Life lessons shared at Superwoman Conference

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This article was published 10/03/2022 (1468 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There was a homecoming for the keynote speaker at the Brandon Chamber of Commerce’s Superwoman Conference on Thursday.

Sport Manitoba president and CEO Janet McMahon, who is originally from Boissevain and grew up in Brandon, addressed a packed room at the Dome Building with a message about some of the people who have impacted her life and what she has learned during her career.

With those in attendance wearing stickers of various women superheroes, McMahon talked about how her mother was one of the heroes in her life, taking care of her after her father died when she was young.

Her first experience in sport was swimming at the YMCA in Brandon, moving on to community sports when she was a little older and then trying to play every sport she could in high school.

McMahon appreciated how the girls teams at Vincent Massey High School were given the same positive treatment as the boys teams and how it led her to pursue basketball at the University of Winnipeg and her subsequent career in sport.

After studying recreation management, McMahon came back to Brandon to get her first job in the field, working with the Westman Sports Association as a co-ordinator for the Manitoba Games. Originally a six-month job, it became a full-time position for McMahon.

One of the formative moments in McMahon’s career was the 1990 Western Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg as chef de mission for Team Manitoba.

“These games are hard to describe,” McMahon said about those summer games and events like them. “They’re a coming together of young athletes living and eating in a village, usually in a smaller community with an army of volunteers, with upgraded and new sport facilities along with a festival at opening and closing ceremonies, all wrapped up with a fiercely competitive environment that’s fun-filled and joyous. It’s really magical, hard to recreate, and once you’ve been involved, you’re hooked.”

When McMahon took her current job at Sport Manitoba during the COVID-19 pandemic, she said it wasn’t something she had aspired to, but she wanted to keep things stable and follow in the footsteps of the previous incumbent.

“I was excited, nervous and grateful, but most of all I was inspired,” she said. “I realized that yes, I did have something significant to contribute to this organization. I was motivated to build on a lot of ideas through 30 years’ experience and I realized that I wanted to take this organization in a different direction and make some changes.”

Through her experiences, McMahon said she has realized that success isn’t about knowledge or brilliance, but how you behave and what you accomplish.

Her work process is to take a large task and break it down into small, manageable steps. It’s something she has found essential working for an organization with a volunteer board of directors, an $18-million annual budget, 55 full-time employees, a fitness centre, a performance centre, a medical clinic and a charity.

Every day, McMahon tries to complete three priority tasks.

“I love to-do lists, and they’re long,” she said. “The best part is striking them off. If I can strike off three priority tasks every day, I know I’m tackling the biggest, most urgent things.”

While women are sometimes forced to multitask, McMahon said it’s not possible to do it properly since the brain can only focus on one thing at a time.

To facilitate that focus, McMahon schedules time when she can work without interruptions and distractions to increase productivity as well as provide structure. When she has meetings with staff, she encourages them to have an agenda ready and not to just present challenges but possible solutions to them as well.

However, she also schedules space for downtime. In her case, that downtime is going to the gym.

After McMahon’s address, event master of ceremonies and chamber vice-president Tanya LaBuick told the Sun it was fantastic to be back among crowds of people again.

“I want them [conference attendees] to leave feeling valued and empowered to make change in their world … it’s important for women — just like it’s important for kids and just like it’s important for men — to congregate and be able to learn from each other and grow from each other and provide the support that we need.”

First launched in 2020 before the pandemic, the conference aims at providing opportunities for local women to connect, learn and become empowered to succeed.

With all 155 seats for the event having sold out, LaBuick said consideration is being given to finding a bigger venue for next year’s edition.

» cslark@brandonsun.com

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