UPDATE: Editor’s note: Added video taken by INQUIRER.net business editor Ma. Salve Duplito.

Attention to detail, ability to multi-task, tendency to think hard – many times – before taking a big leap, and that thing called women’s intuition. These things have allowed Filipinas for many decades to excel in entrepreneurship.

With the changes of the times, women have become more outspoken, assertive and confident. They are more vocal and visible, proving all the more that in the coming years more and more women will be entering the world of business.

The Good News Kapihan yesterday in Makati City was bustling with women power. The speakers themselves were the statement.

In this video, Elizabeth Lee (left), executive vice president of Universal Motors Corp. and president of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, and Ma. Aurora Geotina-Garcia, chairman and president of CibaCapital, explain why more women are going into and becoming successful in entrepreneurship.

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I first heard about the “Why Not” forum from Smart’s Mon Isberto. At the time, I thought it was just a marketing gimmick or people pounding their fists on the table about something nationalistic when they are actually just marketing themselves. This blog post by Niña Terol has made me see that there must be something real here for the politics-weary Filipino who wants to change the world — often through entrepreneurship. I post this with the permission of Mark Ruiz, one of the founders of Why Not. Read on:

By Niña Terol
 
It was an ordinary Thursday night, and yet Warehouse 135, the hip warehouse-turned-club on Yakal Street in Makati, was filled to capacity. Only it wasn’t filled with clubgoers and party scenesters—it was filled with young professionals, creative minds, thinkers, and dreamers who all dared to ask a question that would set the tone for the entire evening’s talks: Why not?
 
The WhyNot? Forum, according to founders Mark Ruiz and Bam Aquino, is a “smorgasboard of great, brave ideas—an open-source innovation soup that will hopefully inspire other Filipinos all over to connect adjunct thoughts, take impactful action, and weave together new breakthrough ideas.” Inspired by the TEDTalks of the United States ( www.ted.com), it is based on the simple idea of gathering some of the best minds in the country to share their respective ideas for 15 minutes each. By asking The Question and challenging outmoded assumptions, it is hoped that WhyNot? Forum will spark a thought revolution that will encourage people to “think new thoughts, share big dreams, do brave things.”

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More than business strategies and good products, small businesses need leadership to grow – leadership that should not only come from the top but ideally should be echoed all over the enterprise.

Unfortunately, leaders aren’t infallible. In John C. Maxwell’s column today in INQUIRER.net, he talked about some blind spots that can wreck a leader’s journey.

An excerpt from the article follows. Check the entire article here:

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