BlogPositive

The best year yet?

See I don't really believe in being talked down by all those gainsayers out.  It may not be cool or popular to say it but I am going to.......

Are you ready?

I am having my best year yet!!

Yes its completely true.  Exisiting clients are throwing more work at me almost daily. I am getting new clients and I am getting calls from people who want to work with me in a variety of new and different ways. Hey you may think that I'm lucky, that I have some secret formula.  Well let me tell you the secret.

Are you ready?

Its bloody hard work.  All that client work does not fall out of the sky I can tell you. Its about applying yourself, doing the hard graft, not giving up when you get a no the first time round all mixed up with a very healthy amount of always putting the client first, doing a damn good job when you get out there to do your thing and believing that everything will go right, having a sales accumulator graph on the wall in front of me and expecting to be successful.  And yes there are some nights with just a few hours sleep.  Yes there are the days when the public transport system lets you down or the bank seems to be your worst enemy, but thats just real life and no-one ever died from real life.  Above all its  about having a passion and belief in what I'm doing.  For me thats what makes the difference between good and great.

So if I can buck the recession trend so can you.  If you want to have the best year yet for you and your life just decide to make it that way.  Think positve, take action towards those positive goals, give something back and expect the best.  But remember - the secret is taking action, not just thinking about it.  What action can you take today to make this your best year yet?

Macdonalds new uniforms

Don't be frightened to say what you feel even if you're taking on a great British institution. Today I scored a victory for gender politics with the BBC.  They have a story about new uniforms for Macdonalds staff designed by Bruce Oldfield on the BBC website.  When I read it first thing this morning there was a sentence that read-

"For managers there are black suits with white or biscuit shirts and a choice of three ties"

Now when I read that it implied to me that all managers were male as women don't wear suits with ties. I was furious as I know for a fact that many of the Macdonalds managers are women and I'm fed up with the gender stereotyping that I see too frequently in the media.

So I sent in a formal complaint to the BBC via their website complaints form.  I got a reply by the middle of the afternoon.  The piece was written by two female journalists and no gender stereotyping was intended.  You will see from the link that the offending sentence has now been written to indicate the women managers have scarves instead of ties. I'm really pleased as its now correct and gives no opportunity confusion about the gender of "manager".

OK, you may think this is a really small thing. I disagree. Its these sort of things that we need to continue to challenge, the shorthand that continues to link men with positions of power and disenfranchises women.  So if you care about something enough, as I did about this, it doens't matter how big your opponent is, its always worth saying what you feel. I got a story on the BBC website rewritten.  What could you achieve by speaking out for what you care about? 

Women and Work - Must Try Harder

Sorry I forgot to mention....

Here is the link to my article in the People Bulletin last week.

After 30 years of equality legislation why are women still paid less, doing more unpaid overtime and not getting the top jobs. Two reports give an insight into how we could do better as a nation.  Make way for the queue of women ready to move to Estonia......

Going down the tubes

Its so common now to hear people talking about how everything is going down the tubes.  In the past few weeks I've heard that status attributed to television, transport, education, customer service, the quality of beer, the commitment of the bin men, the reputation of Woolies and the selection of shops in the town centre.

If you were to listen to some commentators you'd feel that we have descended to the level of a third world country when we have previously been a successful and vibrant economy.  Of course we will almost always look back through rose tinted glasses, its human nature.

However I must admit to feeling a certain smugness when I hear these sort of things.  So I know that I'm the last generation that got taught English properly so we can all spell and write good grammar.  I can remember when the local shop keepers knew all their customers.  As a barmaid I can remember being able to get a regular customer's drink onto the bar before they reached it as I knew them all well enough to remember their particular tipple.  I used to be entertained by TV.  I can remember the excitement of going out for proper fish and chips.

So whilst bemoaning the passing of all these historical idylls spend some time wallowing in the glorious memory of the good times that you have experienced because you were there.  No matter what your experience you have the knowledge that you've lived through times that are popularly believed to be "good" .

The vital role of older people

Today, 1st October, is UN International Day of Older People and there are meetings between older people's organisations and governments across 4 continents as part of the Age Demands Action campaign to demand improvements in ageing policies and practices.

Older people play a vital role in communities the world over. They are often the glue holding families together. They provide emergency child care and family support and also in sometimes step in to bring up their grandchildren if parents suffer untimely death.  They are becoming an increasingly important part of the economic wealth of western nations as our birth rate falls and we all live longer.  Yet their vital role is underestimated to the detriment of us all,  both economically and socially.

You can read about the campaign here at HelpAge International.

What are you going to do to help to highlight these issues? 

Shocking

Today I am working on a proposal for a new client and I have been gathering some data from the EOC site.  They have reviewed the state of gender equality in the UK in the run up to the creation for the Commission for Equality and Human Rights on 1st October and produced a new Gender Agenda.  They have produced some downloadable reports including the Gender Equality Index Download GenderEqualityIndex.pdf . If ever there was anything to convice me that the work I am doing is worthwhile then these figures are it.  OK, hold on, you are going to be shocked, as I was.

It is going to take 195 years for women to reach equal representation in the Houses of Parliament if the change continues at its present rate.

At the current rate of improvement it will take 65 years for women to reach equal representation in the board room.

Its going to take 15 years until there is a childcare place for every child under 8.

Women do 180 minutes of chores in comparison to men's 101.  This ratio is getting worse for women.

At the current rate of change its going to take 20 years for women to attain equal pay and 45 years for women's retirement income to reach the same figure as men.

And what are YOU doing about this?  Its not just an issue for women but for men as well and for the country as a whole.  If there is not enough childcare then women do not have equal access employment.  If we do not have a full pool of the population to recruit from then UK plc is missing out on vital talent that could contribute to our success as a nation.  As men are 47% less likely than women to visit a doctor we must have a less healthy male population, who still make up the majority of the workforce.

Take a positive step and download one of their posters today to raise awareness of this issue where you work.  Then ring your diversity or HR team and ask them what they are doing in support of this new gender agenda.  Then get them to ring me.  There.  Rant over.