In conversation with Gill Whitty-Collins
Have you fumed through a meeting as less qualified men talk over you, re-package your ideas? Do you wait patiently to make your very well thought out point only for the opportunity never to come?
Why Men win at work is a new book by Gill Whitty-Collins. It was only when gill reached the top of a global consumer company (P&G) that she realised how sexist the workplace could be?
In the US, Europe and the UK 95% of the top jobs are still held by men? A recent Mckinsey report shows that whilst some companies are making excellent progress on diversity others are polarising or even falling behind despite clear evidence of the business case for diversity
In a provocative call to action gill whitty-collins calls on women and men to challenge more and leave cultures that don’t support diversity. with deep dive research into a select group of women who do make the top, she reveals the themes in the strategies and attitudes that they deploy - and they aren’t what you might expect…
This subject is so close to our heart at Rocking the Journey as we coach women to navigate their way through workplace/community/relational challenges so that they can reach their potential, thrive and ultimately live life to the full.
We hear the issues that Gill brings up in her book on a daily basis. And we know how frustrating, how hurtful and what a waste of precious energy hostile environments can cause.
I love Gill’s book as it lays out the business case for diversity (the evidence is clear - companies with supportive diverse cultures perform better on every scale) and also encourages compassionate conversations between men and women about how to create cultures that attract the best talents from all sectors of our community.
On researching some of the approaches of a selection of the top 5% of women, Gill says that whilst they were all very different personalities she found the following themes:
they actively seek out cultures that have inclusion and diversity baked into all that they do - they walk the talk! Getting in the right environment as early as possible is central to their success.
they have fantastic self awareness - they know what they are good at and stick to this. They ignore the rest.
they aren’t afraid of leaving white male dominated cultures that tolerate unconscious bias. Vote with your feet is a message that comes up time and again
they use humour extensively and build strong inner self confidence so they don’t “play the victim”
they are authentic and don’t copy male behaviour. They aren’t afraid of being open and empathic and work hard at creating collaborative cultures.
Rock My Age provides immersive on-camera coaching in amplifying impact, presence and authority
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Listen to our Podcast with Gill if you are interesting in igniting better conversations on gender, strategically planning your career around environments that support diversity and deploying the attitudes of the minority of women who do take the top jobs.