I remember the days when women padded their shoulders to look as big as the guys and to make a point. We had grand ambitions, could drink, swear and dish out as much as we got.
When the economic climate is fragile, when the earth quakes and tsunamis flatten towns, when religion and racial differences kill and the young have nothing better to do than rampage and pillage, it’s time for the rest of us to be kind to each o...Read more
The article in the Sun Herald on June 26, by Alyssa McDonald cited the same barriers to women’s advancement that have been highlighted for at least the l...Read more
It IS a competition and women are losing. By default
23-Jun-2011
Life (work, politics and business) is a competition that women don’t recognise, rarely enjoy, nor play well.
Men know it and are good at playing. They know that each interaction is a round in life’s game. They play to win, prepare...Read more
What women want: Respect, Trust and a Budget.
14-Jun-2011
Every month I facilitate a conversation with a mixed group of professional women who work in a predominantly male environment.
Last week, they shared their frustration at
- Being treated like a highly paid secretary
- ...Read more
Lessons from Women at the Top
6-Jun-2011
Advancing Women for IBM Women of Westpac (WOW) was officially launched on Wednesday 1st June by a panel of women chiefs.
Chief Operations Officer of IBM ANZ, Janet Matton, Chief Financial Officer, IBM ANZ, Sara Watts and...Read more
Part Time? You're not Committed!
30-May-2011
Why do you think wised up employers love part-time women employees?
Yep, you’re focused, productive and make your boss’s life easy. You provide great value for money because you do as much as your full time colleagues for less pay! In...Read more
Cleavage feedback? A professional or personal matter?
21-May-2011
A client was undecided about whether to give feedback to a team member about the amount of cleavage she exposed at work. Surely, she said, it was not her place to give feedback on a colleague’s dress sense?
When asked why she conside...Read more
Poor Dress Sense and Other Distractions
10-May-2011
Do your behaviours, habits and clothes enhance your professional image? Or are you inadvertently undermining your credibility because of what you do, wear or say?
As much as we might hate it, if we want to be considered professional and ...Read more
Career Transitions
5-May-2011
There comes a time in every career when doing what we've always done will be insufficient for us to achieve our aspirations and potential.
Intuitively we know this, but changing tracks can be confronting, scary and easily avoided. Whet...Read more
Time to Relax
26-Apr-2011
Pure relaxation and the ability to take a complete break is hard! Increased adrenalin, pressure and the need to appear committed to our work means it’s more difficult to switch off our minds and almost impossible to turn off the i-phone.Read more
Breathe, detach and stay professional!
13-Apr-2011
29-Mar-2011
Too many women are not getting ahead because they think it’s a level playing field and that
- promotions are won according to fair and objective criteria.
- working hard and being good at what you do is a pre-requisite for ...Read more
We need leaders to inspire hope
27-Mar-2011
This year’s events have been unprecedented. In the first three months,
- We’ve endured one natural disaster after another – in Australia, New Zealand and Japan
- People in the middle east have galvanised to fight bloody ...Read more
A Balanced Life is Achieved Over Time
16-Mar-2011
As I reflect on my too full and busy life I notice how easily it is to succumb to the unnecessary impulse to do too much at once.
Like many women, I have great intentions and an over exaggerated desire to please. Like many, I attempt to li...Read more
IWD - A Day to Recognise and Claim Your Power as a Woman
8-Mar-2011
Today is the day to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements, strength and power of women.
It is also a good day to reflect on and claim your own power and strength.
I met with a very senior client today who’d forgotten her str...Read more
We don't need permission
3-Mar-2011
Over the last month I’ve delivered a number of assertiveness workshops for women and there is a consistent theme: many women have been very well trained at minimising their needs and deferring to others.
This manifests in a v...Read more
What we can learn from Anna.
23-Feb-2011
This week I watched the ABC’s Q&A program which had on its panel Anna Bligh, the Queensland Premier. I was delighted to closely observe and reflect on her increasingly impressive leadership style and impact.
In case you’ve never watche...Read more
Feedback Fear
16-Feb-2011
One of my clients recently told me about some critical feedback she received and how upset she felt by it.
When I explored this, she told me about all the positive feedback she’d received about the same piece of work. One minority view d...Read more
Pay attention to the difference you make
11-Feb-2011
I love working with intelligent, competent women who have the capacity to make a difference to Australia and the world!
And I’m lucky… most of my clients fit in that category. Many, though, are so immersed in daily activity and tasks, ...Read more
It’s the time for women
4-Feb-2011
The world is rapidly changing. Global events are escalating and now, more than ever we need the full participation of everyone to ensure the next generations have a safe, secure and sustainable world to support them into the future.
In Au...Read more
Live a purposeful live
18-Jan-2011
It is not yet mid January and already the momentum is strong. No catastrophic fires this year, just floods. No family reunions, just family good-byes. No births, just the death of a dear friend – a random, needless and completely unfair event.
<...Read more
When you should have said no!
4-Jan-2011
At a recent workshop I asked a group of women for examples of when they wished they’d said no. This is what they said and I’d be interested to hear what you might relate to?
- Fixing others’ work at the expense of my own
- Gett...Read more
Challenges are greater for women in Asia
10-Dec-2010
In November, I spoke at the Singapore Institute of Management’s Women’s Leadership Forum where many diverse women shared their career experiences, challenges and successes. After listening to their stories it’s clear that women in Asia face sim...Read more
Bad Habits
3-Dec-2010
Women learn many strategies to assist them fit in or be accepted. We adapt and conform to roles allocated to us by our families, friends, teachers, media, and a myriad of others we unconsciously listen to.
We modify our language or tone so ...Read more
A Mother's Lament
14-Nov-2010
I spent this weekend at Coogee beach, Sydney, with the whole family - my 20 year old son, two step kids – 19 and 15, and my partner, relaxing, laughing, enjoying the beach, the weather and incredibly, the company!
Just five years ago, ge...Read more
The Power of Choice
26-Oct-2010
Last week three women told me their job caused them stress, anxiety and in one case, physical illness.
When I asked why she stayed, one woman told me ‘security reasons’ were her primary drivers. She has ‘only another 10 years’ bef...Read more
Success Teams
15-Oct-2010
Today I met with 2 senior women working for a company that’s suffering from external financial pressure and intense scrutiny from their shareholders. Both described the environment as competitive, chaotic and finger pointing.
In crisis,...Read more
Inclusive Leadership to be Celebrated
12-Oct-2010
On Saturday night I was among 200 people dressed in black and white, at a wedding (p)reception at Albert Hall. It was the party before their private ceremony scheduled for 10:00am on the 10/10/10.
Guests included women dressed as nuns, an...Read more
Leaders are not experts
6-Oct-2010
Leaders must pay attention to any tendency they have to speak as though they’re an authority on all matters. The role of a leader is to harness the expertise of others, not to be the expert. Their value comes from listening, synthesising and makin...Read more
Accept The Helping Hands.
19-Sep-2010
Today the Canberra Times reported that Clare Carnell was appointed to the bar. At 26 she’s the youngest woman to do so.
She said she didn’t shatter the glass ceiling, she was given a hand through it. Her mother, Kate Carnell, a former ...Read more
Who's in Charge?
13-Sep-2010
Do you instinctively direct your gaze to the person, usually a bloke, who speaks the loudest, or is the biggest in the room?
In most situations we can readjust our gaze and our mindsets to pay attention to the person we’re told is in cha...Read more
Don't act small!
10-Sep-2010
I have a Jack Russell – a pint sized boy dog who thinks he’s much bigger than he is. Yesterday we passed a female Great Dane, who cringed in fear as my canine strutted confidently past.
I smiled ruefully as I observed this cliché of th...Read more
Opening Doors
26-Aug-2010
When I was younger I used to be vocally indignant when a guy had the audacity to open a door for me. It felt patronising and as if my power, authority and agency was diminished in some way. The blokes were typically offended or confused, but I soon ...Read more
The Part Time Bonus
17-Aug-2010
Many women tell me of the difficulty they had to convince their manager that part time hours would work in their functional area. Typically they gain agreement to a trial period of a few weeks or months, minimal feedback along the way and then it bec...Read more
Manage the politics
6-Aug-2010
Once you have assumed a position of leadership, pay attention to the politics around you. While women are in the minority, everything they do is amplified. Every mistake is noticed, every slip is notched up on the undisclosed register of ‘not up fo...Read more
Journalistic Licence
31-Jul-2010
A few years ago, Oakes was responsible for sharing career-destroying information about Cheryl Kernot, following her move to the Labor Party.
Is it a coincidence that he is also the faucet that turned a couple of well timed leaks into a very damaging...Read more
Women Need Mentors and Role Models
18-Jul-2010
Many of my clients actively mentor junior women. Others are busy, over committed and frustrated about the expectation that they should assume responsibility for the development of other women. How can they possibly find time to do their jobs and be ...Read more
Deepen Your Connections
5-Jul-2010
On my recent travels I was struck by how readily many New Englanders disclosed their feelings, opinions, experiences and encounters with others. I’ve watched really smart women:
* defer to th...Read more
Creative Job Sharing
6-Jun-2010
One government department has found an innovative way to provide a valued employee with flexibility. She works 3 days a week, as an EL2 (middle manager level)....Read more
Win that job!
31-May-2010
Knowing you can do the job is not sufficient to win the job. Describing what you’ve...Read more
Beware the glass cliffs!
18-May-2010
I recently heard of a promotion round that effectively displaced five good women from the ‘challenging’ positions they’d been acting in for several months. They wer...Read more
Men recruited from top Australian companies to champion gender equality.
13-May-2010
Their mission seems to be on implementing changes within their own organisations and influencing their male peers to do likewise.
The companies involved are: Woolworths, Telstra, Origin Energy, IBM, Deloitte, Citi Group, Goldman Sachs a...Read more
Perfectionism is not a strength
13-Apr-2010
Today I had three conversations with three different women – all of whom told me with various levels ...Read more
Lead with passion and colour!
17-Mar-2010
Tom Peters is an enthusiastic, self-proclaimed management guru who shouts loudly with passion and enthusiasm at anyone who will listen to do COOL STUFF.
He annoy...Read more
What's a plan without action
17-Mar-2010
Having spent two incredibly exhausting days facilitating a planning session, I'm relieved to hear that the 35 people involved actually believe something will now happen!
How easily people cloak themselves in cy...Read more
Over responsible and over committed
10-Mar-2010
I don't know any woman who has too little to do. Whether we’re holding our families together, smoothing out relationships at work, managing huge budgets, building businesses, volunteering on various committ...Read more
Don't write off the disbelievers!
5-Mar-2010
I conducted a gender awareness workshop for a bunch of very senior academic blokes and one (their only) female peer, last week...Read more
Smart people don't want to be micro managed.
22-Feb-2010
Rigid structures, processes and controls may be good for a factory, or a high risk environment, such as a mine or...Read more
Discipline distinguishes doers from dreamers.
10-Feb-2010
Leadership is a glamorous and overused word. It conjures up vision, chari...Read more
Women avoid the war path
4-Feb-2010
Yesterday it was reported in the Sydney Morning Herald that a woman on Tony Blair’s cabinet, Clare Short, resigned in p...Read more
What is potential?
2-Feb-2010
What is the difference between the results of someone who effortlessly accomplishes so...Read more
Tackling Gender Bias
11-Jan-2010
Over the weekend I was describing Advancing Women enthusiastically to my friend, Tony. Tony's a ver...Read more
Balance or Alignment?
4-Jan-2010
We're all heartily encouraged to find balance – whether it's balancing work with our lives, eating a balanced d...Read more
Get out of the spectator stands
17-Dec-2009
How much time do you spend criticising the efforts of others, commenting on what’s not working and telling people all the ways things could be improved?
What difference do you make? How much changes as a result of your ‘feedback’? ...Read more
Be Explicit
9-Dec-2009
How long does it take you to frame what you want to say to people? If you're well trained and familiar with politically correct language that turns most dialogue to beige, then probably not long at all.
Read more
Manage Boundaries
19-Nov-2009
You don't need to be mates with the people you work with – in fact, it causes trouble. <...Read more
Emotional Management
18-Nov-2009
Life with a self absorbed 14 year old step-daughter has pushed me to the brink.
Today I told her that I wasn't enjoying sharing a house with her and I needed her to pull her weight.
It went down like a brick, of course.
She's...Read more
No one's really paying attention to you!
16-Nov-2009
What's the difference between narcissism (the hyperactivity of a very greedy ego that results in an unhealthy desire to be the centre of attention) and lack of confidence (the hyperactivity of low self esteem that results in an unhealthy fear that ev...Read more
If you know what to do, get on with it!
13-Nov-2009
Confessing to a coach that you know what you're supposed to do but just don't do it, (and smiling) is not cute.
Knowing that you micromanage and that your staff don't like it does not let you off ...Read more
It must be my fault!
7-Nov-2009
Judith has realised that her executive team's bad behaviour has nothing to do with her!
She's been unable to get the clarity and guidance from her colleagues to...Read more
Who's life is it, anyway?
1-Nov-2009
Finally Jasmine has realised what's been evident to me for some time - even though her boss and colleagues are telling her to apply for position of General Manager - she doesn't want to do it!
Jasm...Read more
