The SheEO Blog

West Bank Women make political statement in their swimming costumes

Friday, August 05, 2011

I came across this story by Ethan Bronner which I think is just a great way to cap out the week... a group of women who defied the laws of Israel with their own peaceful protest involving (of all things!) a swim in the ocean! Read More

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Four things women get wrong when they become a boss...

Tuesday, August 02, 2011

Suzy Welch - co-author of Winning with husband Jack Welch - shares these tips on Oprah.com about what makes good women bad bosses. Some of the points she makes are often raised by my own mentoring clients so I thought it worth sharing. The 4 key mistakes Welch says women make are: Read More

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Would you recognise unconscious bias if you saw it in your workplace? 10 signs to watch out for!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

In much of the gender balance consulting I do, a consistent question comes up from the incredibly gender-focused leaders I work with: what is unconscious bias really, and how will I know if it’s happening here in my workplace? Read More

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Sarah Wilshaw-Sparkes commented on 26-Jun-2011 11:05 AM

Hi Jen, I’m surprised your post on this really important issue hasn’t garnered a single comment. (I’d have commented sooner but I’ve had an insane week!) I recently ran a Professionelle seminar called the Good Girls’ Career Guide, and as part of that I
dug into where all these “good girls”, myself included, come from. Very quickly I found the literature on gender schemas and unconscious bias. It made for illuminating, if depressing and confronting, reading. I say ‘confronting’ because of learning that women
have the same biases against females as men – a point you didn’t cover in your article. Gender schemas are common to both sexes ie men and women share the same expectations and preconceptions about what it means to be masculine and to be feminine. This means
that women can be as much a source of the Catch 22 that Catalyst’s research described (ie the backlash against confident, assertive women and the overlooking of more modest and co-operative women) as men. The only practical difference I can see is that, as
your article made very clear, more men are in positions of power and so their biases will have more influence on women’s career paths. I totally agree with you that becoming aware of the possibility of unconscious bias is a crucial first step to doing anything
about it. But that’s very challenging. We all like to think we are free of bias and that we always make judgement on meritocratic principles, don’t we? This is a common and sincerely held belief - that is demonstrably wrong. To explore it for themselves, your
readers may like to visit Harvard’s Implicit Association Test site (https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/)that is designed to reveal our biases to us. I recently took the test on gender and career. Like most people, my reactions show a moderate automatic
association between Men and Career and between Women and Family. Sigh.

Erin Campbell commented on 04-Jul-2011 10:28 PM

Brilliant post - thank you. I am going to share it with my friends on Facebook and challenge everyone to read it, and to post a comment in response. I'm also going to do as you suggest and share it with my team tomorrow and rouse up a discussion - I know
we'll all have something to say. Now if only a printed copy could mysteriously appear on the keyboards of every male who really needs to read it tomorrow morning......

The SheEO commented on 11-Jul-2011 10:58 PM

Sarah... your wisdom is appreciated as always. I agree... sigh. Erin - would love to hear how you went... any feedback to share?

Some tough lessons in leadership... and what we can learn

Thursday, June 09, 2011

I’ve spent time over the past week supporting the campaign to ban the live cattle trade to Indonesia following the ABC’s Four Corners expose into the horrific conditions of cruelty faced by Australian cattle in a number of Indonesian abattoirs. I was horrified and distraught by the investigation led by Animals Australia that revealed countless beautiful Australian Brahman cattle receiving the most intolerable treatment in these foreign destinations. The cruelty included having their feet tied so they could be tripped over onto wet concrete floors, their legs broken and leg tendons cut so they couldn’t stand, tails broken, eyes gouged, heads kicked, water sprayed up their noses, their bodies beaten repeatedly and their throats ultimately cut with blunt knives in multiple strokes – all while the animals were conscious and braying out in pain and distress. As a cattle farmer and animal lover, it was a great relief to hear the announcement yesterday that the live cattle trade to Indonesia has been suspended – at least for now – until the highest standards of animal husbandry can be assured throughout the supply chain. (While the suspension announced yesterday is a good start, there is more work to be done to protect our cattle so if you haven’t already done so, you can help by signing the petition at www.banliveexport.com). So what has this got to do with women and leadership? Quite a lot, it seems. Read More

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Christine Hawkins commented on 10-Jun-2011 09:33 AM

Jennifer, I'm not advocating the live animal trade, but there are some extremely important issues here that are being ignored. 1. There have been significant improvements in this industry in recent years, perhaps not enough, and public pressure for change
is good, and should continue, but the improvements should not be ignored. The 4 Corners story was totally one-sided. 2. The livelihoods of many Australian farming families have just been destroyed. They weren't doing anything illegal, they were running efficient
farm businesses and suddenly they have no market. I have heard comments along the lines that these cattle will be absorbed into the Australian market and now we'll all eat cheap beef. Well, think of the impact of "cheap beef" on the incomes of these farmers.
Do we want our farmers to be peasants? 3. This is a populist, political reaction to a tempest created by affluent, urban Australians. It's not a new issue, it's been around for many years and is being addressed by the industry. It's all very well to sit in
some lovely city suburb, with income unthreatened, and play around with people's lives, but some consideration of the consequences would be more admirable than claiming that women can make a difference.

Wendy commented on 12-Jun-2011 06:34 PM

Thank you so much for this post. I have to admit the material on the live exports to Indonesia was horrific and it has created a storm – thank goodness it is now stopped albeit temporarily. We as a nation have to make a stand. Farmers are already saying
they are affected but cruelty to an animal is terrible.

AB commented on 12-Jun-2011 06:38 PM

Thanks Jen for bringing the issue of the live stock being exported to your blog. I was mortified and sickened by the footage and was so happy to have the information to write a letter expressing this to the PM. As usual, you are always there with the information
to help us time poor women be able to help make a positive impact!

The SheEO commented on 14-Jun-2011 10:28 PM

Christine your points are valid and no i don't want my fellow farmers to be peasants. Most farmers I've cspoken with agree that animal welfare has to be addressed and like the CEO of AACo, I'm confident that trade to those facilities with humane standards
will resume in the short term. In the meantime you might direct your frustration to the Meat & Livestock Association who had no qualms in taking $60million from farmers - and countless more from taxpayers - in the past 12 months while sitting on their hands
and taking the easy options in Indonesia. They've now been caught out and will certainly have a case to answer here.

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West Bank Women make political statement in their swimming costumes

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Some tough lessons in leadership... and what we can learn

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