Most of you know that I have a portfolio career.  Actually I guess I have a portfolio life, or maybe just multiple personalities (or both!). But this blog is supposed to be about work so I’ll try to keep focused on the career bit.  Except that – of course – we can’t ring fence our lives separately from our careers and I think that’s the huge challenge when it comes to working flexibly and finding satisfaction in our work and our lives.  I discovered that recently when one of my clients suggested I’d overstepped the flexibility mark, and it really, really annoyed me. Read More

There’s been good news and bad for me on the board front over the past week.  First the good news: I was present at the Australian Stock Exchange to see Minister Penny Wong launch the Government’s new BoardLinks initiative.  Board Links aims to provide more opportunities for women to be appointed to their first board, to launch and further their directorship careers, and increase the number of potential candidates for Australian Government boards.  Read More

In the top drawer of my desk lay note cards on which my hand written messages are scrawled to people who touch my heart.  Printed neatly on the front are the words I live my life by:  “We must be the change we wish to see in the world.” (Mahatma Gandhi 1869 - 1948) 

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Earlier this year I had the opportunity to meet Sue Lawton the Director for Innovation with WEConnect International.  If you're an entrepreneur and you haven't heard about WEConnect yet, you need to!  This is one organisation that is truly changing the lives of women all over the world, in empowering them through the global supply chains of major corporations with serious spending power (such as global hotel chains, multinational consulting firms, product manufacturers etc).  Read More

If you are a member of UN Women Australia, now is the time to vote for incoming board directors, and I would greatly appreciate if you would consider supporting my nomination by voting for me.  (And if you're not a member of UN Women, I strongly encourage you to support their work promoting women's human rights, political participation and economic security by becoming a member - click here for more info) Read More

Join me at this business luncheon on 31st October 2012 in Sydney which will examine the ASX diversity principle and its impact on the gender diversity of listed companies. It features some of Australia's most respected business leaders: to be moderated by Gordon M Cairns, with an expert panel including Elizabeth Broderick F Fin, Jillian Segal AM and Helen Conway, as they address: Read More

Three emails have hit my inbox this week on the topic of innovation: one from the Australian Institute of Management seeking participation in its innovation survey; another from Barbara Annis' office in New York with news of her forthcoming keynote speech at SAP's Global Diversity Days that will keynote will articulate the compelling business case of the diverse organization, examine gender differences through a scientific lens, and illustrate the competitive advantage achieved through inclusion; and this one from a colleague with photos of the national executive and branch councils of the Australian Industry Group: Read More

This was the title of my first article published in the launch edition of Women's Agenda and I think it's a great starting place for change.  Flexibility: it's the new f-word. Ask any working mum what matters most to them in a job, and she'll probably say flexible work arrangements.  But don't mistake flexibility for a women's issue: it matters just as much to a worker who has elder care responsibilities. And to dads who expect to play an active parenting role. And to members of GenY and the forthcoming GenZ who know little of workplaces without flexibility. Read More

When I was fresh into the corporate world as an accounting graduate I thought I knew everything I needed to know.  Of course.  Until I started working in the business world, and discovered it’s not what you know but who you know.  Of course.  Getting a job in the 90’s – despite being in the thick of a recession we (apparently) had to have – was the easy bit.  Learning how to navigate the world of banking was another story.  Women managers were still a rarity, especially those who dared to have a life AND a career.  In these early days of my career, everything was new and unknown and had to be learned.  I came from a family where everyone worked hard, though not in the world of big business, so I was very much flying blind.  Loving it, but learning the hard way. Reinventing the wheel, when I now know how much simpler and more effective it is to have a network of contacts to ask, a mentor to call on, a peer group to swap notes with or to just lend an ear. Read More

If you're a senior leader with experience in setting strategy and delivering operational results, I need your help!  I have become aware of a number of not for profit organisations, that could benefit from the collective insights of experienced leaders like you and me.  They need help in setting strategy, solving complex operational issues, and improving their organisational efficiency and effectiveness. So I've offered to host a series of boardroom networking events with a difference, designed to make a difference.   Read More