23 percent more later in life than those whose mothers stayed

home. Krawcheck offers women practical advice for tapping into this power. Women need not just mentors, but

“sponsors” – people who will go to bat for us behind the scenes. No more queen bees or pretending like only a few

women can squeeze in at the top, Krawcheck says. “The first step is recognizing that the (business) pie can grow…

there can be more seats at the table.”

On the importance of networking: “They told us that, if we did the right things and kept quiet, our prince would

come, often aided by a fairy godmother,” Krawcheck writes. “Newsflash: the princes are all busy at the bar handing

out business cards to their future bosses, and fairy godmothers don’t work in human resources. Please network.”

Throughout, Krawcheck offers dozens of relatable stories from her own life – from caring for sick kids to illustrate

the importance of workplace flexibility, to baring her feelings about her ugly firing from Citigroup.

Truly, I dog-eared nearly every page of this book. But, in the era of market swings, booms and busts, perhaps

Krawcheck's best tips are on navigating an incredibly unpredictable working world. “The business world is changing

so fast that encountering career curveballs along the way is inevitable. Only resilience… will win the day.”

Good advice – for anyone.

WRITE FOR US!

The PR/Communications committee is always seeking new content for its newsletter and Facebook page. Get in touch with

Carmela Patrick, PR Committee Chair, by emailing her at: carmela@weber-rector.com