Well it depends really on who that man is.  If the man is anything like that boyfriend I dated before I met my current husband, probably nothing because he only dated women who were significantly less successful than him – as soon as they got good, he traded down!  And if the man is that bully I worked with a few years back who seemingly hated everything about me, especially when I executed successfully on a problem he’d convinced everyone else that couldn’t be achieved, probably not much either!

But if that man is Marcus Buckingham, the world’s leading expert in personal strengths and a globally renowned researcher with almost two decades experience at Gallup Organisation, and the bestselling author of five books with more than 3.7million copies in print, then there’s a good chance he’s got something worth sharing.

I first met Marcus Buckingham at a conference in London five years ago, where he delivered a powerful keynote presentation followed by a smaller breakout session in which he spoke off the cuff and in incredible detail about why we should completely rethink the traditional performance management paradigms and performance review process and focus solely on our strengths and those of our people.  I came back from that conference completely enthralled with this idea and used much of it to accelerate performance in the projects I was running and in the teams that I led.  

I would suggest that when I hear him speak on Finding Your Strongest Life: What the happiest and most successful women do differently in Sydney on 23rd June, I’ll be singing the same sort of praise. Put simply, Marcus Buckingham is one of the best and most authentic speakers I have ever seen present – his knowledge is first class, his delivery is energetic, his research is thorough and proven.

At this event, Marcus Buckingham will share the findings of his research that show how over the past four decades since the modern women’s movement began, women have become less happy, more anxious and stressed and that as they get older, they grow sadder (men, by contrast, get happier as they age).  He will then explain how women can buck this trend and create a life of passion, purpose, and performance; to live what he describes as a stronger life – your best life. Successful. Satisfied. Purposeful. Excited. Happy.

Now I am aware that many women (particularly in the corporate world – myself included) have spent their entire working life being told by their male bosses and team members that to get ahead they need to change so much of what is important to them. They’re told to be more direct, less emotional, more committed, less involved, more open to ideas but more focused and on and on. All of this advice is given with the best of intentions, but often without invitation to the point that many women feel compromised by this ongoing bombardment. So I can understand why this sort of women might be reluctant to hear from a man their advice on what women can do to be more successful.  But consider for a moment that in the case of Marcus Buckingham, you’ll be educated, informed, enlightened and certainly not just lectured to.  

This is why I’ll be there at this event, and if you are interested in learning from one of the best speakers and researchers in the world, why don’t you join me?  I have no commercial interest in inviting you to attend – I’m not a sponsor and I’m not getting paid to make this recommendation.  I simply think that based on my past experience, this could be an event that will change your thinking.  If you do decide to come along, you can click here for registration details and I’m delighted to say that by quoting the promotion code sphinxx you’ll get $50 off the booking rate – which already is cheap compared to what I paid to see Marcus Buckingham in London all those years ago!