The letter ‘S’ comes with a topic which I found suitable for our BNI ‘Woman’s Day’ celebration.

Sisterhood as an idea assumes that there is a kind of glue that binds women together, as a ‘gender’- category where we all have something in common – no matter how different as individuals we may be. It also assumes that on the grounds of what it is that we have in common – there is a solidarity among us.

Well … when we launch ourselves in a cat-fight – nothing could be further from the truth! Yet – though I’ve witnessed a few ugly fights and have also been involved in some – overall, I come across far more situations where women do rally together – getting things done, sorting something out, being there when a need arises. Acting as a sisterhood indeed.

This mysterious spontaneous doing together what needs to be done, makes things fall into place even without a formal plan of action. It is a brilliant orchestration of improvisation and multitasking.

Sisters, we’re often not even aware of what a great collective talent we have. The mind boggles. Let’s not lose sight of what-a-force-to-be-reckoned-with we can be, and unleash this energy for the good causes.

Women’s built-in focus is seeing the world through the lens of relationships.

We can make this our great strength in business: by cultivating our relationships’ network professionally and in business-smart ways.

That’s why we’re BNI members, it gives us a perfect platform. Nurturing our network isn’t just another chore, it is nurturing the conditions that enable us to function.

Just think of the great variety of different people that we, women, need in order to maintain and develop our career in business – and keep our sanity: we need people ranging from financial advisers to housesitters and dogwalkers, we need bargain-spotters, kiddy-party organisers and fast meal providers, We need creative fashion suppliers who can make us look like a million dollars on a shoestring budget. We need motivated handymen with the right tools who actually ‘fix it’, and we need a personal smart- phone consultant so that at all times we can keep our finger on the pulse of what is happening with our kids, their friends, our parents, aunties and uncles, our friends, and last but not least the men in our life.

And the list goes on…

If ever there was a true saying: ‘A woman’s work is never done’!