There are currently a multitude of articles, interviews and conversations taking place in Australia and around the world about greater gender equality. This is a good thing because when we start talking about difficult, challenging topics it means we are thinking about it more, and therefore questioning the status quo.

Though the past four decades have seen significant generational shifts with more women entering the global workforce, we have a long way to go and much needs to be done to advance women to senior leadership roles. The promising news is that the number of women is growing, albeit it in middle management roles rather than at senior levels.

Call me a nerd, but I love watching The Great Australian Spelling Bee on Channel 10 at the moment.  And here is why it is such a joy to watch – children with talent, selected on merit not gender, race or colour, displaying good sportsmanship, teamwork and good manners! I believe we are born equal as human beings, and until children are exposed to racism, discrimination and bullying, they are completely unaware of it! I believe racism, prejudice and misogyny are learned behaviours.

Over the past 5 years more than 200 women have completed my Great Leaders Are Made (GLAM) women’s leadership development program. More than 40% of them have been promoted or received a pay rise within 13 months of completing the program, or have gone on to be offered a more senior role in another organisation with greater responsibilities and remuneration than the previous role.

In my latest book Leadership Revelations III How We Achieve the Gender Tipping Point, I interviewed 91 women from 10 countries, and across four generations, from Veterans to Generation Y, to ascertain the most common myths about women at work that are simply wrong! Here is a summary of those myths, by generation and internationally:

 WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO CHANGE IN THE NEW
FINANCIAL YEAR?

Welcome to the start of a new financial year, and the opportunity to review and reflect on the past business year, reset, plan and prepare for the coming year. I believe there are some simple questions we can ask ourselves about our professional and personal lives:

• What worked well in the past 12 months?
• What professional achievement in the past 12 months am I proud of?
• What personal achievement in the past 12 months am I proud of?
• What didn’t work, and why?
• What would I do differently if I had the opportunity to change something?
• What do I need to start doing in the new financial year that would improve outcomes?
• What development do I need to increase my productivity, performance and impact?