The elephants in the room...

In August 2022 I spent a very special day with my family taking care of elephants in an elephant sanctuary in Thailand. They are wonderful animals.

But OMG, they are big, cumbersome and – unless seriously provoked – move slowly.

Before I go any further I just want to put it out there, in case anyone gets the wrong impression, I am a lover of real elephants, the ones with a heartbeat.

?I am however, a hater of the metaphorical elephants in the room, the big, cumbersome, obstinate and ugly ones that literally prevent women from advancing their careers.

So what are these elephants? Mckinsey’s latest Women in the Workplace 2023 report summarises the Big5! It’s an alarming ‘must read’ and here they are:

?●?????? Lack of Senior Leadership

●?????? Lack of Line Management support

●?????? Workplace Microaggressions

●?????? Lack of Flexible Working

●?????? Poor Company Culture

?

Sharon Peake, CPsychol founder of Shape Talent Ltd (who knows an elephant when she sees one!) has written an excellent paper called The Three Barriers Preventing Women from Progressing in Corporate UK Today.The three barriers are Societal (the unspoken cultural cues that reinforce the ways that men and women ‘should’ think, behave and feel); Organisational (the systemic obstacles, cultures and norms which disadvantage women); and Personal (including how women present in the workplace and how they manage the work-family interface).

?This paper is a brilliant read but to be honest it made me want to cry. We’re not talking about one or two elephants but an entire herd – and together they feel like an impenetrable wall. No wonder so many brilliant women are leaving organisations that can’t or won’t support their to careers to thrive rather than fail.

At the current rate of progress they estimate it’ll take another 100 years to achieve gender equality in the workplace. Oh, wait, that was pre-Covid. Now it’s 120 years! I had a fascinating conversation last week with Mark Brown and Donna Taylor who said to me that they want #FutureNow. They don't want to die before we see the change…

Let me add a couple more 'huge' elephants that don’t get documented.

?●??Firstly, the number of ESG and DE&I consultants who share with me how frustrated they are at the greedy short term, bonus-related view of too many CEOs who literally pay lip service to this pressing agenda.

●??And on a darker note, a growing number of women – victims of discrimination, misconduct or sexual harassment – are being squeezed out of organisations and pressured into signing NDAs to keep them quiet. I’ve heard numerous first-hand accounts of this happening, particularly in the big law firms and the City. It’s outrageous, and it’s far more common than you think. Few have the stomach or resources to fight a lengthy and publicly humiliating legal battle so end up taking the pay-off instead. Then broken by this ordeal some never return...

?I don’t know how elephants came to represent troubling, unspoken issues. They’re amazing ?creatures, capable of running at 25 mph and weighing in at an average 94 stone. They’re also clever and highly social, living in herds led by older, single female matriarchs. I reckon it’s time we reclaimed the elephant as a symbol – not of an invisible barrier but a powerful force for change.

?I think it’s time for a movement, don’t you?

I don’t know about you but I have seriously had enough. As sure as God made little apples, if the women and men in the UK who are as fed up as I am stampeded through London like a herd of elephants I would like to think that those who have the power to change the working landscape for women would take note and do something constructive.

?"A workplace that works for women works for EVERYONE".

?Food for thought! Who’s with me?

?What have I been up to?

?●?The foodie in me has found a sensational new dish in Rukmini Iyer’s book The Green Roasting Tin. Roasted Cauliflower with chickpeas, spring greens, lemon and tahini is to die for

● I swam in the sea on Sunday. It is now a chilling 11 degrees - I am now armed with a cold water thermometer as it is seriously getting chilly. I have a long way to go before I feel like a crow coming on - but high tide on Christmas day is looking good!

●?I watched the first Rambo with my son - what a guy Sly was in his prime!

●??Coincidently I am reading The Herd by Emily Edwards which has nothing to do with Elephants but instead the social war on anti vaxxers - it's got me gripped.

...I am also deep in research but that's for another time!

• Who am I?I am a straight talking, crack on and make it happen sort of girl. I believe in speaking truth to power and being your authentic self. I am on the third chapter of my career - I started life as a Chartered Surveyor before moving into business coaching and now I am an entrepreneur building a purpose-led business.