KnowThyBrand - Championing gender inclusion in business

In this episode we talk with Flo Williams, an elite rugby player both for premiership clubs (currently Wasps) & internationally capped with Wales, as well as the Women's Sports Lead with MATTA, a marketing sports agency.

With Flo we discussed her journey as a female sportswoman in a traditionally male sport like rugby, the challenges she faces but also the amazing opportunities that come with playing in a team at an elite level.

We discussed what kept her going when the challenges kept on coming and how these experiences have shaped her as a professional woman.

Finally, we talked about the importance of role models and what an impact sports marketing is having in showcasing inspiring women.

Find out more about Flo here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/flo-williams/
And about MATTA here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/matta/

This episode is packed with incredible knowledge, information, and insights on gender inclusion. 

Kristen, Vice-Chair at European Women on Boards and Former Chief DEI Officer at Barilla, shares her experience as a woman in STEM as well as a champion for gender inclusion. 

Kristen talks about some horror stories women face in a highly man-dominated field like STEM, like being asked to take additional tests for the same job while male candidates aren't. She also covers unintentional bias, particularly affinity bias and proximity bias.

Most importantly, Kristen revolutionises the concept of quotas: moving away from the idea that quotas work with women being promoted on the pure basis of their gender regardless of their abilities, Kristen defines quotas as KPIs: it is a fact that gender inclusion brings benefits to businesses, so like any other project in business we need KPIs to define clear goals and track results. This concept involves a real commitment to seek and grow female talent within the organization and to ensure that we move from diversity to real inclusion.

Find out more:

About Kristen here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristen-anderson-aaa44a8/

About European Women on Boards http://europeanwomenonboards.eu/

In this episode, Georges shares his insights into supporting a more inclusive society; Georges talks about his experience as a father, as a CEO, and as an entrepreneur who works in a traditionally male-dominated industry such as the Fintech area.

Covering topics from the role of AI in gender equalit  to unconscious  bias, from self confidence to promotions at work, Georges provides practical tips to women on how to overcome some common self-limiting habits to increase their chances to succeed in business.
At the same time, Georges encourages companies and the society at large to address the lack of equal opportunities and to work all together towards a more gender-inclusive future.

Find out more about Georges and his company here
https://www.linkedin.com/in/georges-bock-882ba418

https://www.linkedin.com/mwlite/company/investre

In this episode, we talk with Brian Ballantyne, co-founder of Men for Inclusion and author of the book 'Confessions of a working father'.

Brian explains how the idea of Men for Inclusion came about and his personal journey from being a female ally to becoming actively involved in gender inclusion.

With him, we discuss the challenges that men might face in recognising the disparities that still exist between women and men at work and the risk of not recognising those biases and sense of entitlement that might cloud our assessment of work-related situations.

We also talk about the importance of becoming role models to normalise gender equality, to show what women can do in a professional environment and what men can do at work and outside work to support them.
 
Finally, Brian shares his favourite brand, C&A: an inclusive brand that makes him feel good.

Find out more about Brian's multiple projects here:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-ballantyne-336754/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Confessions-Working-Father-Brian-Ballantyne/dp/1729107281/

https://www.e2w.co/men-for-inclusion/

https://wide.lu/

In this episode, Sara Kaiser, Program Director at Luxembourg Tech School, shares her experience of working with the next generation and the challenges - and possible solutions/steps -  to attract and retain more girls in STEM courses.

A few key points include gender stereotypes and most importantly the stereotype threat -> the risk of confirming negative stereotypes that creates high cognitive load and stress to the point of reducing effective performance.

Sara also covers the importance of a positive social environment where peers are diverse and welcoming and where role models are visible and inspiring (both for girls and boys)

Other topics we covered include:

• How important it is to have people from diverse backgrounds, experiences and education in the tech sector
• How tech companies can profit from people coming from fields like the arts, humanities, etc
• Career changes and how to find your way to the broad field of tech

This episode is part of a series dedicated to the campaign "The power of Gender Equality" a campaign that KnowThyBrand and the LhOFT have launched to champion women in finance and technology

Find our more about Sara here https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-kaiser-94384821/ 
and more about Luxembourg Tech School here https://www.techschool.lu/

With his incredibly vast experience in recruitment, in this episode Darren covers some very critical aspects of gender inclusion in business:

• The critical role of men in supporting gender equality
• The broken rung number 1: at the start of the career -> why do the entry levels have a similar number of women and men but already the first step of the carer progression sees more men than women being promoted
• The broken run number 2: women dropping off after starting a family and the consequences on their financial dependency during retirement.
• The unexpected downsides of the newly found flexibility at work and the risk of women to become 'invisible'
• The necessity for a more inclusive leadership style.

This episode is part of a series dedicated to the campaign "The power of Gender Equality" a campaign that KnowThyBrand and the LhOFT have launched to champion women in finance and technology 

Sound (unfortunately) unseen for this episode.

Find out more about Darren Robinson here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robinsond/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/andersonwise/

"He has a natural authority..."
" He hit the ball with authority"
"He was an authority on the stock market"

These are the examples that you will find if you Google the meaning of authority. None of the examples you will find use the pronoun She.

This is the premise for the incredible book "The Authority Gap, why women are still taken much less seriously than men" by Mary Ann Sieghart.

It's not a secret that women are more likely to need to demonstrate their expertise to be taken seriously, that they are often interrupted, talked over, challenged, and that their professional opinion is not taken into account as much as that one of their male counterparts.

This has a direct impact on personal self-esteem as well as the opportunities for career progression that women have.

Tune in to hear about some very concrete examples of how the authority gap displays in women's everyday life. Listen to the real-life stories of the many people that Mary Ann interviewed for her book, from prominent politicians to everyday people. Be prepared to be shocked by the findings of the studies and the stats that she shares with us. Most importantly, discover what we can all do, women and men, to reduce the gap.

And if you listen to the very end, Mary Ann will share a very interesting report that should make every man want to become an active part of the solution 😉

We often hear that one of the main challenges that women face when climbing their career ladder is the lack of self-confidence.

Denise Voss shares a very interesting point: women are not born without confidence, somehow along the journey, we become less confident.

Denise is Chairwoman of LuxFlag, an independent and international organisation that promotes the raising of capital for sustainable investments, and she is an inspiring role model for women willing to grow their careers.

In particular, Denise shares a talk from Reshma Saujani in which she explains how our lack of confidence has a lot to do with external factors like the way we are raised. Traditionally boys are being raised to be brave, to dare, to jump from trees, while for girls the expectation is that they should be calm and reliable, ultimately to be perfect. 

The consequences are that women are less likely to take risks, and in the workplace, this means that women are less likely to apply for jobs they are not 100% qualified (while men do it as long as they are at least 60% qualified, as demonstrated by a Hewlett Packard study) and are less likely to put their hands up for a promotion. 

So what can we do about it? 

Denise's practical recommendations include

•  Get a mentor, even more than one. Someone that can encourage and support you
•  Find a sponsor, or super mentor, someone that can help you get that next promotion 
•  Network, with other women but not only. Put yourself out there, meet other people, learn from them, create new opportunities 
•  Practice public speaking, even if it feels like a very daunting task, you can do it.  What it takes, in Denise's own words, is planning, preparation and practice.
•  Take that leap! Sometimes you just need to go for it. And if it doesn't work out, don't worry, you are not a failure, everyone fails at something sooner or later, that won't define you as a person. Instead, learn from the experience. 

The best part? Denise shows us what a real role model is: someone who can inspire us not only with her achievements but also by sharing the hurdles she faced along the way.

This episode is part of a series dedicated to the campaign "The power of Gender Equality" a campaign that KnowThyBrand and the LhOFT have launched to champion women in finance and technology 

Sound (unfortunately) unseen for this episode.

Listen to Reshma Saujani here https://www.ted.com/talks/reshma_saujani_teach_girls_bravery_not_perfection

Read about the Hewlett Packard study here https://www.forbes.com/sites/womensmedia/2014/04/28/act-now-to-shrink-the-confidence-gap/?sh=5a3631ce5c41

In this Episode Mira, a Transformational and Clarity Coach to Leaders shares with us some of the main challenges that leaders and particularly female leaders face:
1. Leadership is an amplifier: leadership is about being exposed and being out of our comfort zone, which amplifies weaknesses and fears.
2. Leadership is therefore an inner game, once you master your inner challenges, tackling the external one is the easy part (just Google it!)
3. Women leaders be aware of bias: not just the bias that men have about women, but the ones that we women we have about ourselves: we have been raised to seek perfection and work double hard, these and others are the bias that we put on ourselves and can become stoppers and internal limitations.

Mira also shares some very powerful tips on how to overcome these challenges:
-> Embrace vulnerability, be human (and that will help avoid toxic leadership)
-> Be kind to yourself and look after yourself
-> Have a strategy or a trick for when things get hard and you would naturally return to unhealthy thoughts to catch yourself and move to a more positive space

Mira's favorite brand is Pagaonia for its strong inclusion

Find out more about Mira's work here : https://www.themindtakeaway.com/

https://www.themindtakeaway.com/freedom-for-senior-female-leaders

In this episode, Peta shares her journey from employee to trailing spouse to freelancer.
How to go back to work after a break? The world goes on, what can we bring to a new employer?
Self-doubts are very common amongst women who have left the corporate world, whatever the reason. And yet managing an overseas relocation and/ or managing a young family, and /or looking after family members requires skills, skills that can be incredibly useful in the workplace (adaptability, creative solutions, empathy, just cite a few).
Peta shares her journey in rediscovering her transferrable skills and leveraging them to become an accomplished freelancer.
Her biggest fear: failure. Is she alone in this? no.
Her weapon: courage. Take a leap of faith.
And learn to say no. 
Know your worth, set your prices, get support from your network, and never rest on your laurels.
Favorite brand:  

https://www.toms.com/

https://www.aman.com/