“If men were more involved in caring, women could progress further in their careers,” says the Equality and Human Rights Commission in The Gender Pay Gap, 2017. Yet it is still the case that in working families in the UK, women are eight times more likely to take the primary role in caring for children. Encouraging […]

I talk to Professor Ronit Kark on her research around the paradoxes women leaders face in organisations and what strategies to deploy to move from a dilemma to a paradox mindset.

Have you ever felt the need to tone down how you talk about wanting to win? Or downplay your achievements generally, even feel uncomfortable when talking about your success? Perhaps you feel that being described as ‘an ambitious woman’ is not quite a compliment? You’re not alone. What a pity so many women feel they can’t […]

Diversity. Inclusion. Unconscious Bias. What it means and how to ensure it makes a difference in your organisation. l talk to Angela Peacock Chair of PDT – specialists in this field – who shares her experience and knowledge.

If you want to unleash your full potential and make this year even better than last, you need to remember the basics. It is not always huge strategic moves that make the biggest leadership difference. To make 2019 your best year yet here is a reminder of the 4 things that make a difference to […]

Women apologise more than men – so the accepted wisdom goes (as does significant research to be fair). Women are therefore told to become more confident and not to apologise so much. Yet exhorting women to simply stop doing things and be more confident isn’t that helpful for a number of reasons: 1. Those behaviours may serve them well when used at […]

Penny chats with 19 year-old Alexia Hilbertidou, founder of GirlBoss New Zealand – its mission: to close the gender gap in Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths, Entrepreneurship and Leadership – and to empower confident, resilient, future-ready, young women to lead and change the world. As always thanks for listening to this and sharing it. Feel free […]

Looking into a new year we naturally set intentions for the year ahead. While you are doing that ask yourself ‘How strongly do I believe in my abilities?‘. I recommend you do this because if you doubt yourself you will minimise the goals you set yourself. And if you throttle back your goals and ambitions, […]

– Why women need to be mindful about what they volunteer for Do you ever feel overwhelmed by having to do stuff that isn’t directly in your role description and resentful that you have ended up doing it? If so, you’re not alone. We need to regularly ask ourselves: What am I busy doing that […]

Interviews with Jivan Dempsey and Kerry Simmons around navigating careers and caring.

“A leader is the one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.” — John C. Maxwell There is so much written out there about leadership it can sometimes be overwhelming. Endless exhortations about what good looks like, charismatic heroes being lauded and a new term being sold as the next big […]

We know it when we see it. People who can command a room, project confidence and calm, who just seem to exude leadership credibility. Yet I often hear women managers saying they don’t have executive presence – “it’s just not who I am… I don’t look any good in a jacket… I am too small… […]

“Empathy is simply listening, holding space, withholding judgment, emotionally connecting, and communicating that incredibly healing message of you’re not alone.” – Brene Brown Sadly empathy doesn’t always rank high on the list of qualities needed to be a successful leader. Yet an unwillingness to place other’s needs and interests above your own erodes trust. And […]

A sponsor makes a quantifiable difference in every measure of career success. Including satisfaction with the organisation, retention and progression, see ‘Forget a Mentor‘ by Sylvia Ann Hewlett. Yet women leaders are often reluctant to go there intentionally, seeing it as tacky or instrumental, preferring their hard work to speak for itself. If this sounds […]

I speak to three experienced senior executives Helen Sweeney, Dotti Irving and Patricia Taylor about their careers and looking back what advice they would give to their younger selves. As always thanks for listening to this and sharing it. Feel free to read more on my blog page.

It can be stressful out there! Especially for female leaders who are striving to make a difference at work, prove their worth and progress. But there are strategies that we can adopt to manage our stress levels, boost our productivity and achieve real success in our careers and lives. For many women, landing that great […]

To fix the girls who can’t cut it To teach women to be like men To deliver a series of ‘ra-ra’ sessions To have a chance to have a go at the men To deliver a series of ‘remedial’ classes To create a soft and fluffy ‘victim’ environment None of that is what it is […]

Being heard is important to us. To our purpose, our identity and to our leadership – having a voice at the table is critical to making an impact as a leader. Even though sometimes it is the minor chords that amplify (yes they do, more later) we need to ensure our contributions land and engender […]

“We think, mistakenly, that success is the result of the amount of time we put in at work, instead of the quality of time we put in.” Arianna Huffington “How are you?” we ask one another. “Busy!” we all say. Of course, aren’t we all? Yet being too busy constantly is not good for our […]

Penny chats with Avivah Wittenberg-Cox about career paths for women, why they are different and how to navigate them for both individuals and organisations.

There are critical factors for success and critical factors for progression. Do you know the one difference? Visibility. Our visibility is the most important factor for advancement and it is made up of a subtle cocktail of your abilities (technical and leadership) and being rated (and liked) by senior influential people. And you can and […]

“For me, goals are the road map to the life I want. They have helped me accomplish things I once thought were impossible.” Catherine Pulsifer. As leaders and managers we are accustomed to setting goals for our teams and organisations and being actively involved in the goals the organisation has for our own performance. But […]

You know that feeling when you work harder and harder and get better at your technical skills and feel really on top of your game – you’re the complete go-to person in your field? But you’re still not making the impact as a leader you really want to make? We spend a lot of time […]

In this article I look at how overthinking can be exhausting and limiting, and how we can manage it and get our energy from the positive. Our Negativity Bias We all focus on the negative. Because of the brain’s negativity bias, we tend to fixate on what’s wrong – with ourselves, with others, with work. […]

In this article I look at how and why women and men negotiate differently and its’ consequences, and offer some best practice negotiation skills for women to consider. Men initiate negotiations 2-9 times more often than women. Research also shows that when negotiating, women set less aggressive goals than men, make more modest first offers, and […]

Jill Flynn, author of Break Your Own Rules, and I discuss how to change our mindsets to accelerate our success as women leaders. As always thanks for listening to this and sharing it. Feel free to read more on my blog page.

Argghh another ‘networking’ event…just the thought of an evening standing around talking to dull folk with a warm glass of bad wine, exchanging cards and stifling yawns wondering if you can get home in time to put the kids to bed so you can get on with your real work. Right? It doesn’t have to […]

In this article I look at resilience, why it is important for our success and how we can build our resilience. Organisational life requires a lot from people today. The pace and intensity of our working lives is huge as we figure out how to ride the changes, earn a living and get on, not […]

In this article I look at how to make flexible working requests get a ‘yes’ and how as managers we can make great flexible working decisions.

Penny speaks to world renowned leadership expert Sally Helgesen exploring some of the habits that hold women back in their career and how to overcome them.

Penny speaks to Bonnie Marcus author of The Politics of Promotion about how to change your mindset and skillset around organisational politics as a critical leadership skill. As always thanks for listening to this and sharing it. Feel free to read more on my blog page.

In this podcast I talk to Dr Belinda Board, about how to approach this move to ensure we bring our existing capability to bear, while also learning new and critical leadership skills. As always thanks for listening to this and sharing it. Feel free to read more on my blog page.

In this article I look at why we need to be politically savvy as women leaders and how to do it with skill and integrity.

Making flexible working work – for you and your organisation.

Two executive coaches, Mary Gregory and Deena Gornick share their insights gained from coaching women leaders – exploring both the challenges and the opportunities. As always thanks for listening to this and sharing it. Feel free to read more on my blog page.

In this article I look at how to exercise our power as women leaders with skill, and in a way that doesn’t diminish us in an environment where men and women are perceived differently for the same behaviour. Much has been written about women in leadership roles and the ‘double bind’. Women leaders are expected […]

In this article I look at why confidence is so important and what we can do to build it as women leaders.

In this article I look at the power of role models in shaping our leadership capability and how to create them when we can’t find ones we can relate to easily.

Penny de Valk interviews Sally Bibb, founder of Engaging Minds about how to use our strengths to fuel our success.

Part One Listen to Penny talk to Christian Malissard about how your leadership drives great performance. Part Two Listen to Penny discuss with Christian Malissard how to develop leadership skills with your peers Part Three Listen to Penny talk to Christian Malissard about being an authentic leader As always thanks for listening to this and […]

In this article I look at why striving to be ‘authentic’ can limit our learning to be leaders.