Quotas for Women on Boards? Yes Please!

I have just listened to a debate on BBC radio 4′s Today programme about women on boards and quotas following Cameron’s assertion that more women would be good for economic recovery.

I am in favour of quotas. I don’t agree with Karima Serageldin of Ariadne Capital who said on the programme it’s tokenism and things don’t change. Sometimes you have to force people who have the power, who are in charge and have always been in charge, to make a change. They have no real incentive to change (notwithstanding the fact that their is evidence that boards which feature a reasonable balance for women fare better, read this), when doing so means fewer places at the board table for them. Most incumbents will say it’s a good idea to have more women on boards but won’t actually do anything concrete about it. Or take measures that look good on paper but don’t actually cause a real change in numbers, i.e “Look, we’ve got a woman – now leave us alone!”

I do agree with Maggie Pagano, business editor at Independent newspapers who was also on the programme, who said men don’t feel patronised when they have (relatively) easy access to board seats so why should women (I’m paraphrasing her).

The UK government’s threat to bring in quotas wrought a tiny change when announced but complacency and vested interests continue to rule. We have always needed legislation to change unfair and unequal behaviour in society and we need it now.

What do you think?

And if this topic is of interest to you, do take a look at this interview with Dr Judith Baxter who has undertaken some research into women on boards.

Photo Credit: Carl Dwyer

Flex – Do Something Different!

Having read and reviewed several books from this author before (well one half of the duo)  such as Sheconomics and The No Diet (do something different) Diet Book I picked this one up with alacrity. Well, to be totally frank and honest the publishers sent it to me precisely because I had reviewed the other two books, but in all truthfulness I think I would have bought it anyway! It chimes with much of my own beliefs and we all like to have our views confirmed!

It’s a different kind of read to the other two I’ve mentioned being mainly written by Ben, although Karen is a co-author. The premise behind No Diet is that our habits not lack of will power keep us chained to old possibly destructive ways of behaving. Flex takes this further and deeper, suggesting that by changing our habitual way of behaving,  we can tap into our full potential and transform our life.

And this book gives you all the science so excellent for psychology students too!

Here’s an extract from Flex so you can get an idea of style:

Page 104: 40 What Does a Do Something Different Intervention Look Like?

We know that when people keep doing the same things it can make life at best boring and at worst troublesome. But habits also narrow our view. They blind us to the many other options that are available to us. Therefore a Do Something Different programme simply suggests different things to do each day. These switch off a person’s auto pilot and put them back in the driving seat of life. By making small daily disruptions to their everyday life they start to steer it down a different track. There’s no struggle, no gritted teeth to maintain their will power – just a grdual loosening of the habit-web that had a stranglehold on the person.

When a person starts to do something different they:

• expand their world
• break free of their comfort zone
• shake off the habits that held them back
• look at things differently
• open up to new possibilities
• see themselves in a new light
• allow new opportunities into their life and
• have different reflections about themselves

And here’s one example of doing things differently suggested by the authors:

• Shift Your Butt Day: Today don’t sit anywhere that you would normally sit. That’s at the dining table, at work, watching TV, or in a meeting.Triggers for unwanted behaviour often exist in our daily routines and the environment around us. Literally changing where we sit can mean we are not triggered to do what we would normally do in that place.

It’s not an especially light read and if I have one small criticism it’s that it occasionally feels like it veers between being a self help book aimed at individuals and a text book for serious student of psychology. Tabloid to broadsheet in one chapter – but that’s not necessarily a bad thing! The advice is sound and it works. You’ll also find lots of quizzes and self examining questionnaires in its pages which are helpful in understanding oneself and great for those who love them!

Overall I recommend this book to anyone interested in making serious changes, or in helping others make changes. It will have a place in my book list when training and be on my ‘useful resources’ table. Don’t expect to pick it up and dip in; it demands more from you than that but a thorough reading will pay dividends.

Flex. Do Something Different. How to use the other 9/10s of your personality, by Professors Ben (C) Fletcher andKaren Pine, published by University of Herefordshire Press ISBN 978-1-907396-54-0 at £8.99 Available from your library, good bookshops and from the University site

Top Tip for 2012!

It’s the end of the year and my advice to you is don’t make any New Year Resolutions!

Really, it s probably not a good time. You’re probably tired, you may have over eaten (No, surely not!), you may have over indulged in other ways, probably have a backlog of work waiting on your desk, and may be thinking about money, or lack thereof. And everyone is talking about New year resolutions. (Including me, sorry!)

So, Jane, I hear you cry, so if I’m not to join everyone else in making new year resolutions on 1st January which I struggle to keep and abandon half way through January to be plagued with guilt feelings until about mid February when I get back to normal…sort of, what should I do be doing?

Well, dear reader, far be it from me to tell you what to do but as a coach and writer of personal development courses for women (I can’t help myself) I do have a suggestion you might like to try.

Look Back in Kindness

Lots of good things will have happened to you in 2011. Take some time to recognise what those good things were. Generally these things aren’t just random; you probably did something to help those good things happen. However, we all have a tendency to focus on what went wrong and your head may be full of what didn’t go the way you wanted it to. But even when things seem to go wrong good can result.

Name Calling

Often at this time of the year we are calling ourselves names, (so fat, so feckless with money, so disorganised etc) and we set about resolving to ‘fix’ ourselves. We’re not kind to ourselves. We can start with an assumption that we need fixing.

We’re staring with a negative.

Which is not a good place to start. So accentuate the positive! Look back on your year in kindness and remember all the good that came out of 2011, all those minor triumphs. It may be the job interview that you got really great feed back from (whether you got the job or not), the new friend you made, the new skill you learned, or the wisdom about yourself you accrued (and it’s harder to accrue wisdom if nothing ever goes wrong in your life!)

And that’s it. That’s my tip for 2012. Go forth into 2012 tonight with a kindly view of 2011. Build on the good, let go of the bad. Take an appreciative inquiry view to life and be true to yourself!

And have a fabulous 2012, being you!

Photo Credit: Free Graphics

Top Tip for Managing Change!

I’ve been working recently with a large group of employees undergoing change. Like so many people at the moment they just don’t know what the future holds and that’s difficult. How can you start dealing with things if you don’t know what ‘things’ are? How can you manage change?

Self Esteem and Change

When we find ourselves in a state of change (over which we have no control, like a major reorganisation) our levels of confidence and self esteem can drop. In a Gallop poll on what makes for a good workplace ‘knowing what my job is and what’s expected of me’ came out as number one.

During periods of change we rarely know what’s expected of us, or what our job will be. And that leads to a fall off in productivity, less work satisfaction, and a loss of self worth. And this loss of self worth occurs just at the time we need to feel on top, to be on the radar for new roles!

Change Exercise

Here’s an exercise to try out to boost your confidence. It is crucial to remember that you are much, much more than the job you do. You have multiple skills and qualities gained over your life. Some you use in your current role; some you have probably forgotten that you even have.

Take a sheet of paper, draw up four columns headed ‘work’, ‘home/life’, ‘hobbies’ and ‘other’. The columns are just for guidance so don’t get bogged down with them.

Now list every single skill or attribute that you can think of. You don’t have to be an expert, just have some knowledge in it. It’s simply knowledge you could share if asked.

For example, you may have experienced some life events that you’ve never actually evaluated, like a divorce. The increased knowledge and experience from this will be massive but you’ve probably just absorbed it into your life without fully appreciating the experience gained. It will have included managing finances, managing loss, forging a new life, new friends, maybe helping children and family come to terms with the change, possibly involvement through the courts. Take time to think about it.

Maybe you have acquired a qualification while working, or childrearing? Perhaps you have run a charity stall? Maybe you bake cakes? Perhaps you’ve walked the Pennine way? Help out with a kids’ club? This is really a very wide ranging exercise and anything goes. It doesn’t matter how long ago; those skills, attributes and hard won knowledge are still there, accessible to you if you choose. Hopefully once you actually start the ideas will keep flowing and you will get at least 20 things down. Yes, I do mean 20. Get a friend to help if possible. Better still, do this exercise with  a friend.

Now look down your list. Know that you are much more than the job you do. You’ve gained a lot of experience and skills in your life; they make you who you are. This experience of change will add to those skills and qualities.  You will be stronger. You will survive.

If you are undergoing change at the moment, you may find this post on Does Change Make You Feel Stressed? helpful.

And if you are managing staff through a change process, I can send you a free ebook, simply email me.

Photo Credit: Boris Peterka

Do You Work Twice as Much as You Need To?

Have you got things in your life that don’t work very well but somehow you just haven’t got round to replacing them? Maybe a clock that is a bit erratic about deciding to share its alarm on time. So you get round that one by setting your mobile phone to go off at the same time?

Maybe you have people in your life that are a bit unreliable too? Perhaps colleagues who aren’t quite reliable enough so you have to make alternative arrangements, have a plan B just in case they don’t deliver?

Perhaps it’s sentiment, perhaps it’s being too busy to take stock, and perhaps it’s fear of making a change, but if this sounds familiar there is a good chance you are working twice as much as you need to.

Sometimes we need to sit down and take a long, hard, realistic look at how we’re spending our time. I’m not suggesting you throw out friends and colleagues who don’t ‘deliver’, but maybe a quiet and assertive word might help both of you. If the idea of saying what you really feel seems daunting, take a look at this article ‘What Stops You Being Assertive?’

And you can actually throw out that inefficient alarm clock!

“In My Day….”

Whenever I hear those three little words uttered I have to fight the tendancy to scream back:

“It’s STILL your day! You’re here, right now. This is your day too!”

Live Life Fully

If you have an idea in your head that you are past your prime, maybe you need to reconsider your definition of prime? Life is for living until life stops. How can you possibly know what your prime moments were until the very last breath? There are endless possibilities, whatever your age, if you open yourself up to them.

So, grab this week with both hands. Don’t let your limiting thoughts stop you living life to the full. Banish the words ‘In my day‘ from your repertoire; it is STILL your day, today, and tomorrow. Go grab it with both hands!

Photo Credit: My mate Sharon. Picture features my Mum 82 (who always goes for it), me, my soon to be daughter in law, my husband and son. We’re dressed up for Bath’s Jane Austen parade!