Women are trained to be hard working and dependable while behaving in a predictable way: the perfect recipe to be overlooked for career development. How do we change this at the personal and cultural levels? Averil and Kaye discuss men’s so called easy life, shared parental leave and aspects of confidence…

Averil and Connie discuss sensible approaches to New Year resolutions using (properly researched) positive psychology and other behavioural techniques. From morning coffee, to Duolingo, to the ladder with an infinite number of steps…  Broadcast on Hogmanay.

No point repeating that this long confinement has taken its toll on relationships, even as we see light at the end of the tunnel. One of the good aspects of this shared hardship has been the emergence of more profound, human conversations instead of the usual trivia. Averil explores the importance of checking in for leaders and to have a professional approach to the well-being of their teams. Something that is also useful in Coaching, no matter which angle you look at it from…

Glastonbury cancelled again, James Bond postponed again, holidays on hold again. Is there a trick to deal with this drip drip of disappointment? – Averil demonstrates how to build anticipation and therefore resilience

What continues to prevent chief executives from accessing the entire talent pool, rather than favouring men?

City Wire’s Wealth Manager Magazine asks Averil Leimon why despite strong evidence of high performance so few women were promoted to senior positions in Investment Management. Here is a summary of her thoughts:

• There is strong evidence of high female performance in the industry. For example a recent Goldman Sachs report showed that all-women or mixed gender fund teams have outperformed all-male portfolio management teams so far this year. 
• Over the 10 years since we published our research with the London School of Economics and the book Coaching Women to Lead, men have learned to talk a good game about the need for higher diversity but, in many sectors including Investment Management, this is just skin deep: deep down, the CEOs and senior executives don’t really believe in women’s ability to do as well as them. They still have unconscious bias about risk attitude for example (long debunked).
• It is the Boards’ responsibility to push the executive team to do something about it and go beyond a box ticking exercise: it is just good business sense.
• We are preparing the second edition of the book and research clearly shows that what is good for women is good for ‘diverse’ groups: ignore this at your peril as diversity becomes the norm.
• Therefore not actively recruiting, promoting and developing women looks like a wilful act of negligence or a deliberate exclusion. Time for the Board to hold execs to account.

For a description of turning box ticking into success – in Investment Management or other industries – start here

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