Women bring a different approach and perspective to leadership

In 2010 women made up only 12.5% of corporate board members. This was up from 9.4% in 2004 but the rate of increase is too slow. At the current rate of change it will take over 70 years to achieve gender-balanced boardrooms in the UK!*

So what, does it really matter?

Primarily the issue is about improving business performance not necessarily promoting equal opportunities for women yet there is a strong business case for a more balanced approach. Inclusive and diverse boards are more likely to be effective, better able to understand customers and stakeholders and to benefit from fresh perspectives and new ideas. This in turn leads to better decision making.

The concept of timeliness is only one of the many nonverbal variants you encounter when doing business internationally

On a speaking tour a few years ago, I traveled from the United Arab Emirates to China to India to Malaysia to the Philippines to Indonesia – and it seemed to me that in each country, the audience was arriving later and later. When I reached Jakarta, my program was scheduled for 7:00 p.m. “Just ignore that announcement,” I was advised. “We tell people to get here at seven, hoping they will arrive by eight. But just to be on the safe side, we never begin the program before nine.”

Contrast that to a recent experience in Toronto where my speech was scheduled to open the conference at 8:00 a.m. In order to check the audio-visual equipment I arrived an hour early, only to see a line of people already standing outside the auditorium. Concerned that I had misunderstood the agenda, I grabbed the meeting planner. “Don’t worry, “ she assured me, “you’ve got plenty of time. We Canadians just have a habit of getting places early.”

Here’s the question: Which was right – the Indonesian concept of “rubber time” or the Canadian view of promptness?

Your answer, of course, depends on the cultural standards you grew up with --because different cultures relate to time very differently.

Body language is the management of time, space, appearance, posture, gesture, touch, facial expression, eye contact, and voice. The concept of timeliness is only one of the many nonverbal variants you encounter when doing business internationally.

Become the ‘TOP CHEF” of Your Career Change

Career reinvention is a lot like cooking and YOU are the top chef! Use your passion and the ingredients you’ve been given to create the career of your dreams  full of flavors, layers and balance.

More people than ever are questioning their current career path either because they have to, or better yet simply want to! Consider this data: 23 year low in job satisfaction (Harvard Business School), 84% of people say they will look for a new job in 2011 (Business News Daily)

Your career change, transition and reinvention  is really about taking who you are, what you do and making it relevant and effective in today’s business environment. That may require some reinvention.

I admit it I LOVE the Food Network and Bravo cooking and chef reality shows. Although I don’t cook regularly, I absolutely see how  “Career reinvention is a lot like cooking”.

On the Food Channels Chopped, they have 4 chefs go head to head through 3 courses: appetizer, main course and dessert using a basket of 4 diverse, often not complimentary ingredients. They use their style and these ingredients as the base (you and your skills), find a way to mix them together (re-purpose and adapt you and your skills), plate and present them (re-brand and put yourself out there).

The process of cooking and career change are quite similar. You take your passion and expertise, together with your skills and qualities, prepare them , mix them together, present them and serve them!

10 Body Language Mistakes Women Leaders Make

There are two sets of body language cues that followers look for in women leaders: warmth (empathy, likeability, caring) and authority (power, credibility, status). And, although the goal is a balance of both warmth and authority, there are circumstances when one set of signals is the most effective (for example, encouraging collaboration requires more warmth signals from leaders). Although I know several leaders of both sexes who do not fit the stereotypes, I’ve also observed that gender differences in body language most often align with these two groupings. Women are seen as champions in the warmth and empathy arena, but often lose out with power and authority cues.

If a female wants to be perceived as powerful, credible, and confident, she has to be aware of the nonverbal signals she’s sending. There are a number of behaviors I’ve seen women unknowingly employ that reduce their authority by denoting vulnerability or submission. Based on information from "The Silent Language of Leaders: How Body Language Can Help -- or Hurt -- How You Lead," here are ten body language mistakes that women leaders commonly make.