I was at a celebration event last week for the completion of the first cohort of emerging women leaders to go through a groundbreaking programme at one of our High Street Banks. I was touched and honoured to be presented with a bottle of champagne in thanks for my part but the real cheerleader is me.

I am cheering because I can see that these women have decided to step up and take the lead. Stories abound of supposed leaders who are surviving instead of leading. That is what happens when people don’t understand themselves. When people have an external locus of control and the world crumbles then they have to crumble with it. I say ‘have to’ because they have been reliant on external factors for security when the only security you can really have comes from the inside. That’s why I do strange things like jump off 40ft telegraph poles and walk on fire – not because I’m an adrenaline junkie but because I am constantly testing my inner voice.

What is your inner voice saying to you right now? Is it telling you that you can’t or that you’re not good enough? Take control of the voice. Don’t feed it with attention, starve the damn dog!

Here is an example of somebody who has decided that she is a leader in every way: Amy Bone (pictured above) is taking on an enormous physical challenge as well as holding down a busy and important role. I will be bringing you regular updates about Amy's progress over the coming months as I hope it will inspire all of us to bigger and better things – despite the recession!


In January 2010, I will be joining a team of 12 women from around the world to attempt to scale the three highest mountains in Africa (Mt Kenya, 5199m, Mt Meru, 4566m, Mt Kilimanjaro, 5895m) to raise money and awareness for three key issues facing Africa today – environment, education and healthcare. We will be only the third amateur all-female team to complete this challenge, and will complete in just three weeks. All women are paying their own expenses, so every penny raised will go directly to charity. None of us are climbers, or athletes, just ordinary women trying to do something extraordinary.

I came across three peaks by accident, after some time looking for a personal challenge to complete, and I couldn’t help but be touched by the personal stories of the communities this charity supports. The organisation was founded in 2004, focussed on generating financial support for already established East African organisations, with every mountain climbed supporting an organisation and community directly impacted by that peak. For example the communities of Mt Kenya directly benefit from that summit attempt through the support of the Laikipia Wildlife Forum. (more info on each charity will follow in subsequent updates).

As well as the physical challenge, fundraising will be a huge test leading up to this event. Personally I hope to raise at least £10,000 for my attempt, with current fundraising strategies including car boot sales, tube station collections and three peaks, three days, taking amateur climbers up the three highest peaks in the UK. This is what I perceive to be my biggest challenge at present – how to raise funds and support in what is the worst post war recession the UK has seen. It will be tough, but I am hopeful I can get there, and help add real value to the lives of many communities in Africa. I am extremely excited about this challenge, and consider myself very lucky to have been selected and have the chance to take part. You can support me and find out more at www.justgiving.co.uk/amybone1
Amy Bone is a Relationship Manager at a major High Street Bank.

Last but not least – look out for me in the Appointments section of the Sunday Times this weekend discussing the current outflux of women from the City

Live with passion!
Tracey

You may have noticed that I didn't blog last week. We had a very scary Bank Holiday in our family. My 18 year old daughter had a totally unexpected seizure and nearly lost her life. Thank God she is OK.

This kind of incident makes you re-calibrate everything in life and I was floundering for most of last week with questions like 'why am I trying to change the world when I could be having a simple life and spending time with my family?'

I know that you too, as women leaders, have such thoughts constantly. Not because you have dramatic incidents, necessarily, but because you are constantly re-assessing the work-life balance question.

I have been doing a lot of research on the female brain for my new book and now know that the way women think is wired into our brains. We are wired for empathy and men are wired for systemising. I am not making right or wrong judgements here - just excited to find some facts to back up the intuition, anecdotes and stories.

We also have brains that love to connect with people. With these differences making us more likely to be thinking about, and caring about home and work and family and friends all at the same time, we need employers who are Gender Intelligent.

Why do organisations need to be Gender Intelligent? Because women are no less brilliant for not being as 'focussed' as men and there needs to be more understanding between the masculine and feminine out there.

I hope that this little blog goes some way toward making you feel proud to be women leaders and not blokes in skirts. Get bolder, multi-task to your hearts content and be proud of your ability to juggle. Finally, ask for what you want.

I am very excited to be speaking with Sarah Speake (Industry Director at Google) tomorrow and she has some extraordinary stories to tell including the fact that she was headhunted for Google whilst pregnant!

Big round of applause for Google.

Don’t we all deserve the same dignity and respect? If you haven’t got it where you work .....what are you going to do?
If you missed this video last time I posted it - here it is again. PLEASE WATCH ;-)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuMZ73mT5zM

Michelle Obama made only one speech during her trip to London and that was at a girls-only, inner-city school, its pupils, of whom 20% are the children of refugees or asylum seekers, speak a total of 55 different languages and 92% of whom are from a black or minority background. And then, carefully, using personal stories and anecdotes, she drew parallels between her life and those of the girls in front of her, at times appearing close to tears.

"I want you to know that we have very much in common. For nothing in my life's path would have predicted that I would be standing here as the first lady of the United States of America. There was nothing in my story that would land me here. I wasn't raised with wealth or resources of any social standing to speak of...
"If you want to know the reason why I'm standing here, it's because of education. I never cut class. I loved getting A's. I liked being smart. I loved being on time. I loved getting my work done. I thought being smart was cooler than anything in the world."

She then went on to speak to the girls about the importance of them achieving their full potential so that they could take the reigns as women leaders for a new world and re-iterated that a Nations health is dependent on women’s participation.

I have said it before and I’ll repeat it here. As women leaders, whether we are 16 or 45, it is time for us to take ourselves more seriously than we ever have. The world is seeking a more values driven leadership and women are perfectly placed to fill the void.

The void will be filled. Nature abhors a vacuum. Will it be filled with something new or will we, because of our apathy, get more of the same?

What are you personally doing to take your life and opportunities to the next level? Do you need more education? Do you need to volunteer for a high visibility project? Do you actually need to say something that goes against the expected norm?

Please leave comments and inspire us with your stories and dont forget to live with passion!