Seriously, the best "manifesto" for women in the workplace I've read in ages is:

The Six Rules Women Must Break in Order to Succeed

When it comes to limiting our potential – it’s the conversations we’re having in our heads, our beliefs, that may be holding us back.  A great introduction and presentation on the need to break our own rules.

Written by By Jill Flynn, Kathryn Heath, and Mary Davis Holt and published Sept. 7, 2011, both the book and the short PDF outline are a refreshing and practical view.

Share it!

Gender is news

Gender is in the news constantly. Lately, the news has been full of the horror of the "honour killings" of the teenage girls and their mother in Ontario. The radio story this morning that followed that piece was how a new study indicates that women are better parallel parkers than men.

This is Canada. I hear every day how evolved we are and how discussions around gender are no longer necessary. And yet, stereotypes and/or stories of violence against women are everywhere in our media, our entertainment, our workplaces and our communities.

Publicity and discussion are part of the education process; I'm not suggesting the media leave women out! I just marvel when folks tell me that gender issues no longer exist -  evem after a fall news item announced how supposedly we're still only earning .86 on the dollar, especially in Financial Services.
From stories on how female bosses wreck it for other women, to folks still struggling to make a business case for sponsoring women in the workplace or how maternity leave can "hurt" a career, gender discussion abounds.

I don't think we need to stop the debate but the circular discussions on "does gender difference really exist?" are not helping anyone move forward.

I suppose this is a rant more than a post with helpful suggestions. Gender shouldn't divide anymore than any other factor but yet the divide continues... more underground perhaps, but it continues. I don't have answers but I am happy to listen to yours.

International Women's Day is March 8. I usually mark it with a moment of silence.  Maybe we should encourage more communities to mark the day with us, in whatever spirit they feel they can offer?

Women: Toot your horns!

Tooting isn't loud, doesn't shatter ear drums, doesn't require a parade but draws the attention of the folks standing near enough to hear.

• We need to start talking about the wins - personal or professional - and asking others about theirs.
• We need to hold up what we did that worked, that didn't, what happened with us and - most importantly - because of us.
• We need to start using language in a way that doesn't have us qualify our ideas before we've even stated them.
• We can stop apologizing for speaking up.
• We could stop turning statements into questions just so folks feel free to disagree? ...lol

Share the big project news, the small thank-you received, the moment of personal satisfaction.

We have become a society tuned to the critique but not the accomplishment and our tools in the workplace can reflect this imbalance. Meetings are looking for the issues, the red zones and rarely reflect on the daily and weekly accomplishments of the talent at the table.

Tooting your own horn can be a solo or team effort. It's more than your personal brand, it's modeling behaviours we need to see around us.

My mentors have been telling me the same thing all year: "start tooting...." So break out the kazoos because I'm going to try!