This wise information comes from Barbara Atkins, author of “70 is the new 40″. (I for one am happy to know that I will have a chance to be 40 again.) Baby boomers are a significant part of the US population and coaches like us are finding fulfillment working with this generation:

This increasing median age is driven by the aging of the population born during the Baby Boom after World War II (1946 to 1964). About 30 percent of the population in 1994 were born during the Baby Boom. As this population ages, the median age will rise. People born during the Baby Boom will be between 36 and 54 years old at the turn of the century. In 2011, the first members of the Baby Boom (reached) age 65, and the Baby Boom will have decreased to 25 percent of the total population. Source; Census Bureau

Three Dog Night

Not all of them are rock and rollers having reunions. Many are finding new career paths and starting their own businesses. If this sounds like something for you, Barbara is having an event in AZ. It’s called appropriately enough: What’s Next For You? Discover what matters and do what you love! It will be on Wednesday, June 27 at 1:30 pm – for individuals that are already retired and at 6:30 pm – for individuals approaching retirement. It will be held at the City of Scottsdale Civic Center Library. 3839 N. Drinkwater Blvd., Scottsdale, AZ,  For info call 480.312.READ (7323). Before you attend Barbara’s event, visit the beautiful grounds and fountains of the Scottsdale City Hall. Visit the art galleries and other attractions. Walk slowly, enjoy the view.

Honorees Dr. Michele Y. Halyard, Sharon Lechter, Pamela Lam, Pastor Sheriolyn Curry Lasley, Jane Spicer and Bettie Spruill CMEC

“We all have the capacity to be positively powerful. The magnitude of the contributions of this year’s award recipients is truly amazing. They, along with each of our previous 16 Award Recipients, prove that everyone has the opportunity to make dreams a reality.” Author and renowned international trainer, speaker and coach Dr. Joel Martin, creator of the Annual Positively Powerful Woman Awards program.

This year’s Fifth Annual Positively Powerful Woman Awards will be presented to the honorees at the Phoenix Ritz-Carlton on June 22, 2012. Gala luncheon from 11:30AM to 2PM to continue with the Conversation On Leadership Summit (COL) from 2:30PM to 6PM. The program will include an intimate panel with the Award Recipients, speakers and transformational action learning focused on enhancing personal, professional and business development. The public is invited to attend. Additional information about the fifth annual celebration follows.

Dr. Michele Y. Halyard, The 2012 Positively Powerful Woman Award For Global Leadership.  Dr Michele Halyard is a consultant in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Mayo Clinic in Arizona and an Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology. Her clinical areas of interest include the treatment of breast cancer and head and neck cancer patients. Her research interests involve the treatment of breast cancer with radiation therapy including interactions with systemic therapies, quality of life of in oncology patients and cancer symptom control. Administratively, Dr Halyard has played a variety of administrative roles within Mayo Clinic. She is a past Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology in Arizona. She served 8 years on the Board of Governors of Mayo Clinic in Arizona, including serving as Vice Chair. She also served 8 years as a member of the Mayo Clinic Executive Committee and Board of Trustees. She serves as the Links, Incorporated Health and Human Services Facet Chair, Western Area. She is a co-founder of the Coalition of Blacks Against Breast Cancer.

Sharon Lechter, The 2012 Positively Powerful Woman Award For Philanthropic Leadership. Sharon Lechter gives back to world communities as both a volunteer and benefactor. She is the founder of Pay Your Family First, a financial education organization and YOUTHpreneur, which sparks the entrepreneurial spirit in children.  Dedicating her life’s work to financial literacy, Ms. Lechter has authored Think and Grow Rich – Three Feet From Gold in cooperation with the Napoleon Hill Foundation, updated Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill-a manuscript hidden for over 70 years and is known world-wide as the co-author of the international best-selling book Rich Dad, Poor Dad and the Rich Dad series of books. Sharon has served on the Dean’s Council 100 of the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University and as a member of the advisory Board of the Spirit of Enterprise at the W.P. Carey School of Business. She serves on the national board of the Women Presidents’ Organization and on the national board of Childhelp, a national organization founded to prevent and treat child abuse. Sharon helps shape the state of financial literacy in our nation through her appointment to the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy.

Pamela Lam, The 2012 Positively Powerful Woman Award For Corporate Leadership.

Pamela Lam is the vice president of Research and Development for Henkel Laundry and Home Care in North American, reporting directly to the president of Henkel. Ms. Lam has numerous patents and a track record in delivering innovations. Her experience crosses all disciplines within R&D including an overseas assignment in China. She is a founding advisory member of the Asian American Professional Association at Henkel, an active member serving on the Scottsdale Workforce Development and an advocate for young talent development. She has personally, formally and informally, mentored dozens of young professionals. Ms. Lam holds an MS degree in Chemistry from Steven Institute of Technology. She received her Supply Chain Professional Certification at ASU in 2010. Pam was born in Vietnam and has had the pleasure of living in five cities and four countries so far. She is also a Corporate Advisory Council member of the Phoenix Chapter of the National Association of Asian America Professionals (NAAAP).

Jane Spicer, The 2012 Positively Powerful Woman Award For Entrepreneurial Leadership. Jane is the Owner and President of Daphne’s Head Covers, a family-owned, labor of love that manufactures just about every sort of animal head cover that can be imagined for golf clubs. Jane has offices located in Phoenix and internationally. In growing her business to the global status it has become, she had two goals: One was to remain solvent. The other one was, as her mother always said, “We must do good while we’re doing well.” That was hugely important to her. In that regard, Jane has created a fund raising head cover for Gabriel’s Angels an organization that delivers healing pet therapy to at-risk children. Jane’s entrepreneurial ambitions were awakened when she was a pre-teen and wanted a sailboat. Her mother said if she wanted one, she had to think of a business and make her own money. So she started making and selling toys and those morphed into puppets and ultimately to Daphne’s Head Covers, the firm named for her mother. Today approximately 200 PGA men and women have Daphne’s Head Covers. And, yes, Jane got the sailboat.

Pastor Sheriolyn Curry Lasley, The 2012 Positively Powerful Woman Award For Spiritual Leadership. Reverend Curry Lasley is the founding pastor of Mt. Moriah A.M.E. Church in Maricopa, AZ. Mt. Moriah was voted into the Desert Mountain Annual Conference in August 2007 and will celebrate 5 years of serving the community on October, 14, 2012. Reverend Curry Lasley is an Itinerant Elder and has earned a Masters of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary. She is also the founder of several businesses, which spiritually align with her ministry. They include Comfort Keepers, which for the last ten years has provided home care services for the elderly and Covenant Family Services, a behavioral health agency that hires and trains caregivers who provide services to seniors so that they may safely stay in their homes. Previously Reverend Currey Lasley was Senior Adult Minister for Tanner Chapel A.M.E. Church and fulfilled many leadership roles at this historical church including Director of Young People and Children’s Division (YPD) and Youth Minister.

Bettie Spruill, CMEC, The 2012 Positively Powerful Woman Award For Educational Leadership. Bettie Spruill, CMEC. is an international coach, management consultant, entrepreneur, public speaker and writer with 30 years’ experience in the field of transformational technology, and sacred commerce. She is also a certified Master NLP practitioner and member of the Transformational Leadership Council. Her retreat, The Feminine Face of Leadership, Power and Sex is an innovative approach to dynamic living. Her company, Ideal Coaching certifies coaches both here in the USA and Mexico. Bettie has led experiential effectiveness seminars and workshops in leadership, purpose and vision, and high performance for more than 20,000 people in Russia, Malaysia, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Chili, Mexico, England, Hong Kong, Canada, Ghana and the U.S. as well as multi-national and American companies and educational institutions. In 2000, Bettie adopted the village of Begora, Ghana. Since then, she has raised thousands of dollars to bring the people of Begoro coaching and training and helped develop vision, leadership, strategies and practices of sustainability. Her mentoring and coaching work with women in prison is having a positive impact on the lives of families and communities. Previously Bettie was Senior Vice President for Lifespring, Inc., one of the largest training and seminar companies in the world. Bettie is a student of the practices of Buddhism, deep ecology and global harmony, Universal Law, Egyptian and Christian mysticism.

2012 Positively Powerful Nonprofit Organization: Diana Gregory Outreach Services.  

This year, donations gathered at the 2012 Awards will be earmarked for Diana Gregory Outreach Services, a non-profit organization that provides programs in health, nutrition, education and housing. Every donation will go towards providing senior citizens with bags filled with free fresh produce (fruits and vegetables). These bags will be hand delivered to their facility/home by Gregory’s Fresh Market Place (GFMP) after the Awards.

Event Information: The public is invited to attend this year’s Fifth Annual Positively Powerful Woman Awards at the Phoenix Ritz-Carlton on June 22, 2012. Gala luncheon from 11:30AM to 2PM. It will continue with the Conversation On Leadership Summit (COL) from 2:30PM to 6PM. The all-inclusive Awards Presentation, Luncheon and COL Summit registration is $75. Register online or by mail.

Thank you Sponsors!

When the spotlight shines on the Positively Powerful Woman, we get to shine a light on her and the causes that matter to her to empower all others to follow her lead. Dr. Joel P. Martin

Corporate Sponsors include Southwest Gas Corporation Community & Consumer Affairs, Arizona State University Diversity and Small Business Program, the National Bank of Arizona founders of the Women’s Financial Group and Henkel where excellence is their passion.  If you are not able to attend, consider sponsoring a seat for a relative or community member.

Dr. Joel P. Martin, Awards Creator and Producer, Positively Powerful Woman Awards. Dr. Joel P. Martin is considered “a genuine genius in her approach to personal transformation.” She is a training designer, facilitator and executive coach, speaker and author. She has worked with hundreds of individuals in Fortune 500 companies, nonprofit and entrepreneurial organizations across many industries in the U.S, South Africa, France, the U.K., Latvia, Finland, Malaysia, Russia and China. Through her company, Triad West Inc., she provides corporate services specializing in diversity and inclusion, leadership development, organizational alignment and executive coaching in breakthrough performance. Dr. Martin serves as a Commissioner on the Human Relations Commission, City of Scottsdale, a board member of ABHOW - a pioneer in senior living,  and she is the Director of Education and Training for the annual FraserNet PowerNetworking Conference, where urban professionals grow and prosper.

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I created the Positively Powerful Woman Awards as a way to empower others and support women who are making a positively powerful impact on significant numbers of people. This is my fifth year in doing so. In my past I was one of the first women to own and operate a full service advertising agency. Today I am a transformational training designer, trainer, speaker and coach. This commitment has taken me around the world and before audiences of all ages. One of my favorite expressions is “Everybody can’t do everything but everybody can do something if everybody does their thing everything will get done.” This Awards Program is “my thing”, my way of bringing my love of marketing, promotion, drama and transformation together to benefit others and organizations that I believe in.

How is it transformational? Intentionally so from the speakers, experiential education in personal and professional development to the diversity and inclusion that I include. From the Awards Presentations to the Conversation On Leadership Summit that happens right after. We’re making a global impact through social media also. We’re getting good news out! And that’s something that benefits everybody whether you attend or not. (And I hope you do.)

I have a small business, Triad West Inc. Each year I am joined by people who passionately believe in a mission of empowerment and education as I do, they are my sponsors and friends. Thus far the Sponsors are National Bank of Arizona, Southwest Gas, Henkel and Arizona State University. Join me and support a different kind of Awards Program.

With the rise of social media a “monkey wrench” has been tossed into what was once a stealth process. Two recent and very public demonstrations of how social media has been a catalyst in having corporations reverse decisions not seen to be in the best interest of customer/constituents are Bank of America and Susan G. Komen Foundation. The motivation behind policy changes can quickly become public and in these two cases the public voted quickly and decisively to the extent that these policies were reversed.

All institutions are tussling with the concept of engagement, a term often used when talking about social media (and also regards employee engagement). The need for engagement recognizes that the public has enormous power and wants to be consulted on decisions impacting their professional and personal life. Through Twitter, Facebook, Smartphones and more than two dozen other social media outlets and tools, people are now able to air their concerns about, grievances for and challenges to decisions they believe to be unfair or harmful. Conversely they will also share what they approve of whether corporate policy or performances on youtube.

For corporations and institutions, the social media business model displaces compliance, a term which in essence meant the acceptance of decisions made without consultation. Social media is moving us towards engagement, ownership and the sharing of information, ideas and in some situations co-authorship. Telling ones story via social media is still the key point. However, the actions taken must be consistent with the story told, otherwise we must expect to get called on it.

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One of the opportunities to express ones leadership is to dressing to fit a new position. Whether it is moving from one senior level position to another or going to another organization,

Here’s an outfit that might have been appropriate back in the day.

People who practice and understand the essence of Leadership, that is, “Integrity, Authenticity and Commitment to Something Larger Then Self”, will see social media as a way to collaborate and exchange ideas with people all across the planet to produce radical changes to industry, politics and education. All of us are well aware of the “Arab Spring or Occupy Wall Street Movements, but these two well documented happenings are really just a faction of the changes that social media has brought about.

So the question to ask yourself, is what is the positive change you want to see in the world and how can Social Media help?

With the exception of things for the body (meds, treats, cute shoes for walking, aspirins, vitamins, make up and the like) everything is now on my small iPhone. I’ve got apps for working out, synching, calendars, itineraries, travel clock (ha ha), notes, phone numbers, digi recorder and music, if a training.

Amazing. To be in business today one MUST have a smart phone and a bunch of cool apps. Oh while on the road one of my fun things to do is play words with friends with guess who…yep my daughter. And next time, this list will be on my phone and not on a piece of paper.

After nearly four decades—three of which were at the helm—Susan left Essence Magazine in 2007 to lead the National CARES Mentoring Movement, a volunteer-driven organization of African American men and women who are dedicated to securing our country’s most vulnerable and precious young people.  In just five years and under Susan’s leadership, CARES, now located in nearly 60 cities, has recruited and placed more than 160,000 African American mentors with children who need little more than a caring, stable and wise voice to help guide them across the often difficult terrain they call their lives.

In recognition of all she has done—and all she continues to do—the National Civil Rights Museum, located at the Lorraine Motel where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated, bestowed upon Susan the 2011 Freedom Award for Activism.   In so doing, they said that the National CARES Mentoring Movement “speaks to the legacy left for all of us by Dr. King, who was an advocate for all people, but especially our young people.”  The Museum, named by USA Today as one of America’s Top Ten Treasures, has welcomed more than 3 million visitors since they first opened twenty years ago.

The Freedom Award has been bestowed upon the most inspiring leaders of our time since the Museum’s opening in 1991.  For their contribution to philanthropy, humanitarian work and social justice, past honorees have included President Nelson Mandela, Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King, James Farmer, Thurgood Marshall, The Dalai Lama, Diane Nash, Marian Wright Edelman, Bono, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Oprah Winfrey, Ruby Dee, Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, B. B. King, Stevie Wonder, President Lech Walesa, Myrlie Evers Williams and Elie Weisel among others.   In November of 2011, in recognition of their twentieth anniversary, their honoree was my friend, my colleague, my mentor, Susan L. Taylor.

asha bandele is a journalist and the author of five books, including two award-winners, The Prisoner’s Wife: A Memoir, and the novel, Daughter.  asha’s work has been widely anthologized and has been taught in classrooms from Harvard University to the University of Ankara, Turkey.  She’s published articles in The New York Times, Essence, Vibe, Family Circle and scores of other publications.  In addition to writing, asha serves as VP of Communications for National CARES Mentoring Movement, Director of the Advocacy Grants Program at the Drug Policy Alliance but is most proud of being mother to her pre-teen daughter whom she is raising in Brooklyn, NY.

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When I interviewed women who had survived breast cancer for my art project The Woman Inside, I noticed that they all shared one remarkable thing in common.

They had all faced down death and decided to live every day like it might be their last. And then they all beat cancer.

The more interviews I did, the more I noticed that these women were living differently than most of the people I knew who had not been diagnosed with cancer. Here’s what I learned from those survivor women. Learning these lessons changed my life, and I hope they’ll change yours.

1.     Be unapologetically YOU.  People who survive cancer get feisty. They walk around bald in shopping malls and roll their eyes if people look at them funny.  They say what they think.  They laugh often. They don’t make excuses. They wear purple muumuus when they want to.

2.     Don’t take shit from people.  People who survive cancer stop trying to please everybody. They give up caring what everybody else thinks. If you might die in a year anyway (and every single one of us could), who gives a flip if your Great Aunt Gertrude is going to cut you out of her will unless you kiss her ass?

3.     Learn to say no. People with cancer say no when they don’t feel like going to the gala.  They avoid gatherings when they’d prefer to be alone. They don’t let themselves get pressured into doing things they really don’t want to do.

4.     Get angry. Then get over it. People who survive cancer get in your face. They question you. They feel their anger. They refuse to be doormats.  They demand respect. They feel it. Then they forgive. They let go. They surrender. They don’t stay pissed. They release resentment.

5.     Don’t obsess about beauty. People who survive cancer no longer worry about whether they have perfect hair, whether their makeup looks spotless, or whether their boobs are perky enough. They’re happy just to have boobs (if they still do). They’re happy to be alive in their skin, even if it’s wrinkled.

6.     Do it now.  Stop deferring happiness. People who survive cancer realize that you can’t wait until you kick the bucket to do what you’re dying to do. Quit that soul-sucking job now. Leave that deadbeat husband. Prioritize joy. They live like they mean it.

7.     Say “I love you” often.  People who survive cancer leave no words left unspoken. You never know when your time is up. Don’t risk having someone you love not know it.

8.     Take care of your body. People who survive cancer have a whole new appreciation for health. Those who haven’t been there may take it for granted. So stop smoking. Eat healthy. Drink in moderation. Maintain a healthy weight. Avoid putting toxic poisons in your God Pod. Get enough sleep.

9.     Prioritize freedom. People who survive cancer know that being a workaholic isn’t the answer. Money can’t buy health. Security doesn’t matter if you’re six feet under. Sixteen hours a day of being a stress monster is only going to make you sick. As Tim Ferriss writes in The 4-Hour Workweek, “Gold is getting old. The New Rich are those who abandon the deferred-life plan and create luxury lifestyles in the present using the currency of the New Rich: time and mobility.”

10.Take risks. People who survive cancer have faced their fear and told it to go to hell. They know life is for living. Fear is powerless. And joy lies in taking risks. So go sky diving if you want. Bungee jump. Hang glide. Spend your savings.  Live like you might die tomorrow.

Are you doing these things? Or are you waiting for cancer to test out how much you want to live?

Don’t wait for cancer, my love. Don’t tempt the Universe that way.

Be brave enough to live NOW.

Unapologetically and fearlessly living for today,

Lissa

© Copyright Lissa Rankin 2011

1. The world, this planet, is divided up between the haves and the have-nots. “We” are the haves.
2. People must earn the right to live. Breathing is not an inalienable right.
3. Scarcity and fear, are motivation for reaching ones higher self.
4. Money determines true value and worth.
5. We are care takers for the planet and we are doing a good job.
6. Love your neighbors, when you see them or are related to them or they agree with you.
7. We are never responsible for what someone else does.
8. Where you were born determines the contributions you can make.
9. Your past determines your future.

We have envisioned ourselves as enlightened and benevolent, yet we avoid responsibility for the poor, hungry, oppressed, disadvantaged or the cruel. We reject concepts, like abundance, win-win and empathy because they are not competitive.  We are, unfortunately, passionate about life being a zero sum game, that in order for someone to win someone has to be the loser and when we or others lose, we are eager to determine fault, so that someone is blamed.

Don’t believe me, keep a tally on how often you ask yourself, “Whose fault is it? Who should get the blame for what is going on?”

In our workshops, “Conversation on Leadership”  we look to bring alive what it means to be a “Positively Powerful Person”, to providing a fuller understanding of “Responsibility”  and to how finding fault or blaming others diminishes ones own power.