If it’s not about accommodating the women, then what is it?

Fixing the glass ceiling isn’t about accommodating women. It’s about engaging the workforce.

There are many schools of thought when it comes to the glass ceiling.  I’ve encountered opinions that vary from “you go girl!” to “pick a new battle… that one’s been won” to “we’ve given you equality and now you want favour?”  What I find interesting is the view that the gender diversity issue is something that caters to women at the expense of men.  People have said that when parents choose to have children, they shouldn’t expect the government or their companies to have to look after them.

While I agree with that last statement, that viewpoint tells me that people still have an antiquated and limited view of what it means to have women in the workforce.  It tells me that some people are still living in the past and haven’t adjusted their thinking to the new realities of the world we live in today.

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Warren Buffett replaces diamonds as girl’s best friend

If ever there was any doubt that women are good for business,  billionaire investment guru Warren Buffett has put the question to rest.  In a recent article in The Telegraph, Buffett is quoted as saying,”[It is] one of the things that make me so optimistic about the future.”  What is IT?  ‘It’ is the trend that women will have the same chance to succeed as men.  He calls this potential as ‘key to a bright economic future.’

It will be interesting to see what happens to popular opinion now that Buffett has claimed that women will save the US economy.  Just because he says it, doesn’t mean that everyone will embrace his opinion and open up their previously tightly closed arms.  But if there is anything that should give us cause to celebrate, this is it!

But just as many will criticize Buffett as will praise him.  After all, he didn’t get to be the third richest person on the planet by making everyone happy.

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Never let them see you puke!

 

This is the third instalment in the Family Olympic saga. We decided to watch the Canadian women’s soccer team play for the Bronze medal so we didn’t start our run until just before noon. It was about 32 degrees, no breeze, and no shade on the rural Nova Scotia road that served as our running track. About half way, my body decided to show me what it thought about me running in the heat. My stomach started doing Olympic-style somersaults.

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Inspired by a Champion

For many of us, the Olympics seem so surreal and so far away. But for my family, the London Olympics are very real indeed. Jenna Martin, 400 metre runner, is a family friend, and the sister of my son’s summer-vacation playmate. To see someone compete in the Olympics that you remember as a small child, is quite spectacular indeed.

While watching Jenna’s success, we were inspired to have our own family summer Olympics. My husband, three of our sons, and myself, all participated our own 5.4 km marathon. Ok, I know that isn’t officially considered a marathon distance, but since I’m not a runner and about as athletic as Frosty the Snowman, a run half that distance is a marathon in my mind.

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The more we change, the more we stay the same

I remember my early career aspirations and the belief that I could do anything I wanted to do and I could be anything I wanted to be. One thing that would spur me on faster than anything else was to tell me I couldn’t do something because I was a woman. In fact, that’s probably how my passion for advocating for the advancement of women began.

I can remember it as though it were yesterday. I was eight years old and visiting my grandparents. My grandfather returned late in the afternoon one day after cutting firewood. As soon as I heard his truck pull in the driveway I rushed to put on my shoes so I could go help him unload the wood. By the time he parked his truck in the back yard, I was already there waiting excitedly to lend a helping hand. When he realized what I had on my mind, he told me I couldn’t help him because I was a girl.

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