“Tracy,
Last evening was wonderful ..such a great/positive speaker/ will she come again?”
                                                                                      -Roz Bettis

“Tracy,
I loved the meeting and it confirms what I’m studying right now!!! How neat is that? … Good stuff. I love to hear women’s perspectives on things. I feel the momentum brewing in your new group….”
                                                                                     -Tricia Blazy

On August 15, 2006, Dr. Charlesye Pratt electrified the women in attendance

at the ABWA, Women of Wisdom meeting, with her topic “Dreaming With Your Eyes Open”. Dr. Pratt revealed how dreaming requires letting go of limits created by past failures, disappointments, fears and the insecurities that plague our thoughts. She suggested we take these negative thoughts and create positive ones.

Dr. Pratt indicated that dreaming while awake can be done by exploring what we want through the use of “Appreciative Inquiry”. This involves eliminating our self-imposed negative thoughts and focusing on the ideal and positive situations that are in our lives today. Appreciative Inquiry uses the four “D”s…

• Discovery - This is not a problem solving exercise, but a process to find out what is already working. When did we succeed? Explore the positives that have come from a situation.
• Dream - This is like a brainstorming activity with no limits. What would the ideal look like if everything was perfect; if nothing was wrong? What are the ambitions that you have been putting off? Why? Let the “why’s” go!
• Design - This requires focusing on what the dream would look like. What do you need to do to create the ideal design? And…
• Destiny - With this information, create a new destiny!

Dr. Pratt provided tips about how this can be accomplished daily. Here are just a few that she mentioned:

Study to be quiet-

Create a quiet space, meditate, pay attention to yourself. Become self-aware.

Change your habits-

Of heart-a hungry heart yearns for something. What is it hungry for?  Instead of seeking external means to satisfy its hunger, search inside yourself to fill the void.

Self talk: habits of conversation. Does your self-talk say “I can’t do that because…”? Change the self talk into positive thoughts. Create positive self talk. Words create words. Let your words bring you up.

Think about thinking-

Use affirmations to counter the disquieting thoughts.

Create valuing and loving thoughts to generate positive experiences.

With daily practice, these activities can help clarify the meaning of your life! Drop your negative self-talk and create a life where you dream with your eyes open!

Thank you for all who attended, and thank you J. Lombari, of CSI Accounting who is also our treasurer, for sponsoring this meeting.

If you would like to comment on the meeting or this article, please do so below…

7 unwritten rules for professional women

From CareerBuilder.com
Wednesday, August 16, 2006; Posted: 11:04 a.m. EDT (15:04 GMT)

CNN.com has a business partnership with CareerBuilder.com, which serves as the exclusive provider of job listings and services to CNN.com.

We’ve all heard the reports: Women earn 77 cents for every dollar their male counterparts earn. And women are a minority among the ranks of CEOs in today’s companies. Is this merely a result of the “Old Boys Club” tightening its ranks or is there more to the story?

Read more here:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/Careers/08/15/cb.professional.women/index.html?section=cnn_latest

Women of Wisdom would like to welcome Dr. Charleyse Pratt to our August 15th meeting. Her topic:

Dreaming With Your Eyes Open!

Dr. Pratt is an experienced Organizational Development Consultant and Human Resource professional with over 25 years experience.  She has worked as an internal and external consultant on matters involving large system change, strategic planning, executive and leadership development, and Team leadership and employee relations.   

Dr. Pratt is currently employed as Director of the Baldwin-Wallace College East Campus location in Beachwood, Ohio.  She has been an Adjunct Faculty in the CASE University School of Engineering and a regular presenter for the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College – Advanced Minority Business Executive Program.  She is a recipient of the Graduate Dean’s Instructional Excellence Award at CASE.

We thank Dr. Pratt for allowing Women of Wisdom to use the B-W East facilities to bring women together to help women! 

Light refreshments will be provided. Admission is $5.00 at the door. We look forward to seeing you and bring a friend!

Tracy Drogalus
Formation President
ABWA, Women of Wisdom
tracydrogalus@sbcglobal.net
440-684-1646

Don’t forget to check out all the benefits that ABWA can offer you as a NATIONAL member…

Click here Benefits

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From the national ABWA magazine Women in Business July/August 2006 issue, Women of Wisdom was written about on page 33:

Members Find Success in Spring Membership Campaign

Spring was an exciting, eventful time for the many ABWA members around the nation who took advantage of the 2006 ABWA Spring Membership Campaign.

     Among the chapters and Express Networks® that participated in the campaign to bring in new members was the new formation, Women of Wisdom in Beachwood, Ohio. Chair Tracy Drogalus says

 that as a result of the group’s May kickoff meeting, five of the attendees joined ABWA. Tracy, a business consultant at Progressive Insurance and a student at Baldwin-Wallace in Berea, Ohio, says the event featured the ABWA promotional DVD “The Place to Be,” as well as a speaker who discussed emotional intelligence. Tracy says she decided to become involved with the membership event, as well as with ABWA, because both give her opportunities she believes are often lacking in the workplace. Some of the skills she can gain include project management, sales and leadership.  

     “ABWA provides an opportunity for women to gain leadership experience while helping each other gain that leadership experience,” Tracy says. “It’s really a great opportunity.”

     Among the many other outstanding campaign participants who likewise honed their skills while strengthening their dedication to the Association’s growth was this year’s grand-prize winner, Company Connection member Linda Peterson from the Kansas City Express Network. For successfully sponsoring the highest number of new members, Linda received a complete registration to the 2006 ABWA National Women’s Leadership Conference Sept. 28-30 in Anaheim, Calif.

Hope you received your issue! You can get a subscription by joining ABWA today!

Tracy Drogalus

Formation President

ABWA Women of Wisdom

440-684-1646