women in the workplace

The Volvo article inspired me to write about this article that Chris Lawer forwarded to me on women in the workplace:

Research by Catalyst, an advisory organisation for working women, found that 60 per cent of middle-level American career women bail out of their jobs... 'Women can make it to the top if they want to - the barriers are down,' says Sahar Hashemi, co-founder of the Coffee Republic chain. 'A lot of women are walking away from corporations and institutions because they want to live and work differently, not because anyone is forcing them out.

Today's fast-track women are a time bomb. Disenchanted by the structures and limitations of most organisations, full of self-confidence and with a wider menu of choices than men, a majority of them will just walk away from their big jobs if the big jobs don't change. Their mass rejection of organisations is a form of direct action that's forcing the whole landscape of work to change. Tired of waiting for change, the new generation is forcing the pace, and creating a new power paradigm that affects the entire workforce. Flexible working, for example, is a female-driven agenda that was unheard of 10 years ago. Now 26 per cent of women and 18 per cent of men work flexibly - and that's just the official figures.

Being a female entrepreneur myself, I appreciated the article on both a personal and professional level. Corporate brands -- like Volvo -- are realizing that to attract female customers, they have to think and act in a way that's appealing to women. And that starts with empowering their own female employees to have more of an impact within their respective corporations. To be buyer-centric, you must first be employee-centric. The term "stakeholder-centric" is becoming more and more appealing to me, because there's an inexorable link between internal and external constituencies.

From a personal brand perspective, women are beginning to be more authentic and follow their own internal compass rather than to conform and react to those around them. Their actions are directed by their unique personal brand. And by living a more authentic life, these women are inspiring those around them to do the same. I'm excited to see the societal changes to which women will birth in the coming years.