After a forced extra 2 days of holiday last week due to the ash cloud – I am finally back at my desk and excited by the days ahead. (It is after all the pointy end of the year.) Monday: Planning presentations from each team leader, and reviewing of business cases at the board meeting. Tuesday: Finalising budgets and start the performance review process Wednesday: Presentation for Aspire Women in Business Network Lunch, then have to dash to Melbourne for…
Tag Archives: Work life balance
Grateful for the noisy sounds of silence
I have found myself a few extra (unplanned) days in Exmouth WA – as all the planes are grounded. It is quite an interesting sensation to be given two extra days of holiday. I was already mentally making note of all the things that need to be done on my return, plans to be reviewed, evaluations to be done, budgets to be approved – it is after all only a few weeks to the end of the financial year. Instead…
Lessons in mega growth from China
To achieve mega growth – you best have a plan… I am in Beijing this week for an educational event. It is great to see first hand what we hear so much about in the media in Australia. The last time I visited Beijing was in 1986, only a decade after the Cultural Revolution, when tourists used a different currency – and there was no hot showers. Where I am now almost unrecognizable as the Beijing I visited 25 years…
Too Cute
As we head off for a five day break with the family I was delighted to receive the photo below from friends who have just welcomed their first child into the world… Truly delighted that young Sam is really ‘into’ his RedBalloon baby experience.
Thank-you to all those I can no longer thank
I had the privilege of meeting Professor Fiona Wood (Australian of the year 2005). She shared with the 800 women at the Business Chicks event Melbourne (and the following day in Sydney) her journey, persistence and passions. She is fundamentally curious person with a passion for learning that is addictive. As a child growing up in Yorkshire, she heard her father say when she was just a small girl – ‘Who are we not to dream’ – even though he…
Take note!
The New Economic Forum tells us that one of the five steps to well being is simply to take notice. To be truly present, to see, smell, experience life around us moment by moment; to truly listen, to really focus and be aware. In essence to smell the roses and appreciated what life presents us. I was sent this email last night – and it made me feel sad (see below). Why would we condition ourselves to not hear or…
Coming Up this week 21 Feb
Last week was a fabulous week of learning… I have heard that CEOs must keep learning to keep competitive. We all need to keep growing – and educating one’s self – it is one of the five elements of Wellness according to the New Economic Forum. Learning of course is made so much easier if it is something interesting, relevant and delivered well. I attended the Growth Summit last week, what a great way to check in with leading thinkers…
Could a 21 hour work week be good?
I mentioned last week in the post ‘Can we Have it all’ that we are all given the same 24 hours… however how we use them makes the difference of our perception of time… (sometimes time races – other times it drags.) How would you feel if 21 hours was the new norm for the working week? This is an idea being proposed by the New Economic Forum (NEF) that – if money didn’t matter, if status didn’t matter –…
Can we have it all?
Have you ever felt that there are just not enough hours in the day? We all got issued the same number (24) I believe it is… how we choose to use those hours is what makes the difference. I’m regularly asked the question, “How do you do it all?” My response is: “Who said I fit it all in?” My kids probably think I’m a lousy mother, and my dog definitely claims he is neglected! Even if I don’t have…
It takes 18 years to raise a child – not 18 weeks.
Education is at the source of growth (not just for the individual but also for economies) and, in Australia, the majority of our university graduates are women. We’re number one on the planet in terms of educating women in tertiary institutions – yet the participation rate of those women in leadership roles is dire. So we’re spending the money on education but we’re not getting the return out of our highly educated people. I’ve written before about the economic argument…
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...
