ATLANTA – Award-winning author, leadership and communications expert, Dr. Sylvia Lafair, is bringing ideas from her latest book, "GUTSY: How Women Leaders Make Change," to the Elaine Sterling Skincare Institute, 4840 Roswell Road NE, Building E, Suite 201, Sandy Springs, April 27th, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm as part of a national seminar series promoting effective communication strategies for women at work.

Dr. Lafair's recent research explores the messages women receive growing up about how to communicate, negotiate, and interact, and how those messages play out in careers. "While for some women it's easy to speak out, take risks, and lead change, others need a nudge to exude confidence. My techniques enable women to communicate more effectively in meetings, use specific power words to get points across, and offer shortcuts to working faster and smarter. The workshops are interactive and highly entertaining, too," says Lafair.

As a consultant, Lafair has spent time in business settings showing teams how to take the best of the male capacity to be "daring" and the female strength of "caring" and blend them into a new mixture required for 21st Century leaders, simply called "sharing." Dr. Lafair says, "It's no surprise men and women communicate differently, fight differently, negotiate differently, do business differently—it's not right or wrong and one way isn't better than the other.

One key to success for women is to understand how to utilize their vital GUTSY side for effective workplace relationships." Lafair's consulting firm, Creative Energy Options, Inc. (CEO) with offices in PA and CA is known for pioneering work in leadership development. While CEO has been recognized two years in a row by Leadership Excellence for success with its program, Total Leadership Connections, Lafair's first book, "Don't Bring It to Work," (Jossey Bass, 2009) has won eight literary awards.

Talk about GUTSY, Sylvia Lafair, PhD, hiked the Inca Trail into Machu Picchu, ate indiscernible stew in the Amazon, bungee jumped in New Zealand, and studied with monks in China. When she lands long enough, she writes, speaks and leads seminars. Dr. Lafair retooled her skills as a noted family therapist and transitioned into a leadership expert and executive coach, assisting teams in finding the sweet spots of cooperation and productivity.

Lafair's current scheduled venues include Atlanta on April 27th, Philadelphia on May 8th, Los Angeles on May 20th and Sonoma, CA, on May 30th.

To register for the workshops either email Maryjane@ceoptions.com or visit, www.eventbrite and search "It's Good to Be GUTSY" in your location or call 570-636-3858.