The head-hunter Joanna Moriarty has a wonderful turn of phrase. She says it’s great that men are appointing women to senior roles, but now that women have finally made it into the boardroom, she reckons the men still need to ‘budge up’ to accommodate them. I know quite a few men who struggle with this, because it seems that whatever they do it’s never quite right. It either feels patronising, or it’s not supportive enough. And it’s in everyone’s interests that women perform well, particularly in the boardroom, not just in service of better results but also to be role models for those coming up behind them. So how might men budge up, exactly? Here are 7 golden rules:
Read MoreGosh it’s depressing googling ‘leadership guru.’ At least if you google ‘best leaders’ the odd one is female. But role-model thinkers for women in leadership? Even the ones that do come up are usually fairly niche. So I am going to be rather un-female and announce myself as the UK’s First Female Leadership Guru. By all means, do leave me comments about all the other ones there are out there if you like – I’d love to meet them and talk shop. Meanwhile, here’s the thing. We are trying very hard to get more women into the boardroom, but when we send them off on courses or assign them mentors, too often the books they are given are written by men for men. Well, mine isn’t written exclusively for women, by any manner of means. But it is written by a woman, who gets what you are up against. And it is published this week, by Bloomsbury. So if you are a woman in a hurry who wants some practical help from someone who feels your pain, this is the book for you. I hope it helps.
Some extraordinary women joined us last night for the Verve launch. This is what was in the goody bag – follow the links for references:
Sermon for Maundy Thursday, Christ Church Chelsea, 28 March 2013
Earlier today, the Royal Maundy took place, in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. I thought I might tell you a bit about the Royal Maundy, as a way of framing the themes of Maundy Thursday.