Lady Geek

The Times last week picked up my Lady Geek report along with lots of surprising and somewhat dismaying points about how even fewer women are reaching boardroom status and failing to put their talents to use. In 2006 the Women and Work Commission calculated that if women’s skills were better harnessed, the country would gain £23 billion. It also states, to my horror, Rwanda has a higher female representation in its parliament than does the UK (49 per cent to our 20 per cent)

That is the question posed and answered in Why Women Mean Business: Understanding the Emergence of our next Economic Revolution. Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, the author of the book, states that men need to become ‘gender bilingual’. “When a major business moves into China, it tries to learn and understand Chinese culture and language. That’s no different from learning to work with female differences in terms of aspirations, vocabulary, attitudes and priorities.”

Companies that have adopted this ‘gender bi-lingual‘ approach have seen the positive results in the workforce. PwC has more than doubled the number of women who return after maternity leave. Quite a feat as most men in business in my experience really believe that your brain disappears along with your pelvic floor muscles. I remember being introduced in a meeting after my first week back after maternity leave as “This is Belinda, and only half her brain works since she has had her baby.” Not quite the confidence building introduction I would have hoped for.

Work has taken on a new meaning in my life since having children. I am much more focused. I am less likely to talk corporate bull. I am less tolerant. I am better at multi-tasking. I deliver more albeit in a shorter worker week. I refuse to sacrifice time with my children unless it is for something I believe in. Something I believe that is actually going to make a difference.

In the 1990s Deloitte, the professional services firm, organised a two-day workshop on gender issues for 5,000 staff. It cost $8 million (£4 million). Douglas McCracken, the CEO, said: “The message was out: don’t make assumptions about what women do or don’t want. Ask them.” There are numerous studies on how women in business positively impact the bottom line but many companies still fail to realise the potential of women especially after they have had children.

I love the quote the Churchill quote they end with in the book, “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”