Finance Monthly. 51 Bus i ne s s & Economy These conversations are conducted in a safe and inclusive environment so that all participants can work towards building long-term trust and connection. We also structure the program specifically to help male colleagues understand the statistics and research and allow them to become allies for gender equality. This includes bringing in data and case studies for them to assess their communication preferences and raise awareness of harmful unconscious bias towards women at work. We build allies. Senior leaders that have joined our programs consistently report an improved understanding of what’s actually happening at their organisation. They also gained more enlightening perspectives that change their assumptions about their work culture. These experiences cannot be gained simply from their standpoint. But more importantly, young women are even more ambitious and place more significance on working for fair, supportive and inclusive organisations. They’re watching senior women leave for better opportunities and are prepared to do the same. If companies don’t act now, they can risk losing, not only their current female leaders but also the next generation of talent. What is your favourite thing about your job? Now that I am living with purpose, it doesn’t feel like a job. Travelling around the world with my “job”, I value the extensive insight I’m gaining from encountering various corporate cultures and their leadership journeys. I get to explore different organisational cultures and acquire broad insights into many businesses and see how they’re working towards inclusive leadership. I’ve also had the chance to identify local themes in a global context, meet incredible people and watch them become themselves in an authentic way. What I do also brings all sorts of challenges. It’s fascinating to see who’s talking a good game but they are only paying lip service. Coming in as a trusted advisor, I can then challenge their system and bring in new views with positivity. But what really drives my passion for what I do is that I can stimulate real positive change every day. I cherish all the responses I get from participants after attending my programmes for the impact I’ve made on them and their businesses. Each person I coach and each leader that has participated inmy programs have made a conscious effort to shift how they view themselves and the inequality around them. These people are like pebbles in a pool, taking their learnings, reflections and confidence and rippling an unstoppable effect towards openness, honesty and deep curiosity to do better, to be better. I see this effect as we shift towards a brave new world where people can find their own success by their very own measures and live to their highest potential. This world will see leaders drawing flexible boundaries and shaping structures to secure inclusive environments for growth and creativity for all genders. “Companies in the top quartile for gender diversity were more likely to outperform on profitability and more likely to outperform on value creation compared to industry peers”. 21% 27%
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