KnowThyBrand

With his incredibly vast experience in recruitment, in this episode Darren covers some very critical aspects of gender inclusion in business:

• The critical role of men in supporting gender equality
• The broken rung number 1: at the start of the career -> why do the entry levels have a similar number of women and men but already the first step of the carer progression sees more men than women being promoted
• The broken run number 2: women dropping off after starting a family and the consequences on their financial dependency during retirement.
• The unexpected downsides of the newly found flexibility at work and the risk of women to become 'invisible'
• The necessity for a more inclusive leadership style.

This episode is part of a series dedicated to the campaign "The power of Gender Equality" a campaign that KnowThyBrand and the LhOFT have launched to champion women in finance and technology 

Sound (unfortunately) unseen for this episode.

Find out more about Darren Robinson here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robinsond/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/andersonwise/

"He has a natural authority..."
" He hit the ball with authority"
"He was an authority on the stock market"

These are the examples that you will find if you Google the meaning of authority. None of the examples you will find use the pronoun She.

This is the premise for the incredible book "The Authority Gap, why women are still taken much less seriously than men" by Mary Ann Sieghart.

It's not a secret that women are more likely to need to demonstrate their expertise to be taken seriously, that they are often interrupted, talked over, challenged, and that their professional opinion is not taken into account as much as that one of their male counterparts.

This has a direct impact on personal self-esteem as well as the opportunities for career progression that women have.

Tune in to hear about some very concrete examples of how the authority gap displays in women's everyday life. Listen to the real-life stories of the many people that Mary Ann interviewed for her book, from prominent politicians to everyday people. Be prepared to be shocked by the findings of the studies and the stats that she shares with us. Most importantly, discover what we can all do, women and men, to reduce the gap.

And if you listen to the very end, Mary Ann will share a very interesting report that should make every man want to become an active part of the solution 😉

We often hear that one of the main challenges that women face when climbing their career ladder is the lack of self-confidence.

Denise Voss shares a very interesting point: women are not born without confidence, somehow along the journey, we become less confident.

Denise is Chairwoman of LuxFlag, an independent and international organisation that promotes the raising of capital for sustainable investments, and she is an inspiring role model for women willing to grow their careers.

In particular, Denise shares a talk from Reshma Saujani in which she explains how our lack of confidence has a lot to do with external factors like the way we are raised. Traditionally boys are being raised to be brave, to dare, to jump from trees, while for girls the expectation is that they should be calm and reliable, ultimately to be perfect. 

The consequences are that women are less likely to take risks, and in the workplace, this means that women are less likely to apply for jobs they are not 100% qualified (while men do it as long as they are at least 60% qualified, as demonstrated by a Hewlett Packard study) and are less likely to put their hands up for a promotion. 

So what can we do about it? 

Denise's practical recommendations include

•  Get a mentor, even more than one. Someone that can encourage and support you
•  Find a sponsor, or super mentor, someone that can help you get that next promotion 
•  Network, with other women but not only. Put yourself out there, meet other people, learn from them, create new opportunities 
•  Practice public speaking, even if it feels like a very daunting task, you can do it.  What it takes, in Denise's own words, is planning, preparation and practice.
•  Take that leap! Sometimes you just need to go for it. And if it doesn't work out, don't worry, you are not a failure, everyone fails at something sooner or later, that won't define you as a person. Instead, learn from the experience. 

The best part? Denise shows us what a real role model is: someone who can inspire us not only with her achievements but also by sharing the hurdles she faced along the way.

This episode is part of a series dedicated to the campaign "The power of Gender Equality" a campaign that KnowThyBrand and the LhOFT have launched to champion women in finance and technology 

Sound (unfortunately) unseen for this episode.

Listen to Reshma Saujani here https://www.ted.com/talks/reshma_saujani_teach_girls_bravery_not_perfection

Read about the Hewlett Packard study here https://www.forbes.com/sites/womensmedia/2014/04/28/act-now-to-shrink-the-confidence-gap/?sh=5a3631ce5c41

In this Episode Mira, a Transformational and Clarity Coach to Leaders shares with us some of the main challenges that leaders and particularly female leaders face:
1. Leadership is an amplifier: leadership is about being exposed and being out of our comfort zone, which amplifies weaknesses and fears.
2. Leadership is therefore an inner game, once you master your inner challenges, tackling the external one is the easy part (just Google it!)
3. Women leaders be aware of bias: not just the bias that men have about women, but the ones that we women we have about ourselves: we have been raised to seek perfection and work double hard, these and others are the bias that we put on ourselves and can become stoppers and internal limitations.

Mira also shares some very powerful tips on how to overcome these challenges:
-> Embrace vulnerability, be human (and that will help avoid toxic leadership)
-> Be kind to yourself and look after yourself
-> Have a strategy or a trick for when things get hard and you would naturally return to unhealthy thoughts to catch yourself and move to a more positive space

Mira's favorite brand is Pagaonia for its strong inclusion

Find out more about Mira's work here : https://www.themindtakeaway.com/

https://www.themindtakeaway.com/freedom-for-senior-female-leaders

In this episode, Peta shares her journey from employee to trailing spouse to freelancer.
How to go back to work after a break? The world goes on, what can we bring to a new employer?
Self-doubts are very common amongst women who have left the corporate world, whatever the reason. And yet managing an overseas relocation and/ or managing a young family, and /or looking after family members requires skills, skills that can be incredibly useful in the workplace (adaptability, creative solutions, empathy, just cite a few).
Peta shares her journey in rediscovering her transferrable skills and leveraging them to become an accomplished freelancer.
Her biggest fear: failure. Is she alone in this? no.
Her weapon: courage. Take a leap of faith.
And learn to say no. 
Know your worth, set your prices, get support from your network, and never rest on your laurels.
Favorite brand:  

https://www.toms.com/

https://www.aman.com/ 

In this episode, we talk with Kate Webber, lead product manager at Northern Trust and the founder of the award-winning network WiAS (Women in Asset Servicing).
 
 As Kate started progressing in her career she noticed that the number of women in the higher ranks of organisations was significantly dropping. Finding herself increasingly as the only woman in the room, Kate decided that something had to be done to support women.
 
 Her research on why women don't climb the corporate ladder as easily as men led her to identify 3 main challenges: 
 1) Lack of confidence: women are less likely than men to put their hand up and challenge themselves with new opportunities
 2) Too strict self-judgment: women tend not to apply for promotions or jobs unless they have 100% of the skills and experience required, while men apply for the same opportunities even if they have much less experience than required.
 3) Lack of networking: women find themselves isolated in a working world that is male-dominated.
 
 Setting out to make a difference, Kate created the WiAS network, where women can support each other and grow.
 
 In this episode, Kate offers a unique insight into these three challenges and what we can do to address them. We also tackle the critical role of men in achieving gender equality, the positive changes that have happened in the gender inclusion sphere, and the critical difference between role models and supermodels.
 
 Kate's favourite brand is Lego, for its ability to constantly evolve and stay relevant.

Ai Ching, founder and CEO of Piktochart walks us through her entrepreneurial journey. 

From bootstrapping to organic growth, from deliberate talent hiring to TikTok all the way to ensuring that you define your niche area to protect your business from bigger, richer and more aggressive competitors, this episode is not to be missed!

Approachable, genuine and business acute, Ching is the kind of entrepreneur that inspires future founders and change-makers

Find out more here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gohaiching/
https://piktochart.com/

In this episode Rachel, a talented professional coach and mentor, shares with us some key elements that start-ups and business owners should address to ensure sustainable growth for their business.
Some of the areas we covered in the interview include:

• The importance of defining a vision
• The difference between long term and short term vision 
• What makes a good goal
• How to stay on track and how to measure success
• The importance of celebrating your success
• Overcoming challenges and finding support for your vision
• What a limiting belief is and how we can address it

Pro-tip: have you considered reciprocal work to get your business started with the help of complementary partners?

This and much more in this episode packed with business advice for start-ups and founders.

Find out more about Rachel here:
https://thrivebeyond.co.uk/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelrrussell/

Often the obstacles we face come from the outside world. But what happens when they come from inside ourselves? Fran, a "recovering CEO", successful entrepreneur and an incredible mentor, talks us through the challenges of recognising and addressing the impostor syndrome, as well as the cost that this struggle has on individuals as well as enterprises.
If you are feeling that scary tinkle, or are dealing with the full extent of an impostor syndrome, listen to Fran and especially reach out to her.
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/franferrisockwell 

In this episode, our very special guest, Kat Luckock, a Social Enterprise Coach and founder of Share Impact, tackles some of the most challenging topics for social entrepreneurs: profit, pricing and sales.
As social enterprises are born as a way to address social and societal issues, there is often pressure on social entrepreneurs when it comes to recognising the importance of making a profit as this seems to contradict their business purpose. In reality, though, profit is essential to make a social enterprise sustainable while increasing its positive impact. In the same way, getting the price right is essential to ensure not only that social enterprises are not exploited but especially that they can effectively achieve the purpose they set out for in the first place. The other quite unique challenge social entrepreneurs face is how to approach sales in a way that is genuine and in line with the values and goals of their organisation.
Kat Luckock walks us through these challenges and provides invaluable insights for social entrepreneurs to achieve greater impact.

Kat recommends reading Sell Well, Do Good by Roy Whitten and Scott Roy

If you want to find out more about the social enterprise HipHipHooray you can find them here. 

Here you can listen to Kat's podcast, on Apple on Spotify. 

And here a special free resource from Kat: https://shareimpact.org/success-habits-checklist