Organizer: Erika Both

Happy New Year!!

We will be hosting our New Year’s reception in The Hague
on the 25th of January. Please join us at the Pasta Company
www.pastacompany.nl
We will welcome you with a glass of prosecco and will toast in 2011.

Organizer: Anna Farrenkopf

Dear Members,

Please note that there will be some interruptions to registration and on line payment 30 November and 1st December 2010.

Our member-only platform is migrating to a virtual new home. We anticipate linking and full functionality will be back on line by Thursday but encourage you to email us directly if you need to reach us.

Thank you for your understanding.

Anna Farrenkopf and
the Board of EuropeanPWN-Amsterdam

First make sure your on line banking is set up:

It is possible that your bank requires something called a “mastercard secure code”. This is different from your PIN code and also different from any combination of numbers found on your actual credit card. First go to your bank’s website. For the purposes of this example I will use ING – since I am a former Postbank customer.

From the main page click through to Particulieren Betalen and then through to

“Credit card” (middle block of screen)

Further (right hand side) click through to Secure Code

Then through to aanmelden and aanvragen…

If you enter your data and follow through – your card will be on line 3D payment ready.

Once your card has been registered with your bank’s security process, you may register through the calendar on the website. As a member or as a guest. If you are registering as a member, you will want to click on the “Pay Online” icon (shown here)

You will be prompted for your card details:

And you should soon receive a confirmation email:

If you are not in possession of a MasterCard or Visa and prefer to pay directly to the bank account (overschrijven). Please contact the treasurer@europeanpwn-amsterdam.net for the particular details.

From Left to Right: Patty Kruiswijk, Manuela Roth (RSM ’10), Dianne Bevelander, Camilla Bjorkqvist (RSM ’10), Eleonore Breukel, Saskia Trurniet, and Ursula van Rozemeijer.

Women comprise about 30% of the students in the OneMBA and the percentage of women faculty is even less. While there are complex factors that might explain this, members of the 2010 and 2011 classes have decided to put women on the agenda.

The effort lead in large part by Camilla Björkqvist and Manuela Roth has focused on securing eminent business women to speak at OneMBA residencies. By connecting with women across the OneMBA community as well as the European Professional Women’s Network( EPWN), the kick-off on during the Spring 2009 RSM Residency featured Mirella Visser, Owner of the Center for Inclusive Leadership and the EuropeanPWN President. This conversation was continued when the class went to Istanbul and met with local women business leaders.

In September 2009 another panel took place with a group of Dutch women executives on the topics of “Women – the saviors of our economy?” With several courageous men participating in the audience, there was a lively and honest discussion.

At the EGADE Residency in November 2009, a Cemex executive, Irma Gomez shared her perspective on women, employment, and the economy in Mexico.

Events are in the works for Hong Kong and the the U.S. All alumni are invited to attend a session at the RSM Residency on April 8 2010 with Carien van der Laan, co-owner of Women Capital, and executive search firm specialized in women and placing them on top level positions. Van der Laan will address what to do with once you get an MBA and the value that women add in the executive ranks.

Some interesting statistics from the United States are worth sharing. According to the report The Economic Impact of Women-Owned Businesses in the United States by the American Center for Women’s Business Research and funded by the National Women’s Business Council and Wal-Mart, women-owned businesses contribute nearly $3 trillion to the U.S. economy and create or maintain 23 million jobs. If women-owned businesses were their own country, they would have the 5th largest GDP in the world, ahead of countries including France, the United Kingdom, and Italy. Anecdotally, many women say that they start their own business because they want to balance work and family and that they cannot break into the traditional male-dominated positions—or do not want to.

Members of the 2011 class are taking leadership to continue the discussion of the women in the OneMBA. Anyone in the OneMBA community can join the events organized by Women@OneMBA, men included. If you would like to know more about this initiative, please contact Manuela Roth or Camilla Bjorkqvist in the OneMBA2010 class.

For more news about the one MBA programs and to see the full newsletter click through to the one MBA website.

Breaking news: finally there seems be an increase in the number of female partners at the large law firms in the Netherlands. The total number of female partners has increased at the top 10 law firms from 57 last years to 61 this year, whereas the total number of partners decreased in that top 10 from 450 to 430. These data are published in De Stand van de Advocatuur 2010. On 26 March the first copy of this document will be handed over to Saskia Stuiveling, president of the general Court of Auditors and member of the Council of recommendation of the Dutch order of lawyers.

There is also less good news for the champions of diversity: at the top 10 last year  a total of 865 female lawyers worked, this year that number has decreased to 808. Also the number of male lawyers decreased, from 1,211 to 1,168. In terms of percentage the proportion male and female lawyers now amounts to at the top 10 of offices 59.4% for 40.6%, in contrast to last year 58.9% and 41.1%.

This text has been translated from: http://www.advocatie.nl

OBA (the Bieb)
Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam
Oosterdokskade 143
1011 DL Amsterdam

Happy New Year
This is your chance to come borrel with the Amsterdam board.
Ideas, brainstorm, feedback, questions are welcome.

We’ll all be on hand to talk with you about the organization, logistics, planning, future board positions, what’s happening with the federation, and how you can help to grow and to sustain the organization with your participation. “Club business” and updates.

We will meet in the New Library – next to Amsterdam Centraal Station
(same as last year). Join us on the top floor at the bar for tapas and beverages in the La Place Restaurant.

We have also reserved a meeting room – on the 6th floor.

We really enjoyed the productive discussions last year in this format.
Please join us again!

New Year, New Chances.

Proost!

In our training sessions, we regularly receive this type of question from participants: “Why is my Russian colleague always so negative? Is it something I did wrong?” asks Tom from London. Our answer is: “On the contrary Tom, your Russian colleague trusts you enough to share his concerns with you. Actually he is trying to be friends and bond with you.”

Bonding by complaining

In Western Russia, many Eastern European cultures and various cultures in Southern Europe and Latin America, people try to bond with others by complaining. Complaints about the boss or about tasks to be performed or simply about the food, places people ‘together’ in a common situation in which they can relate to each other - bonding with the suffering majority. These complaints are usually expressed with emotion. However, it is passive and is not followed by an action to change the situation that is complained about. An outsider will get the impression that something terrible has happened and that the complainer is deeply unhappy. This however is not the case. There are many reasons for such behavior depending on the context. Some of the underlying reasons may be uncertainty, risk avoidance, xenophobia, fatalism and the feeling of not being in charge as well as being unable to create or accept change.

Seeking appraisal by complaining

Another reason people complain is to seek appraisal. The complainer feels that they have to show and communicate how problematic life or a task is in order to be taken seriously by his boss, colleagues and others. In this case the complainer seeks admiration, respect and compliments for his skills and the effort put into the task.

The mirror

For those coming from a mindset where one bonds by communicating something positive like “isn’t this interesting” or “let us make this work” complaining is seen as negative. For these people, someone who frequently complains at work is seen as being inadequate for the job. Frequent complaining in a social setting is seen as whining and complainers are not taken seriously. In this case, ‘frequent’ means complaining several times a day. Complainers are seen as negative and dissatisfied people whom no one likes to work or socialize with. In case one does complain he is expected to take action to change the situation he complains about. When we look at the American corporate language, we see that the word ‘problem’ has a negative connotation. Therefore, Americans substituted the negative word ‘problem’ by the word ‘challenge’ which has a positive connotation. The word ‘problem’ implies a negative situation, while the word ‘challenge’ has a ‘yes we can change it’ positive type of energy and action in it.

Ideas for creating a positive attitude for everyone

If you have members in your multicultural team who complain to bond or seek appraisal and like to try to create a more positive attitude try the following;

• Explain how you experience complaining.

• Discuss the different interpretations of complaining in various cultures.

• Show how stimulating it can be to have a positive approach towards work.

• Try to provide insight into how complaining influences the energy of the team members from other cultures.

• Together make two lists. One of what is the benefit of complaining for each person present and one of what is the benefit of a positive approach for each person present (energy, pain, admiration) and which of those benefits serve the project or task best.

• Create together a code of communication.

• Make a list of desired behaviors during meetings or ground rules for the team or the office. Post them on the wall as an aid in guiding conversation towards positivity and constructive action oriented communication.

© Eleonore Breukel

www.intercultural.nl

Speaker: Richard Kwakernaak

Richard Kwakernaak, founder Institute for Communication Psychology and Transformation (ICPT);

Thursday, February 4^th, 2010

Location: Amsterdam Renaissance Hotel

Why is it sometimes a challenge to enjoy working together with others, men in particular, while it seems so easy at many other occasions? What role do emotions play? How do we recognize each other’s and our own emotions? And how do we consciously as well as unconsciously focus our attention, depending on how we feel?

During this interactive event Richard Kwakernaak will guide us to reveal our inner resources to communicate and cooperate as effectively as possible, even under difficult circumstances.

Richard graduated from Naval Academy with a specialization in Human Resources Management and founded the Institute for Communication Psychology and Transformation (ICPT) after fourteen years in active service of the Royal Netherlands Navy. During that time Richard acquired a vast amount of experience of communication in male dominated environments which he now also passes on in his work with various national and international companies and a number of seminars that he teaches for the military, especially at NATO’s Civil-Military Cooperation Centre of Excellence.

Discover how to benefit from the latest insights in social neurosciences, practically applied in the fields of Mindfulness, NeuroLeadership and Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Learn what all people have in common and yet how different individuals interpret experiences, including specific characteristics of male and female information processing.

Afterwards you will have a thorough understanding why men sometimes act in a neglecting way, how emotions arise and impact your communication. During entertaining exercises you will practice how to maintain focus in order to communicate how and what you want.

Participants are welcome to network from 19:00 to 20:00. The program begins at 20:00.

Registration and Guest Policy: Registration is required for members (no charge) and guests (guests are welcome at a cost of 25 Euro which includes snacks and drinks). Guests are allowed to attend two EuropeanPWN-Amsterdam functions per year. Please contact Caroline van Leuven, our VP Membership.

Speaker: Sagar Simon

Sagar Simon

“My Boss doesn’t listen.”
“No one does what I ask.”
“My boss doesn’t appreciate me.”

Thoughts like these enter our minds throughout the day and cause us to experience stress, anger, fear, depression, and other negative emotions. When we live with these thoughts, our lives become difficult, painful, and confusing. Whether you are having difficulty with someone in your life, or simply tired of feeling anxious about seeking love, approval, and appreciation from others, this workshop is for you.

This workshop is designed to give you the experience of applying the work of Byron Katie’s four questions and turnarounds to your stressful thoughts in your work place, about relationships with co-workers, employers and employees that lead to anxiety, anger, depression, and an inability to act with clarity.

The Work, is a way to end confusion, miscommunication and frustration in the work place. Through 4 simple questions and a turn around, you will learn to free yourself from stress and feelings of being unappreciated or the daily unhealthy frustrations of work situations. You will learn to apply this technique to any situation that arises. Come and join me for this evening if you want to challenge your thinking.

This workshop is about identifying and recognizing thoughts that cause us stress at work. Most of the time we recognize the emotion or the feeling but you don’t recognize the thought that drives you.

PLEASE NOTE: This evening is not for everybody. Some people don’t agree with the work of Byron Katie. To find out if it is something for you, please download and read the excerpt of her book, Loving What Is , before you sign up for the event.

Also, if possible, fill out the Judge Your Neighbor worksheet before you come to the workshop. And there will be time to fill it out at the workshop.

You can find valuable information:

• about me at: www.changeyourmindchangeyourlife.org
• on The Work at: www.thework.com
• additional resources found here: Byron Katie - More Resources