Tag Archive for Women in business

A proud moment. In the pub.

July 24, 2011 General, Qualitative Research, Razor news, Women in business No comments

You know me – Little Miss Party Planner.  I may not be hot on bunting but my goodness I love organising a good party.

So after having said, time and again, to various of my researcher friends (who am I kidding, nearly ALL of my friends are researchers) that we should hold a reunion for The Research Business International, I thought I should finally put my money where my mouth was.

TRB (which then became TRBi) was founded by Wendy Gordon and Colleen Ryan rather too many years ago than I can possibly imagine.  Along with RI, they are probably single-handedly responsible for spawning the generations of thinkers and business people who have gone on to spread their passion for clever research.

In fact, my very first bosses, Judy Taylor and Andrea Berlowitz of Leapfrog Research met at TRBi and nearly all of MY personal research heroes were there too (or met each other through the company): Brian Donaghey, Sally Marsden, Jackie Laurie, Louise Lear.  And of course, my business partner Steve, was my boss at TRBi which then became Synovate.  So it goes full circle.

Anyway – on Friday night we all gathered at The Chapel Bar in Islington.  I told myself that 20 would be a good number but in the end I think we had nearly 50 people turn up.  From Wendy onwards, we covered pretty much every generation of the company’s life.

The success of the event meant masses to me.  I was so proud that Wendy turned up.  I was so proud to honestly say I knew people who came before me and after me.  It was a testament to the power of friendship, great leaders, great researchers and that once you find them – you shouldn’t let them go.  It reminded me that if you love your job, you can find inspiration from when you’re hired as grad right the way through until 11 years later (in my case) you can start your OWN company.  It’s fair to say that I don’t envisage Razor ever reaching the dizzy heights of global presence as TRBi (now Synovate) but I CAN say that I was part of an amazing researcher dynasty and that not for one second have I ever wanted to do anything else.

I still miss you Cruikshank St, Filthy’s, the Sandwich Man, Holford Mews, the sink in reception, the barn-like boardroom, the filthy toilets, the bulging fridge, Room 4, the mezzanine and under the mezzanine.

And now the challenge for me is to make sure that everyone who passes through Razor’s door has as valuable memories of their time with us as I had at TRBi.

What’s wrong with this picture?

June 14, 2011 Research magazine, Women in business No comments

I regularly check in to ResearchLive to check up on the daily gossip, stories, blogs, etc.  I follow Research on Twitter…oh yes, I’m there when the news breaks.

So imagine my disappointment when I logged on earlier this evening and was faced with the homepage below.

What’s wrong with this picture?

Of all those articles, contributors and subjects – they’re all men. In suits. 40+.  Acquisitions, mergers, money, power.

There is ONE image relating to an article by women and guess what it’s about?  Emotions.

I’ve got SO many questions whizzing round my brain about women in research, women writing about research, women in charge (or not) of reporting on research, women in general, women at Razor. I don’t know the answer – and it’s too late to start considering it this evening – but I just thought I’d throw that observation out there.

Chloe

Big girls blouses. More on women in business.

May 27, 2011 Women in business No comments

So, I love TED talks. I defy anyone not to.  I do have to admit though, as I stare at the backlog of 100′s that I’ve got saved up iTunes, that I do tend to skim the ones that are just a bit too save the planet for me.  My bad.

But ANYWAY – here’s a coincidence.  The one I just chose to watch was one by Sheryl Sandberg who was talking about why there aren’t enough women in business (see earlier post by me) and THEN I clicked the link that my sister sent through to The Fold’s new blog platform and lo and behold – there was the same one.

To be fair – their blog focuses on her brains and her beauty and I watched it thinking ‘yeah, I DO sometimes sit at the side of the room’ but hey – standout is standout.

So here is a link to The Fold’s blog which includes the video of Sheryl’s TED talk and their take on it…

http://thefoldlondon.tumblr.com/ (entry on January 28th 2011)

And stay tuned for our very own Tom Morgan’s contribution to AQR’s upcoming Q Fest – he’s turned being one a very few boys at Razor to intellectual gain by discussing what that might mean for him, his career, and whether a moderator who flirts wins.

Chloe

 

Being a woman in Business

March 5, 2011 General No comments

One of the benefits of having a drop dead genius younger sister is that sometimes you can peer over her shoulder and take a gander at what’s she’s got going on. And then you can nick bits.

Polly has entered the home run of getting an MBA from London Business School and during her time there she’s teamed up with her business partner,Cheryl Mainland and launched The Fold, a fashion brand for the professionally chic (www.thefoldlondon.com). The Fold showcased their brand new spring collection yesterday, at the 11th Annual Women in Business Conference at LBS (focusing on Leadership) and she very kindly enrolled me on the Conference so I could grab front row seats at the catwalk show that closed the day.

Maybe getting there for 9am on a Saturday isn’t everyone’s idea of weekend fun – but lie-in deprivation aside – I’m still deep in thought after a day of lectures and panel discussions from business women who were equally willing to give up their time to inspire, educate, provoke and entertain. An indication of their calibre: MD of Goldman Sachs, Global COO of Morgan Stanley, Hedge Fund managers, founder of Cupcake Mum, Prada Group Regional Director.

My personal favourites were Dame Mary Marsh (Founding Director of the Clore Social Leadership Programme and ex – CE of the NSPCC) and Sally Tennant, CEO of Kleinwort Benson. Not only was the content of their presentations provocative, honest and smart but they showed that Swagger on stage really matters.

Bear in mind, the speakers were mostly working in finance and were speaking to an audience of women mostly intending to work in finance (i.e. male dominated environments), and that MBA’s and LBS are striving to create the ‘leaders of tomorrow’…but there’s plenty for all of us in marketing and market research to think about.

-Courage and confidence. Find it. Exude it.

-‘Think Gucci’s”. Stay out of your comfort zone. Once your shoes are too comfy, it’s time to buy new Choos.

-Know yourself, be yourself, look after yourself.

-There is NO such thing as a work:life balance. It’s just Life Balance. If you love what you do (which if you want to lead, you must) then work is as valid a part of your life as your friends and your family.

-There is NO glass ceiling. There is NO such thing as failure. Sure, there are hurdles and challenges and stuff might go pear-shaped but ladies, get over it.

-We don’t have to learn to communicate like men, but if you work in a male-dominated environment (which to be fair, I definitely don’t) then you need to know how they communicate

-Don’t apologise. Or rather, apologise when it really matters but for god’s sake stop starting every sentence which ‘I’m not really sure if I’m right’ or ‘I may be wrong‘. (One panellist quipped that men don’t apologise but they do say ‘sorry, but…’ which is not quite the same thing at all.)

-Be known FOR something. It’s not good enough to just be good at your job, work really hard, be dead competent. If there’s nothing that marks you out as being special or different from your colleagues – you’ll be over-looked. And if you’re known for something, TALK about it. Don’t expect others to just notice what you’ve done.

-Be opportunistic. You never know when you’re about to make a good impression (or an impression full stop) Men are much better at seizing every opportunity just to be noticed. Like those 2 minutes with the Chief Exec in the lift. Women tend to either think ‘don’t notice me’ or spend so much time thinking about what to say, that the senior bod has left the lift and long gone before they’ve stuttered out a comment.

-Don’t ruminate, regret or feel guilt. Time spent on this is time not spent on looking forward.

-Have female role models. And if you can, make them your mentors.

-Love what you do

-Without physical and emotional resilience – you won’t cut it. Being a leader is tough, tough, tough.

-Build networks. They’ll be your most important ally as you rise the ranks. And if you can, network to make OTHER people successful because they’re the ones that will always return the favour and answer your emails in the future.

-Have opinions and be interesting. No one really wants to hear about your kids and your holidays OR what you do for a living. Be genuinely, deep down interesting.

-Have good hair.

-Wear a pinky ring.

I realise that our industry has different values to finance and we may need additional qualities to succeed. I realise that most financial institutions seem to have a thousand MD’s and VP’s and CEO’s and that our industry just doesn’t have that kind of hierarchy (or does it?). I haven’t found it hard to find female role models from within research and I was lucky enough to work for 2 when I first started as a graduate at Leapfrog (thank you, Judy and Andrea) and I’m gathering more role models every week. But more than anything, spending a day with a load of women who have great brains, great hair, great shoes, charisma and class was just a real gift. And if we can even remember one or two of those bits of advice as Razor shifts and morphs then we’ll be great leaders too.

Thanks Pol, I owe you one.

Chloe