The Advancing Women in IT Community celebrated their first official dinner at CompTIA, finally moving out of the early morning breakfast slot for meetings, as they have grown steadily each year since their founding a couple years ago. The group is focused on three main initiatives:
- Evangelism: Create a cadre of IT professionals who are willing to go out into the community to communicate the scope and availability of career opportunities in IT.
- Career Resource Platform: Provide an online resource center for anyone who is interested in finding out more about IT careers.
- Collaboration with Other Women IT Organizations: Extend their reach by forming connections and collaborating with other women in IT organizations.
Women and men in IT interested in contributing to these initiatives are welcome to join AWIT meetings and online group discussions. As part of the resource platform, AWIT offered a keynote speaker to help attendees figure out where they want to be in their careers.
Laura Steward Atchison, CEO, Wisdom Learned LLC, gave ChannelCon attendees a tutorial on how to ask the right questions that will give you the answers you need to take your business and life where you want to be – faster. Atchison launched and led her own IT company before founding Wisdom Learned, a consulting company specializing in educating and inspiring entrepreneurial leaders to get off autopilot and find success.
Author of "What Would a Wise Woman Do?," Atchison told attendees they need to get outside their frame of reference – their history – and change their perspective in order to ask different questions and find the best answers. Attendees were asked to write down where they want to be, and then five “why” questions on why they want to be there. Then they had to consider, “Is this my want or someone else’s want for me?”
Attendees learned key questions wise people ask:
- What questions am I asking that got me to this place?
- Where did they come from?
- Do they still serve me?
- Are the answers I get moving me forward toward my goals?
- Does my questioning put me outside my comfort zone?
Atchison said if you don’t really want to go where you’re headed and the goal you’re working toward, you’ll never feel satisfied. Instead, stretch yourself, have fun and dream big.
