Thursday 2 July 2009

an old girls network

very interesting interview this morning on radio nz (nine to noon, 9.20am) with mai chen and the rt hon jenny shipley. here is the audio, and here is the blurb from the radio nz page:

More than seventy of New Zealand's top women business leaders are joining forces to create a new organisation that will connect them across businesses, sectors and international borders.

Membership is by invitation only, and is limited to women who hold senior leadership roles in influential organisations. They must have demonstrated thought leadership and vision and have a track record of supporting other women to leadership positions.

London School of Business research identifies that creating supportive networks is critical to advancing talented women. Interviews during the development of Global Women revealed that even high-achieving women under-invest in their social capital, often due to multiple demands on their time. Global Women come from across the private and public sectors; from the sciences, arts and not-for-profit enterprises. They are based in New Zealand, the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and China.

the interview brought up some good points, discussing issues around keys to success and the importance of mentoring. the only thing that bothers me about this is that it's so elite, so will only help a very limited number of women.

5 comments:

katy said...

I listened to this interview too. Obviously "old girls networks" do exist to a certain extent already as a result of class-based institutions that bring women together (boarding schools, societies etc). From what they described of this one I guess that it will be helpful for a limited group of women. There seem to be mentoring opportunities for women in business as well but perhaps not the same comprehensive network at this elite level.

Deborah said...

And that it's invitation only. So will that invitation never be forthcoming if you happen to have different political views?

Paul McBeth said...

Didn't hear the interview, but this old gal's network isn't something new - they've been around for a few years (and have always been by invite only).

Don't think it's very partisan.... apparently success sees no colour.....

Ain't just bidniss either - plenty a women high-ups from the public sector sitting on it too...

PB.

katy said...

"Don't think it's very partisan.... apparently success sees no colour....."

I think both Helen Clark and Jenny Shipley are involved in this network so I guess technically that is true.. I have to say that I found Jenny Shipley droning on about "motherhood" kind of creepy but they did seem to want to drive this point home, I guess to reassure chaps that they needn't feel threatened by this network because a key topic for successful women (apparently) is around when/whether to have children. I don't mean to minimise this as a concern but I would suggest that difficulties balancing work/home life are structural issues that are not going to be solved by being able to have a coffee with a female CEO.

baheggie@bettyannheggie.com said...

Anytime a group of women comes together to support other women they should be acknowledged and thanked. We don't need to criticize them. There will be lots of men to do that for us. See more on this topic at http://stillettochick.typepad.com/blog/2009/06/overcoming-gender-bias.html