Executive Women on Wall Street: Oh Sisters Where Art Thou
In reading Steven M. Davidoff’s article entitled “Why So Few Women Reach the Executive Rank” (http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/04/02/why-so-few-women-reach-the-executive-rank), I was not surprised when he cited the 3 main reasons for the dearth of women in the upper echelons of many an esteemed financial institution.
At first it may seem like grim reading but I cannot help but feel that the tide is turning and the once male dominated field of high finance will have to be more accommodating in the very near future. Move over, fellas.
Main excerpt below:
“The first explanation is simple sex discrimination. Women entering the work force are met with overt hostility. In some cases, benevolent attitudes have been found to be patronizing and can do as much harm as outright discrimination.
More generally, hostility is not required for discrimination to exist. In other words, stereotypes can end up creating different or lower expectations for women in the absence of hostility. And another strand of literature argues that there is not hostility toward women so much as a preference for men.
Evidence for each of these explanations can be found in the repeated studies that have concluded that women on Wall Street and in corporate America are paid less than men for similar work.
The second explanation is more complex, and states that the current male-driven culture does not allow women to succeed. Women’s values and approaches are different, and when entering the work force women find that the male culture is not to their taste or are driven off. Those women who do succeed adapt to the male culture. In other words, women need to become like men to become corporate executives.
Another issue at the forefront involves child care. In large part, women still effectively function as the primary caretakers of their children, and many commentators have described the struggle for “work-life balance.” This is true because the need to care for children is often greatest when women are in their 30s and 40s, a period that is the prime time of their careers.
Demographic changes, however, may help change the equation. The median age of a chief executive of an S.& P. 500 company is 55, while the average age of a director is 62. As more women enter the work force they will gradually come to parity and perhaps even take over.
It is here where we arrive at the thesis put forth by Facebook’s chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg. In her new book, “Lean In,” she seems to side with the explanation that a male-driven culture is at the root of the problem. Ms. Sandberg urges women to lean in and become as assertive as men in pushing forward their careers.
Her chief foil these days is Anne-Marie Slaughter, a professor at Princeton who left a high-powered post in the State Department. Professor Slaughter’s main concerns are the notion that the needs of women, child care and time with children are not being accommodated by the workplace.
Ms. Sandberg and Professor Slaughter are not the only ones examining the issue of women leaders. Other authors and commentators have joined the debate with books like “Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office” and “The Feminine Mistake: Are We Giving Up Too Much?”
But the question boils down to how to address this imbalance in the number of women in leadership positions in corporate America and on Wall Street. Do we address overt discrimination with affirmative action or quotas as Europe has? Or is the answer to open space for women to spend time with their children and have career breaks? Or do women really have to become like men to succeed? And, again, the response differs, depending on what you see as the cause of the problem.
For advocates of sex equality, there is reason for optimism. The rising numbers of women in the workplace will inevitably continue to chip away at the disadvantages that women face. And if women really do en masse change cultures and bring separate characteristics to bear, it could transform the way that Wall Street does business.
But it is clear that given today’s low numbers, Wall Street has its work cut out for it.”
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Richard Branson’s Enlightened Corporate Management Style
I attended a Q&A session with Richard Branson as the main attraction at the National Achievers Congress 8-9 May 2013 in Adelaide.
I came away with the conviction that I am on the right track because he confirmed my beliefs about how people tick and therefore how to get the best of people in organizations of any size.
The notes below are a summary of his personal and professional work ethos that I furiously scribbled down; get ready to pump your fist into the air and go Yes! as you read the points that you too agree with.
- Don’t go into business solely with the aim of making money-it probably will not survive the process.
- Go into business because you want to serve people or make a difference in peoples’ lives eg, you have identified a large gap in the market that’s crying out to be filled.
- Think British Airway’s monopoly and cheeky upstart Virgin Atlantic offering prisoners er I mean passengers a choice.
- Have fun creating the product or business. He figured that since most people spend from 8-10 hours at work, it should be a fun place. I was literally jumping for joy when he listed the following initiatives:
- Allow staff to work from home
- Encourage them to take time off
- Be flexible in working arrangements
- Job share
- Create a product or service that your people can believe in and by inference they put their heart and soul into too. Build a brand that is respected, provides great value and quality. It is your job as the MD/leader/CEO to instill that 100% belief of the product/service in your staff.
- Dream big because you never know where this may lead
- In the case of Virgin Galactic it will be commercial space travel; now that’s a first in anyone’s book
- As a bonus it has opened up the potential of this business to launch satellites for other telecommunications companies (can you already hear the cash registers ringing?)
- Listen to your people; they probably have great ideas
- This makes a lot of sense as your staff members are at the coalface, factory floor, frontline service desk…you know what I mean.
- Be big enough to take criticism from them. Acknowledge that you have heard them and then take the appropriate action.
- Keep your word. If you say you’ll get back to them DO so within a reasonable time frame
- Carry a notebook (which he does). Speaking with his many staff in different businesses and locations can cause things to blur. He writes them down rather than depending on his memory recall.
- An interesting aside was his comment that he did not think much of Managing Directors (he called them “weak”) who just flapped their gums. In his own words he wondered about the benefit of attending meetings where nobody took notes. The implication was that these people were not serious about the outcome of said business meeting (and the unsaid is why bother doing business with them).
- Treat people well; praise lavishly (I loved this one!)
- Learn the art of delegation; because he has surrounded himself with good people it has allowed him to spend time on Necker Island connecting with his wife and kids as his trusted people have his back
- Find time to be fit; prior to coming on the Q&A session he had had an hours bike ride around the city of Adelaide. Later it emerged that he received a caution from the local constabulary for riding without a bike helmet but that’s a story for another day.
- Do not be embarrassed by failure, but learn from them. Give it a go, if it floats other people will get on board with your business idea and maybe even become a source of finance
- Do not hide your talents under a “bushel” but share them. He recounted that he was shy as a child and his mother’s words were something to the effect that shyness was a form of selfishness. Go out and contribute to the world was her advice.
- Make friends with people you have fallen out with; in his case it was inviting the Chairman of British Airways to lunch after their protracted and acrimonious court battle.
- And finally, screw it just do it.
Jon Hegg: Neurofeedback -Training Your Brain For Success
Jon Hegg a psychologist and Clinical Director of the Brain Training Centre (Canberra, AUSTRALIA) specializes in using neurofeedback* as a powerful technique to improve and enhance human performance. Neurofeedback is a cool method that you can use in any area of your life be it in competitive sports, business or for career advancement.
Jon Hegg Interview Part1 23Apr2013
Jon Hegg Interview Part2 23Apr2013
There is a very strong correlation between how our brain functions and the tangible results we get in life. I invited Jon to explain how neurofeedback has helped his clients achieve the next level of their business or career success. In this short excerpt below Jon describes how you can train your brain to effortlessly move you in the direction of your goals.
So, if you are not getting the results you want in your career or business this may just be the missing link when you begin to understand how the different frequencies of your brainwaves in different parts of your brain influence who you are. The good news is that a significant biological component to it is under your control. In other words you can train bits of your brain that are responsible for problem solving, empathy, logic and even intuition to either speed up or slow down depending on what you need to achieve or solve in the moment.
*Neurofeedback has been shown to help children manage ADHD and other learning difficulties. Now this is a Godsend for any parent trying to raise a challenging child and have a career or run a business all at once. Reference: D. Corydon Hammond (2011): What is Neurofeedback: An Update, Journal of Neurotherapy: Investigations in Neuromodulation, Neurofeedback and Applied Neuroscience, 15:4, 305-336
Contact Jon Hegg:
Jon Hegg MA Psych, BCN
Brain Training Centre
1/12 Kett Street, Kambah, ACT 2902
Ph: +612 6296 3995
Email: braintraining@tpg.com.au Skype: JonHegg
Early Career Choices: What Would You Have Done Differently?
I had the good fortune to attend an Advantage SA Speakers in Schools training this week.
The topic: How to engage secondary school students when speaking about potential career paths
The inimitable and popular media identity Leigh McClusky (McClusky & Co) well known as the former host of Channel 7 Adelaide’s Today Tonight facilitated this training workshop. Leigh shared valuable tips and insights that I will integrate into future chats/chinwags with the kids. Notice the informality and use of vernacular in the second half of the preceding statement?
That was my first take away from the training and a great reminder that I am no longer presenting my latest research at a medical science conference (the unspoken is that I am ready to defend my hypothesis based on my water tight statistical analyses) but to connect heart to heart, human to human.
This point was brought home when Leigh got all the participants to write a letter to the 16 year old version of ourselves given what we now know. Ah, the benefits of hindsight.
Dear 16 Year Old Me,
I would encourage you to spend more of your time understanding that being comfortable in your own skin is the secret to a successful and happy life.
I would have you not spend all your free time doing physics, chemistry, double maths homework because your identity then was predicated on academic achievement.
That you would twig that this approval by achievement syndrome that got inculcated in your psyche is based on an archaic education system deliberately designed to produce hard working, compliant albeit financially illiterate drones.
Do not let what you do define who you really are.
I would have you go on a journey of self discovery, and to understand that the essence of you is perfection; your indestructible spirit is pure beauty. That you learn from your attempts at doing and that there is no shame in not hitting your target.
Failure is over rated and a label used by some people who would rather see you not succeed. Their irrational thinking is that if you do well, it means they have to get off their bums and do something productive with their lives too. Go figure. Do not get upset but feel compassion for them.
Finally, I would have you look yourself in the eye everyday and say aloud “I am enough”.
Much affection,
Present day Me.
Jules Tarrant & Hayley Wilson (Live Laugh Lead): Top 7 Secrets to Website Success
Jules Tarrant and Hayley Wilson from Live Laugh Lead (www.livelaughlead.com.au), specialize in helping entrepreneurs establish an online presence and get to that all important number one spot of page one of Google searches. We all know that being number one on Google is like getting a big free kick for skyrocketing your business.
Most entrepreneurs are busy running their businesses and don’t have time or inclination to build their own website let alone do the techie stuff to keep it up to date. And if you feel a bit intimidated by geek speak (acronyms like SEO, mysterious terms like back links etc), do yourself a favour and get Jules and Hayley to get your website rating while you get on with what you as an entrepreneur do best.
I especially love their abundance mindset (there are more than enough opportunities for everyone) that permeates every facet of their business (watch this excerpt below).
These ladies cannot help themselves when it comes to giving free and money making suggestions to their clients. Frankly, I would pay above the going rate to have them in my corner helping me grow my business.
Download and listen to the full interview:
Jules Tarrant Hayley Wilson Interview Part1
Jules Tarrant Hayley Wilson Interview Part2
Melanie Bragg: Defining Moments-Insights into the Lawyer’s Soul
Melanie Bragg in her latest American Bar Association Flagship book Defining Moments: Insight into the Lawyer’s Soul will tell you that a person’s character is revealed in testing situations. Melanie also a lawyer earned the trust of her peers who candidly revealed their defining moments. Their accounts go beyond making choices that put them on the right side of the (moral) law; these were defining moments that shaped their futures.
In the interview excerpt below Melanie tells of her own defining moment. You’ll be heartened to know that people like her still walk this earth.
This book is particularly relevant in today’s challenging economic climate; there comes a time in everyone’s career or business dealings where the temptation to take the path of least resistance beckons, the pay off appears irresistible especially when it is coupled with the vision of an easy future if they’d do it just this once they tell themselves.
However, there are those who choose to do the right thing because they are clear about their personal values. Want more examples? In the case of John McKay a former US Attorney for the Western District of Washington and a President Reagan appointed White House Fellow, it hurt his prospects at that time. McKay’s success principle of “telling the truth no matter what” i.e. his lone voice upholding the Constitution in the face of civil liberties violations resulted in a truncated career. The upside as we all agree is that every day McKay can look himself in the eye; and a new academic career as Law Professor at Seattle University School of Law isn’t bad either.
To order your copy of Defining Moments: Insights into the Lawyer’s Soul go to www.melaniebragg.com
Melanie Bragg is a lawyer, speaker, educator and champion advocate of the defenseless in our society. She is currently the Chair of the Book Publications Board of the American Bar Association Solo, Small Firm Division, with over 30,000 members and 40 authors under her guidance and leadership. Her record of leadership in her profession and community is long. She became the first woman president of the Houston Young Lawyers Association and was a director of the ABA Young Lawyers Division. Through her company, Legal Insight she has written, produced, and distributed legal education programs for the healthcare industry to universities and medical schools nationwide. Her first ABA book was HIPAA for the General Practictioner.
Beverly Flaxington: Seven Steps to Hiring and Retaining the Right Person
An organization will only function like a well oiled machine when we have the right people for the right jobs. Sounds logical but the stats don’t lie. According to the Dept of Labor, 50 percent of all employees leave their job within the first six months of being hired. 
And in a recent survey by Right Management 86 percent of employees polled said they plan to actively look for a new position in 2013 (http://www.right.com/news-and-events/press-releases/2012-press-releases/item24318.aspx).
To say that the correct candidate selection process for a specific role is crucial is an understatement. So why does the recruitment process go so wrong sometimes.
Beverly Flaxington a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst (CPBA), hypnotherapist, and career and business adviser explains in her latest best seller Make Your SHIFT: The Five Most Powerful Moves You Can Make to Get Where YOU Want to Go how to get it right so that it doesn’t end in tears but instead increases the bottom line.
Beverly Flaxington Interview Part1 5Feb2013
Beverly Flaxington Interview Part2 5Feb2013
In this short excerpt Beverly shares a tip on how to deal with a difficult boss!
Find Beverly at http://www.
Dina Proctor: Madly Chasing Peace: How I Went From Hell to Happy in Nine Minutes a Day
It is when we make time to be still will we meet the best version of ourselves; this version we long for is calm, happy, generous, compassionate, highly productive, wealthy and healthy.
Question: How do we then get to and stay in this state (of grace) when in the busy lives we lead we are continually bombarded with external stimuli, demands and deadlines coming at us from every angle leaving us no time to just be.
Answer: By meditating.
This is not a trite answer to some of your most pressing concerns; if you think I am suggesting you go sit under a tree and contemplate your navel or the meaning of life.
For Dina Proctor finding that inner core of peace that turned her life around isn’t hard work as she explains in her best-selling book “Madly Chasing Peace: How I Went From Hell to Happy in Nine Minutes a Day”. She went from hitting an emotional rock bottom through struggling with addictions, food issues and depression, to finding a consistent happiness by (get this) meditating for 3 minutes 3 times a day.
Surely, if you value your health, sanity and well being, adopting this practice is an investment in time that will be repaid a thousand fold.
Just do it!
Find Dina at www.dinaproctor.com
Dorinda Hafner Interview: Honey, I Shrunk The Chef
Dorinda Hafner is a remarkable human being whose career evolution can be summed up as “diverse” which as you read and listen to this interview is an understatement. Leaving Ghana at 18 and bound for the United Kingdom as a trainee nurse, she made stops along the way as a model, dispensing optician, actor, and is best known in Australia as a celebrity chef, civil celebrant and author of her latest book Honey, I Shrunk The Chef. 
At 65 and still going like the clappers, she is testament to the fact that you change careers not just once but many times and at this rate I would not be surprised to see her doing something else in the coming years.
As Dorinda so succinctly puts it, “We are all multi talented beings, and it is only when we nurture and grow these talents that our magnificence shines”. I got a sense of fun and enthusiasm and most importantly passion and authenticity. To me that is a sign of someone honoring her talents.
The original intent of this interview was to discuss her newly published book, but as we talked what unfolded was a chronicle of one woman’s rich and varied life as told through her book. Yep, it included all the triumphs and setbacks and what led to overeating as a means of compensating for perceived shortcomings.
I don’t know about you, but I like happy endings; Dorinda shares how she shed 80 kg (over 160 pounds!) by firstly being internally motivated to continue living a vibrant healthy life. The subsequent external actions she took included getting a (good looking) personal trainer, reassessing her eating habits, understanding and modifying the internal dialogue which lead to overeating.
I am not in the habit of endorsing cookbooks but Honey, I Shrunk The Chef is about self respect and shoring up self esteem by literally nurturing our bodies with good food simply because we have discovered we are lovable as we are.
Some of the topics covered:
Fending for myself-The emotional and psychological management of a food addict; Public image-Dorinda talks about how weight loss changed her relationships with friends, family and others; Exercise Issues-Dorinda’s road to making friends with regular exercise and how it affected her progress; Portion Adjustments-Fun ways to permanent portion control.
Get the book at http://www.honeyishrunkthechef.com