Last month, Teranet hosted the Market Insight Forum: Women in Leadership in honour of Women’s History Month in Canada. Teranet’s CHRO, Sudha Dwivedi, led a panel discussion featuring influential female leaders who fearlessly tackled hard-hitting issues that impact women in their daily work lives.
The panel included Veronica Love, Past Chair of Mortgage Professionals Canada & Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at The Mortgage Group, Linda Wheeler, Broker of Record at PSR Brokerage and Mary Chatson, Senior Director, Enterprise Strategy & Effectiveness at Teranet.
Here are the top 5 takeaways from the forum:
- All of our speakers had one thing in common: their career paths were not straightforward or consistently upward. They experienced many ups and downs, took risks, changed directions and stepped outside of their comfort zones before reaching their current positions and achieving the success they enjoy today.
- Our speakers emphasized the importance of being authentic, believing in oneself and one’s strengths and continuously developing oneself.
- Women leaders have made significant progress in paving the way for the next generation. However, there is still much work to be done, and it can only happen when women continue to support other women, especially those in leadership positions. A genuine bond between women and their allies can help promote support systems, mentoring and coaching programs and a culture that encourages women to take on more leadership roles in male-dominated industries.
- An organization’s senior leadership plays an important role and should be open to listening and asking about contributions, challenges and needs. Additionally, engaging in open dialogue about unconscious biases and exploring strategies to address them.
- Lastly, the panelists discussed the difference between gender equality and equity and how often they are used interchangeably, which is incorrect. The speakers pointed out that women often miss out on various opportunities due to issues such as unequal pay, societal and professional pressures and the impact of motherhood on a woman’s career. However, there is hope for the future as times are changing, and inclusivity and diversity are becoming ingrained in the next generation’s values.
Each panelist provided advice to young women entering their respective industries. Here’s what they said:
- Mary Chatson quoted the famous saying by Wayne Gretzky that you miss one hundred percent of the shots you don’t take. She said, “So, bet on yourself and take the risk.”
- Veronica Love: “Ask for what you want. I have never had a promotion that I didn’t ask for. I’ve never had a pay increase that I didn’t ask for…in my experience, I have had to ask for every single thing I got.”
- Linda Wheeler: “I would say embrace a term called Multipotentialite.” And believe “I have limitless potential in all these areas of life. Professionally, personally, and self-development, I am limitless!”
If you missed the webinar, click this link to watch the full recording of the Marketing Insight Forum 2023: Women in Leadership.
Stay up-to-date about upcoming 2024 Market Insight Forums by following Teranet on LinkedIn and Twitter.
