Women in Finance Learn to Work Smarter, Faster, Better

WOMEN IN FINANCE LEARN TO WORK SMARTER, FASTER, BETTER

Roseville, Minnesota (1/8/09) – Becoming smarter, faster, and better at one’s job requires embracing paradox. In today’s business world, trying to be the expert, doing everything at once, or outpacing the competition won’t necessarily lead to success.

That’s according to business coach and consultant Karlin Sloan, who has developed a new online course for financial professionals based on her book Smarter, Faster, Better: Strategies for Effective, Enduring and Fulfilled Leadership.

The self-paced course – developed exclusively for Financial Women International (FWI) – engages participants in hands-on, how-to exercises in three key areas:

• Being Smarter. Let go of the idea that leaders have to be experts and begin asking  more questions. The most valuable employees are those who know how to manage and distribute information and adapt to new levels of complexity, Sloan says.
• Being Faster. Slow down to devote full attention to the task at hand. According to Sloan, it is impossible to multitask and focus at the same time. Productivity is not enhanced by longer workdays, a faster pace, or perfectionism, she writes.
• Being Better. Stop trying to be better than but instead strive to be better with competitors, colleagues and constituents. In her book, Sloan points out that “better with” leadership is a growing trend alongside the “triple bottom line” concept of corporate responsibility, which measures a company or organization’s impact on three levels: economic, social (community) and environmental.

“Smarter, Faster, Better is the program to kick off the new year – we’ve designed it to be both motivating and full of practical ideas you can put to use today,” said FWI President Melissa Curzon, vice president of California Bank & Trust in San Clemente, Calif. “This eCourse truly takes all of the useful concepts from Ms. Sloan’s book and distills them into breakthrough lessons in leadership at a time when our industry is redefining itself.”

The first part of the course (Smarter) is available now at no additional cost to FWI members on www.fwi.org. Parts two and three (Faster and Better) will follow in the coming months. For membership information or log-in access to the members-only section of the FWI web site, call 1-866-236-2007.

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About FWI: Financial Women International is dedicated to developing leaders, accelerating careers, and generating results for professionals in the financial services industry. Membership is comprised of financial executives across North America. For more information, visit www.fwi.org or call 1-866-236-2007.

About Karlin Sloan: The founder and CEO of Karlin Sloan & Company, Ms. Sloan provides organization development consulting, training and executive coaching to clients in the United States, South America and Asia.