Archives For Uncategorized

A friend died yesterday and I can’t stop crying.  I knew he was sick and not doing well, but his death has taken my breath away.

He was close to my age and only last week when we chatted and he was positive he was going to kick this ‘infection’.  Today I found out it was cancer and true to his form, he didn’t burden many people with the truth or the seriousness of his condition because he thought more about others than himself.

When he told me that his doctors told him to get his affairs in order, I didn’t believe him.  When he started to cry, I still didn’t think it possible.  I am struggling because he was young, he was a caring person, he was incredibly strong and as I told him – if there was anyone that could beat this – it was him.  He didn’t let anything push him around, and that is what I loved about him. I wish I could bottle that strength and power for future use.

He would be so disappointed.  He would be disappointed that his body gave up on him because his brain was sharp right till the end.

I am sad, I have lost an inspirational business mentor and friend.  I have lost someone who I could turn to, and no matter what – he would be there for me.  I am sad for the young family he left behind.

Then today in an unrelated matter, a friend shared with me how she is being bullied at work.  I know the bully, because I too have felt the brunt of his actions and words – and I can’t help but feel sorry that my friend is gone and the bully is still here.  I know, harsh, but that is how I feel.  I feel ripped off, as I am sure so does his kids and wife.

What is very real to me today, is that cancer is impossible to reason with.  That even the strong and courageous and undeserving can fall.

(Deep breath)  I have always believed that from every difficult challenge or situation there is always a solution or positive element we can take away, but sometimes life is so unfair that it is difficult to see anything positive from such a tragedy.

The only thing I can do to stop myself from feeling totally powerless – is to never give cancer a capital c.

I will miss you Mikey Mike.

x

I am selfish.Women_in_leadership_ppt_JumpingWoman_Slide29

OK… weird way to start… let me clarify.

I am selfishly invested in recognising the value women have in business… hang on, hang on… before you close this blog – hear me out.

It has taken me 40 years to admit publicly that I am in fact a feminist.  Growing up in the 80’s the term feminist certainly had negative connotations, of hairy armpit, bra burning, aggressive women that never brush their hair.  In hindsight I think I was a closet feminist, although I never burned a bra and well… did the other bits regularly – but you don’t need to know those details.

Why am I now comfortable to publicly admit that I am a feminist?  Because now more than ever it is time for change.  This is where my selfishness comes in…

When it was just about me and my career as a business woman – in the early days I did it on my own, without really a thought of changing it for others.  It was easier to focus on me and what I needed to do to progress, glass ceiling or not.

Why was I so career focused?  In hindsight I think was because at a young age my mum died and I turned to my Dad as a role model.  Dad had always run his own business and from my perspective – he instilled in me a strong work ethic, a no handout mentality to create your own independence.  If I wanted something – you worked for it.  Maybe that is why it didn’t seem like a big deal when starting and growing my own business.  I am pretty sure Dad doesn’t understand his role in my life choices.  It is what it is – I can’t change who I am, nor would I want to.

But then I became a parent.

I had two children.

Two girls.

AND EVERYTHING CHANGED.

Suddenly it was more than about me – but actually this made me even more selfish.  Now it is about the world I want for my daughters to grow up in.

If my daughters were entering the workforce now – this is what they would face in Australia.

This is just not good enough.

Women_in_leadership_ppt_v4

With two young girls, my focus is the betterment of this – for them.  No matter what or who they want to become – so they have choice, freedom and a pathway to be whoever they want to be…

We need to encourage change.

Women_in_leadership_ppt_v4_2

We know…

FinalSlides10

A huge thank you to the Lush TV team for producing this video.  They rock www.lushtv.net

Information and research data for these two videos were sourced from McKinsey and Co, EOWA, the Harvard Business Review and Nicolle Jenkins.

The design was created by my awesome team at The Hub Marketing Communications www.thehub.net.au or follow us on facebook http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Hub-Marketing-Communications/115176038521060

As my first entry to my blog, I thought it timely to introduce my business, The Hub Marketing Communications and how we work…