How to Get More Women on Board

Last week the UK government launched an initiative to get more women on the boards of the top FTSE companies. The proportion of women on FTSE 100 boards has plateaued at 12.5%, having increased little over the past three years, according to Cranfield University School of Management. In the FTSE 250, the proportion is just 7.8 per cent and more than half of companies have no women directors.

Other countries don’t have this problem. Norway introduced quotas which have been met; they now have 40% women on boards. I have family in Norway and attitudes there towards gender equality have long been different. When my sister in law and I had children in the 80s the attitudes and provision of childcare in our respective countries were absolutely poles apart! Even back then her husband could take time off as paternity leave. My partner discovered, almost by accident, that there was a discretionary 5 days leave for new fathers, which he promptly asked for. He was told he was the only teacher to have ever asked for it and ribbed mercilessly by his sports teaching colleagues.

It’s Not a Woman’s Issue

There are lots of good reasons why companies should have women in very senior positions (apart from the fact that it’s just plain right!). Companies who invest in women’s development find it reaps rewards across the board (no pun intended). But not just one token woman; the real changes begin when there are three or more at board level.

It’s a Man’s World

The world of work, particularly in traditional fields like law, finance, and local government, were set up and designed in a time when women didn’t work in these industries (women have always worked!) other than in support roles. Some business practices /models need challenging to enable women to fully participate. We all take it for granted that that’s how business works, and so we try to help women fit into this model…

I believe that leads to a dissonance, a misfit for most women that often accounts for why women dip out before they reach the top (along with all the other factors mitigating against women). We need to change the model so it works for all the workforce, not just half of it. So many discriminatory practices are so embedded in working culture that many of us don’t even notice them half the time; from how jobs are advertised, language used, how recruitment and interviews work (quite adversarial) to how women are treated in organisations.

Women’s Groups Don’t Work

I have come to believe that in house all women groups probably don’t help, at least in respect of those which exist to try and change the culture to one more gender balanced. I think they work well for women in other arenas but actually, if you want to change attitudes in the workplace, everyone has to sign up to it. Women’s groups run the risk of saying to men, “this is an issue for women, this is our problem”. Which allows it to become ghettoised. In fact, it is everyone’s problem and everyone in a company needs to understand and address it.

So Why Do I Run Women’s Courses?

It’s a good question and one I have answered more fully in a previous post. Men and women are different and currently the issues for women in the world of work are very different than those of men. The overall aim of my courses is to raise women’s aspirations and give them the confidence to challenge the status quo, to push themselves. I don’t bar men from these sessions but I have written and designed them with women in mind. Generally the issues are not pertinent or relevant for men. Men and women respond differently to personal development type seminars and generally speaking women are more comfortable exploring these issues with other women.

The call for gender equality is not about pretending we are all the same. It is about celebrating that difference and not allowing one to dominate. It is valuing the different qualities which women bring to the workplace as well as those of men.

I interviewed Avivah Wittenberg-Cox a while ago. She has written two great books on gender equality ‘Why Women mean Business‘ and ‘How Women mean Business‘. One thing she said resonated very strongly with me:

“If women in your organisation are still in grey and black suits the gender issue is still very live!”

Women are not men, and should not have to behave like men to get rewarded in the world of work. Society needs both men and women in the top echelons, middle echelons, and across all sectors of society. Bring on the women!

if you’d like to find out more about my course for women on the way up, please click this link.

Is Your Handbag a Status Symbol?

Once again, a BBC radio 4 programme prompted this post; in this case the prestigious flagship news programme, Today. At the end of the programme they tend to have a slightly flippant item (because obviously all the serious folk have gone to work!).

This particular item was about women’s handbags and how they provide an ice breaker for women in business. It followed an interview Hillary Clinton had given to Harper’s Bazaar magazine. This is what she said:

“I do love a good handbag,” she agrees. Can accessories be the great uniter of women? “I think they could be either a great divider or uniter,” she replies. “I’m on the uniter side. I think no one should make fun of anyone else’s handbag choices.” She warms to the topic. “I think we should be united in our support of one another. Because this is like a deep psychological need. It’s a desire to kind of organize and contain that which is important to you in your daily life. I have a philosophical view about this, and I have this Ferragamo hot-pink bag that I adore. My view was that I would carry it around only in spring, but it makes me so happy, I’m even now lugging it around in January. I mean, how can you be unhappy if you pick up a big pink bag?”

To discuss these remarks from one of the most influential women in America they had invited a female UK politician, Glenys Kinnock and an ex politician now pundit, Matthew Parris. Neither of them lightweights so my interest was piqued.

At first I was irritated. Here we go I thought, trivialising women again but then my sense of humour reasserted itself. Hillary Clinton had not been asked for her political views; everyone knows she is a serious, well established and committed politician. She was talking to a fashion magazine about the things which made her happy and which, presumably, gave her confidence a bit of a boost. Does it matter? Maybe they were being more stereotypical by asking a gay man on to comment?

Men and Women are Different

Sorry to state the bl***ing obvious but men and women are different in this respect. It’s not that all women think clothes and handbags are of paramount importance. It’s simply that some of us get pleasure from them, some of the time (it’s a whole other debate about advertising and brainwashing of young girls etc but that aside, I think women feel differently about these things).

Glenys Kinnock proffered the view that at meetings (I think she actually referred to international summits) handbags and shoes could be a great way of connecting, of levelling the ground. Admiring another woman’s bag or shoes was like extending a hand of friendship.

Matthew Parris’ response was interesting and illuminating. He first said his mother hated handbags. But then more interestingly that men would probably not say anything complimentary about another man’s attire or possessions at a business meeting because they would be using bags/wallets/shoes/laptops (paraphrasing now) to convey their status and authority. In other words, they would not want to be facilitative and levelling. They would want to be top dog.

Research

That ties in with received wisdom and some research into how men and women behave in business. Women are generally more conciliatory and facilitative. And generally that is thought to be a possible factor in why women don’t rise to the top- we lack the killer instinct. Yet by every measure Hillary must be seen as a woman at ‘the top’, even if she didn’t get the presidential  nomination. She’s a success story. So she can talk about handbags…

(Of course, there is always an exception. I doubt whether Maggie Thatcher ever complimented anyone on their handbag in order to be conciliatory!)

What do you think? Are you turned off by discussions about handbags? Do you think it belittles and demeans serious women? Or do you think the world would be a better place if we all carried beautiful colourful bags around? Men too!

Direct Your Energy Where You Want Results!

Direct Your Energy Where You Want to See Results!

It doesn’t matter how many self help books you read (even mine!), how much you practise circular breathing, how much you think positively, how often you chant, focus on words on the ceiling (good grief), there is no substitute for actually doing something to get where you want to be. That means real, down to earth, honest to goodness hard work, not simply thinking about what you want to happen if only everything would come together in your favour!

Phew, that was good to say! There really is no substitute for actually getting on with it. I was asked by a journalist recently if I thought the current self help culture meant people thought they ‘deserved’ to succeed, that that there was a solution for everything and everyone should be happy all the time. Good question.

I do come across this attitude from time to time, and there is masses of information out there giving you all sorts of advice about how you can be wonderful, have a great life etc. My site is full of it too. I have a passion for helping women live their lives to the max and getting out of it what they want. You will find masses of information here to help you get going, to inspire and push you on.

But anyone who has ever worked with me knows that one of my continual questions is:

‘What are you actually going to do and when are you going to do it?‘

Add Ons

All the other things I have mentioned help, of course they do, but they are additional to actually doing something. If you want to write a novel you can make yourself an inspiring room to write in. You can read books by other writers. You can sign up to writing courses. You can buy a beautiful notebook, lovely pens. All these things may motivate you to get going, build your confidence, and increase your pleasure in the task. BUT at some point the preparation has to stop and the real writing has to begin or the book will always remain an idea.

Likewise, if you want to change your job, you could buy my book, do all the exercises, listen to the visualisation. You will have prepared yourself well and got a good idea of the steps you need to take to make those changes. Hopefully I will even have inspired you to be brave and bold. BUT you still have to go out there, buy newspapers, look for jobs, and apply for them. You still have to take the risks yourself, decide when the time is right to start your own business, go into partnership with a friend, or ask the bank for a business loan.

Focus

All of the preparation is good; I wouldn’t recommend that you jump will nilly into something (well, maybe sometimes a bit of risk taking can be energising, when we just follow our instincts! It can work.)

The problem comes when all our energies go into preparing, (or complaining) and not into doing. If you have a long held dream beginning  ‘one day I will…’ do you know when that ‘one day’ is? Certainly do all the preparing, and if you are in a job you loathe preparing now for a new one when times are better may help you through the interim period. But do give yourself a date when you will move from preparing into doing. Review it regularly. After all, you don’t want to be looking behind you muttering wistfully, ‘If only…’.

Bring In the Bling This Week!

Mid February, time for a bit of bling, don’t you think? Can you bring a bit of bling into your life this week?

Sequins

Last night I was sewing sequins. (I love how that sounds!) Yes, last night I was sewing sequins!

Don’t panic, I’ve not taken up ballroom dancing and am now sewing 1000s of sequins onto my ball gown (although that is an idea…). I was sewing them onto something I’d made that I decided just needed a tiny lift. The item was perfectly fine as it was but that tiny bit of bling lifted it into something else. The addition of a few sequins cast light where needed and made something ordinary just a little bit more special. It only added about an hour to the overall time of the project but made a big difference.

Scatter Your Sequins

And that set me to thinking about the coming week. Without really considering it too much, we’ll all probably work reasonably hard and get perfectly reasonable results. A fairly ordinary week.

But if you wanted to lift this week out of the ordinary, if you wanted to scatter a few sequins around, add some bling to your week, cast light to show case you or your work, what would that mean for you?

Would it be rising to a challenge? Making a new friend? Sticking your head above the parapet on a work issue? Signing up for a course? Wearing brighter clothes? Taking a risk in your personal life?

Think about it. Don’t worry at this stage about doing it. Just take a pause and think:

”What could I do to lift this week out of the ordinary?’

Then imagine yourself doing it.

Then imagine how you might feel after you’ve done it.

Now do it!

What are your added sequins for this week? I’d love to know if you’re happy to share!

Career Tips for Women # 19

Stop being so law abiding!

I don’t mean go out and break the law! But I do mean take a bit of time to consider if you are playing to the rules just a little too much. In my experience women ask for permission to do things much more than their male couterparts, even down to issues about taking allocated leave.

There is a fine line between paying someone the courtesy of letting them know your plans, or asking them to validate them. The latter weakens your position, and can make you appear indecisive.

Look again at your job description if necessary or at colleagues on the same scale. Are you taking full advantage of the power and the authority that you have?

Do you find yourself asking permission a lot at work? I find it tends to increase during times of uncertainty as people’s tolerance of risk is lessened and employees toe the line and try to stay below the radar.

Sometimes it really is better to apologise for something you’ve done that live fearful of overstepping the mark. Most successful people take calculated risks in their roles. Use all your power and personal authority within your role. It’s what they employ you for!

Take a Long View

Given the job I have people sometimes assume that I have ‘it‘ all sorted. Most of the time I am pretty well grounded but nothing in life stays static and we are all learning and developing all the time. (The joy and wisdom of ageing!) You may be well sorted in your 30s then find your 40s a real challenge.

For the times when life doesn’t feel so sorted, or when you want to mull over where to next, I find it helps to take the long view. Easier said than done but I have an exercise which might help. I’ve just done it myself so can tell you it does help!

The Long View exercise

If you’re finding yourself in one of those ‘which way now?’ moments try this exercise to give yourself a sense of perspective.

Draw a time line across a sheet of paper landscape style. At one end put the year of your birth, at the other the year you think you’ll end life (Honestly, this isn’t depressing- I find it really gives me a spur to get on with life!). I, being an optimist, always put myself down as finishing at age 100 but secretly imagine I may live longer!

Divide your line into decades. If you pick 100 you’ll have a neat 10!

The first decade of your life was taken up with childhood. This is not an exercise to focus on very deep issues, so don’t dig too far. Just write childhood/school under your first decade.

The second decade in my case was still education, although I left home as well.

In my third decade I married, started a new career, had my first child and embarked on professional training. Blimey I was busy!

The fourth decade began with the birth of my second child and was when I began to consolidate my career; it also began to reveal the seed of my discontent with my chosen career.

The fifth decade involved new job challenges (promotion, secondments)and was when I made a serious life change and launched into my own career.

Now midway through my sixth decade I am making some serious decisions about my business. I don’t know what the next 4 and half decades hold for me but doing this exercise helps me to see I don’t have to make a decision in the next few days but that I do have to make a decision. If not I will drift and ‘events, dear boy, events’ will take place outwith my control. Seeing it laid out in this way both gives me time and reminds me that time is finite. If that makes sense!

It’s your life. Live it to the full and take responsibility for what you do. And be GREAT!

PS. Of course, this is not the only method I use when making decisions! I have great friends and family to talk with, I seek professional advice, I read other’s experiences and I research. But for the times when suddenly that all seems a bit overwhelming, the long view exercise is great!

If you try it, please let me know how you get on!