Executive Club Newsletter

June 2009

Impeachment and Beyond

June 2009

by Ellen Schmidt

Champaign Country Club
Thursday, June 18

11:30 a.m.: Registration and Networking

11:45 a.m.: Buffet Opens

12:15 p.m.: Mtg/Program

Join us to hear 52nd District Senator Michael W. Frerichs (D) give an inside scoop on Illinois politics. Senator Frerichs has served in the Illinois State Senate since 2007. Before being elected to the Senate Mike was the Champaign County Auditor and a Champaign County Board Member.

Registrations are due by noon on Monday, June 15. Please indicate if you are bringing a guest. Register online now!

*Remember, there will be a $5 late fee for reservations received after the Monday Noon deadline. Attendees with late or no reservations will be permitted to attend as seating is available.

Pre-register online and send a check for $15 to ECCC, P.O. Box 61, Champaign, IL 61824-0061 OR pre-register online and pay on day of luncheon. Contact the Treasurer with questions about registration.

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Working the Stereotypes--

President’s Message

by Hope Wheeler

We all know the classic stereotypes about women in the workplace. Allegedly we are emotional, overly talkative, revengeful, and sappy. Some of these may actually work in our favor in today’s workforce and should be encouraged. Others should be avoided.
The good news is that there has never been a better time to be a woman with goals of leadership. Research and experience shows that women tend to be more naturally inclined than most men to have traits and engage in behaviors which the new generation in the workforce values—such as providing constant feedback, being encouraging, showing empathy, nurturing the talent of others, and even introducing fun into the workplace. These are the things the contemporary workplace is looking for in a leader—and workers will quickly leave an organization if they feel they do not have an open, honest, enjoyable relationship with their direct supervisor.

In the past, as we all know the workforce was male dominated. The desired attributes for leaders were strong, decisive, used to pressure, and at times, even military-like. Today’s leader should still possess these characteristics, but other traits are now viewed as valuable also—and that is where we have the advantage because of the stereotypes about us. Sometimes having these characteristics of the “softer side” of management can be even more difficult and demanding. But these softer characteristics are becoming more and more important with shrinking workforces—we have to attract and retain quality employees and the way to do that is with good communication skills, providing needed feedback, showing respect to your employees, listening to their suggestions, mentoring staff, and “going to bat” for them if needed. I know that in the public accounting industry we are talking about these skills on a daily basis and working to improve them.

In an article by Lenora Bresler on women as leaders, she mentioned several stereotypes that we need to go out of our way not to confirm. A few of them are listed below:

Do not engage in male-bashing
Do not cry or become overly emotional unless displaying shared grief
Avoid gossiping—in fact, be the first to put a halt to it
Be careful with segregation; be involved in some groups that involve women and men
It is important to empower women, but don’t go too far with “women power”- you want to be a leader of all of the workforce

So, ladies, work those stereotypes that have helped make us what we are today. Do your job and let your abilities speak for themselves—not only about you as an individual but to continue to admonish the lingering negative stereotypes about our gender.

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Enjoy Big Band Sounds This Friday!

ECCC Social

Parkland Big Band will entertain us at Mike & Molly’s in downtown Champaign on June 12 from 5:30 to 7:30.

This is a Friday night, so we are trying something different. Please come join ECCC members for networking and a fun evening. Cover charge will be $4.00 and individuals are responsible for their own drinks.

Register online now! We would like to know how many plan to come out.

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Officers for 09-10

The ECCC Nominating Committee met and agreed to propose the following

slate of the ECCC Board of Directors for the 2009-2010 year:

President - Jeannette Beck (new)

Vice President - Deb Reardanz (new)

Treasurer - Rachael Wright (new)

Membership - Shayla Maatuka (new)

Secretary - Julie Roth

Programs - Ellen Schmidt

Communications (formerly Newsletter) - Jennifer Greene (new)

Social/Networking - Kathy Reeves

Outreach - Andra Lee

Logistics - Sandy Barnes

Ex-Officio - Hope Wheeler (new)

The recommended slate of Directors will be presented to the general membership at the June 18, 2009 ECCC meeting for terms beginning in September. Additional nominations will be accepted from the floor. The 2009-2010 Board of Directors will be elected by a majority of those present and by those voting by absentee ballot. If you need to vote by

absentee ballot, please contact any of the current Board members for information. Please note, absentee ballots must be received by the ECCC Board prior to the June general meeting to be counted in the voting.

Thank you to the nominating committee: Jayne DeLuce, Jane Hays, Lyn Jones and Hope Wheeler.

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Women in Aviation

May Speaker Summary

by Ellen Schmidt

Our May speaker was Karen Koenig a pilot for UPS.

Karen became interested in pursuing a career in aviation when flight classes were offered at her high school in Chicago. Karen graduation from the UI and received much of her training at the Institute of Aviation at Willard Airport.

Her flight career began at Eastern Airlines before moving to TWA. For the last 18 years, Karen has been a pilot for UPS. Of 45,000 pilots in the US, only 3% are women.

Karen says that good judgment, good decision making skills and the ability to identify a problem and act on a solution quickly are essential qualities for a pilot. She has only had one close call on a flight where the landing gear appeared to be faulty, the landing had a happy ending and all passengers landed safe.