Townsville is a long way physically from where I sit at my workplace in Sydney – but when I read a news article headed ‘Comments on Women create Furor’ which appeared in the Townsville Bulletin – I thought it is not just 2000kms away – more like a century a way. “TOWNSVILLE identity Max Tomlinson is in hot water after declaring most women do not possess the drive and determination men ‘innately’ have.” There are 7 billion people on the…
Tag Archives: Women on boards
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 12 Mar 2012
It was great to be on my feet last week, a busy week of International Womens Day events – sharing the RedBalloon journey and the things we have learned. A highlight was attending this years Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year event. A massive congratulation to Maryanne Shearer, founder of T2 as this years winner. I have always enjoyed the experience of entering one of her stores and discovering new tastes and delights. In addition the final touches are…
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…
Chaos is Normal
I found myself part of a panel at the Australian British Chamber of Commerce International Women’s day event. I look around me: Ticky Fullerton of ABC Lateline is interviewing Cathy Harris AO PSM – Chairman Harris Farm Markets, Helen Conway, Director of the Equal Opportunities for Women in the Workplace Agency… and myself. We have been asked to share our views on how we see the world of women in business. I feel privileged and humbled to be part of…
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…
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…
A woman should have:
The fact that 50% of Australian women over the age of 45 have less that $8000 in superannuation is completely alarming to me. I continue to debate, discuss and consider the implications of free childcare in Australia and other ideas around women’s financial security. Financial freedom gives people choices. The following poem was forward to me by a colleague… and rather than present more statistics about why society would be a better place with more women in leadership roles –…
Everyone’s contribution is equally as important
Recently I received a ‘letter to the editor’ in response to my article in The Australian: Role models key to end gender imbalance Goals for women IF Naomi Simson‘s goal is to get more women on boards, she should start by not denigrating the role of parenting. ?The women’s movement has failed in what should have been a prime goal — to recognise and elevate the role of caring — whether it is for young children, the disabled, or the…
Free childcare for all Australians
That would certainly make headlines, wouldn’t it? I wonder the impact such an initiative would have. On the weekend I was chatting with my friend Margie Hartley and she shared some insights into why there are not more women in senior roles in Australia. Marg facilitates women’s resilience programs and is a coach to executives. She wrote a blog recently about the disappearing pipeline for senior female executives. As we were chatting I offered that making childcare – including qualified…
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...
