Powerful conference leaves this working mom seeking more whitespace!

Last week I had the honor of representing Starbucks at the Women Foodservice Forum Annual Leadership Conference. Together, with my peers from across our US and Canada business, we were encouraged to network and learn from the emerging leaders and executives representing every supporting function of foodservice companies in North America. I believe what made this event unique was its focus on content for personal growth – everything from communication to emotional barriers in the way we think or even how we balance work and family demands. Sitting in a room of 2600 powerhouse women (and 150 or so Men!) for 4 days is impactful and inspiring. I wanted to share some key takeaways with you!

1- We need to stop wearing BUSY as a badge of honor!

Our busy behaviors are rubbing off on our kids and making us all stressed and sick. Take a look at everything you have filling your time and ask yourself if it really needs your attention. Do your kids really need 4 afterschool activities? Does your team really need you to fly across the country for a sales meeting?

2- My calendar is in serious need of whitespace.

One of the highlights for me was hearing Juliet Funt from Whitespace at Work talk about how as working women today we do not put our own oxygen mask on first… we need to revamp our calendars and add “do nothing” to our mile long to do lists.

3- Connecting and deliberate collaboration are keys to unlocking value in businesses today.

A popular session and book that was discussed by attendees at the conference was Get Big Things Done by Erica Dhawan and she introduced us to Connectional Intelligence concepts that are differentiating businesses in 2017. An example I loved was how an Employee Network at Frito-Lay helped create a new chip flavor, so popular they now hold an annual event with employees for the company to get new ideas!

4- Mom guilt is an epidemic!

There really is strange confidence that comes from knowing you are sitting in a room of people all feeling the same way as you do... "when I am at work I think I should be home and when I am at home all I think about is work!" I heard this on repeat from many of the moms I met. My takeaway: I am normal but we all need to lose the guilt!! The expert on this topic was hands down Valorie Burton.

5- Ask yourself: What’s the BEST that could happen?

Asking for a raise, putting your hand up for a promotion, taking on a new territory, speaking up when someone steals your idea ... why don't we as women do these things? Learn to manage your inner critic and lean in with your authentic self (fears and all!) ... because maybe you will get what you ask for or fail but learn so much or stretch your comfort zone – those are the best things that could happen.

6- What we know about multi generational workforces is evolving

I took away many usable strategies from the session with Hannah Ubl – millennial and generational expert from BrightWorks – one in particular that stood out was the 5 word performance review – GenX and GenE are going to love it and so did I… self-diagnosed early millenial!

If you were at WFF conference, please leave me a comment and tell me what your takeaways were. If you weren't there then I highly recommend checking out the WFF site to learn more about local events in your area or come join WFF next year in Dallas!