Dear evesdropping family. I am sure you have heard all the media frenzy over Gina Rippon's http://www1.aston.ac.uk/lhs/staff/az-index/rippong/  assertions that we must 'challenge neuro-nonsense about women's brains' ? I felt so strongly about the damage her message might do I wrote her a personal plea. Here it is. Please add your views too in the comments on this blog

Gina Hi

I have been working with Blue Chip organisations who wish to increase senior female representation for 10 years. In that time there has been little or no progress in the numbers of women in power despite all the good policies and research.

In 2003 I began talking about the fact that men and women might be different and approach leadership differently. Not wrong, not right ...just different. If they (the City) had had eggs they would have thrown them.

Since that time I have been on a mission to have my message heard. Why? Because I have had 10,000 women go through my programmes and they all tell me the same story - they are different and feel misunderstood.

I have no interest in the nature-nurture debate. Clearly it is both.

What worries me about your recent approach is that we are heading back to the good old days of 'shhh...don't talk about it because it causes stereotyping' and my belief is that unless we accept where we are we cant move forward.

I have just launched this http://www.genderiq.tv/ to help organisations to move forward on this political subject and I encourage debate. I also talk about gender being on a scale of masculine/feminine leadership traits. There is no longer a need for the Thatcher stereotype of 'bloke in a skirt' and to avoid women having to go down this road we need to talk about differences and encourage a wider range of acceptable leadership styles.

I hope that we can speak and get on the same page. At the very least we must agree that testosterone causes different behaviour in men and women

This is the view from where I am sitting as I write this blog. I wish I could include the sounds as well. It is beautiful, peaceful and healing. What feelings does this image invoke in you?

The Summer flew by. I had three teenage daughters at home and they didn't start filing out of the house for productive work until the first week of October! Sometimes it felt very much like I was living in student digs and against this backdrop I have been beavering away getting our product suite ready to launch and working with our trial groups who have bought the first batch of products and services, whether that be the amazing File for Life (time management planner that includes a monthly wheel of life) or our newly launched on-line learning. During the Summer I was standing at the post office sending planners to France, The Netherlands and Spain or sitting at a cafe in Ibiza editing the audio content of our 2 day seminar plus trying to get my head around the massive subject of internet marketing. And the 12 months work that I put into the Gender iQ project is finally paying off with clients having various ideas about how they would like to use the product for internal use.

Phew!

Now then, how did  that paragraph make you feel? I wish I could include the feelings of overwhelm and panic in trying to meet my deadlines or production dates and keep all the plates spinning amidst the teenage backdrop of hormones and family need.

My point is this: We all need to go fast if we want to keep up with the current pace of change against the back-drop of a double dip recession. I am heairng that people are scared and feeling out of control. Nothing is familiar or dependable. And when you feel like that it is time to STOP!

When you feel overwhelmed or scared you need to go within. Find the still, small quiet voice or intuition and ask for direction. Do whatever it takes to calm down and reflect. Go to a beautiful place or just take the time to really see your own surroundings and get present.

At these times of trouble there are great opportunities but you can't and wont see them if you are running around like a headless chicken playing somebody else's tune or working towards somebody else's mission. Do you have a mission of your own? What do you want to have or be in five years time? I guarantee that most of you are saying 'I don't know!' If you don't know, now is the time to work on yourself. In fact, work harder on yourself than you do on your job.

I just ran another 2 day break-through seminar with a wonderful group of people who all came with some pretty hefty questions. This is what happened after.

"Wow! what a difference a week makes.....I've just had some really lovely feedback about how the seminar has 'obviously been good for me' as my new authentically positive and enthusiastic approach has come to the fore. There has even been a comment on how I fair 'skipped' into the office on Monday morning - I think they're wondering who I am, and what have I done with Liz?!"

It might be time for you to STOP and look around to make sure your ladder is against the right wall. How will you do that?

And while you are answering that question I would be so grateful if you would take 5 minutes to tell me what products and services you would find most useful in this short survey tell us what you want

My mission is to share with you everything I know and my purpose is to empower women to be, do and have everything they want in life. I know it can be done and I want to share that knowledge with you!

With passion,
Tracey