It seems like there are thousands of awards programs each year. National and local. Who needs another one? Well, I do. And I think I’ve got one that is unique and necessary for today’s world.

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.

Related articles

• Winners of the The 4th Annual Positively Powerful Women Awards Announced (prweb.com)

When you think about your baby or any child about one year old. What do you notice about them? I have asked that question many times in my workshops, and I always get the same answers: Vulnerable, loving, curious, innocent, tender, giving, demanding, caring, enthusiastic, open and happy. Well, those qualities are true most of the time, and when they are not, it’s because a fundamental need is not being met.

As a baby grows older a child begins to make cause and effect connections between the actions of the people in his or her life, like Mom, Dad and others. “If she, he does this or I do this… then this happens” is the equation that fires up his or her brain. Through thought, word, deed, facial expression, tone of voice, body language, physical touch, or lack of physical touch, the child comes into contact with feelings of pleasure or pain, reward or punishment.

Over time, a little one learns what he or she should fear: “Don’t talk to strangers because strangers will hurt you.” How to behave: “Children should be seen and not heard.” “You’re bad!” And guilt: “This hurts me more than it hurts you!” The child discovers that if he or she throws a tantrum, he or she will get picked up, hit, or ignored. If she or he wants a hug and love, the “right” action will result in this response from Mom or Dad. That if Mommy says, “you’re a good little girl” or “you’re a bad little girl” it must be so.  Beliefs begin to be formed moving from the conscious thought to the unconscious automatic response. The media also plays the part in terms of determining ones identity and what one believes.

It is important for you to become AWARE in order to accomplish your purpose, dreams and goals. You must come to know the beliefs that work for you and those that don’t; you need to know your power sources and your power drains. Beliefs are not facts like the fact that gravity is a force on earth. Beliefs are things – concepts – that you’ve decided and to which you made a connection and that have become habits with time.

This quote from Mahatma Gandhi stresses the impact of our beliefs:

“If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.”

Our minds can justify anything to be right. People can break up relationships to be right. They can be dead wrong driving on the highway wanting to be right. They will deny themselves the riches they deserve in life, to be right about “how wrong they are.” Conversely, people can keep going when others say to stop because they know they are of right mind.

There is an expression, “If I see it, I’ll believe it.” I believe it is also accurate to say, “If I believe it, I’ll see it.” Our beliefs are fixed until we become aware. Challenge them if they don’t serve you. Take them on, resolve them, handle them, and change them. And this is what positively powerful people do—all the time

Someone once said the price of transformation is being wrong about deeply held beliefs that we’ve used to define who we are. We have the mind of Christ I Corinthians 2:16. Let us use this mind: Are you willing to give up who you have become to be who you are?

Edited from Dr. Martin’s book “HOW TO BE A POSITIVELY POWERFUL PERSON”

This content was originally published on www.OwningPink.com. Being a breast cancer conqueror myself (I rebel against the term “survivor”), I thought it was awesome, not just for “us” but for anyone who wants to be outrageously alive. I got it from Judy Greene, MD who I know from the Coalition of Blacks Against Breast Cancer.  The author is Lissa Rankin, MD: Founder of OwningPink.com, Pink Medicine Revolutionary, motivational speaker, and author of What’s Up Down There? Questions You’d Only Ask Your Gynecologist If She Was Your Best Friend and Encaustic Art: The Complete Guide To Creating Fine Art With Wax. Smooches Lissa, you rock!

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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

AP Photo/Michael Probst

I admit it. I wanted the USA’s women soccer team to win over Japan. I was pumped for the final. HOWEVER, I did not play, some very talented and incredible athletes did – on both teams.

Looking at the bigger picture, one other disappointing thing about the US Women Soccer Team’s loss in the “2011 World’s Cup” was a majorities trending to see it as something personal. The reality was that Japan won, the American team and women’s soccer in general were also the winners, albeit for different reasons.  After all there can be only one champ.

The line of editorial comments, questions and debates by some in the  media and some fans on whether Japan won, the US choked, who should be blamed etc. is pointless. It was as if we  (not the team) were entitled to the win.

Our competitive sports conversation has crept into how we see the world, our country and our communities. It is as though we must find someone to blame when we don’t get what we want. That there is some one at fault. This is a reckless conversation because it perpetuates the myth that everything is a competition and if I don’t have what I want it is because someone else (the other) has taken it from me. At its core this is a conversation about scarcity.

Like praise, there is plenty of everything else to go around.

I’m preparing to deliver a speech before NAWBO (National Association of Women Business Owners) and the topic that I’ve selected and they have approved is ‘The Top Ten Knock ‘Em Alive Secrets that Every Positively Powerful Woman Knows.”

I’m going to be asking attendees and I am asking you, “Are you excited about your product or service? Do you wake up gassed about what’s next? Do you approach each new business opportunity like it’s your favorite new lover? Then you know one of the secrets of every Positively Powerful Woman (and you can bet their clients know it too). They Add Sizzle to the Sell not because it’s a thing to do but because they are beyond passionate about the business, the people and the community that matters to them. That’s their number one secret.”

What’s keep the lights on in a business?  if you read the Zappos CEO’s book, Delivering Happiness, you may come to believe that Tony Hsieh is really on to something – happiness.

Zappos has an employee culture that seems very much of one mind, focused on customer service and not in some sort of cookie-cutter corporate way. Zappos really cares that you’re happy, and it’s baked into their beliefs, their customer interaction, and even the way they hire.

Now about the hugs, how often do you give them and get them? Research shows that they are good for our health. “Between loving partners, between parents and children, or even between close friends, physical affection can help the brain, the heart and other body systems you might never have imagined.”

How many times have you heard “exercise, eat your fruits and veggies, increase the proteins, decrease the empty calories, check your vitamin B and K, don’t worry so much, smile more, get your r and r…”  It works, after all, who wants to do business with someone with low energy and no enthusiasm. So do the other things that release stress and attract clients and fans.

I’m not  suggesting that the sole way to keep your business going and growing is to sell happiness, it’s not.  Great customer service, ethical practices, quality goods and services – they matter. But when you are the person in business and want to keep the sizzle, try a little happiness, go get an authentic hug from someone special. Better yet give one. In case that seems like a lot of cum-bah-ya here‘s the scientific side of the equation:

Oxytocin makes us feel good when we’re close to family and other loved ones, including pets.  It does this by acting through what scientists call the dopamine reward system.  Dopamine is a brain chemical that plays a crucial part in how we perceive pleasure.  Many drugs of abuse act through this system.  Problems with the system can lead to serious depression and other mental illness.

Oxytocin does more than make us feel good.  It lowers the levels of stress hormones in the body, reducing blood pressure, improving mood, increasing tolerance for pain and perhaps even speeding how fast wounds heal.  It also seems to play an important role in our relationships.  It’s been linked, for example, to how much we trust others.

If there is going to be equality in the world, it will be because women are representing themselves proportionately to their numbers in society. Women represent 50% of all human beings on the planet but they lag behind men in almost every category except one  (motherhood) when compared to men. View Sheryl Sandberg’s Ted Talk from December 2010, on why there are so few women leaders. (Join the conversation on TED.com)

Sandberg is a significant force at Facebook, which automatically makes her one of the most influential women in world. Being seen as a “Powerful Person” provides for an enormous opportunity to push forward an agenda. Sandberg’s agenda seems to be for women to actively seek leadership roles and take responsibility for the direction of the world. A consistent message has been for them to insiston sitting at the table, to lean in and keep a hand raised. Sandberg, for her efforts, admits that she has made mistakes like FaceBook’s privacy issues and snagging hires from Google  (Ken Auletta’s Profile in  The New Yorker). She has been reluctant to blame the need to compete in the old boys club for her errors.

In our own work, coaching and training women entrepreneurs, we point out that we all make mistakes all the time, there is no blueprint for our lives, and it is how we recover that makes the difference.

In an attempt to level the gender balance in senior roles within the financial services industry, GE Capital EMEA held their annual City Women’s Network (CWN) Conference  “Women Leading in a Global Economy” 10 June 2011 in London. The conference included panels, “covering many hot topics currently influencing the position of women in the workplace.”

They leverage this through…

— representation by several senior female leaders

— a booth to promote the work of the GE Women’s Network

— continuous investment in events such as this

Their commitment seems to be paying off. They were included in “100 Best Companies for Working Mothers” from 2004-2010 by Working Mother magazine.

National Bank of Arizona is also actively engaged in programs for women. It has a free author series that highlights “diverse and engaging women authors that write motivational, leadership and self improvement books for women in business.” They also have been getting noticed through their Women’s Financial Group that helps women in Arizona meet financial goals. They too sponsor events which support and serve women and have received numerous awards for their efforts, especially true for their EVP Deborah Bateman.

Written by female Ernst & Young partners, Financial Planning for Women is said to be “practical, well-written, and includes statistics about women to reinforce its key messages.” Cheryl D. Broussard is a Speaker, Author, Money Coach and Registered Investment Advisor. Her mantra is “Think Big, Live Rich, Keep it Real.” Just a few of the many resources available to get us where we want to be …faster.

There are many books that are for and by women. There are numerous women who are advisors. The fact that more than 80% of all purchases are made by women, that women on the executive team can give greater creativity in problem solving and other such stats gives any gender reasons to get along and support diversity and inclusion.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission collects information from private employers with 100 or more employees or federal contractors with 50 more employees. According to the EEOC, in 2009 women made up 60.9% of all employees and 28.9% of executive/senior-level officials and managers at the 3,989 companies that fall into the category “Commercial Banking”. For more stats on for women in the financial industry click here.

Male sport figures who fight through injuries to play the sport that they love are often called “Warriors” or “Heroic”.  Women on the other hand when they suffer an injury and keep going, they are called injured. Being injured or returning from an injury is a more realistic, we don’t really have warriors in sports.

This year at Wimbledon, there were at least four women who showed up to play for no other reason, in our interpretation, than because they love to play Tennis. It is fitting to acknowledge their effort, without the use of overblown war references, and so thanks to Sabine Lisicki, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams and Venus Williams for sharing your joy with us.

Someone is always watching and learning from what we do or say and our goal, as leaders, should always be to inspire those around us to take on great and powerful projects that positively enhances the lives of others.

Michelle Obama’s visit to South Africa and in her speech to a group of young female leaders in Soweto, she asked that they take on big projects. “You can be the generation that teaches the world that HIV is preventable, treatable and not a source of shame, you can be the generation that ensures that women are no longer second class citizens”.

There is a strong feeling that this will be the decade of Women Leadership and that women will play a large part in having our societies refocuses its attention towards the needs and respect of all people.

Recently there has been speculation that with IBM celebrating it’s 100 year anniversary they would also appoint a new CEO . Virginia Rometty, Senior Vice President, is thought to be one of the leading candidates for the position and would be the first women to lead IBM.

If selected, IBM will be adding to its storied past and stepping firmly into the future.