WASHINGTON (March 24, 2015) -- Female Soldiers and civilians at the Pentagon had an opportunity to learn and trade ideas on how to empower themselves at a symposium, March 23.
In recognition of Women's History Month, the Army G-8 and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Financial Management and Comptroller held its fifth annual women's symposium.
Krystyna M.A. Kolesar kicked off the event, telling the back stories of women's firsts and their contributions, such as Delilah L. Beasley, a newspaper columnist and historian who was the first African American to be regularly published in a major metropolitan newspaper. She also talked about the impact of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which gave women the right to vote on Aug. 18, 1920, even though President Woodrow Wilson had opposed suffrage.
Kolesar, who serves as deputy director for program analysis and evaluation in the G-8, said other topics for the day consisted of a brief on the importance of the Performance Triad system of health to be an effective performer: 7-8 hours of sleep per 24 hours, 10,000 steps walked per day and at least eight servings of fruits and vegetables daily.
"The day-long symposium this year is called Weaving the Stories of Women's Lives," so we're going to touch on some of the historical events women have contributed to and also brought together four women in a panel to help them think about issues that relate to them," she said. "We've also raised an agenda to cover topics such as coaching and mentoring to teach them how to be self-aware in their jobs and the types of issues they might confront."
Explaining the difference between coaching and mentoring, Kolesar said coaching is a journey about self-awareness, which often gets confused with mentoring. Mentoring she said was usually a superior-subordinate relationship with a subject-matter expert or maybe a protege of some type.
"Coaching is about getting the client to tap into the root of what the issue is so they can make their own decision and a lot of that has to do with their mindset," she said. "As a coach, I might not understand where you're coming from, but it would be my job to help you unpack and unravel it. When you can see it through your lens, you're going to be more successful making those steps to problem-solve - and that empowers you."
Hosting the symposium, Lt. Gen. Karen E. Dyson, military director to the assistant secretary of the Army (financial management and comptroller) and one of only five three-star women Soldiers, introduced the panel of two colonels and two Army senior executives.
"What you have here are some very complex women who are on our team and every one of them has a graduate degree and has either been through senior executive civilian training or one of the many war colleges," she said, adding that they had all worked at different levels in and outside of the Army as well as in different defense agencies and at The White House.
"They really demonstrate to all of us, the richness that they've built within their own careers over the years by having the courage to travel," Dyson said. "When I say the courage, it does take a little bit of courage to travel, though for the colonels, it was a bit easier for us because we sort of got told along the way where we would be going.
"That might be a question to ask yourself - are you on a career path that you're happy with," she said. "Sometimes it's not our choice to travel, but it forces us out to do things, completely different things… that can be marked by change and opportunity -- sometimes the change creates the opportunity -- sometimes the opportunity creates the change."
(For more ARNEWS stories, visit our homepage at www.army.mil/ARNews, or our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ArmyNewsService)
Related Links:
Army.mil: Inside the Army News
STAND-TO!: Women's History Month: Weaving the Stories of Women's Lives
Social Sharing