How to be a great workplace ally
I've had a brilliant time this month interviewing my first guests for my new podcast ‘The Confidence Conversation’, supported by the wonderful team at Capability Jane Recruitment.
Do please get in touch if there are any topics you’d like to hear me cover on the theme of ‘Being Your Best Self’. I've already had some great suggestions on social media including everything from imposter syndrome to making the most of your network and how to balance confidence in all areas of your life. Any ideas would be most welcome! Watch this space for details of our launch...
In the meantime, here are my 3 things to know this month:
How to be a great workplace ally. I've recently run some fantastic virtual Allies Workshops for organisations, talking about how we can all (men and women) be the best allies possible. Using our SPACES framework, we recognise the barriers that women face in the workplace and look at practical actions to address these, including sponsorship, passing on opportunities and engaging women in meetings. It's been great to see participants taking away commitments to make a change and to hear them feeling "energised", "optimistic", and "empowered" after our workshops. If you'd like support in this space, drop me a message to find out more.
The future of networking for women. I've also had some interesting conversations about online networking and what the future of networking looks like for women. Chatting to Vanessa Vallely (Founder of WeAreTheCity) last week, she told me how she's continued to reach out to people online, and even plan big virtual conferences, from her sofa at home. In her words, "there's a lot to be said for lockdown and building relationships". For online networking tips from the C-suite, read this great practical article from Management Today on How to network online. I'd love to know what you want when it comes to networking? How are you making connections online? What platforms do you use?
Struggle. It was a pleasure to interview my friend Grace Marshall about her new book, Struggle - the one thing we all experience and the one thing we rarely talk about. Look out for our joint Forbes article next month for our insights on finding your courage, the positives in failure and how signs of weakness can become a source of strength.
And finally, to finish on some exciting news...I've just signed my first publishing contract to write my new business book ‘Don’t Fix Women: A toolkit for gender parity at work’. I'm thrilled to be starting this journey and can't wait to speak to you about your thoughts on how achieving gender balance at work isn’t about 'fixing' the women, it's about changing the system.
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