Women Have To Reinvent Ourselves & Our Careers, We're Lifetime Learners With Fundamentally Different Outcomes: Sallie Krawcheck, Owner Of 85 Broads

Pleased to meet Sallie Krawcheck at her fireside chat at Fenwick & West for the San Francisco branch of 85 Broads (a network of 30,000 trailblazing women in 130 countries) thanks to my friend, colleague and investor member in London Shefaly Yogendra. The feisty Southern Krawcheck -- once called "the most powerful woman on Wall Street" -- recently bought 85 Broads and came to talk to us about what the global network of pro women needs. She told us surveys showed that some members want financial advice, mentors and reverse mentors, while others want to invest in women.

Takeaways from Sallie's far-ranging interview with Shamini Dhana, president of the SF Branch of 85 Broads, included:

• Coming out of banking crisis it seems they've double-downed on white middle aged males
• If you aren't on social media, research shows you look older & less tech savvy
• Her first news of day comes from Twitter, it's a way to talk to the world
• There's no career fairy godmother -- it's down to networking and sponsorship
• Women have to reinvent ourselves, piecing together careers. We're lifelong learners w/fundamentally different outcomes
• It's economically viable for women to start a biz today using tech & entrepreneurialism
• Diverse teams outperform more capable teams
• Women outperform men without home runs and less flameouts
• Choose a job in your 20s you think you can do in your 30s
• #1 rule of business success is networking (that means loose connections and you need a ton of them)

Local members I met at the event include (listed by their Twitter handles) executive coach @Barbara Mark; Barbara Kamm, President of the Technology Credit Union@TechCu; Emily Hall @OGemilyhall, president of the Olive Grove which partners philanthropists, entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders;  futurist, future of work visionary and woman after my own heart @ayeletb; user experience expert @MicheleMarut; advisor to the Turkish Prime Ministry's Investment & Promotion Agency Olivia Curran; and Sydney Alfonso, founder of @Etkie_Official, a venture to support women artisans around the world.

Is Marketing Yourself As A Brand Right For Your Career?

"Personal branding is the practice of people marketing themselves and their careers as brands. Is this right for your career?" asks 85 Broads, the high-powered global women’s network, on its Facebook page today. My answer:

It seems like the question should be "what possible reason could you have for not being a distinct, knowable, findable professional entity?"

Social media strategist Tara Hunt replied too, and said "I owe the lion's share of my career success to personal branding", despite struggling with the term and being criticized for her self-promotion.

I think Tara Hunt's right that personal branding is a loaded term and the act of it doesn't come easily for women, nor does becoming visible always bring positive attention for women.

But none of that makes it less a valuable, meaningful, self-actualizing way to operate.