Celebrating International Women’s Day 2015

International Women,s Day celebrations started a day early for 75 women, and a few good men, in Accra, Ghana. On Saturday 7th March, my organisation, Alldens Lane, convened female executives, women entrepreneurs and a few male executives for a breakfast symposium to examine the business, leadership and wellness needs of tomorrow,s business sector.

As an Executive and Business Coach to female CEOs and entrepreneurs, I work with some amazing women, women who I have no doubt that when tomorrow comes they will be on the frontline, ready to do business. When I consider what the business sector might look like in 10 or 15 years time, I see these women as leaders in that market place.

Notwithstanding this though, I also wondered if, with all its cultural and institutional biases, the market would be ready to receive these women as rightful business leaders, and if business and workplace ecosystems would be more responsive to the particular needs of these women – from workspace nursing mother rooms, to She-Leads leadership seminars, to better equip women for leadership and the visibility that comes with it; to the provision of practical day-to-day coaching and workshops on negotiation, commercial acumen and judgement.

More so, I wanted to engage men in that conversation. I wanted men to better engage with today,s female executives and today,s emerging leaders and, through insightful conversations, realise women,s immense capabilities as co-partners in shaping tomorrow,s business success and business sector in our societies. I wanted them to also hear and to understand the peculiar technical and workspace needs of women executives, and to understand the benefits of having gender responsive and gender neutral ecosystems in the business sector.

And so began inspiration for Alldens Lane,s Thought Leadership event in honour of International Women,s Day 2015. Under the theme “The Futures Market: Business| Leadership| Wellness” Alldens Lane hosted two engaging symposiums to examine:

• The Business of Wellness: Promoting Wellness As a Driver of Business Performance
• The Leadership Responsibility: Transforming Societies Through Our Businesses; Developing The Mindset for Business

The air was filled with expectation on Saturday morning. Tomorrow,s female business leaders walked into the Omanye Conference Centre at Labadi Beach Hotel, Ghana premier hotel and conferencing facility, impatient and eager for knowledge. They came ready to hear from carefully selected and esteemed panellists, moderators and a very capable host from within Ghana,s entrepreneurship ecosystem. They came in search of insight and foresight. They came to be future ready.

Upon arrival participants were welcomed with an Alldens Lane Business Networking Directory, a especially prepared directory of selected emerging female leaders and female-owned businesses – as well as selected, though more limited, male executives and CEOs. Participants were then invited to break fast as they networked with other likeminded business owners, before the two symposiums began.

What I learnt most from Saturday,s event is that Ghana,s professional female executives and emerging leaders have hungered for professionally organised and executive Executive Seminars such as we had on Saturday � and they are seeking for more. More than anything else, the feedback we have had is “world-class symposium, this could have been anywhere in Europe or America, this is just like the World Economic Forum, �at last, a forum that is responsive to the needs of professional women executives,. Whilst we are extremely pleased by these comments, we are by no means complacent, for we realise if nothing else from Saturday that women need more of these kinds of symposiums. We will continue Saturday,s many conversations throughout our social media platforms.

Alldens Lane is committed to supporting Africa,s women CEOs and entrepreneurs to offer the world their best through their businesses. As business strategy advisers with a unique focus on providing executive and business coaching services to female entrepreneurs in Africa,s small and growing business sector, our passion and commitment is to support women entrepreneurs not only to realise their business aspirations, but also to inspire and to challenge then throughout the complex journey of attaining business nirvana.