For years we have been promoting the virtues of women’s groups and during that time we have listened to the community repeatedly sharing their biggest challenge with us:

 How do we keep members committed to consistently showing up for each meeting?

 This is a big issue. It’s not difficult to appeal to women and attract them into showing up for a new group and attending a meeting or two. But keeping their interest and enticing them to come back for more is a tougher problem.  Read more...

Most women’s groups involve the members getting together and meeting somewhere on a regular basis. It could be once a week or once a month. Regardless of the regularity and frequency of the meetings, when the group gets together there is a great deal of interaction. During these meetings, most if not all of the members likely spend a great deal of time chatting with each other. 

It is important to be aware of the non-verbal communication that may often come out during these meetings as well.  Read more...

You may be considering joining a women’s group but are a bit hesitant. Joining any type of group takes a commitment. You must commit your time and energy to such a group. It also requires a mental, emotional commitment on your part. Therefore, you may be asking yourself, is it worth it? What will this group provide to me if I become a member?

Joining a women’s group can offer so much more than you ever thought possible.

You may be thinking of joining a group to expand your circle of friends or possibly to do some networking.  Read more...

Taking ownership means embracing the fact that you are the driving force propelling your women’s group forward. It means you are going to take on this job and do it well. It doesn’t mean that you need to do all of the work yourself, nor do you need to be overly aggressive about it; rather, you need to keep your vision in front of you and remind the members of the women’s group what your vision is all about.

What is important is the value of joining together and the value of being a part of this new venture.   Read more...

Are you burdened with so many roles in your life that you don’t have time to think about your personal wellness? Yet you have a nagging feeling that you are not happy, physically well or emotionally satisfied. Is it possible that wellness could be a priority for you? Let’s look at what wellness is all about.

What does your personal wellness include?

Wellness is holistic in nature as it includes physical, spiritual, emotional and financial aspects, as well as surrounds the relationships we have in our lives.  Read more...

A fortunate thing about a women’s group is that there is always someone to spill your guts to, listen wholeheartedly, tell it like it is, and to carry you through to the next stage of your life. At some point, the group becomes your second family and telling the members your deepest darkest secrets and intimacies comes naturally.

It has been said that humor is one of the best cures for what ails you. If that’s the case, a women’s group can accommodate that need as well. If prayer and meditation is something that guides you, a group can lift you up and be there to listen—the key word being listen.  Read more...

Do you give or get?  Or do you do both?

Is there a divided line between the givers and the takers of advice giving? On what side of the line do you feel more comfortable?  We all have our comfort zones and for a lot of people, giving advice is safer.

Advice giving is a daily activity and a significant way we communicate with others.  We have many forms, such as the phone, email or texting to transmit our pearls of wisdom.  So, what service does advice provide in our world?   How much of the advice we give or receive is actually heard?  Read more...

Trust – Firm reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, or character of a person or thing.

In a successful women’s group, the members must all trust each other enough to be able to open up and share their experiences freely. As we know, without sharing there will not be growth. But how can women in a diverse group learn to trust each other? How long before they can open up honestly?

The secret to building a trusting relationship is to start small. Begin with small acts and gestures of trust and build it up from there. It will take awhile, but there will come a time when the members of your group will not hesitate to open up to one another.  Read more...

Use the word “negotiate” with women and you will see a lot of discomfort surface up.  Women haven’t yet learned the art of negotiation.  The opposite holds true more often with “compromise” as women are subtly encouraged to compromise rather than negotiate.  There is a big difference between the two.

If you review the definitions of compromise and negotiate, you can perceive similarities between the two, yet they are different in their application.

Compromise – to adjust or settle by mutual concessions; to come to agreement by mutual concession; to find or follow a way between extremes.  Read more...