Communication

👧 Girls can do maths, and ride bikes, and they deserve better from The Warehouse! UPDATEDED July 2nd - The Warehouse’s incoming chief executive Mark Stirton has just offered an apology and a promise of internal practice change. Thanks Mark! I know this preceded you but it speaks volumes about your future leadership ❤️ https://lnkd.in/gBYqeKhJ This week, the Advertising Standards Authority upheld complaints against a TV ad from The Warehouse that featured a unicorn-covered pink backpack alongside the tagline “Can’t do long division.” The ad included a girl's giggle and was set against a hot-pink background, clearly implying that being a girl means being bad at maths 😡. Sound familiar? Because just a couple of years ago, I was ranting at The Warehouse for advertising a bike described as “so easy even for a girl!” 😲 These aren’t isolated incidents, they are a pattern of gendered assumptions that tell young girls what they can’t do: - Can’t do long division. - Can’t ride a bike without “easy brakes.” - Can’t be expected to keep up. The Warehouse has once again apologised and removed the ad, but this isn’t just about one backpack or one badly written product description, it’s about the accumulation of limiting messages that start early and stay with girls for life. Just so we are clear, the scientific evidence shows that: - Girls are just as capable in STEM as boys. - Girls thrive when they’re encouraged, not stereotyped. - Too many girls opt out of maths and science because they’ve absorbed the message that “it’s not for them.” That message doesn’t just show up in classrooms, it shows up in gendered toy aisles, TV ads and product listings. Come on The Warehouse, you raise over $1 million a year for NZ communities which is incredible. Imagine the impact you could have if your messaging empowered every child instead of reinforcing outdated myths. Because girls CAN do long division. Girls CAN ride fast bikes. Girls CAN and DO change the world, even more so if we stop telling them they can’t. #GenderEquality #STEMforGirls #InclusiveMarketing #BiasInAdvertising #TheWarehouse #STEM #GirlsInMaths #womeninSTEM

Hey, companies! Before you hit "post" on that International Women’s Day content, let’s do a quick check: ✅ Have you reviewed your gender pay gap? ✅ Are you actively closing it—not just talking about it? ✅ Is your IWD campaign backed by real change, or just pink-washed PR? Because nothing says “we value women” quite like a polished LinkedIn post… from a company where women are still underpaid, underrepresented in leadership, and overlooked for promotions. If your leadership team is a boys’ club, if working mums are penalised for having kids, if women in your organisation are still fighting for the pay, promotions, and respect their male colleagues receive as default—maybe sit this one out. International Women’s Day isn’t a branding opportunity. It’s a wake-up call. If you’re serious about equality, start with your numbers. Fix the gap. Change the culture. Do the work. Because if the math doesn’t add up, neither does your message. #GenderPayGap #IWD #ActionsNotWords #DoBetter

If your one-on-ones are primarily status updates, you're missing a massive opportunity to build trust, develop talent, and drive real results. After working with countless leadership teams across industries, I've found that the most effective managers approach 1:1s with a fundamentally different mindset... They see these meetings as investments in people, not project tracking sessions. Great 1:1s focus on these three elements: 1. Support: Create space for authentic conversations about challenges, both professional and personal. When people feel safe discussing real obstacles, you can actually help remove them. Questions to try: "What's currently making your job harder than it needs to be?" "Where could you use more support from me?" 2. Growth: Use 1:1s to understand aspirations and build development paths. People who see a future with your team invest more deeply in the present. Questions to explore: "What skills would you like to develop in the next six months?" "What parts of your role energize you most?" 3. Alignment: Help team members connect their daily work to larger purpose and meaning. People work harder when they understand the "why" behind tasks. Questions that create alignment: "How clear is the connection between your work and our team's priorities?" "What part of our mission resonates most with you personally?" By focusing less on immediate work outputs and more on the human doing the work, you'll actually see better performance, retention, and results. Check out my newsletter for more insights here: https://lnkd.in/ei_uQjju #executiverecruiter #eliterecruiter #jobmarket2025 #profoliosai #resume #jobstrategy #leadershipdevelopment #teammanagement

“DIAL DOWN THE FEMINISM” “DON’T BE A SUCH A ZEALOT” “WE CAN’T UPSET THE MEN” “I DON’T WANT TO MAKE THE MEN FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE” “SHE’S NOT HARDCORE ON WOMEN’S RIGHTS LIKE YOU ARE” “THIS HAS TO BE ABOUT ALL PEOPLE, NOT JUST WOMEN” This is the kind of feedback I receive. Not a long time ago, in fact as recently as 2023. How do you suppose I feel about that feedback when 🚨 67+ Australian women were murdered by their current or former partner in Australia in 2023 🚨 1 in 2 women have experienced sexual harassment 🚨 1 in 4 women have experienced emotional abuse by a current or former partner 🚨 1 in 6 women have been stalked 🚨 1 in 5 women have experienced sexual violence 🚨 1 in 6 women have experienced physical violence by a partner 🚨 1 woman is murdered every five days in Australia These statistics don’t cover the propensity for violence that is multiplied if you’re a First Nations woman, Trans Woman or Disabled Woman. Dialling my feminism will never occur, in fact I’ll be dialling my advocacy up in 2024 … because until all all women are safe, respected and reaching their full potential, I don’t care who feels uncomfortable. Data from Counting Dead Women/Destroy the Joint, Women’s Agenda, ANROWS & White Ribbon #WomensRights #AdvancingWomen #ViolenceAgainstWomen

Things We Can Do to Actually Make an Impact This IWD (And no, cupcakes aren’t it.) 1. Check Your Bias & Change Your Language Gender bias is real, and the words we use matter. Here are some actual things I’ve heard in conversations or have been said directly to me 🙃: 🚩 “Women don’t want leadership positions; they want to stay home with their kids.” 🚩 “If women wanted leadership positions, they’d be in them.” 🚩 “We can’t give a board seat to a woman right now because there aren’t many left, and we might need to bring our HR person on eventually - so we’ll tick the box then.” 🚩 “Equality is the hot topic with the boys at the moment.” 🚩 “I’m not biased in my hiring process.” (Proceeds to only hire from select private boys' schools.) 🚩 “She only got the role because she’s the token female.” 🚩 “She’s only been successful in business because she shows her body online.” If you’ve ever said or thought anything like this - it’s time to rethink and do better. 2. Acknowledge the State of Inequality Some key stats: 📉 The gender pay gap is 21.8%. (For every $1 a man makes, a woman earns 78c.) ⏳ At this rate, gender equality is still 100 years away. 💰 Women retire with 25% less super than men. 🧹 Women do 8 more hours of unpaid domestic work each week than men. (That’s 416 extra hours per year!) 💸 Only 4% of investor capital goes to all-female founding teams. 🏢 Women make up just 22% of CEOs and 37% of key management roles. (Meaning men still hold 63% of decision-making power.) (Sadly this list is in reality much longer than 6 points) 3. Do Something About It This does not mean making the women in your office order cupcakes, organise a morning tea, and clean up afterward. 🙃 We need to actually TAKE ACTION. And before you say, “I would, but I have a responsibility for my P&L…” - businesses with higher female representation perform better financially. (AKA more $$$ to your bottom line) You can also start making an impact at home. 👉 If you’re in a heterosexual relationship, ask yourself: * Are both of your careers valued equally? * How are you sharing the mental load? * Are responsibilities at home divided fairly? I know - these aren’t always easy conversations. But they matter.

Neuroinclusive email etiquette ensures our digital communications are accessible to everyone, including neurodivergent colleagues 😊. Confusion can lead to waste effort.. e.g. doing the wrong work without the intent to do so.. By crafting clear, concise emails, we not only share information effectively but also create a more inclusive work environment. Start with a descriptive subject line and use simple, direct language. Break your content into short paragraphs or bullet points to help guide the reader’s eye 👀. A brief summary at the beginning can also provide clarity and reduce cognitive load. Also try these and more.... • Use clear, jargon‐free language. • Structure your message with bullet points or numbered lists. • Keep sentences short and to the point. • Allow for extra time when expecting responses, recognising diverse processing speeds 🤝. Adopting these practices makes our communication friendlier and more effective for everyone. Let’s lead by example and foster a workplace where digital correspondence is both respectful and accessible 😊.

Most of our interactions—especially the difficult ones—are negotiations in disguise. In their book Beyond Reason, Roger Fisher and Daniel Shapiro highlight how success in these conversations often comes down to addressing core concerns—deep, often unspoken emotional needs that shape how people engage. These concerns are: Appreciation, Affiliation, Autonomy, Status, and Role. Ignore them, and you’ll likely face resistance, disengagement, or frustration. Acknowledge and address them, and you create the conditions for stronger relationships, better problem-solving, and more win-win outcomes. I’ve learned this the hard way. Appreciation A senior leader I worked with was frustrated by pushback from his team. The problem? He was so focused on driving results that he rarely acknowledged their efforts. Once he started genuinely listening and recognizing their contributions, engagement skyrocketed. The team felt heard, and collaboration improved instantly. Affiliation A new CEO walked into a fractured leadership team—siloed, political, and mistrusting. Instead of pushing quick solutions, she focused on rebuilding connections, creating shared experiences, and reinforcing that they were one team. The shift in culture transformed their ability to work together. Autonomy A department head was drowning in tactical decisions because his team constantly sought approval. By clearly defining goals, setting guardrails, and empowering them to make decisions, he freed up his time and saw his team step up with more confidence and accountability. Status A high-potential leader felt overlooked and disengaged. His boss didn’t give him a raise or a new title but started including him in key strategic meetings. That simple shift in visibility changed everything—he became more invested, more proactive, and took on bigger challenges. Role A VP was struggling, not because of a lack of skill, but because she was in the wrong seat. When her boss recognized this and shifted her to a role better suited to her strengths, she thrived. Sometimes, people don’t need a promotion—they need the right role. Before a tough conversation or leadership decision, check in: - Am I recognizing their efforts? - Making them feel included? - Giving them autonomy? - Acknowledging their status? - Ensuring their role fits? Addressing core concerns isn’t about being nice—it’s about unlocking the best in people. When we do, we create better conversations, stronger teams, and real momentum. #Conversations #Negotiations #CoreConcerns #Interactions #HumanBehavior #Learning #Leadership #Disagreements

No one is waking up at 7am, sipping coffee, thinking, “Wow, I really hope someone explains holistic wealth architecture today.” People want clarity. They want content that feels like a conversation, not a lecture. They want to understand what you’re saying the first time they read it. Write like you're talking to a real person. Not trying to win a Pulitzer. - Use short sentences. - Cut the jargon. - Sound like someone they’d trust with their money, not someone who spends weekends writing whitepapers for fun. Confused clients don’t ask for clarification. They move on. Here’s how to make your content clearer: 1. Ask yourself: Would my mom understand this? If the answer is “probably not,” simplify it until she would. No shade to your mom, she’s just a great clarity filter. 2. Use the “friend test.” Read it out loud. If it sounds weird or overly stiff, imagine explaining it to a friend at lunch. Rewrite it like that. 3. Replace jargon with real words. Say “retirement income you won’t outlive” instead of “longevity risk mitigation strategy.” Your clients are not Googling your vocabulary. 4. Stick to one idea per sentence. If your sentence is doing cartwheels and dragging a comma parade behind it, break it up. 5. Format like you actually want them to read it. Use line breaks. Add white space. Make it skimmable. No one wants to read a block of text the size of a mortgage document. Writing clearly isn’t dumbing it down. It’s respecting your audience enough to make content easy to understand. What’s the worst jargon-filled phrase you’ve seen in the wild? Let’s roast it.

Younger generations bring me hope… Yesterday I had the wonderful opportunity to engage in a rich conversation with four incredibly curious and engaged girls in grade 5 at Copenhagen International School. They had invited me to a podcast interview on the topic of gender equality. Amongst the questions they asked me were the following: ❓Have you ever experienced or known someone that has been impacted by gender inequality? ❓Do you think the world would be different if women had equal rights - how and why? ❓Have you ever visited a country where girls are still very far behind compared to Europe, for example? Have you visited any places that are ahead of Europe? What is it like there? ❓What do you think different organisations and individuals can do to help protect the rights of girls? In answering these questions, I emphasized the following: bias is the biggest barrier to gender equality, intersectionality is key, gender is not a binary concept, gender equality benefits everyone including boys and men, and inspiration for gender equality doesn’t just lie in Europe and we can find inspiration in many parts of the world. I left the students with a set of actions that included introspecting deeply on our own biases that we hold about other people. In our conversation, one of the girls shared that when she is told that she “runs like a girl”, she flips the narrative and says (I am paraphrasing) “thank you! I am glad you think I am fast.” It pains me to think that even in 2024, our young girls have to still put up with the gender based stereotypes and discrimination. And at the same time, it gives me hope seeing these girls changing the narrative with their inner strength and determination. I certainly was not doing that at the age of 11! It also made me reflect that we adults have to do more so that these girls enter workplaces where they are truly valued and included. We have to do better. #ThursdayThoughts #LeadingThroughBias #LeadingWithClarity

Yesterday, I'm sure your LinkedIn feed was flooded with posts for International Women's Day (with the occasional comment asking when International Men's Day is - Tuesday 19th November btw). And while a lot of posts were linked to a theme of #InspireInclusion, I'm looking at the UN Women theme of Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress. So this week, I've been posting on each of the points underneath this, for you to really think about how we can do more than just inspire inclusion to take action to invest in women! Next up is "Supporting Feminist Change-Makers". On my Twitter timeline, I know that Feminist, like many other progressive terms #Woke #DEI, is being used as an insult, but I'm not going to let that deter me from using it in earnest. And this is important because: 📢 Without feminists advocating for gender equality and women's rights, women's voices and perspectives are often overlooked in decision-making processes. 📄 Feminists play a crucial role in advocating for policy and legal reforms that address gender-based discrimination and violence against women. 📈 Feminists challenge harmful social and cultural norms that perpetuate gender stereotypes and help create more inclusive and equitable societies where women can fully participate and thrive. 👩👧 Feminists work at the grassroots level to empower women and girls through education, economic opportunities, and community work. 💢 Feminists recognise the intersectionality of gender with other forms of oppression, including race, class, sexuality, and disability. In the workplace, supporting feminist change-makers means promoting gender diversity in leadership positions and creating inclusive work environments. Set targets to increase female representation in senior management roles. In your daily life, it means standing in solidarity with women activists and supporting organisations that advocate for gender equality. Leaders, your challenge is to actively promote feminist leadership and allocate resources to feminist initiatives. For everyone, it's about amplifying women's voices, challenging sexism and discrimination, and supporting initiatives that dismantle systemic barriers. Together, let's empower women to lead and create a more just and equitable world. #FeministLeadership #EmpowerChange #StandWithWomen #InvestInWomenAccelerateProgress #IWD2024