Open to all women in mining

Launched 2015 – webinar recordings still available

Successful collaboration with leading experts to provide high-quality yet affordable content to women across the mining sector and world-wide

In 2015-2016, IWiM designed and ran a 10-month Women on Mining Boards webinar series which gave women interested in directorships an opportunity to acquire the tools needed to achieve their goal from leading experts. This successful collaboration with leading experts to provide high-quality yet affordable content to women across the mining sector and worldwide received consistently positive feedback.

The focus of the webinars is on practical tools and tips to build participants’ knowledge of governance, including information on the roles and functions of a board, key responsibilities of directors and compliance requirements. The webinar content can also assist in the development of an action plan to identify board opportunities and help candidates best prepare for interviews and meetings with executive search consultants.

Key Takeaways | Identifying your Value Proposition

  • Highlight your unique skills and experiences. Don’t be afraid to stand out.
  • Consider which industries and companies interest you. Your skills are more transferable than you think. Don’t limit yourself!
  • Remember: values matter. Seek out companies with values that align with yours.
  • Don’t forget your current network. Discuss your interest in board service and your personal value proposition with people you already know.

Top tip | Build your professional networks

Appointments are still often made on the basis of recommendations, so networks are critical in landing key roles.

Research from Professor Herminia Ibarra, INSEAD Professor of Organisational Behaviour, has identified three types of networks that are important in business: operational, personal and strategic. “While a lot of managers excel at building and using their operational network, they often overlook their personal and strategic networks“. Read the full article from Professor Ibarra here.

It is these networks, particularly your strategic network, that will often play a crucial role in helping you find a board seat that matches your experience and aspirations.

Judith Perle specializes in teaching people about networking. “I believe that successful networking is as much about attitude as it is about specific skills. Three golden rules:

Nurture your network.  Even the most superficial relationships are based on trust, and that takes time to build. So stay in touch with people and re-establish relationships that may have fallen by the wayside. Don’t be afraid to pick up the phone or drop a line to someone you haven’t seen for years: someone has to make the first move!

Get out and about.  Go to events and conferences regularly and make a point of making new contacts. Talking to people you don’t know is generally more difficult than talking to people you do know but it’s also ultimately more rewarding as it expands your network and raises your profile.

Be interested (as well as interesting).  People generally love talking about themselves, and asking a few well-chosen questions has the interesting psychological effect of making you seem more interesting. So take an interest in other people and never, ever try to sell yourself.”

 

Contact: info@internationalwim.org