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The Women's Leadership Institute (WLI) at Bentley University hosts "Redefining Success:  Executive Women Exploring New Directions," an innovative one-day workshop for senior female executives and professionals exploring effective ways to shape their working and "extra-curricular" lives going forward. The program will be held on Thursday, October 21, from noon to 7:00 p.m. at the Bentley campus, 175 Forest Street, Waltham, Mass. The workshop will be led by Ginny O'Brien, an executive coach specializing in women's leadership development, and founder of The Columbia Consultancy, a leadership development coaching firm.

The workshop will feature a series of interactive, self-reflective exercises that are designed to help participants articulate their core values and shape career and life interests in ways that will complement a realignment of those values and their acquired skills.

"Our goal for participants is to help ensure that their future -- both professional and personal -- reflects their own definitions of success," says Toni Wolfman, WLI executive-in-residence. "They will learn how to create an intentional roadmap for their future."

The session is designed for women who:

  • Have reached senior professional or executive positions
  • Desire more satisfaction in their work and life pursuits
  • Want tomake a difference inside and outside of the work environment
  • Would like to create a purposeful and effective plan for future development

"This unique small group setting, coupled with meaningful exercises, translates into practical steps to move forward  in a current career, explore new directions, investigate volunteer or board opportunities or enhance personal growth," explains Wolfman of the 20 registered participants.

The program will also include a panel featuring professional women who have successfully confronted these issues and found ways to enhance their professional and personal effectiveness and satisfaction and an evening reception for networking and relationship building. 

For more information about WLI events and programs, go to http://www.bentley.edu/wli/events.cfm.

Ginny O'Brien was named one of Boston's Top 10 Coaches by Women's Business Journal in 2007. Her "Integrated Leadership" coaching model encompasses five core areas of development: authenticity, vision and strategic thinking, emotional intelligence, assertive communication, and the ability to build and nurture relationships. She has coached hundreds of leaders from a range of corporations and Fortune 500 companies including consulting, financial services, healthcare, high tech, insurance, law, manufacturing, market intelligence, medical devices, pharmaceuticals and publishing. A skilled facilitator and workshop leader, she has led leadership and career development workshops for more than 100 organizations. O'Brien is the author of three books: Coaching Yourself to Leadership: Five Key Strategies for Becoming an Integrated Leader, (HRD Press, 2005); Success on Our Own Terms: Tales of Extraordinary, Ordinary Business Women (John Wiley, 1998); and, The Fast Forward MBA in Business (John  Wiley, 1996). She was a contributing author to Winning in the New Europe: Taking Advantage of the Single Market (Prentice Hall, 1992).

The Women's Leadership Institute at Bentley University (the WLI) has a two-fold mission: to empower women to achieve personal and professional success as they advance into leadership positions, and to shape a generation of women leaders who are ethically and socially responsible as well as fully prepared for the challenges and opportunities presented by the global business environment.  To further this mission, the WLI provides a combination of interactive, practical programs and academic forums designed to develop and enhance the skills, confidence, and connections that ensure personal and professional success at each stage of one's career. 

As part of a world-renowned business university, the WLI is uniquely positioned to support individual women and corporate and institutional employers in developing and advancing women leaders.   The WLI offers programs specifically designed for business/professional women as they move into their first leadership positions; as they consider re-entry after taking time off; and as they contemplate the optimal use of their time and talents as successful business leaders.  The WLI also offers a variety of leadership-enhancing programs for Bentley's undergraduate and graduate students designed to foster collaborative learning and skill development and to advocate for a new generation of effective and diverse women leaders.   Finally, the WLI supports research and other thought leadership initiatives that, consistent with the University's strategic goals, promise to transform the global workplace into one that fully utilizes and values the talents of women as well as men.