My Dad’s old suitcase. Let go of it?

My Dad has been resisting moving into a care home for years. He couldn’t let go of the world he created, even if it was less and less comfortable to be in. Last summer he couldn’t look after himself anymore. We, his daughters, took the tough decision to overrule his judgment. My youngest sister moved […]

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Ants in my pants – what to do if you’re unable to sit still

This summer I had terrible ants in my pants. It wasn’t funny anymore. But what do you do if you can’t sit still? There was a time that I’d take holidays in small beach hotels or roaming the Mediterranean coast on a boat with a small group of friends. All there was to do was

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‘Nobody could have done it but a woman’ — Lessons about leadership from a president

‘The thing about leadership is that you have to be prepared to fail and start again,’ says Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. She is the living example of perseverance. She was jailed three times, had to flee the country and campaign more than once before becoming the first elected female head of state in Africa. For 12

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having more money and accumulating wealth is crucial

Are women lucky to have less money than men?

Money is hardly ever what my clients view as their main problem. Indeed, often, interwoven in their stories are signs that they don’t care for it that much. And why should they? ‘Money is the source of all evil,’ they say in English. In French ‘money is the sinew of war.’ In Dutch a person

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what gives life meaning

What gives life meaning? Find your Ultimate Why

Springtime. Stormy skies and sunshine. Sweet scenting flowers everywhere. Life is bursting from the earth. It makes me feel so alive, but exactly in this season we lost a dear member of my husband’s family. My husband and I had the privilege to be present at his deathbed. We were holding his hand while his

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Yet another set back for women? Please!

Gender stereotypes can kill a woman’s self-confidence, new research by Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Katherine Coffman shows. Oh no! Yet another reason why we can’t make it?! [Women] lack confidence in their ability to compete in fields that men are stereotypically believed to perform more strongly in, such as science, math, and technology. Women

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Leadership against victimhood

Domestic violence has struck about 750,000 adults in the Netherlands at least once in the last five years. 65% of these victims are women. 250,000 women experienced violence more than once and for 100,000 of them, the violence is routine. Between 90,000 and 120,000 children younger than 17 are experiencing abuse as well. Above age

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Women leaders, please don’t be nice!

Women in leading positions are often judged to be not nice. This is one reason why so few women want to be boss, I believe. Yet, one condition to achieve Sustainable Leadership for Women is indeed to stop being so nice. Women needing to be nice is why we’re practically absent where the decisions are taken,

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More women leaders? Get real women to the top.

At a time when women outnumber men at university in most Western countries, I think it’s safe to say that lack of intelligence cannot be the reason why women still are lagging behind when it comes to occupying decision-making positions. Similarly, it’s been known for at least 30 years that more women at the top

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