From Mette to Momager

Welcome to Mostly, the weekly top ten for women who love leadership (most of the time!).

Each week, look forward to a carefully chosen collection of links from across the web to inspire, motivate and lift your week. Because yes, there are fewer of us than there should be, but that doesn't mean that those of us who are leading aren't loving it!

I try to find links that aren't behind a paywall, but even those with free articles can run out. So, I am adding a summary to this email so you can still get the goss without following the link.

This week, be inspired by a trio of CEOs Mette Lykke, Mary Barra and Judith McKenna. The Vogue 25 is breathtaking, and the Fawcett Society needs your voice in the conversation. Angela Rayner doesn't give a sh!t, Sha’Carri Richardson is the fastest woman in the world, and for goodness sake, cancel your subscriptions. There's a new Netflix series (new to me) that is going to make you rich and a new leadership buzzword, but this time it's frustratingly relevant.

Oh, and I am starting a new email. Don't worry, this one will continue. But I want to do a special, more personal, inspirational email on the joys and challenges of finding your path as a woman in leadership. If you'd like to join, please subscribe on hodology.com

Have a great week!

1. From Passenger to Driver: Today, Mette Lykke is the CEO of Too Good To Go, the food platform that allows customers to pick up grab bags of food products that would otherwise be thrown out at the end of the day. Lykke got that job after learning of the new platform’s existence from a fellow passenger on a bus who was an early angel investor. Lykke advocates for others to take leaps of faith the way she has. Quitting a job with plans to become a founder but without a firm startup idea might sound extreme. “If it’s going to cost $10,000 or even $100,000 to pursue your dream, I actually think that’s pretty cheap,” Lykke argues, although she acknowledges that giving notice in a decent job market with McKinsey on her resume made her risk a bit easier to stomach. Forbes
2. From Intern to CEO: It’s been nearly ten years since Mary Barra became the first female CEO of General Motors, a company she joined as an intern. "My mom was kind of fierce. She just was like, "You can do anything you want to do.” So at 18 years old, when I was in an assembly plant, I didn't look around and go, “Oh, I am the only one who's a woman here,” I was just like, well, she said if I work hard, I can do it. Most people they say "I cannot be what I cannot see." My mother just was like, "You work hard. You belong there." Barra's Mum sounds like mine. Cosmopolitan
3. From Judith to Kath: While MANY outlets are focusing on the rare handover from female CEO to female CEO, let's instead celebrate all that Judith McKenna achieved. Paying tribute to McKenna, the organisation's President and CEO Doug McMillon said she had “made the world a better place” through her work. “Judith prioritised our store associates,” he adds, “She listened carefully and acted quickly to make investments in compensation, launch Walmart Academies, introduce new technology for our store managers and make other changes that strengthened the core of the business... Judith put the phrase ‘our people make the difference’ back onto our store associate badges to remind everyone how essential they are to our success.” Business Chief
4. From Raye to Cole (in no particular order): The Vogue 25: Discover The Powerhouse Women Who Made This Year’s Line-Up. Vogue honours the women defining – and redefining – Britain in 2023. Since its inception in 2018, the annual Vogue 25 list has celebrated the influential women pushing British society forward – and this year’s list is not only dazzlingly impressive but comprised of trailblazers finding success wholly on their own terms. I know we're not meant to judge women on their appearance but Naga Munchetty understood the assignment! Vogue
5. From Millicent to Harriet: The Fawcett Society describes itself as the UK's leading charity campaigning for gender equality and women's rights. They've been advancing women’s equality since 1866 when, at just 19, Millicent Fawcett collected signatures on a petition for women’s votes. On Saturday, 14th October, they kick off their campaigning ahead of the next General Election. This year, the conference will focus on childcare, flexible working, getting more women and more diverse voices into politics and fighting the culture of misogyny that underpins it all. There are some names on the speaker's list that I would love to have a word with. Fawcett
6. From Freebie to Forgotten: I’m a sucker for a free trial of a subscription service, but I’m also shameless in cancelling that subscription as soon as I’ve received the service I want—like AI avatars of me as a cowboy. But many more people continue to pay for subscriptions long after they've stopped using them. So much so that, according?to new research from Stanford and Texas A&M, inattentive subscribers can boost a company’s top line by as much as 200%. Cancel that subscription or think of a way to introduce this gold mine to your business model. Fortune
7. From Anneliese to Angela: Angela Rayner doesn't give a sh!t what her boss thinks. Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner has asserted that trans rights do not conflict with women’s rights, despite ongoing friction within Labour on trans issues and the party’s back-pedalling on long-held promises. If you want an example of a woman who is unashamedly herself despite near-constant pressure to act against her values, you'd go a long way before you found someone better than Angela Rayner. The Pink News
8. From 10.67 to 10.65: Sha’Carri Richardson, the American track star who made headlines in 2020 for... do you know what? It doesn't matter what happened in 2020 because in 2023, she is the fastest woman in the world! Richardson earned the title after a first-place finish in this week’s World Athletics Championship 100-meter dash. Whatever happens, you decide what happens next. Olympics
9. From Ramit to Riches: OK, this recommendation is cheating as it was given to me, and I haven't yet had the opportunity to test it. But I trust that it's going to be good, and who am I to keep a good Netflix recommendation to myself? Money holds power over us — but it doesn't have to. Finance expert Ramit Sethi works with people across the US to help them achieve their richest lives. You Tube
10. From Manager to Momager: If you read only one article, make it this one. I found this article so clearly articulated the experience of so many of the women I talk with that I wanted to share it with as many of you as possible. This phenomenon of managers feeling responsible for their employees’ mental well-being as well as their output — they call it “momaging” — has become a hallmark of the Millennial boss, particularly among women. Perhaps this isn't you, but it may be someone in your team. Bustle