Help Yourself and Help Women Everywhere!

How would you like to make a contribution to help women in need and also get something that will help you? I hope that sounds appealing….

If you’re a regular visitor you’ll know this blog supports Womankind .This is just a taste of what they do; you can see why I hold them in high esteem:

We help women achieve change:

1.    We help courageous individuals to challenge violence and discrimination
In some countries, this could involve accompanying a girl to a village meeting so she can tell women and men that it is now against the law for a girl to be forced to marry a man after he has raped her, and encourage girls to see they do have a choice.
2.    We help women come together
In many different ways, we help women join together, often for the first time, to talk about what they want to change, and then we help them achieve it. This could involve providing training in how to resolve conflicts, or in leadership skills, so women are better able to challenge violence and speak up for better healthcare or education.
3.    We help women claim their rights and improve their lives
We might provide legal help to enable a woman to obtain a divorce from a man who beats her, or work with the police to encourage them to help women rather than return them to their husbands.

Buy a Book and 100% of Profits go to Womankind!

I wanted to do a little more as we approach the season of giving, and I wanted to bring their excellent work to your attention. So, from now until December 24th every single penny made from the sale of my book When Work isn’t Working will go to Womankind. If you’ve been thinking about getting hold of a copy I hope this will prompt you into action.

Please do share this with your friends, enemies, family, work colleagues, anyone who hates their job, people you pass in the street (only joking on that one -sort of), and lets see if we can make a decent contribution to Womankind this Christmas and spread the joy to women everywhere!

If you don’t want the book either in download or paper, perhaps you’d consider donating directly via this link, or you can just get the book knowing Womankind will get the money, or you can even do both!

THANK YOU!

Jane

Does Change Make You Feel Stressed? (Free eguide for Managers)

We were having a discussion about change on my RenewYou course the other day (there’s a lot of it about at the moment!)  Women come on RenewYou when they want to make changes in their life so I was delivering a session on the psychological impact of change on individuals, (more on this here in Are You a Fox or a Hedgehog?)

Individuals and Change

I was making the point that, when we as individuals decide to make a significant change, for those close to us or who work closely with us, our decision to change is a change in their lives over which they have no control. And when we feel we have no control over change we instinctively want to resist it.

If we don’t let the appropriate people in our lives know what we are doing then we can expect them to be potential saboteurs of the change we want to make. They may not even realise they are doing it. But one thing is for sure, if you don’t give them information, communicate with them, they won’t be allies.

Change in the Workplace

Our discussion then became more wide ranging and we began to discuss our experiences of organisational change. Why, asked my group, do senior managers start well but then stop communicating with staff?

I suspect it’s because they themselves are also going through the change process as change may be imposed on them (as in redundancies because of the economic situation) and they are coping with their own feelings. Also, we expect senior managers to have the answers, to know what is going on.

Having been on both sides of the equation I can tell you that they often don’t know what is going on! They know the end result required, i.e. saving money, but the route may be far from clear. Fearful of giving the wrong answers they go to ground and give none; they stop communicating. Bad move, as nature abhors a vacuum and it will be filled! Often with misinformation and rumour.

BBC

Coincidentally, this discussion was almost mirrored on the BBC this morning as they talked to two experts on organisational psychology and change and why change caused us so much stress. A recent survey has shown stress to be the biggest cause of lost working days. Lack of communication was cited as the top reason. Why, asked the interviewer, does knowing more about what is going on help keep stress levels down?

The experts didn’t have much time to respond but this is the answer. Once we have the facts we can take back some control, we can decide how we are going to react. When we’re not told what is going on we’re being treated like children. And guess what? Treat adults like children and you’ll get some childlike behaviour back! Not knowing makes us stressed as we imagine so much worse (magical thinking) and feeling stressed lowers our immunity to the usual bugs and ailments doing the rounds. Even if we think we’re coping well the chances are, if we’re stressed, we’ll end up taking time off for a minor complaint when in normal circumstances we’d womanfully struggle on!

Free Guide for Managers on Change

I have written a guide for managers who have to manage staff through change; I run change seminars within organisations for both managers and staff (any gender!) who are undergoing change. I also worked as project lead for two organisations undergoing huge change: the book is a result of my experiences but, knowing how busy managers are, it’s a short, easy read yet contains everything you need to know!

If you’d like a free copy, and you are a newsletter subscriber, simply go to the contact page on my site and let me know. If you are looking for support within your own organisation, or personally please call on 01761438749, or also use the contact page.

Are you in the midst of significant change? How is it for you? If you’re a manager do you feel you have sufficient support and information? If you are an employee what’s it like for you? Do you know enough about what is happening and why? If you run your own business what’s the biggest problem you face? Please do share your stories!

Also, here you can find a free fact sheet on work related stress from CIPD but you’ll need to register – it’s free.

Photo Credit: Omacaco

Women and Finanicial Planning (tongue firmly in cheek!)

I received this from my accountant (Sue Paulley) the other day! It had come from a circuitous route and it made me laugh! Hope it will you too!

Dan was a single guy living at home with his father and working in the family business. When he found out he was going to inherit a fortune when his sickly father died, he decided he needed a wife with which to share his fortune.

One evening at an investment meeting he spotted the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

Her natural beauty took his breath away. “I may look like just an ordinary man,” he said to her, “but in just a few years, my father will die, and I’ll inherit $200 million.”

Impressed, the woman obtained his business card and three days later….

she became his stepmother.

Women are so much better at financial planning than men!

But seriously, look at this about women and finances -Neuroeconomics-Put Women in Charge!

Photo Credit: Garrison Photograpy

Womankind -International Women’s Day!

I shared with you a few posts ago how I was wanting to add value of the non monetary kind to what I do. I am truly passionate about helping women make positive change in their lives and wanted to, in some small way, to make myself part of a larger movement, to offer what I could. The project I talked about with women in prisons is looking hopeful and in addition I believe I have found the perfect charity to support. I’d like to tell you about them.

WOMANKIND Worldwide believes women in developing countries are a powerful force for change and works with women’s organisations across the world as well as in the U.K.

Why Womankind?

Why did I choose Womenkind? Well, I love their philosophy. They are not about doing things for women but about boosting women’s confidence to do things for themselves. Regular readers will know this whole site is dedicated to boosting the confidence of women to challenge the established order so it seems like a perfect match! This is what they say on their web site:

“Women have an abundance of practical ideas for improving their own lives and lifting their families and communities out of poverty. But this can only happen if they have the confidence and opportunities to articulate their needs and ideas – and be listened to.

WOMANKIND Worldwide is the only UK charity devoted to enabling women to achieve this.”

And:

“WOMANKIND Worldwide helps women in developing countries – silenced or isolated by harmful traditions, conflict, violence and intimidation or the sheer exhaustion of surviving in poverty – to have a distinctive say in what goes on in their family, community and country.

Our aim is to embed what matters most to girls and women into every aspect of life, from the smallest domestic details to the most sweeping strategic decisions.

How we help women achieve change

We help courageous individuals to challenge the status quo. In some countries, this could involve accompanying a girl to a village meeting so she can tell women and men that it is now against the law for a girl to be forced to marry a man after he has raped her, and encourage girls to see they do have a choice.

We help women get organised

In many different ways, we help women come together, often for the first time, to talk about what they want to change, and then we help them achieve it. This could involve reading and writing lessons or training to resolve conflicts, so women are better able to get involved with what?s going on in their community.

We help women claim their rights and secure new ones

We might provide legal help to enable a woman to obtain a divorce from a man who beats her, or work with the police to encourage them to help women rather than return them to their husbands.”

International Women’s Day 2011

Sometimes it feels too complicated, too difficult to really make a difference in the world. Womankind is making a difference by supporting women across the world, and by supporting them so are YOU!

In honour of International Women’s Day (and in the profound hope that in years to come the idea of a women’s day will be quaint because we won’t need it) I have made a donation to the Womankind charity and I urge you to do the same. If everyone who read this blog gave just one pound or a dollar that would be amazing and really help women the world over- come on The Sisterhood!

In addition, from this day on, I pledge 10% of  the profits of every book sold through my site or received in advertising revenue to Womankind. It’s not much but it can really help to make a difference!

Happy International Woman’s Day!

Women, Nottingham is Place to Be!

As someone who has spent a lot of time working within local government it was so heartening to read this about senior women at the week end:

“Nottinghamshire’s great and good were out in force, including the chief constable, the city council’s chief executive, the head of the probation service, the governor of a sex offenders’ prison, the sheriff (yes the sheriff of Nottingham, surely the most famous sheriff title in the world), the high sheriff, the university’s pro-vice chancellor, a former chief nursing officer, the head of children’s services … and every single one of them was a woman. Also there was the country’s first female black High Court judge.

“In addition the whole evening was put together by a woman, aforementioned High Sheriff Amanda Farr, and Mental Health Research UK founded by a woman, Claire Chilvers.”

This was from the blog of Alastair Campbell written in January and it’s great that he took the time to acknowledge the women involved.

But isn’t it sad that it was something of note?

Happy New Year!

As we start a brand new year I’d just like to wish all of my readers a really great 2011.

Thank you all for your support and encouragement over the past year and I look forward to talking more with you in 2011, either through the newsletter, a personal contact, or comments on the blog posts.

My dear old Dad always used to raise a toast on Hogmanay:

 ”To absent friends”

It’s a lovely wee toast, a poignant memory of those you’ve lost, and those you just aren’t able to be with at New Year. And now I think I can add another category: all those friends you never see but are out there in the ether offering support and words of encouragement.

Happy New Year to you all!