I was recently with a group of start up businesses; this small group of founders was excitedly debating the best way to promote their businesses using social media. Each was bemoaning that they were not getting much traction on their twitter and Facebook page… and one was asking me if it was ‘worthwhile’ to start a blog. Here’s the thing: Only blog, tweet and FaceBook if you have something worth saying that might be of interest and value to someone…
Tag Archives: Leadership
Coming up this week 26 March 2012
Interesting little transition last week in the life on Naomi Simson – I was asked on three separate occasions to contribute to something – because I write this blog. I found that fascinating. I was introduced on Channel Nine’s Mornings program as ‘one of Australia’s leading business bloggers’ – I was asked to be a guest tweeter for ABCs Lateline on Tuesday – and I was asked to attend the BB Retail Capital conference (of Adairs, Bras and things, Diva…
Men are ‘assertive’ – Women are ‘bossy’
I recently was forwarded an article called ‘The End of Men’ which originally appeared in July 2010 – and is clearly very well researched. It is long but interesting. (And no menfolk are still very much loved, adored and needed the dramatic title is clearly designed to get our attention). This US centric article focuses on the evolution of the role men and women are playing in industrialized societies. As I read the article I did feel uplifted – however…
Coming Up this week 5 March 2012
It seems that International Women’s day started early this year. I have had a busy week sharing my thoughts on women in leadership and innovation. In addition to the panel mentioned in the previous blog, I did a keynote for the Testra marketing team and chatted to Linda Mottram on ABC 702 Sydney on the current state of ‘service’ in Australia. I attended the Head over Heels event – profiling three entrepreneurial women as they shared their vision. Caroline Rafferty…
3 insights on why we lack women leaders
I was forwarded a news article this week about Facebooks #2 leader: Sheryl Sandberg. She had been at the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland – on the eve of Facebooks listing announcement. She has been quoted as saying women need to aim high “Keep your foot on the gas pedal.” I was curious to understand what she meant by this. I definitely don’t believe that women need to ‘give up their femininity’ to succeed. In fact there is nothing…
Coming up this week 14 November 2011
One of the highlights and most challenging things I did last week was the final round of judging on the RedBalloon 10th birthday photo competition. The winners have been announced but I was in awe at many of the entries. I would have liked to spend the whole week just looking at the entries over and over – but alas I had a few other obligations. On Tuesday I was part of the Dream Employer Webinar (thanks for those people…
What do you call a gathering of female entrepreneurs? An opportunity
I have just had the pleasure of being a participant at the Ernst & Young Women’s Entrepreneur Workshop in Sydney. It was a delight to listen to Carla Zampatti share her story of being an entrepreneur committed to women’s fashion and the struggles she faced in the late 60s. Lyndsey Cattermole shared the thrill and sheer determination it took to create her business – Aspect Computing – and Melissa Widner discussed her journey as a serial entrepreneur – and her…
Top 25 insights from EO Amsterdam Conference
In no particular order I present quotes from the event which either made me reflect, ponder, question or dream. (I have only added links for the people who were speakers at the event – the other quotes were part of either the work book or presentations) 1. “Every morning is the beginning of a brand new day. You have been given this new day to use it as you want. You can waste it, or use it for good. What…
Here’s to the crazy ones – a timely reminder
In my presentations on leadership I often use the Think Different Apple TV ad (below) as an example to inspire… and there it was at the EO Amsterdam University I attended last week. Learning is not necessarily about new thoughts but reconnecting to ideas, concepts and theories you have already discovered. Ideas come back to us when they are most needed. The MC did not read a bio of Kofi Annan to introduce him, he simply said “I present a…
Dinosaurs move over – you’ll be out of business
I have just heard someone recount a story that the CEO of his organization stated (only weeks ago) “Forget culture – we’ve got a project to build in a hurry”. Could this be true that there are still leaders who believe that culture is a ‘nice to have’? This organization does not have female representation in senior roles. People do have a choice about where they work; they also have a choice about how they give their discretionary effort. A…
Imagine running a business based on fun - that's what I decided to try when I left a very serious corporate career in marketing to set up RedBalloon...
