tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66815136788027839542011-10-27T09:37:01.769+02:00Stimulating balanced leadership for superior personal and business performanceMichelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.comBlogger611100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-4607540149328778892011-10-27T09:35:00.002+02:002011-10-27T09:37:01.781+02:00

I participated to the round table "Gender Quotas in Company Boards: solution or problem", organized by Guberna, Belgian insitute for directors, and the University og Ghent. After an overview of initiatives and law passed in different European countries by Claire Bury, 3 men talked passionately about why gender quotas are unwanted, unnecessary and illegal. Interestingly, no women were invited to

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-64229794542790582632011-06-07T10:07:00.004+02:002011-06-07T10:11:39.106+02:00

Wharton management professor Ethan Mollick has a message for knowledge-based companies: pay closer attention to your middle managers. They may have a greater impact on company performance than almost any other part of the organization! Mollick found that it was middle managers, rather than innovators or company strategy, who best explained the differences in firm performance. Middle managers

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-26721003809160757792011-05-06T14:23:00.000+02:002011-05-06T14:23:53.762+02:00

Yesterday I was one of the keynote speakers at JUMP Forum, a great event that puts gender balance on the agenda every year, and raises the key questions time and again. This kind of event always gives me a great buzz and energy boost: lots of brainwaves, interesting people, discussions, time for sharing experiences and getting new insights. What struck me this time was a remark by Isabella

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-67255906631826717142011-04-27T11:54:00.000+02:002011-04-27T11:54:23.492+02:00

Women are still largely underrepresented in top management and boards. The dominant culture at the top is a masculine culture, putting forward masculine qualities, values and behaviors. Metaresearch by Catalyst revealed that corporate culture is a stronger factor for predicting leadership effectiveness than gender. In other words, dominant masculine corporate cultures “produce” predominantly

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-74812321723737028142011-04-11T14:50:00.001+02:002011-04-11T14:52:06.302+02:00

A two-day symposium at MIT this week celebrated the research accomplishments of some of the top minds in science and engineering. The event was titled “Leaders in Science and Engineering: The Women of MIT.” Over the past 15 years, the number of women faculty members in the School of Engineering has doubled, from 8 to 16 percent, and in the School of Science they have more than doubled, from 8

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-1687532455659465722011-04-06T13:28:00.002+02:002011-04-07T20:04:52.698+02:00

The launch of the book The Balanced Leader yesterday evening was a success: we have received so many "thank you" and "congratulations" notes today we're beaming and buzzing with joy! Astrid De Lathauwer, HR Director at Belgacom, kicked off the evening by putting question marks next to an overall predominantly masculine corporate culture and the need for a different value set for the future. An

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-56832688516132981432011-02-28T16:25:00.001+01:002011-02-28T16:26:26.942+01:00

Needless to say that gender balance in science and technology is a difficult one to establish. Women are underrepresented in science and technology at university, and are not pursuing careers in these domains. The prospects offered to women by the industry and academic world apparently are not appealing. Too few women consider building their career in science and technology, even though these

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-31599708974634531612011-02-10T13:01:00.002+01:002011-02-10T13:02:40.606+01:00

This is it: the cover of our book The Balanced Leader... The book will be available both in Dutch and English, as of April 5 2011. We are preparing a great networking evening on April 5th with a spectacular set of panel members to introduce the dynamics of Balanced Leadership. If you are in the Brussels area on April 5th, join us! To register for the event on April 5th : click this link.

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-55248076392969890302011-02-04T16:34:00.003+01:002011-02-04T16:37:59.528+01:00

Marion Chapsal wrote a very good article on her blog Geronimo Coaching: Mummy I want to be a housewife. Recent articles and opinions of researchers point out that women are not at all eager to climb the career ladder, and that they are quite happy sheltering under their husband's protective shield. We've had the same reflections here last year when a Dutch female journalist published a book

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-39361531401058238162011-02-02T17:29:00.000+01:002011-02-02T17:29:36.577+01:00

On April 5 2011 we are presenting our book "The balanced leader" by organizing an inspiring business event. Read more on the website. Registrations for the event will open shortly, I will keep you posted. Click here to go to the website of "The balanced leader".

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-19052070946211033962011-01-10T18:55:00.001+01:002011-01-10T18:55:35.702+01:00

Creating a better gender balance in a company is often impossible without putting gender in the wider context of diversity. This means that gender is still on the table, but as one of the elements within an overall diversity policy, including culture, age, language, physical ability, sexual orientation etc etc. In other words, women are considered as one of the minorities companies need to get on

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-61577791181215391912010-12-21T12:35:00.001+01:002011-01-23T11:01:04.092+01:00

As 2010 is reaching its end, it's time to look forward to 2011. On April 5th 2011, we will organize the launch of our book "The Balanced Leader". More information on the book on The Balanced Leader website (in Dutch for now).

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-88448583546193311272010-12-02T11:35:00.001+01:002010-12-02T11:38:10.073+01:00

Most of us would agree it takes about 30% of a (minority) group to move away from being regarded as the odd one (or two) out. Having at least 3 women on a board of directors or in a management team ensures they are looked upon as 'individuals' rather than as 'the woman' in the group. It's a thought I can relate to, it seems logical. What I am having difficulty with, is assuming that a growing

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-44885637706105149842010-11-25T09:23:00.000+01:002010-11-25T09:23:31.380+01:00

This year's CIO of the Year nomination proved that the jury is not ready for a female laureate yet... The public voting pushed 2 women to the top 3 of the nominees list: Els Blaton (CIO AXA) and Sabine Everaet (Coca Cola Europe). And the title was awareded to... the only man in the top 3 (Daniel Lebeau GSK Biologicals). The timing couldn't be have been more perfect for a female laureate. It

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-25424249105705051012010-11-22T19:59:00.002+01:002010-11-22T20:00:33.440+01:00

The AXA Wo_Men@Work Award 2010 is the first edition of an annual award that honours a CEO, COO, CFO or member of the Executive Board of a company or organisation established in Belgium. He or she pro-actively promotes gender diversity and is personally committed to guaranteeing the representation of women in the company’s management and top management. There were a lot of good candidates for

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-91723860889072790192010-11-03T17:25:00.001+01:002010-11-03T17:25:45.255+01:00

"People generally believe that leaders are ambitious, confident, self-sufficient, dominant, well endowed with agentic and competent qualities. Management theorists have regarded behaviors such as competing with peers, imposing wishes on subordinates, and behaving assertively as prototypical of the managerial role. Despite the inclusion of some expectations about considerate and supportive

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-35673932524529426202010-10-27T10:44:00.002+02:002010-10-27T10:45:24.070+02:00

Yesterday Taminco was awarded Enterprise of the Year (Flanders, Belgium). Congratulations! No women in the executive committee of the winner, nor in the excom of nominee Newtec. One woman in the excom of third nominee Group Galloo. Which made me think about the McKinsey studies (Women Matter)indicating a positive correlation between gender balance in management and company performance. I

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-60371366631350291422010-10-16T13:20:00.000+02:002010-10-16T13:20:56.184+02:00

We never know how high we are Till we are called to rise; And then, if we are true to plan, Our statures touch the skies. ~ Emily Dickinson ~

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-21147474388499701062010-10-05T15:44:00.000+02:002010-10-05T15:44:54.240+02:00

Interesting study in Science: having more women in a team is a better indicator of the team's performance than the intelligence of individual team members. The core element of highly performing teams is something the researchers call "collective intelligence". Collective Intelligence is about getting team members to share, collaborate and contribute to each others ideas. It increases

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-63094357210700870172010-09-23T10:36:00.001+02:002010-09-23T10:36:26.549+02:00

"Companies do invest in women. They hire them, they send them through leadership programs, and they spend money on posters that declare diversity a company value. Yet cultures are not what is taught in classes or proselytized on posters. A company's culture can be seen in how people are treated in meetings, how they are respected (or not) by their managers, and how fairly leaders handle

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-70554729978776588602010-09-22T12:53:00.004+02:002010-09-22T13:05:44.746+02:00

Are Balanced Leaders better at stimulating creativity and innovation? They should be.Unbalanced predominantly masculine corporate cultures miss out on opportunities to develop creativity, read sustainable progress. #1An unbalanced and masculine corporate culture does not welcome vulnerability. People boast about their successes, not about their failures. Although we learn more from our mistakes.

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-2873305985198886852010-09-08T09:54:00.003+02:002010-09-08T09:57:36.373+02:00

Last week a report by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) warned that it would be 57 years until female managers reached equal pay with their male counterparts. Wow.Women often start a lower salaries than men, and in general hate to go and ask for a pay rise.Sara Laschever, co-author of the book Why Women Don't Ask, says part of the problem is that women are brought up to be undemanding. "We

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-55156444022459274752010-09-08T09:43:00.003+02:002010-09-08T09:44:56.709+02:00

Let them hear your voice as well...

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-69475692862720072792010-07-14T11:06:00.001+02:002010-07-14T11:09:30.084+02:00

Josephine Green, keynote @ Leap Event 2010 from LEAP! on Vimeo.

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-47743684071029116082010-07-13T16:06:00.005+02:002010-07-13T16:36:37.879+02:00

Came across this HBR blogpost by Nigel Nicholson, professor of organizational behavior at London Business School: Gender and the Future of the Hierarchical Organization.Food for thought from this article:"Our love affair with corporate hierarchy plays right into the hands of our ancestral primate instincts for contest, dominance, and pecking orders — that is, the traditional obsessions and

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-31718023658332313062010-07-05T16:17:00.007+02:002010-07-05T16:25:54.389+02:00

In the past, when relatively few wives worked, marriage enhanced the economic status of women more than that of men. In recent decades, however, the economic gains associated with marriage have been greater for men than for women.A Pew Research Center report noted a surge in women between the ages of 30 and 44 making more money than their husbands. Women made more money than men in 22 percent of

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-18443054019195880922010-06-12T10:59:00.004+02:002010-06-12T11:06:04.741+02:00

Reading a fabulous book on Jung, and his ideas about animus and anima.It's called "Over het mannelijke in de vrouw en het vrouwelijke in de man", and was written by Dutch psychologist Karen Hamaker-Zondag.Amazing how someone's personal balance between the inner feminine and masculine side so strongly influences one's capability of balanced leadership.I studied a bit of psychology at university,

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-61284906913075207442010-04-26T10:16:00.003+02:002010-04-26T10:33:00.127+02:00

A Catalyst report shows that the recession struck executive women harder than men. They analyzed data on 873 MBA alumni who graduated between 1996 and 2007from 26 leading business schools in Asia, Canada, Europe, and the United Statesand found that from November 2007 to June 2009.Women senior leaders were more than three times as likely to have lost their jobs because of company downsizing or

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-38469457581980127332010-04-20T07:46:00.005+02:002010-04-20T08:16:21.267+02:00

IT Job Board conducted a survey with men and women in IT jobs and companies, and found that women IT professionals perceive they are being treated differently than their male colleagues. Men however do not see these differences.More than 75% of female IT professionals think they are paid less than their male colleagues. 73% of men think salary levels are the same for men and women...70% of the

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-65698656870569573062010-03-16T08:47:00.004+01:002010-03-16T09:08:01.208+01:00

During the award ceremony of "Trends Manager van het Jaar 2009" Rudi De Becker (CEO Univeg) gave his view on leadership of the future. His analysis in short: future leadership will be feminine and all about developing and empowering teams. A powerful message, have a look. (in Dutch) Nice to know: there wasn't a single woman on the shortlist for the award. Alice used the award to re-launch

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-87019725892381006142010-02-17T17:34:00.004+01:002010-02-17T17:41:32.907+01:00

For some time now we have been thinking about this book that we want to publish on Balanced Leadership and gender diversity.At FEMCO, we believe gender diversity is not only about getting more women in top management positions. Although it is an important means to an end.The goal is to arrive at balanced organizations, where both masculine and feminine values and behaviors are appreciated, valued

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-20586513352433630902010-02-05T09:58:00.004+01:002010-02-05T10:08:38.214+01:00

"The problem is this: We all gravitate towards people who are like ourselves. It would help a lot if we could make more men become aware of these dynamics. It would also be helpful if women would be aware of it. Interestingly, men who have daughters often tend to see what is happening better. Because they want their daughters to make a good career, suddenly they open their eyes and look at

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-71917054331211744532010-02-03T10:40:00.002+01:002010-02-03T10:52:50.746+01:00

Companies with a strong corporate culture often face more difficulties managing diversity. Even when top management is willing to boost the presence of women in their circle, it doesn't necessarily mean they will benefit from her different point of view. Minority members need to be highly resilient in challenging existing thinking, while aiming to be received as part of the group. Diversity will

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-48328449847241875602010-01-12T17:44:00.005+01:002010-01-12T18:01:52.826+01:00

Just heard something strange on Radio 1: a shortage of girls in China leads to all sorts of problems in the country, such as sexual harassment of women, girl kidnapping, etc. By 2020 there would be an estimated shortage of 24 million girls...The 2 male journalists discussing this issue identified China's 'one child' policy as root cause of the problem. A boy is considered more valuable to a

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-14216433271990732692010-01-06T20:33:00.001+01:002010-01-06T20:35:14.321+01:00

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-76722291570777223072010-01-06T20:11:00.003+01:002010-01-06T20:21:07.307+01:00

Today Bert De Graeve was elected Manager of the Year by a Jury of managers and Trends Magazine-editors. Congratulations Bert!Small detail: none of the nominees were women.During the ceremony/event this evening in Brussels, Alice revealed the Quota Manifest, demanding 40% women in boards by 2015. Obviously the only way to reach this objective is to work with binding quota. FEMCO signed the Quota

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-7277272900504526682009-12-11T11:07:00.001+01:002009-12-11T11:21:59.658+01:00

Luidkeels "ja" voor quota | Dienst Emancipatiezaken-site | Internet van de Vlaamse overheidBlogpost by Ingrid Pelssers, Vlaams Emancipatieambtenaar. Interesting food for thought.I have not come across many people (mostly men) who are looking forward to introducing quota to boost women's presence in all management levels.Even though they are in favor if increasing that presence, and clearly see

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-74286616140840758192009-12-11T09:08:00.004+01:002009-12-11T09:16:28.957+01:00

Effective communication is very important, and requires a few basic skills. Quite a few of those skills (such as active listening, rephrasing, giving and receiving feedback) are covered in FEMCO's course Effective Leadership for Women.Sylvie Verleye covers another crucial aspect: how to structure and visualize your message in Powerpoint. She's absolutely right in saying that Powerpoint is often

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-79621283333720362042009-11-18T16:31:00.005+01:002009-11-18T16:45:15.024+01:00

Yesterday I heard Astrid De Lathauwer (Executive VP HR at Belgacom) make an extremely important point at an Artemis networking lunch in Brussels.Senior women have an important role to play in the development and advancement of their younger colleagues. They can mentor, coach and guide these women. Make them benefit from their experience and knowledge.So why are most mentors men? My top 3:1.

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-13127889920342738952009-11-02T15:42:00.004+01:002009-11-02T16:03:07.242+01:00

Recently the Dutch journalist Marike Stellinga was able to get great PR on the launch of her book in the Netherlands and Belgium. Title of her book: “De mythe van het glazen plafond”. She argues against quota for women in top levels in companies in the Netherlands, stating that women themselves are to blame if they didn't make it to the top so far. Women are way too comfortable in their part time

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-51456972023275351912009-10-26T08:12:00.003+01:002009-10-26T08:24:55.221+01:00

A Special Report on Women and Leadership in Business Week zooms into the 10 Myths about the Lives of Women.Myth #6 got my attention. "Flexible work options, such as paid leave and telecommuting, allow women to feel happier at work." WRONG. Studies actually show a negative correlation between taking advantage of such options and a women's self-reported daily happiness. These programs, by

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-19053096624365377612009-10-19T15:40:00.001+02:002009-10-19T15:40:49.068+02:00

SlideShare Presentation on Effective and Successful Mentoring, used last week at IBJ/IJE.Effective And Successful MentoringView more presentations from Michele Mees.

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-85818355077728948502009-10-15T13:06:00.004+02:002009-10-15T13:16:16.218+02:00

This afternoon I am giving a presentation on Mentoring to a group of company lawyers at IBJ/IJE. An inspiring example of a professional organization, committed to the development and advancement of young lawyers.Mentorship can be a powerful instrument in your career advancement. Both Mentee and Mentor learn a great deal from working together. Mentoring should be seen as a Joint Venture between

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-87113266161244858332009-09-21T09:04:00.003+02:002009-09-21T09:11:10.694+02:00

Reading Tip: article in the latest Woman Matters newsletter by 6minutes, based on FEMCO's training Effective Leadership for Women Managers.An excellent description of the visible and hidden barriers women experience in corporate environments. How to safeguard your values while advancing your career...(article in Dutch)

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-83564235471235419732009-09-09T08:30:00.006+02:002009-09-09T11:25:33.026+02:00

Putting together a workshop Career Management, and came across Virginia Valian's "Why So Slow?". You can read her book, or take some time to view the video from a lecture at MIT.Why So Slow? Lecture on The Advancement of Women (studies show that there has been progress in women's careers but that a stubborn problem remains: advancement is slower for women than for men in every profession).

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-17705907021705908142009-07-30T21:10:00.003+02:002009-07-30T21:23:02.754+02:00

Just finished reading an article that appeared in today's Trends Magazine.Quite a number of CEO's have been replaced during the past months. However, says Trends, replacing the CEO does not guarantee success... Why was I not surprised?The article suggests that changing the front man (yes, man) is not enough. It's also about the entire leadership team, the way they communicate and work together,

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-61196147619434327822009-07-09T17:10:00.003+02:002009-07-09T17:34:05.652+02:00

Interesting study from Radboud Universiteit about the +100 top women who left ING Nederland between 2004-2006. The results show clearly that it's not enough to promote women to high levels in the organization in order to comply with diversity KPI's.If the number of women remains below 30%, if the mainly masculine corporate culture doesn't change, women will look for opportunities elsewhere and

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-85145249251816827032009-06-17T20:50:00.003+02:002009-06-17T21:01:21.006+02:00

Interesting training day today: going through our basic program Effective Leadership for Women with an in-company group.It's always a surprise to see that not all women in managerial positions have had leadershp training before. This is definitely worth negotiating for when you step up the corporate ladder. Too often women just assume they have to know everything already, that asking for

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-81105745433147043082009-06-09T18:41:00.004+02:002009-06-10T09:21:15.138+02:00

A quote from the book I am reading that I really want to share with you:"Men have the honor code among them, and we will help each other if we see someone is down, even if we don't like them. Men honor the US Army Ranger code that no man gets left behind.Women on the other hand are the polar opposite. When a woman takes a hit and is on the ground, women rally around to stomp on her. Women seem to

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-42416665548132271142009-06-03T09:30:00.004+02:002009-06-03T10:30:44.135+02:00

Trends Magazine has an article on the appointment of international board members by Belgian companies. The new buzz words appear to be 'international experience' and 'gender diversity' (although the latter is somewhat less prominent, but ok it's a start).I particularly liked the quote by Petra Mateos-Aparicio Morales, Professor at the University of Madrid, who will be joining Solvay as board

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-40874935389153256782009-05-29T10:06:00.004+02:002009-05-29T10:49:45.941+02:00

An recent article in Business Week gives a brief overview of sources in Europe saying women are the solution to the financial crisis. In France, CERAM Business School management professor Michel Ferrary found in a study that companies in the CAC40 that had high numbers of women in the senior ranks performed better than those that did not. In Iceland, two women who founded one of the few surviving

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-79738687239525186632009-05-27T13:41:00.005+02:002009-05-27T14:05:34.876+02:00

I wrote about the lack of women on boards before, and the M/V United Project of VOKA and Guberna. The target of the project was to get more women into boards.Companies replied by 'Yes we would possibly consider inviting a woman board member, but where are they?'VOKA and Guberna replied by rallying up a group of talented women, training them and giving companies access to this database. (some of

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-18236472882063585892009-05-25T14:48:00.005+02:002009-05-25T15:22:41.503+02:00

I have finished "Why Women Don't Ask - The High Cost of Avoiding Negotiation and Positive Strategies for Change" by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever. This is definitely a book I can recommend to all women who feel uncomfortable in negotiations.Based on quite a lot of research, Babcock and Laschever did an excellent job at pinpointing exactly WHY women negotiate less, get less when they do, and

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-27720722901738124232009-05-16T19:05:00.003+02:002009-05-16T19:31:59.731+02:00

Today I came across Carl Honoré. He wrote "The Power of Slow: Finding Balance and Fulfillment Beyond the Cult of Speed" and, more recently, "Under Pressure: Rescuing Our Children from the Culture of Hyper-Parenting".What is Slow Parenting? Carl Honoré says "Slow means doing everything at the right speed. That implies quality over quantity; real and meaningful human connections; being present and

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-32692329698002378052009-05-14T14:49:00.005+02:002009-05-14T15:13:35.415+02:00

Watched an annoying episode of The Apprentice on BBC1 yesterday evening. You know, the series where a bunch of young "future leaders" compete for a job, in the BBC's case a job for Sir Alan Sugar. Yawn.The cliché of the young sharks, ready to bite each other's heads off to score points, avoid getting fired every week, and ultimately land the "dream job". Yawn.The concept of the alpha leader,

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-14565707846104075702009-05-11T17:15:00.006+02:002009-05-11T17:34:19.073+02:00

Lately we frequently come across women who have left or intend to leave their 'corporate jobs'. These are not stand alone cases.The US are ahead of the trend, with a significant number of women managers leaving large companies to start their own businesses. In fact, women are quitting corporate jobs in favor of entrepreneurship at twice the rate of men, making a significant impact on the

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-12301604900073132172009-05-05T15:30:00.005+02:002009-05-05T16:47:28.528+02:00

VOKA and Guberna will be presenting the results of their joint project to get more women on boards soon. They succeeded in setting up a database of professional women that companies can scan when they are looking for an independent board member. Will it be enough to get more women in boards, or do we need to go a step further and impose quota on companies?Different studies have shown that a

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-40432068277579767012009-04-29T13:52:00.004+02:002009-04-29T14:10:29.080+02:00

Another study and white paper published today with somewhat depressing figures: 17% of Belgian employers thinks it will take 10 years before women take up half of top level positions.And these are the optimistic guys.33% of the (male) employers describes balanced leadership as a utopia. Even 24% of the women don't believe women and men will ever share top level responsibilities. (more info on the

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-40254030863964155712009-04-28T10:01:00.005+02:002009-04-28T10:27:17.916+02:00

Today in De Morgen on page 13 a column by Jan Denys (Randstad), stating that careers and CVs usually develop according to very predictable and rather boring patterns.He compares a career to a tournament: lose 1 game and it's impossible to win. Research indicated that the entry level in a company defines your career at that company: step in as high as you can, because you'll never be able to reach

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-32805793245429451932009-04-27T21:49:00.004+02:002009-04-27T22:12:20.878+02:00

FEMCO was present at the Jump Forum for advancing women last week Thursday.Danielle Moens participated in the panel discussion of the conference: "Can women rescue the economy". Yes we can. If we are there.Despite numerous studies on the importance of gender balance, despite charters being drafted up here and there, despite the increasing number of highly educated women entering the corporate

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681513678802783954.post-66684663166782818462009-04-27T20:59:00.008+02:002009-04-27T21:45:02.506+02:00

Equal Pay Day was represented on JUMP Forum this year.Some interesting conclusions from the 2008 study on differences in pay levels between men and women in Belgium: the gap between men and women seems to widen after a few years of professional activity, and is widest for those who hold a university or higher educational degree. Women who succeeded in smashing the so called 'glass ceiling' are

Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556843931462328793noreply@blogger.com0