Limiting Beliefs

Ever been told to be more assertive? Don’t listen. Read this:

‘What shall we do? ‘I don’t mind. Whatever you like.’ When I was younger, my conversations would often follow this pattern, me being the one not minding. One day, a friend gave me the well-meant advice to get some assertiveness training, because I seemed so insecure. But I didn’t feel like that at all. Nowadays, I sometimes […]

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Stereotypical Barbie is dead, long live the stereotype!

When I put a few pages about Barbie in my latest book – We-mind vs Me-mind, published in July – I wanted to illustrate how what we’ve learned to value in ourselves and others is making a lot of people deeply unhappy and perpetuates the very situation we want to change. Unfortunately, the latest Barbie

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Let’s stop beating ourselves up! What the latest UN report on gender bias really shows

It sounds shocking: 90 percent of the world population, including women, is biased against women, according to the latest UN Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI). But this representation of the facts is profoundly skewed. Yes, there is a lot of room for improvement. But there is no reason to despair. And the solution is obvious:

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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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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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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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More women at the top boosts share prices

Recent research by Bank of America Merrill Lynch shows that employing more women at the top is excellent for share prices. All male boards will soon have to let more women in, not because they like to share power, but because this is what moves the money. Women now have more economic power than ever.

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To be the perfect woman

Recently I read an interview with a business woman who said that the best thing she ever did for herself was to let go of perfectionism. She was right. Self-oriented perfectionism can be debilitating. As a recovering perfectionist, I know this well. Wikipedia describes the condition as ‘a personality trait characterised by a person’s striving

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The art of being imperfect

‘I see so many women who are great at their jobs, but also at remaining invisible,’ says Elke Jeurissen, founder of the Belgian women’s network ‘De Straffe Madammen‘ (The Strong Ladies). On Story Club, the site where Business Story Teller Raf Stevens posts his interviews (in Dutch) with a variety of people, Elke Jeurissen explains

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