By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)
“I’m very committed to making corporations be successful with the integration and promotion of women in leadership,” said Liz Cornish, an author, leadership expert, and the first women in the world to kayak the Zambezi River in Africa.
Describing her kayaking adventure, she said, “I talked my way across the border, navigated around crocodiles and hippos, and put myself into the complete unknown, traveling alone. If you just throw yourself in – it beats staying under the covers or on the pavement. And this goes beyond travel.”
“Risk is what you perceive it to be,” she said. “I think women hold themselves back because of unproductive fears I work with senior leaders to help them to understand the risk and move fear from a career limiter to a productive tool.”
Learning how to manage physical risk, Cornish has now soled above the Arctic Circle, led executives up Kilimanjaro, run the 100th Boston Marathon, and completed the Escape from the Rock Triathlon in San Francisco (which begins with a swim from Alcatraz Island) – just to name a few of the tough physical and emotional challenges she’s triumphed over.
In Case You Missed It: Business News Round-Up
NewsAfter hitting a 4-year low against the US dollar last week, the Euro rallied to above $1.26 on Friday. Equities also sold off across the board, while US and German government bonds enjoyed strong gains. Santander is in talks about merging its US operations with M&T Bank. The US Senate approved a sweeping overhaul of financial regulation.
Economic Backdrop
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Voice of Experience: Simela Karasavidis, Partner, White and Case
Voices of Experience“Since I was twelve I wanted to live and work abroad,” said Simela Karasavidis in a softly-spoken Australian accent.
Karasavidis, a Partner in the Energy, Infrastructure and Project Finance Practice at global law firm White & Case LLP, holds two Bachelor degrees in law and economics, as well as a Masters of Laws. She studied and did her articles in Melbourne but always wanted to live and work overseas. “Melbourne was too small, but I didn’t realise how much I would miss the beach,” she said.
She knew that if she was serious about taking a job overseas she would need to aim for a Commonwealth country, and a position came up with Linklaters, so she moved to the UK with them. “I love London now; it’s been home for twelve years,” she said.
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Telling Amy’s Story: A Call to Action
NewsNewseum
On November 8, 2001, Amy Homan McGee, Verizon Wireless employee and mother of two, was shot and killed by her husband Vincent McGee in their home in Pennsylvania. Vincent McGee was convicted of the murder and is now serving a life sentence in prison. This was not an isolated moment of violence, but rather the last event after years of abuse. While McGee’s story is shocking and sad, what is more disturbing is that her life, and death, are like so many other victims of domestic abuse.
Domestic violence lives in darkness. In shame, in isolation, and in silence. To shine a light on what happened to McGee, and to illuminate the issues of domestic violence across the country, Penn State Public Broadcasting, with funding from the Verizon Foundation, put together Telling Amy’s Story. The film celebrates the times family, friends, and law enforcement stepped up and reached out to McGee. But it also highlights the many missed opportunities to stop the domestic violence in her life.
Telling Amy’s Story reached an audience of public officials, advocates in the fight against domestic violence, and the media on Tuesday, May 18, 2010 at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. Before the screening of the movie numerous speakers took part to educate and open the dialogue on domestic violence.
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Movers and Shakers: Liz Cornish, Author, Leadership Expert, Executive Coach and International Adventurer
Movers and Shakers“I’m very committed to making corporations be successful with the integration and promotion of women in leadership,” said Liz Cornish, an author, leadership expert, and the first women in the world to kayak the Zambezi River in Africa.
Describing her kayaking adventure, she said, “I talked my way across the border, navigated around crocodiles and hippos, and put myself into the complete unknown, traveling alone. If you just throw yourself in – it beats staying under the covers or on the pavement. And this goes beyond travel.”
“Risk is what you perceive it to be,” she said. “I think women hold themselves back because of unproductive fears I work with senior leaders to help them to understand the risk and move fear from a career limiter to a productive tool.”
Learning how to manage physical risk, Cornish has now soled above the Arctic Circle, led executives up Kilimanjaro, run the 100th Boston Marathon, and completed the Escape from the Rock Triathlon in San Francisco (which begins with a swim from Alcatraz Island) – just to name a few of the tough physical and emotional challenges she’s triumphed over.
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Encouraging More Women to Pursue MBAs
Back to School, PipelineAfter decades of stagnant female enrollment in graduate business schools, The Financial Times reports that recently the numbers have begun to climb. Female enrollment is currently at an average of 37 percent, up from 33 percent five years ago and 30 percent 10 years ago. And it’s not just a U.S. phenomenon—top European business schools are reporting higher female enrollment as well.
While these numbers are still low, they can be seen as a success – the rise in enrollment follows a decade of serious efforts by non-profits, corporations, and universities to improve gender diversity at the MBA level.
But even still, there is a long way to go. Since an MBA can open many doors in the business world, why aren’t more women pursuing them? What is being done to improve these numbers?
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Ideas that Work: Getting the ‘Blokes’ on Board
Expert AnswersMaureen Frank, Founder of Emberin
Contributed by Anita Beasley, Director of Development, Emberin, outlining Telstra‘s 2010 Catalyst Award winning Next Generation Gender Diversity Initiative.
Australian business is a unique case study for women. On a global stage, Australia often punches above its weight with regards to issues and achievements, but not in the area of women’s leadership. In this area, Australia has some of the worst statistics in the western world! The average gender pay gap is 17.5% and at executive level this worsens to 28.3%. Women currently make up 45.4% of the workforce. 2% of Chairs in the ASX200 (Australian Stock Exchange Top 200 companies) are women. 8.3% of Board Directors in ASX200 are women and 10.7% of Executive Managers in the ASX are women.
There are many reasons for this and one of the main ones is the severe male dominance in the workplace and the unique Australian male psyche that accompanies this. It reinforces stereotypes and unconscious bias. Most men in the workforce come from a good place, they just don’t realise that their habits and business style unfortunately disadvantages women.
Telstra Corporation is Australia’s only Catalyst member. Since 2007, the company has set aggressive strategies in the area of gender diversity, and in early 2008 it recognised that something had to change dramatically to really start to see some shift in their organisation. Like many Australian organisations, Telstra’s record wasn’t great. In fact, the “a-ha” moment was around men.
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Ask-A-Career-Coach: Positioning Yourself for Big Versus Small Companies
Ask A Career CoachWhat are the differences between hiring objectives of a small (startup) company versus a bigger corporation?
The job search does differ when you are targeting start-ups versus established firms. Getting information on and networking into smaller, newer firms requires deeper research and more resourcefulness. You probably have just one chance at the hiring manager in a small firm, while at a larger firm, there are more potential points of entry. Finally, as this questioner mentions, the hiring objectives and practices of a start-up will differ from a bigger corporation, and you will need to adjust your search accordingly.
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Time to Dig In: High–Ranking High Heels in Hedge Funds
Managing ChangeLike some behemoth glacier that relentlessly exerts tremendous destructive force as it grinds its way to a final standstill, the financial crisis has pulverized the stalwart bedrock of global fiscal wellbeing. Engaged as we are in the massive scale clean-up of the debris of financial ruin – if the reader will further indulge this author’s use of metaphor—we may miss that the landscape is being naturally reshaped in places – pushed ahead like a terminal moraine that will ultimately provide a toe-hold for new forms of habitation.
One such structure of the financial landscape that is being subtly re-formed (and reformed) is the hedge fund. Women, a small minority of hedge fund managers, are helping investors find a smoother, safer, successful path to their goals.
Who are those guys?
Good or bad, the hedge fund industry tends to be populated by relatively young managers, a growing number of whom are women. According to a recent report entitled Sex Matters: Gender Differences in the Mutual Fund Industry, current estimates are that only 3% of the $1.5 trillion invested in hedge funds is managed by women.
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In Case You Missed It: Business News Round-Up
NewsAt the beginning of the week, the euro gained almost 2 per cent against the US dollar. Goldman Sachs has commenced negotiations with the SEC in order to try and reach an out-of-court settlement of the agency’s civil fraud action against the bank.
Economic Backdrop
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Voice of Experience: Anne Weisberg, Director, Talent, Deloitte
News, Voices of Experience“I have to say I love my job,” said Anne Weisberg, a Director in Talent at Deloitte. “It’s a big part of why I feel good about my work/life fit. You have to love what you do, or the sacrifices don’t feel worth it.”
Weisberg, having worked as a lawyer and a consultant, as well as having authored two books and several studies, is an expert on the issue of work/life fit. A frequent and passionate speaker on work/life issues, the importance of gender diversity in the workplace, and other talent issues, Weisberg is working to shift the structural norms that make it difficult for women and men to achieve their full potential in the workplace.
Her career and expertise is built around her own personal experiences. She explains, “I graduated from Harvard Law School in 1985 – when I was five months pregnant. I’ve been a working mom for my entire professional life.”
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