In the wonderful words of the great Baz Luhrmann,

‘Don’t worry about the future, Or, worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum…’

What I take from this and have found to be true in both my life and work, is that worrying is not only going to fail to protect you for whatever it is you are afraid of, but it will also distract you from being able to do anything remotely productive regarding that same issue.

It goes without saying that there are plenty of things in life that one could worry about, if you felt so inclined. The nature of life, both professionally and personally, is filled with uncertainty. To ignore this would be to either naive or ignorant.

But, the issue here is not the uncertainty (which is unavoidable), but what you do about it. And, in addressing this issue, an onslaught of other challenges come to the forefront… anxiety, insecurity, imposter syndrome, self-worth and self-confidence, just to name a few.

So, this is by no means a simple or straight forward topic. But, what I hope to do is share just a few of the useful tips and tricks that I have found ever-so useful in helping me put down the bubble gum and pick up the tools to help myself.

1. Work out what you are actually afraid of

Often the things that we agonise over have ‘the big and scary outcome’. This could be; missing the deadline, fumbling the presentation or letting down the team. But, the question that is essential to ask is: what is the foundation of this fear?

The deadline itself is not the fear. It is the result of missing it that gives you the gut wrenching sensation throughout your body. Once you take the time to unpack these factors, your concerns can become more accessible and less mysterious. You stop positioning that one moment as the centre of all fear and can start to unpack what you are finding hard and allow yourself to start the journey of addressing the root issue, rather than constantly being at the whim of its manifestations.

2. Identify the worst-case scenario (for the sake of realism)

Now, I have to be honest, this approach doesn’t always work seamlessly, or without downside. But – in many instances, sitting down and getting comfortable with the realities at hand can provide a somewhat freeing realisation. If you can look at the ‘worst case scenario’ and say of course I don’t want that to happen, but it is entirely manageable, you are somewhat less constricted by the overwhelming fear of its occurrence.

3. Identify what is and isn’t in your control

The part of our brain that likes to fuel our worries would have you believe that you are both entirely in control of your situation and yet somehow also entirely at the mercy of it. It is well worth taking the time to calmly sit down and assess, what of the things in front of you can you influence directly, now put them in one list. What of the things in front of you can you influence indirectly (either through getting support from others or creating the environment for your desired outcome to occur), great, put them on another list. And, finally, what do you have no sway over what – so – ever, great, put them on a list and either; throw them out the window or keep them only for the sake of reminding yourself that they are out of your control.

4. Outline practical solutions or preventative measures

Now that you know what you can influence, both directly and indirectly, you now have somewhere to channel all of that, very useful (!), nervous energy! Turn these factors into practical actions that can be taken. It is as simple as channelling your fear of fumbling your presentation into a clear rehearsal plan. The solutions or actions to be taken in this step may not always be clear, which is why our final step is so incredibly important.

5. Rally support

Do not fall into a state of worry-induced paralysis. If you are facing a difficult task, rally support and give yourself the best chance for success. As a good friend of mine often tells me, ‘I believe you can do anything, but you must remember that you can’t do everything at once’. These wise words that I now do my best to live by serve as a reminder that needing help is no mark on your accomplishment, skill or leadership ability, it is merely self-awareness and humility in action. Both of which are sensational qualities for a leader to hold.

If you have made it all the way through this post, I hope that you have taken away some thoughts to aid in the moments where worry creeps in and starts to distract you. Make sure to take it step by step and always remember that every leader needs support and every situation provides a lesson to be learned!

Written by Taylor Hawkins, Head Of Partnerships at The Dream Collective.

The gender pay gap is well documented, but a lesser known and equally concerning issue is the gender investment gap.

Statistics show that businesses founded by women generate twice the revenue of male-founded companies. Yet, they are less likely to be backed by Investors when pitching for early stage capital.

Multiple award-winning entrepreneur Tammy Barton is well aware of the disparity between female competency and financial success, having managed a 70 percent female workforce for more than two decades.

Ms. Barton founded MyBudget in her early twenties and has since built the firm into a national brand, employing over 250 staff in fifteen offices throughout Australia.

When recruiting, Barton asks headhunters to present her with an equal balance of male and female candidates and takes extra steps to identify high achieving women within her business. Not as an act of tokenism – but to ensure that she effectively taps into latent talent.

Perfectionism – the enemy of greatness

“In many cases, highly competent and capable women won’t put themselves forward for a role or a promotion”, said Tammy.

“Generally speaking, I’ve noticed that my female employees tend to be more perfectionist then men. They doubt themselves significantly more and often sell themselves short.

“My observation is that they’ll usually only put their hands up for a promotion or new opportunity if they feel they meet absolutely all of the criteria.

“The problem with this is that women often undervalue their own performance – something that’s been really apparent in the biannual appraisals we conduct at MyBudget.

“In contrast, I’ve noticed that men tend to charge towards opportunities, even if they tick fewer boxes.

“Of course, I’m not saying that women are more competent than men, or vice versa. But there appear to be different mindsets and approaches to risk, which influence how far they progress.

“In my opinion, that’s why female-founded companies and job candidates are such a safe investment – you can be confident that a woman standing in front of you has stress-tested her idea to the nth degree before she’s taken that leap of courage to get there”.

Doing it for the ‘why’

Ms. Barton started MyBudget in 1999 after working at a debt collection agency where she was struck by the harmful effects of financial stress on people’s lives.

She felt compelled to make a positive difference and this desire motivated her foray into money management services – which she has since delivered to more than 100,000 clients.

Ms. Barton recognises this same trait among many of her female employees.

“I have found women to be really emotionally connected to their work”, said Tammy. “Generally speaking, men appear to be more driven by incentives, such as status or financial reward, whereas women are more inclined towards work they find socially meaningful.

“This is why I believe it’s so important to promote diversity and have a healthy proportion of female candidates.

“Again, I’m not saying that women are better than men or vice versa, but these gender differences complement one another, which means having the right balance is key”.

Dispelling the inferiority complex

Throughout her career, Barton has won a plethora of national and state awards including the Australian Financial Review’s 100 Women of Influence Award in 2012 and the League of Extraordinary Women Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2015, the SA Telstra Business Woman of the Year 2017 and 2007 and the EY Entrepreneur of the Year (Central Region) 2008.

But it was following her nomination for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year that she was most doubtful of her ability to win.

“Bear in mind that this was just ten years ago, I really felt less confident about winning this award given the fact I was competing with men as well as women”, said Tammy.

“This isn’t a reflection of my own thoughts about female competency, more a concern about how I would be perceived as measuring up against my male counterparts”.

“I have kept this feeling in mind in designing my diversity and inclusion program and have made a lot of effort to ensure that my female – as well as male employees – recognise their own talent and potential”, she said.

Originally posted 20 Feb 2019, by Amy Sarcevic

Tammy Barton is among an esteemed line-up of speakers to address the Future Women Executive Summit, where she will talk more about approaches to leadership in a climate of gender equality.

You may download the full agenda here.

Last week, we held our recently reinvigorated Emerging Leaders Bootcamp at Google HQ in Singapore. We were joined this time by remarkable women from MediaMath, Lego, PayPal & Google, all of whom came in particularly excited, eager to learn & ready to apply.Our current Emerging Leaders Bootcamps have been designed in a way that guides each emerging leader through the discovery process, then moves them to action & goal setting.This is crucial in order for the learnings to stick & for us to grow as leaders.There is no doubt that the cohort know exactly what they want from their careers, as was displayed through their high-level of self-awareness on what needs to be done in order to achieve their professional goals. It was great to be able to not only create the space for them to turn their visions into tangible actions, but to see it unfold right before our eyes. We just know that we were in the presence of some real transformational moments.

There was a consistent theme of wanting to move from self-leadership to communicating with confidence, as was shown in the immediate actions that they had pledged to take post-program:

• Cultivate A Network
• Further Develop My Personal Brand
• Search For A Mentor Or Sponsor
• Have A Courageous Conversations
• Develop My EQ

A theme that we do see across all cities in which we operate is that, women know what they want & they know what they need to do but they quite often are not putting themselves first. Would you agree?

We’ll be checking in with the cohort next month & look forward to hearing exactly what has & hasn’t stuck as well as how they are getting on with their immediate actions.Wishing the cohort all the very best in the next, very exciting stage of their leadership journey!

“I truly enjoyed the Bootcamp with Dream Collective! The program was very comprehensive and there was the right balance between theory and practical exercises. It really provides the framework to plan the steps towards success. Very empowering!”“The training was absolutely superb and I genuinely enjoyed each and every moment of it. The content was extremely informative and incredibly useful. I have attended several trainings before but I can’t recall any of them having such a strong impact. I will surely recommend this training to all my colleagues and friends. I, myself, would love to attend future training organized or featured by you.”“Dream collective training on Emerging Leader program is a must have for every woman aiming to progress their career. It provides tools, support and accountability to where you want to be. after attending this session, I feel empowered to change my mindset and take actions. I truly believe this company and its training has genuine intentions of changing people’s life especially women and empowering them to be the best they can be.”

Want to talk about training for your team? Get in touch today to schedule a call today via the Contact Us page.

With International Women’s Day just around the corner on Friday 8 March, I thought it would be ideal to use this blog to celebrate gender diversity. The International Women’s Day theme in Australia for 2019 is “More powerful together”, which recognises the important role we all play in creating equal rights and opportunities for women and girls everywhere. 

Having spent most of my career in male dominated industries, I know first-hand the importance of the premise “more powerful together”. 

I’ve been able to learn a lot while progressing in my career, but has it come easily to me? Hell No. Could I have got this far without the support of men? Absolutely not.

This is not the case for many women which is why it is so important to work together to ensure we are making a conscious effort to acknowledge and encourage the women that we work with. To quote Princess Meghan “Women don’t need to find their voices, they have voices. They need to feel empowered to use them and people need to be encouraged to listen.”Well ain’t that the truth!?So, what information can I share about speaking up and being heard? Here are some simple, positive ways to support women in the workplace. Actively encourage and support other women, be each other’s alliesThis is the single greatest lesson of my career to date – Once you’ve taken your seat at the table, it’s your job to pull out a chair for others, too.

For example, in a meeting if a woman gets interrupted, encourage her to finish.If a woman makes a great point that goes unacknowledged, circle back to it so it can be heard.If a woman hasn’t had a chance to speak, bring her into the conversation.

Make no apologies — literally or figurativelyDitch the “sorry, but…”, the “just…”, the “… if that makes sense”.  Quit apologising for your presence, for your voice, for your opinion.

Represent yourself. Represent other womenIn practical terms, it means allowing other women to have their say. It means sending out that congratulatory email, sharing success and recognising achievements without competition. It means speaking up for yourself and those around you.

Most importantlyIt goes beyond the workplace to our home life. What we teach our young girls and women about who they are and how they can contribute starts early. Our actions and communications remove fear and creates places for change.This life is too short to be silent. We need your voice in the room.

Written by Leanne Guthrie March 2019. Connect with Leanne on LinkedIn here.

Earlier this week I attended The Emerging Leaders Bootcamp by The Dream Collective which, was all about teaching females how to become better leaders.

Whether you’re trying to progress in your career, start a business or build a following online, it’s crucial to learn how to be a good leader so that you can cultivate a community and positively impact and influence others into action.

What do the dream collective do?

The drive behind everything that the Dream Collective do is to see more women in leadership – amazing, right? This team of amazing women have a goal to build long-term and sustainable change in women’s representation in the corporate landscape. Work with leading corporations to deliver leadership programs to empower and equip high-calibre young professional women across Australia.

The emerging leaders bootcamp

The Dream Collective offer their clients a range of different programs – I decided that the Emerging Leaders Bootcamp was the perfect event for me and what I’m working towards in The Game Changer Company.

Day One

Anyone can communicate and great leaders know how to communicate well. On day one we covered the key capabilities needed in order to become a leader of influence. The modules that we worked through included:

• Influential leadership and using communication tools to influence scenarios
• Communication evidence and constant feed-forward loop
• Personal branding, which, you guys know, I am all about and
• Cultivating a network

Day Two

Day two was an exclusive dinner series featured a guest of honour in an intimate round table dinner, where the guest mentor led some discussions on industry best practices.

Becoming a good leader

I get messages every, single, day. Asking, how do I grow my following online? How do I grow my influence online? How do I build a sustainable income, my business and my impact?

The thing is… it all comes down to being a better leader.

I recently changed over to a company structure and I’m building The Game Changer Company up to become a huge team and I have some big-picture goals for my business. That’s why I want to be the best leader that I can be, not only for my online audience but to one day lead my global company.

How you can be a better leader

Being a good leader is not just applicable to those who are in a career role but it’s also for those of us who are trying to build an audience or our personal brand. Because if you’re not leading, why would people want to follow you? They wouldn’t. That’s why it’s essential that you start to take the steps towards becoming a better leader in any area of life.

Step One: It’s All About Your Vision

What do you want to achieve? When people have a good understanding of what it is you’re trying to achieve, they’re more likely to follow your journey and listen to your message.

It is paramount that you start by knowing what your vision is and what you’re trying to achieve.

Step Two: To Lead Others – You’ve Got To Know Who You Are

In order to lead and influence others, you need to be so self-aware. Gary Vee talks about this A LOT, he says that if I could give someone a skill that is going to make them successful, it’s self-awareness.

Have an action plan – at the Bootcamp, we did an emotional intelligence exercise which outlined areas where my leadership was strong and maybe, not so strong. This was a great way for me to identify what areas I need to work on and to create an action plan to start becoming a better leader.

Steps Three: What Are Your Values?

When you know what you stand for, it’s so much easier to make decisions as a leader. If you’re feeling a bit directionless in life, it’s most likely due to the fact that you don’t have a vision and you don’t know what your values are.

By knowing your values and your vision, it is so much easier to create content, put yourself out there, network and do all the things that are going to help you progress in your career or business.

Step Four: Focus On Your Personal Brand

I speak about personal branding a lot and whether you’re working on your career or building your own business, you need to be aware of what your reputation is.

You have to be the ambassador for your own brand and constantly put yourself out there. You have to be relentless in the pursuit of exposure so you can build a brand and reach six-figure’s, a million YouTube subscribers or whatever it is that you are trying to achieve.

Step Five: Understand Your Own Obstacles

This step is huge, you need to understand the obstacles or limiting beliefs that are holding you back from sharing your message, networking or building your business.

You need to put yourself in situations that scare you and start to visualise the fears and limiting beliefs that you have so that you can identify your beliefs and squash them.

Step Six: Understand Your Strengths

You’ve got to know your strengths so that you can spend most of your time doing those things and outsourcing the rest. Of course when your first starting out you will have to do things that you aren’t good at, however, you should be basing everything you’re doing off of your strengths.

The more you know yourself, the more you’re going to be able to lead others.

Step Seven: Build Your Network

When it comes to being online you have to be working on building your community, learning how to sell and how to promote yourself comfortably.

I did a masterclass on this on The Game Changer Collective, all about how to sell so that you can make money in your business. If you’re going to be a leader, a successful entrepreneur or influencer, the two things you need to focus on is how to self promote which means being comfortable when talking about yourself and your business.

As well as how to build your network because entrepreneurship cannot be done alone. You have to put yourself out there and build relationships with people online.

I hope this has been helpful in giving you not only the steps but the sequence that you can start working on in order to become a better leader and successful as an entrepreneur, a thought leader or anyone trying to impact others.

Written by Erin May Henry, The Game Changer Co. February 14th 2019.

Leaders influence. Managers direct.

Well, actually, it’s not that black and white.

Leaders generally do focus on what matters and why as managers focus on how. Both use different forms of influence and direction at different times. But leaders have a bias to influencing by inspiring and enabling through advice and counsel while managers have a bias to command and control.

Leadership is focussed on others and starts with self & their people, inspiring them to think beyond the “now” whereas management is about how you do things i.e. processes, planning and other the technical elements.

Leaders are conscious of how their emotions influence their behaviours (as well as how their behaviour influence other people’s emotions) whereas managers don’t consider this as important or necessary to consider for the task at hand.

This isn’t to say though that one is better than the other. Both roles are equally important. It’s the essential interplay between the two roles that can be tricky to navigate. So what does the road from manager to leader look like?

According to the World Economic Forum, 1 of the top leadership skills that will see you thrive in 2020 (yes, that’s next year…!) as determined by 350 executives, 9 industries & 15 of the world’s biggest economies is Emotional Intelligence.

Emotional Intelligence is the factor outside of how intellectual you are that is going to determine how successful you are and also the Number 1 leadership skill that separates managers from leaders.

So, what does EQ in action look like?

In essence, EQ is a set of emotional & social skills that influence the way that you: – Perceive and express yourself – Develop and maintain social relationships – Cope with challenges – Use emotional information in an effective & meaningful way

There are five components of Emotional Intelligence. They are:

1. SELF-AWARENESS

   If you’re self-aware, you always know how you feel, and you know how your emotions and your actions can affect the people around you. Being self-aware when you’re in a leadership position also means having a clear picture of your strengths and weaknesses, and it means behaving with humility.

   Our top tip for improving self-awareness? Slow down. When you experience anger or other strong emotions, slow down to examine why. Remember, no matter what the situation, you can always choose how you react to it.

2. SELF-REGULATION

   Leaders who regulate themselves effectively rarely verbally attack others, make rushed or emotional decisions, stereotype people, or compromise their values. Self-regulation is all about staying in control.

   So, how can you improve your ability to self-regulate? Hold yourself accountable. If you tend to blame others when something goes wrong, stop. Make a commitment to admit to your mistakes and to face the consequences, whatever they are. You’ll probably sleep better at night, and you’ll quickly earn the respect of those around you.

3. MOTIVATION

   Self-motivated leaders work consistently toward their goals, and they have extremely high standards for the quality of their work.

   How can you improve your motivation? Remember your “why”. The reason you get out of bed in the morning. The reason you took your role in the first place. The goal that you are working words. Your motivation is a key source of your teams motivation and you have a responsibility as a leader to ensure you keep them motivated.

4. EMPATHY

   For leaders, having empathy is critical to managing a successful team or organisation. Leaders with empathy have the ability to put themselves in someone else’s situation. They help develop the people on their team, challenge others who are acting unfairly, give constructive feedback, and listen to those who need it. Earn the respect and loyalty of your team & show them you care by being empathic.

   How can you improve your empathy? Put yourself in someone else’s position – It’s easy to support your own point of view. But take the time to look at situations from other people’s perspectives.

5. SOCIAL SKILLS

   Leaders who do well in the social skills element of emotional intelligence are great communicators. They’re just as open to hearing bad news as good news, and they’re expert at getting their team to support them and be excited about a new mission or project. Leaders who have good social skills are also good at managing change and resolving conflicts diplomatically.

   So, how can you build social skills? Improve your communication skills. Do you consider the intent of the message? The background that’s maybe needed for context? The ideal channel for this?

While, research does suggest that high levels of emotional intelligence can help predict leadership success, while low levels of emotional intelligence in other areas can predict leadership derailment, emotional Intelligence is just one component in the leadership skills pie. The transition from manager to leader requires continued development & discipline.

Did you find these helpful? How do you think you stack up? What is your experience with the 5 key components? Is Emotional Intelligence a skill that you’d like to develop in 2019? If so, we’d love to hear from you! Just email us here.

Till then,
The Dream Team

Think about the last time that you were confronted with a challenge, or received some feedback that didn’t sit quite right. You were likely hard on yourself & let the feelings of doubt takeover & effect your performance. It’s likely too that – depending on your level of resilience – that any anxiety or dread far outlasted any benefit or lesson that was learned.

This is resilience testing in action.

According to McKinsey & Co., true resilience, or “authentic confidence”, comes from within. It requires acknowledgements of insecurities about capability & dealing with them in an intentional, judgement-free way. By developing this attribute, you can better manage stress in a sustainable way whilst improving your relationships at work.

So, how exactly can true resilience be developed? McKinsey found that there are six interconnected elements:

1. Purpose and values: Identify your true purpose and values. These are your guiding principles & can act as an anchor in challenging times.
2. Mindfulness: The act of being fully present ensures that you take the situation for what it is & are aware of your emotions
3. Acceptance: In order to become authentically confident, we must address our limiting beliefs & move towards what is most important to us. This non-judgmental acknowledgement of the fear reduces its negative impact dramatically.
4. Defusion: Be aware of the triggers that will derail you. If you do not feel authentically confident, will a snide comment from a bitter team member throw you? Or the presence of a board member with whom you’ve had run-ins?
5. Self-in-context: The ability to reflect & observe yourself in context & from a distance is essential in developing authentic confidence. There are many ways in which you can do this & this is where disciples such as meditation & journalling can aid.
6. Committed action: This is where all elements come to life. Developing authentic confidence requires committed action daily.

Do you see developing resilience as a holistic approach that requires daily action? How do you think you would score if you were to take an assessment prior to putting any of these into practice?

Is “authentic confidence” a skill you’d like to cultivate? If so, we’d love to hear from you. We’re here & awaiting your reply! You can get in touch via this link.

Till then,
The Dream Collective Team

____________

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Adapted from McKinsey & Co “Don’t stress out: how to build long-term resilience”

Government-mandated reporting of gender pay discrepancies has been a subject of much debate in the last 5-10 years. Those arguing for legislation to require such reporting say that it will help to address the persistent gender wage gap. Opponents insist that not only is that unlikely; it will also increase companies’ administrative burden and decrease profits. Until recently there has been no strong evidence to support either side.

However, we have just conducted the first empirical study on the impact of mandatory wage transparency. That study’s results suggest that disclosing disparities in gender pay does in fact narrow the gender wage gap. It also can:

• Increase the number of women being hired, indicating that the supply pool of female employees increases as gender pay transparency improves.
• Increase the number of female employees being promoted from the bottom of the hierarchy to more senior positions.
• Lower companies’ overall wage bills, largely by slowing down the growth of male wages.

Our research examined wage statistics of Danish companies before and after the introduction of the country’s 2006 Act on Gender Specific Pay Statistics. That legislation requires companies with more than 35 employees to report on gender pay gaps. We focused on companies with 35-50 employees who had to report their wage gaps (we call them mandatory reporting firms) and compared their pay data with identical information from a group of similar-sized firms with 25-34 employees that weren’t required to release gender-segregated data (our control group).

Our results showed that from 2003 to 2008, the gender pay gap at mandatory reporting firms shrank 7%, from 18.9% to 17.5%, while the gap at control firms stayed steady at 18.9%. These findings suggest that governments can indeed take effective steps to address gender wage disparities by making it mandatory for firms to provide data showing discrepancies in gender pay.

Wage transparency is not without cost, however.

All employees’ remuneration increased during the period of our study, but the wages of men working in mandatory reporting firms increased by less than those in the control group.

Furthermore, mandatory reporting firms in our study experienced a significant 2.5% decline in productivity relative to the control group. However, by the end of our study period, the mandatory reporting firms’ overall wage bills were 2.8% lower than those of the control firms. Thus, the decline in productivity is fully offset by the saved wage cost and we do not find that the increased transparency impacts firms’ net income. Firms concerned about a negative impact of these new laws on their profit don’t seem to have reason to fear.

Creating a more equitable workplace

We also found that the law had other beneficial effects on equity. It had a greater impact on the wages of low and intermediate level employees and had no significant effect on the pay performance of managers at the top of the corporate hierarchy. For example, low-level female employees in firms that reported on their gender pay gap were also more likely to get promoted to higher levels after the passage of the law.

Furthermore, mandatory reporting companies hired 5% more women in the intermediate and lower hierarchy levels than the control firms, suggesting firms are able to attract more female employees in positions where they offer fairer compensation.

While we didn’t see a statistically significant change in departure rates of male or female employees, there was a slightly higher number of departures of high-level females, an indication that women may be more likely to leave positions where there is no adjustment in pay towards closing the gender gap.

We also noticed some specific mechanisms at play that enhanced pay gap improvements even further. First, we noticed that the improvement in the pay gap was most prevalent in firms where male managers had more daughters than sons. In these companies, female wages rose 5% higher than the rest of the mandatory reporting group, closing the gender pay gap by a further 2.4% – further support for an argument made elsewhere that men with diverse home lives are more progressive about bringing diversity and equality into the workplace. Second, industries which had higher disparities in pay between men and women before the laws were introduced saw a greater shrinking of the gender wage gap.

Two factors make it particularly remarkable that this reform has had an impact on reducing the gender wage gap: First, the reform was watered down from its original proposed state because of concerns from industry. And second, Denmark had a strong record on supporting women in the workforce even prior to the reform.

For these reasons, we believe that a mandatory wage transparency reform covering all firms would provide even larger reduction in the gender wage gap as would reforms in other less egalitarian countries.

And indeed, every country in the OECD — where government-mandated reporting of gender pay discrepancies has become a particularly prominent legislative issue — has a gender pay gap in favor of men, by an average of 15.1%. Despite the attention of governments and regulatory bodies in these regions this gap is holding fast and in some cases widening. The median gender pay gap across OECD countries ranges from 36.7% in Korea, to 3.4% in Luxembourg.

Our research suggests that governments’ efforts to address these disparities through transparency can be effective — and beneficial to firms as well as to their female employees.

Originally posted on Harvard Business Review by :

• Morten Bennedsen
• Elena Simintzi
• Margarita Tsoutsoura
• Daniel Wolfenzon

Hitting refresh at the beginning of January is one of my favourite times of the year. It’s that ‘back to school’, fresh start, ‘anything is possible’ feeling that reinvigorates me as I take a moment to reflect on the years potential & set goals for the year ahead.

I started 2018 a little differently. I attended The Emerging Leaders Bootcamp run by ‘The Dream Collective’ – an organisation creating the next generation of female leaders.

This isn’t your typical leadership course, rather a program in Self Leadership – an immersion of thought-provoking concepts that are incredibly powerful and relevant for transformational leadership change that starts from within.

Here’s what I learned:

1. Become less cluttered by mental debris

In 2018 I celebrated 2 years at Hilti Australia and was determined to make this year my best year yet. I mapped out my year, packed my diary with goals and plans and everything in-between. I thrive on having plans, always having work, always having places to go and people to see. But when you are too busy, you don’t have time to realise or appreciate your surroundings and the moments you may be too distracted to notice. You also don’t recognise the emotional toll that it takes when you aren’t able to connect to reality.

My plan: Practice the psychology of mindfulness which guest speaker – Dr. Adrian Medhurst, espoused to during the program – become more self-aware, and assign my time and energy to things that truly matter.

2. Cultivate gratitude

In psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater levels of happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, and is a way for people to appreciate what they have instead of always searching for something they think will make them happy. There are many things in our lives, both large and small, that we can be grateful about.

My plan: I now take some time on a day I have declared as ‘Thankful Thursday’, reflecting on someone who has helped me, and letting them know that. I will either do this in person, with a hand-written note, e-card, or just an email, making sure to tell them what a difference they have made to my week.

3. Mind hacking

This year I have been focused on transitioning from a tactician to a strategist. It’s more than just learning new skills – it’s redesigning the way I think. I’ve since become fascinated by the “growth mindset” concept after hearing Gauri Bhalla – founder of The Curious Collective speak about it during the program, especially since I used to have a fairly fixed mindset – #confessionalert. It’s the insecure perfectionist in me! I love putting a bow on everything.

My plan: Be aware my own ‘resistance’ – a concept Stephen Pressfield writes about in his book ‘The War of Art’ (which I highly recommend!). It talks about all that psychological stuff that keeps us away from the creativity of a ‘growth mindset’. So, instead of just trying harder and harder, I plan to work smarter. I’ll be putting on my explorer hat and drafting fresh, new ideas that will move me from problem solving to opportunity seeking.

4. Practice empathy

I’m a people person. I’m naturally energised by humans, and I thrive on building meaningful relationships. During the program we conducted Empathy Interviews – a foundation of the concept of ‘Design Thinking’. It uses a human-centered approach to understand the feelings and experiences of others.

My plan: Focus on having authentic conversations with my colleagues which will allow me to understand their emotions, motivations and choices.

5. What fills your cup?

Alicia Brown – Head of Programs at The Dream Collective asked us to think about what fills our cup. While I usually do a half-decent job of keeping my cup full, I’ve had a couple of months where this has not been the case. I created a reality that said that everyone had certain expectations of me and that I had to live up to them … or else. In reality, very few, if any, of those expectations existed. It’s my responsibility to take the time to do what feeds my soul – first.

My plan: The glass will be half full regardless of the day, and when it feels half empty – I’ll get a smaller cup.

I’m excited to start the 2019 new year in a great place with a matching mindset. The plan is to take regular moments to pause, reflect and celebrate my own achievements, and reflect on how lucky I am to work so many people I admire, doing a job that allows me to fuel Hilti’s unique culture.

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Written by 2018 alumni member, Priya Singh from Hilti Australia.

Want to join us next time? We have upcoming programs in:

• Tokyo | 28th – 29th January
• Melbourne | 12th – 13th February
• Sydney | 18th – 19th February
• Singapore | 5th – 6th March

For more information, chat with us today or simply email us here. We can’t wait to meet you!

Your life today is essentially the sum of your habits.

Think about it:

• How in shape or out of shape you are? A result of your habits.
• How happy or unhappy you are? A result of your habits.
• How successful or unsuccessful you are? A result of your habits.

What you repeatedly do & think about ultimately forms the person you are, the things you believe, and the personality that you portray.

Whether you are like the majority of us who love a New Years resolution or if you want to begin a new habit at any point in the year, these are our Top 4 tips we recommend when wanting to make a habit stick.

• Get a Buddy – Find someone who will keep you accountable and keep you motivated if you feel like quitting.
• Use “But” – When you start to think negative thoughts, use the word “but” to interrupt it e.g “I’m no good at this, but, if I work at it I might get better later.” or, “I really can’t be bothered reading/going to the gym/making a salad today but I understand that short-term pain equals long-term gain & that future-me will thank me for it.”
• Really understand your believe your WHY – They say that if you find it difficult to stick to a habit, perhaps it’s not rooted to a cause that’s important enough to you. Do you want to read a book a week just because? Or do you want to read a book a week because personal growth is important to you?
• Write. It. Down– Writing makes your ideas more clear and focuses you on your end result. Stick in on your mirror, a cork board, fridge, or anywhere that you pass daily. Reinforcement has a tremendous impact on seeing a habit through.

Do you have New Year resolutions? We’d love to hear them! We’re back & can’t wait to hear from you again! You can get in touch via this link.

Till then,
The Dream Collective Team

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As a way of thanking our clients for their support over the 12 months in which we had been operating in Japan, we invited our network to hear our gender diversity insights & solutions as observed through a through a global lens, meet the team and experience knowledge sharing with over 60 of Japan’s most influential HR, L&D & D&I leaders from companies including adidas, Unilever, LVMH, en world, Johnson Control Hitachi & Starbucks to name just a few.

We were honoured to have been joined by the following during an insightful panel discussion around what is working, what is not and what more can we be doing to advance women in leadership in Japan:

• Vanessa Oshima, Starbucks Japan, Vice-President of Marketing
• Akira Shioyama, Adidas, HR Senior Manager
• Stephane Voyer, LVMH Japan, Senior Vice-President HR
• Sarah Liu, The Dream Collective, Founder & Managing Director

With operations in Australia, Singapore, Japan & China, when it comes to our own global observations on what is and isn’t working, our top observations are:

• Many organisation have goals but no clear strategy or roadmap on how they plan to achieve it
• Many organisations have the right intentions but do not meet this with proportional investment
• Many organisations have started on their initiatives but do not follow-through

While reasons vary each time, in order to purposefully and intentionally advance female talent globally, more of the following needs to happen:

• Move from conversation to action: Start today. Every step counts – whether it be large or small.
• Engage external partners: Share your D&I goals with experts that have the time, resources and expertise to get you there
• Holistic investment: They say that if you want to truly understand someones priorities, look at what their wallet (what they spend their money on) & their calendar (how they prioritise their time). The same can be said of an organisation. How does yours priorities Diversity & Inclusion?

We’d like to thank all who attended for showing your commitment towards advancing more women in Japan. It was wonderful to see existing partners and to meet many new. We look forward to continuing the conversation with each of you and driving change together.

To see all photos from the evening, you can view them via the link here.

If you would like to learn more about our services, we welcome you to get in touch here.