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.

“An award-winning entrepreneur with a passion for empowering others!”

Colleen J. Payne-Nabors will receive the 2011 Positively Powerful Woman Award for Entrepreneurial Leadership for her vision as expressed through the founding of six successful companies including the award winning Mobile Cardiac Imaging, LLC, (dba) MCI Diagnostic Center. Under her leadership as founder and CEO, MCI Diagnostic Center has become one of the most successful and well-positioned companies in the medical industry. Inc. Magazine listed her company as one of the 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America for 2007, 2008 and 2009.

MCI Diagnostic Center provides “excellent patient care and state-of-the-art diagnostics and treatments with the most advanced, modern equipment available.” It has grown to include a team of dedicated physicians who are experts in their fields, a staff trained at many of the country’s leading teaching hospitals, Board Certified radiologists, a skilled management team and medical professionals that are courteous and compassionate. MCI Diagnostic Center is located at 7018 South Utica Avenue, Tulsa, Oklahoma  74136. For more information, phone them at 918.744.1001 or email them at mobile@mobilecardiac.com.

Colleen J. Payne defeated all odds, overcame all obstacles and built this multi-million dollar business from the ground up. She is a superb business person who has a passion for assisting others.  Because of her humor, candor, integrity and ability to empower others, she is a sought-after speaker who works with organizational leaders who want to create, organize and lead successful businesses that have a competitive edge. Her book I Did it My Way and…It Worked! is a savvy, no-nonsense approach to business and entrepreneurship.

Colleen has written numerous leadership and business articles, and has been featured in many publications, including Washington G2, Black Enterprise, Influence Magazine, and Inc. Magazine. She has appeared on national and local television with segments on Fox News, ABC, CBS and NBC. She was named as one of Tulsa’s Most Influential People in 2008, was the SBA’s Small Business Person of the year in 2007 for the State of Oklahoma, and was selected as Business Innovator of the Year in 2003 by Black Enterprise Magazine.

About the Awards Program. The Positively Powerful Woman Award is given to servant leaders who have founded or lead legacy organizations that have stood the test of time. On May 20th, 11:30am to 2pm, at the Ritz-Carlton, Phoenix we will honor women as royalty for their hard work, resourcefulness and diligence. Following the Luncheon will be networking and “Conversations On Leadership” for professional & business development. Positively Powerful Guest Speakers include Diana Gregory, Susan Ratliff and Dr. Kay Lovelace-Taylor. You will leave inspired to go for your vision with new friends and information that will assist you in getting where you want to be…faster. The public is invited to attend. Dr. Joel P. Martin Triad West, Inc. president is the producer. Click here to become a sponsor and to attend the Awards and Seminar which follows.

“My desired focus is to connect individuals with resources that drive success and assist them with meeting their greatest potential.“

The 2011 Positively Powerful Corporate Woman Award will be given to Vivian Squire for her many contributions as a skilled organizational leader and corporate contributor focused on rapid executive, individual, team and operations improvement; for her commitment to leadership development, diversity and managing change; for her representation of the third-largest public power utility in the nation; for her management of the company’s Corporate Mentoring Program; for being the former Chair of one of the company’s affinity groups, The African American Cultural Committee; and for her commitment to entrepreneurs as company representative to The Greater Phoenix Black Chamber of Commerce. Vivian Squire, a 27-year veteran, is the Supervisor, Human Resources Learning & Development Services: Employee & Management Development of Phoenix-based Salt River Project (SRP) Agricultural Improvement and Power District, a political subdivision of the state of Arizona.

SRP is the largest provider of electricity to the greater Phoenix metropolitan area providing electricity to nearly 934,000 retail customers, operating or participating in 11 major power plants and numerous other generating stations, including thermal, nuclear, natural gas and hydroelectric sources and importantly and as it concerns this year’s award recipient, employing more than 4,400 people. Vivian Squire’s human resources policies and management impact the professional wellbeing and development of each employee.

With a smile, Vivian manages a team of human resource professionals who plan, organize, develop and coordinate corporate learning and the development of human performance improvement solutions needed to achieve corporate goals effectively and efficiently. With a commitment to excellence, she oversees the development of program content, training delivery methods with staff and executives to identify and maximize opportunities that increase organizational learning and employee performance. With success, she has advised on and guided several business units’ on their business development and growth strategies through the process of defining the value they bring to the organization.

Like the first winner of Positively Powerful Corporate Woman Award Angela Curley of Henkel North America, this visionary woman does the work that she does not for glory but for the development of others. Join us by clicking here as she receives the 2^nd annual corporate woman award. We know that her energy will continue to make a difference for her company and humanity. Vivian Squire is a role model for what it takes to be a successful woman in a vital company and important industry.

“She saw more than what we were. She saw what we were to become.”

The Positively Powerful Woman of Global Leadership Award will be given to Kay Kallander for her many contributions as Senior Vice President for Strategic Planning American Baptist Homes of the West (ABHOW); for her design and launch of The Grove, an acclaimed memory support program; chairpersonship of EMERGE, Aging Services of California’s leadership development program; the launch of Leadership ABHOW; her contributions as a delegate to the White House Conference on Aging; representation of the U.S. in Australia at the first Alzheimer’s Association/E-Rotary conference on Alzheimer’s disease; leadership in the  structure of the innovative Leadership AAHSA fellowship program in which she serves as the lead coach and being the recipient of the 2008 AAHSA Mentor of the Year award.

Kay Kallandar is a role model for what it looks like to “have it all” – family, meaningful career, servant leadership and the ability to be positively powerful with grace, humor and style. Florence Nightingale was a history maker. So too, is Kay Kallander.

For her many contributions, Kay Kallander will receive the first Global Leadership Award in the Positively Powerful Women Awards’ 4 years history. She embodies what the Positively Powerful Women Awards stand for: “The empowerment of all people through the celebration of women’s accomplishments in ways that inspire all others to live their dreams.” This annual award is given to women who have founded or lead legacy organizations…organizations that have stood the test of time. During a  gala awards luncheon May 20, 2011 at the Phoenix Ritz-Carlton, Kay Kallander will be honored as royalty for her hard work, resourcefulness, diligence and stand for excellence in global leadership for the aging and health services. While she preferred to remain silently in service (as do so many women making a significant difference), Kay was assured that the commitments near and dear to her heart would share the spotlight with her. Consider these statistics:

• With over 100,000 vacant positions and an ever-growing need for healthcare workers, the career outlook is excellent for the nursing field. Nursing is a highly regarded profession. A 2004 Gallup Poll announced that the public again voted nurses number one for “honesty and ethical standards of various professions.” For those who have a passion for the care of others, we will salute you.
• This year, the first baby boomers turn 65. While Alzheimer’s is not normal aging, age is the greatest risk factor for the disease. “Too many of America’s baby boomers will spend their retirement years either with Alzheimer’s or caring for someone who has it.” For care givers and those searching for a cure, thank you.
• In partnership with Enterprise Community Partners, Inc., AAHSA convened a National Summit on Affordable Senior Housing and Services on May 25, 2010. The event brought together nearly 100 experts to discuss role of affordable senior housing and services models to help lower-income seniors “age in place”; share promising practices and policy initiatives; and identify barriers to the of models. Aging is place, ABHOW’s CCRCS, nursing care, affordable housing and assisted living are important initiatives for us all to consider.

If you would like more inspiration on what is possible when one chooses nursing as a profession, please read on. Then let your imagination about your contributions soar.

Kay Kallandar’s management expertise and commitment to quality are grounded in frontline experience. A registered nurse, she joined ABHOW in 1985 as director of nursing at Plymouth Village in Redlands, Calif., after 12 years of nursing work in hospital and home health settings. Throughout her career, she has volunteered as a nurse through World Vision, traveling to such countries as El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti and Tanzania and working in refugee camps in Cambodia and Thailand.

Once at ABHOW, she took on ever-expanding roles, becoming assistant administrator then executive director of Plymouth Village before joining the corporate team in 1996 as senior vice president and chief operations manager. She moved into her current role in 2001.

While at Plymouth Village, Kay Kallander launched The Grove, an acclaimed memory support program that ABHOW has since expanded to five communities with several more programs in development. Her goal is for The Grove to be in every ABHOW CCRC. Designed for her MBA thesis at the University of Redlands, The Grove emphasizes residents’ abilities rather than disabilities and encourages staff to enter the world of residents. She has shared The Grove’s approach with national and international groups. In 2004, she represented the U.S. in Australia at the first Alzheimer’s Association/E-Rotary conference on Alzheimer’s disease.

Kay Kallander’s work has led to other invitations to lead and speak. She served as a delegate to the White House Conference on Aging. She currently serves as chair elect of Aging Services of California. In addition, she is a trustee for American Baptist Seminary of the West and an advisory committee member for the health care administrator certificate program at the University of Redlands, where she also earned her bachelor’s degree and was named Alumni of the Year in 2001.

Much of her focus today is on cultivating the next generation of senior living leaders.  She understands that a commitment to excellence must include the intentional formation of leaders. She helped structure the innovative Leadership AAHSA fellowship program in which she serves as the lead coach. She received the AAHSA Mentor of the Year award in 2008. (AAHSA is now named LeadingAge.)

In addition, she is chair of EMERGE, Aging Services of California’s leadership development program, and she launched Leadership ABHOW, the company’s yearlong initiative to create a ready reserve of trained and licensed team members who can move into management-level positions as they become available. In her teaching and coaching, Kay Kallander’s aim is always the growth and self-development of others. She motivates people by first having faith in them. As one AAHSA fellow put it, “She saw more than what we were. She saw what we were to become.”

It’s this belief in potential, coupled with her passion for excellence, which brings Kay Kallander into relationship with emerging leaders. She invests in others because she is ultimately a person of hope. In the words of another AAHSA fellow, “Kay affords people the opportunity to turn their potential into reality, their dreams into destiny. Her impact cannot be measured because there is no telling where her influence will stop.”

Kay is known for her commitment to excellence in the service of others. For more than 25 years, she has advanced the senior living profession through pioneering efforts in Alzheimer’s care and memory support, planning for the future of aging services, and mentoring of the next generation of leaders.

As senior vice president for strategic planning for American Baptist Homes of the West (ABHOW), Kay Kallander

guides the company’s award-winning initiatives in quality management, governance, leadership development, and communications. She oversees the accreditation process for ABHOW’s continuing care retirement communities, and she promotes the companywide commitment to Quality First, a national initiative of American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging to build public trust through exceptional service. ABHOW’s Quality First efforts are considered best practices across the nation.

For more information on the 2011 Positively Powerful Women Awards please click here.

Stieg Larsson’ s  entertaining and disturbing novels “The Millennium Trilogy” are about the violence that women suffer at the hands of men, which unfortunately is universally. In reading all three books and the way women are described in Sweden (in the novels) served to heighten our own listening to how women are regarded here in the US. While the language is often not as offensive, there is still an overt signal of male imposed dominance over women. We can hear it clearly in some of our most popular music. We can see it in many of the hit movies and TV shows where women become relevant only when they act like men. Shoot first and ask questions later.

Larsson passed in 2004 and we wonder if his fourth novel would have addressed and reconciled issues that we had with the first three books, namely that women must turn to violence in order to achieve justice and equality, and that women are always willing to give up their own identity and strength in order to be with a man that is reasonably good looking.

On an all together different point, which has nothing to do with the books other to say that violence against women is something that we turn our heads away from, hoping that it will go away. We came across this video, which is a PSA from South Africa,  and was posted on feministing.com today. Please watch all the way through.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It is almost unavoidable that lessons learned are forgotten overtime, unless we use or continually review what we’ve learned.

Recently many of us have had feelings of anxiety, fear, the need to pick sides and to take on a single narrative, one that is spun every evening on  our national and local news, and declared to be the truth. We hear generalizations made about Woman, Muslims , African Americans, All People of Color, Mexicans, Children, Asian, Native Americans, White People etc., which we shamefully accept without challenge, and proclaim “Well that who these people are” .

Listening once again to Chianmanda Adichie, talk at TED, is a guide to getting ourselves grounded and a reminder that we all have our own stories that are full of possibilities, disappointments, challenges , triumph and despair and that we should discard our judgments about who we think people are and just get to know them.

2010 Diversity Women’s Business Leadership Conference

October 28 and 29, 2010

WOMEN’S HEALTH PANEL:

Awaken to Well-Being: My Health – My Harmony – True Self – True Wealth Total well-being pre-supposes one essential element, the understanding of where you are in your physical, spiritual and financial health. To say it another way, you must be mindful of your well-being along multiple dimensions. Check-in with yourself during this compelling hour-long panel and uncover new ways to work toward balance and wellness. You simply cannot lead others without leading yourself to strength and health first.

To register and to learn more about this important event – Click here

On Oct. 28th, you’ll find me at Sheila Robinson’s National DIVERSITY WOMEN’S BUSINESS LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE. Ms. Robinson is the CEO of Diversity Woman magazine and founder of the conference. One of the many reasons I’m looking forward to attending is to meet Donna Brazile who is an adjunct professor, author, syndicated columnist and television political commentator. She’s the keynote speaker for the conference’s MOSAIC WOMEN AWARDS Luncheon where Dr. Maya Angelou, Edie Fraser, Dr. Julianne Malveaux, and Ret. Lt. Col, U.S. Army Consuela Kickbusch will be honored.

Ms. Brazile is the first African-American woman to manage a presidential campaign, the Vice Chair of Voter Registration and Participation of the Democratic National Committee, one of 20 “remarkable visionaries” on the Oprah Magazine Power List, one of the Top 50 Women for Essence magazine, a winner of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s highest award for political achievement. She’s a native of New Orleans and on the board of directors of the Louisiana Recovery Authority. She’s been at the pinnacle of several key moments in our country and I know she will have a lot tell us.

Sheila Robinson has brought together over 50 other trailblazers from corporate American and successful entrepreneurial companies. The conference focus will be on how to cross “The Diverse & Multicultural Women’s Leadership Gap”, this skill is a business imperative for success.

Here is a partial list of Conference Speakers and Presenters:

• Dr. Maya Angelou, one of the great voices of contemporary Black literature and a remarkable Renaissance woman.
• Tiane Mitchell-Gordon, AOL Chief Diversity Officer
• Cindy Brinkley, AT & T Chief Diversity Officer
• Anise Wiley-Little, Allstate Insurance Company Chief Diversity Officer
• Dr. Julianne Malveaux, Bennett College for Women President
• Tracey Gibson, Cargill Director of Diversity
• Shari Slate, Cisco Director of Inclusion
• Edie Fraser, Diversified Search Sr. Consultant
• Keith Clinkscales, ESPN Senior Vice President & Publisher, ESPN Magazine
• Tujuanna Williams, Freddie Mac Chief Diversity Officer
• Cuc Vu, Human Rights Campaign Chief Diversity Officer
• Colleen J. Payne, MCI Diagnostics CEO
• Jeanette Kilo-Smith, Motorola Chief Diversity Officer
• Carolynn Brooks, Office Max Chief Diversity Officer
• Sherrie Duncan, Progress Energy Supplier Diversity Director
• Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art Executive Director
• Dr. Rohini Anand, Sodexo Senior Vice President & Global Chief Diversity Officer
• Annette Martinez, State Farm Vice President of Human Resources
• Candi Castleberry-Singleton, University Pittsburgh Medical Center Chief Diversity Officer
• Patricia Crawford, Wells Fargo Chief Diversity Officer

Government policy makers, industry leaders, and the media proclaim that women are fast becoming the leading force for change on our planet.  This conference will get us all ready for the opportunities on the way. It is designed to support the leadership and executive development of women of all races, cultures and backgrounds; this conference will spark imagination and energize careers. I am looking forward to contributing.  (I also expect to have some R & R at the Gaylord on the Potomac. The near-DC conference hotel and surroundings are beautiful.)

I will miss participating in events on the 29th because I’ll be delivering a presentation on “Careers for the Year 2020″ at the BIZ = COM conference for the Urban League of Essex County in Newark, NJ. This is my kind of fun – a great combination of benefits, connecting with new and old friends, collaborating on business in a grand environment, and then heading off to serve others by “building bridges of opportunity” and sharing best practices in career development.

It may get down to that when it comes to breast cancer. This post has questions and a few tips on that. I am not a doctor though in my journey I’ve met some wonderfully caring ones. (Photo: Michele Y. Halyard, MD, Mayo Clinic Radiation and Oncology) I am a woman’s advocate and now a cancer conqueror -  a term I prefer over survivor. If my headline made you queasy – good – especially if it moves you to do something about protecting your health and/or the health of other people you know and care about. The question: I’m wondering whether women especially Black/African American women are choosing not to be treated, diagnosed, or have a mammogram, change life styles, and do other things to take care of themselves and their bodies out of their fear, family history, cultural beliefs about hospitals, or myths about the Big C…  What do you think? Or maybe it’s just not knowing or having the “It couldn’t happen to me” mind set that I had. Was I ever wrong. It did happen. I‘m a public speaker, trainer, and coach with a BA, MA, and PhD. As I say when I speak, I had all of those letters after my name but I was ignorant of the ways to “prevent” cancer.

Regrettably, there is no total and complete cure for cancer although in some cases the cancer will go into a partial or complete remission. The term remission is used to describe the shrinking of cancer and it is used by doctors to categorize the extent of the shrinkage of the cancer…..The good news is that the earlier the cancer is discovered the greater the chances of treating it successfully and early detection most often means that less extensive treatment will be required. Click here for more.

Last February, I was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. My breasts or my life? I chose and choose life. I caught it early and took swift and drastic action including change of diet, end to procrastination on exercise, and de-stressing my work load and diet. I look and feel a lot healthier now! Here are some tips:

• Find a primary physician and team you know and trust.
• Trust your body’s signals and your intuition about your health. If you feel a lump, it’s not an accident! Have it checked out no matter how scared you are.
• Learn about the difference between alkaline and acidic foods. I shifted my diet to mostly fruits and veggies (alkaline) and cut out the fried foods that I previously loved.
• If you are diagnosed, Mayo Clinic and the Cancer Centers are doing breakthrough work in treatment.I didn’t learn about the survivor programs until after my treatment. I am learning about them now.
• Educate yourself. Visit the sites of the American Cancer Society and Susan G. Komen For The Cure for example.
• Learn about the high risk of breast cancer for African and African American women.
• Don’t go it alone. Ask for support. Give your care givers appreciation and support. While they may not show it to you, they have big feelings going on inside. Dread. Love. Concern.
• Learn what is going on where you live. Here in Arizona Michele Y. Halyard, MD, of Mayo Clinic radiation and oncology, convened a meeting of like minded women with the assistance of Marion Kelly, Director, Community & Business Relations Public Affairs. The objective is create a strategy to combat breast cancer. I will keep you informed. The Mayo Clinic is the world’s largest medical center. They are physicians, researchers, hospitals, fellows, administrators, community advocates…..learn more about the options they and other large centers provide online. Cleveland Clinic is another.
• In AZ I know of Bosom Buddies for breast cancer support, education, and advocacy. Their site has videos and is dedicated to “survivors helping survivors”. In LA, I discovered the Living Beauty Foundation.
• Share what you know that will serve others! Respond to this post with your info.

From the National Cancer Institute: In the United States, White women have the highest incidence rate for breast cancer, although African American/Black women are most likely to die from the disease. Breast cancer incidence and death rates are lower for women from other racial and ethnic groups than for White and African American/Black women.

Debbie Paine, Executive Director, Arts & Business Council of Greater Phoenix is the first Positively Powerful Nonprofit Executive Award Recipient for her vision and programs that bring together art, artists, and businesses as well as her organization’s “Business On Board” program that prepares diverse executives to serve and lead boards of directors.

Debbie, mother of Brian, Matthew, and Shelly and grandmother of 4, says the secret of her success is “…trust in my higher self and the belief that everything happens for a reason; that if you put your aspirations out into the universe and go with the flow, abundance will follow.” She also credits a commitment to building and sustaining meaningful relationships.

Born and raised in Hudson, Massachusetts she became deeply involved in the non-profit community after relocating to Phoenix in 1981.  In addition to being president of Lead for Good, belonging to both the ASU Community Council and the Phoenix Symphony Board of Overseers, this award winner has 28 years of diversified leadership experience – Interim Director of Volunteer Services and coordinator of the 12 Who Care Honorable Kachina Awards for St. Luke’s Medical Center, Director of Operations, Make-A-Wish Foundation of America, Executive Director, Heather Farr Foundation – before her stewardship of the Arts & Business Council.

Debbie is “especially proud of the progress that we have made, over the last ten years, in growing the Arts & Business Council from a single program, Business Volunteers for the Arts, to the premiere capacity building organization for arts and cultural organizations in the Greater Metropolitan Phoenix area.”

The Arts & Business Council celebrates its 20th Anniversary at the Annual Business in the Arts Awards Breakfast, on August 18th, 2010 from 7:45 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown.  www.artbusinessphoenix.org

“Positively Powerful Women Celebrate!” is the Gala Awards Luncheon for businesswomen and men, corporate executives, and community-minded individuals.  The award recipients are women who embody what the “Positively Powerful Women Celebrate!” represents: “The empowerment of all women (and people) and the celebration of their accomplishments in ways that inspire others to live their dreams” – women who with hard work, resourcefulness and diligence have founded or led legacy organizations that have stood the test of time. This 3^rd annual “Positively Powerful Women Celebrate!” Awards Luncheon featuring the “Keys To Success” Recipients’ Panel will be held Friday May 21^st at the Ritz-Carlton, Phoenix, Arizona from 11:30AM T0 2PM. The event is open to the public.

Tickets are $75. A limited number of scholarships are available. For Registration and Sponsorship information: http://positivelypowerfulwomen2010.eventbrite.com/ Please join us as we honor three exceptional and diverse servant leaders Debbie Paine, Angela Curley, and Lorena Valencia.

Dr. Joel Martin, speaker and master trainer: “My dream to have this event began when I spoke before a very influential group of women in business and law. I asked, ‘How many of you give to yourself as much as you give to others?’ Only one hand was raised. I decided then that it was necessary to create an event that provides women with bold, invigorating opportunities to fully unleash their dynamic selves. Stepping out on faith, I designed and produced Positively Powerful Women Awards and Workshops. With the support of sponsors and friends, I am able to make my dream a reality.”