It’s no secret that when it comes to being a successful woman, flexibility is essential.  Anyone who’s juggled a company and not given up on maintaining a vibrant fulfilling life of friends, family and partners knows this.  Read More

I just completed the “Big Conversation”  - Australia’s first ever national values survey. It took about 15 minutes, and it’s definitely one of the most thought provoking 15-minute experiences floating around the web at the moment. The survey is a list of value words such as creativity, human rights, gender discrimination or collaboration. You select values for different topics such as what are Australia’s values currently, and what would you like them to be as well as what are the values your organisation/company. It really gets you thinking about personal, corporate and national realities and possibilities.  Read More

I was recently interviewed for an article on the impact of the recession on SMEs and survival strategies.  Julianne Dowling interviewed a range of financial consultants and SME owners including Guy Bicknell (owner of Mobius Marketing), Louise Brogan (financial coach), Les Szekely (private business investor and tax lawyer) and Chris Gration (from Veda Advantage). Read More

I posted a blog post this week in which there was a reference to Nigel. Since then the real Nigel has phoned our office, emailed us and posted comments on our blog reassuring me that my interpretation of the invitation sent from his office was not correct.  In fact Nigel seems like a lovely guy, and is most concerned that we might have the wrong idea about what he is speaking about - which is Creativity. Read More

If you've ever doubted the power of the female vote just take a look at the paid parental leave policy Tony Abbott wheeled out on International Women's Day: 6 months at full pay... now we're talking! While the plan has plenty of critics, I'm not one of them.  I reckon a system paid for by business, not individuals, is a good thing because: Read More

May is fast approaching and we have a fantastic line up of inspirational speakers at our sell-out Ascend leadership development day series in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney including my good friend Ronni Kahn, Australian of the Year – Local Hero. As a result of your feedback we have improved the schedule to include more networking time, and there will be more group discussions to deepdive into some of the hot topics we’ll cover. Register before 16^th April to receive the earlybird rate of $345 (after 16^th April it will be $445). And just a reminder that Ascend is free for members of the Leadership Program – you must register online to confirm your place. Click here and register while places remain. Read More

So I'm on a health kick at the moment.  Yeah, you probably know how that's going.. but I'm trying really hard and I've had 5 A.F.D.s over the past week which is a big thing for me!  So it was a huge relief for my taste buds when a Snowgoose hamper arrived in our office.  One look and I was sold - these are a great value healthy gift hamper option that would make the perfect gift for any occasion.  And for those of you who (like me) are super fussy when it comes to your fruit, you should be aware that every item was blemish free and progressively ripened so we could enjoy fresh fruit every day til we'd demolished the lot! Read More

New research by McKinsey points to education being the key driver for economic growth and business opportunities in the developing world. The same research also points to a new development in the gender differences prevalent in development work. It’s a fairly well accepted fact that allocating funds to a girl in a developing community is more solid investment then funding a boy in the same group. One of the key reasons for this is that in general, women reinvest a larger portion of their income then men do.  Another cultural and lifestyle factor is that women are more likely to stay within the one community, as the primary carer of a child. Read More

Over the past week I’ve met with two of my mentors to discuss strategies for attaining a new board appointment, which is one of my goals for 2010.  So it was of interest to me to receive an invitation through our network from a guy called Mike who was promoting an event that included talks on a range of topics.  The one that caught my attention was one one called: “Giving up control: - why women are leaving boardrooms or simply not making it there because they don’t want to conform, or to be told what to do.”  (now Mike is not his real name, but this isn't about Mike - and I've since been advised this talk has been removed from the agenda, which is a good thing.)
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Ever wondered what you have to do to be heard over men in meetings and to stop them from hijacking your ideas?  I responded to this question in an article published last week in the Courier Mail. Read More