Bringing EQ-driven leadership into companies.

Interview by Valeria Camia, journalist, web director Corriere dell'Italianità, to Manuela Andaloro Senior Advisor and Board Member, for Corriere degli Italiani

A successful entrepreneur, an ambassador of gender equality, and a mother, Manuela Andaloro tells her story. 

Business woman Manuela Andaloro has been the CEO of SmartBizHub since 2017. Together with her team, she does management consulting, especially in the field of new technologies and sustainability, working with multinationals and government agencies throughout Europe. Manuela travels often and is active in advocating and raising awareness on diversity, gender equality and on the balance between family and work. She was recently nominated for a major award on gender diversity. For many years, she has been advocating “diversity and inclusion” in companies. Could Manuela picture her current reality when, just a twenty-year-old student at IULM University in Milan, she got her first corporate role as an analyst at ACNielsen, working hard to keep up with her studies?

Manuela has been not only a successful entrepreneur in recent years, for over 17 years she has had important roles in leading financial companies in Europe, since 2012, she’s also a mother. A mother of two small children (4 and 6 years old), in Switzerland, a country in which achieving a balance between family and work is particularly complicated. Maternity leave is granted for only 3 months and fathers are excluded, as opposed to a European average of 6 to 12 months (or even 3 years in Germany) of leave, which in many cases can be shared equally between both parents. If wage parity remains a dream, the same goes for career opportunities, respect for diversity and promotion of social inclusion.

“Finding a balance between career and family is one of the hardest challenges that my husband and I – along with hundreds of parents with careers, I have met over the years – are facing in Swiss society, which in most cases still gives women the role of housekeepers and child carers. This concept is deeply rooted in the culture of this country. I still remember this chat I had with a doctor I had consulted because I felt tired after the birth of my first child and my return to work 5 months later. I remember the doctor asking me why I kept on working. It was shocking. And that was just the beginning. I was shocked again when I went back to work, first part time, then full time. Society in many cases expected me to be mainly a mother”, says Manuela, who considers herself lucky, because “there was still a job for me when my maternity leave was over if you consider that one in seven women in Switzerland loses her job when she becomes a mother.” Not to mention the economic situation, as private nurseries and kindergartens, that can provide more flexible times to allow parents to work, are very expensive and so precluded to many.

To be honest, Manuela actually had some thoughts about giving up her career, or taking a break. It was never easy to leave my children with the babysitter or at the nursery until late, to work and travel even on weekends, and being under the critical eye of society. But Manuela did not give up. She was courageous and aware of the need to break up with an obsolete, individualistic and non-empathic mindset, which does not leave enough space for women and is unable to cope with the new global picture of society and its stakeholders.

— Images, left to right: Manuela Andaloro moderating a FinTech international event in January 2019 in Zurich (credits: British Embassy Bern); speaking about adapting our working cultures to reflect a more modern world and diverse society, June 2019, Amsterdam. (Credits: EWPN, Money 2020); on stage speaking about new role models and leadership, October 2018, London (Credits: PayExpo); Balancing private life and work on a weekend. —

The trump card that can reconcile career and family, says Manuela, is a new type of EQ-driven leadership. “The best leaders of today invest their time and energy in understanding the people they work with and their teams. It’s the EIQ, or emotional intelligence quotient, which experts say has become today more important than IQ and is a better index of success for people, companies and society. This is why we must work to change the old mindset: a new approach will not only favour women but will also foster a type of leadership based on empathic soft skills. In the digital age and its new challenges, women should not be fighting to integrate themselves into a system that has proved to be disastrous as it supports only one model, the alpha personality, mostly very dominant figures. I met women that had old-fashioned leadership styles, not very cooperative and participatory, and men who lead in an inclusive way and pay attention to the social fabric outside and inside the company. Adopting a leadership based on arrogance, blind self-confidence and lack of empathy does not work today, in the face of the probable failure of liberal democracies, the negative influence of social platforms, the climate crisis, artificial intelligence and the associated risks. Both women and men should all work together to transform the mindset of companies (and politics), making room for the new facts on the ground”.

For women, it means they have to learn to believe more in themselves, to not settle for less and to act, without always waiting for the right moment in decisions concerning private and working life – to have a child or to accept a new role of great responsibility that involves changes. “Sacrificing one’s ambitions even before trying is harmful to oneself, to other women, to new generations and to the men that are witnessing this behaviour”.

On 14 June, over half a million women and men across Switzerland joined the demonstrations following the strike, plus all those who participated in a “digital” way. What do you wish for, Manuela? “I wish for strong governmental reforms and independent inspections of companies to assess corporate culture, and diversity within them. And I also expect each of us to raise awareness of issues of vital importance, in each of our daily roles, as mothers, fathers, teachers, workers, leaders. Starting from making our children aware of the importance of equality, inclusion and an open mind-set to face today’s new challenges”.

Valeria Camia with Manuela Andaloro

Manuela Andaloro is a senior professional with over 19 years of executive experience in global roles in financial services, business strategy and digital transformation, having lived in Milan, London and Zurich and worked for firms such as Nielsen, Financial News and UBS. Since 2017, she is the Founder of Swiss-based SmartBizHub, a management consultancy specialising in marketing, positioning, communications, sustainability, future tech and future work. Manuela is a professional speaker, a published author, and an editorial consultant for various leading publications on the topics of finance, social shifts, impact, culture and leadership. She serves as advisory board member of various Swiss and international organizations, and as a board member of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Europe. Manuela is a D&I champion and advocate for EQ- driven leadership, speaks English, Italian, German and Spanish and lives in Zurich with her husband and two children. 

As published in Corriere dell’ Italianita’ cover story, 30 July 2019 view original article in Italian here.

Do not wait for leaders. Become them.

“In terms of promoting diversity in the industry, there are some easy steps that could be taken to try and break the image of financial services as a realm of male domination. Increasing the number of women speakers at major industry events sounds like a no-brainer, but it’s still something event-coordinators struggle to do. Organisations like EWPN are playing such a vital role in breaking these patterns, not only by empowering women, but also by promoting women in the payments industry who deserve recognition, who would be overlooked, in many cases, by their male counterparts.”

— Angela Yore, MD, Advisory Board EWPN

Left to right, Chloe Templeton, Megan Caywood, Manuela Andaloro, panel moderated by Angela Yore

The world is in desperate need of great leaders—whether in business or in politics. Yet, many leadership opportunities are withheld from half of the workforce.

Even with all the progress we’ve made for equality in so many important ways, women are still severely underrepresented in business leadership positions. Women-led companies make up only 4% of Fortune 500 companies, a trend that holds steady throughout most business sectors.

According to the latest World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, “Female talent remains one of the most underutilized business resources.” In some industries, like finance, this is especially clear.

In finance, as career level rises, female representation declines. Although 46 percent of financial services employees are women, at the executive level, it’s only 15 percent. (WEF 2017 data)

The outlook looks better than when I started my career 19 years ago, or even since my banking days 2 years ago, yet, much remains to be done, starting from raising awareness on role models who lead leveraging their high EQ.

New role models are crucial to break the cycles of outdated cultures, inspiring women and men to a new identity of leadership, one that leverages skills such as collaboration, empathy and trust, helping younger generations of women and men to rise to a new identity of leadership, one that doesn’t take only one form.

But how are we all driving steadily this very much needed change? What new real models for women and men are we raising awareness on? Men are as much trapped in most of this “alpha-male” world as women are. Times are changing, a clear reflection of this is the increasing number of millennials (women and men) who are less than fascinated by old corporate working models and by old and outdated environments.

The lure that many large corporations once had in attracting and retaining talents is long gone, replaced by new working models, attractive start-ups, high impact lean companies that favour calm competence over loud arrogant behaviours.

Millennials are not alone on their quest. It’s enough to think of how many people we know above 40, men and women, who are daily trying to change the way they work, to find more meaning in what they do, to leave behind the old ‘work life balance’ to find sustainable ways to create a winning synergy between their work and their life.

It was a great honour to join last year one of the leading events in the payments and Fintech sector for their first ever all-women panel.

Beyond the now well-known benefits of gender balance, our goal was to share learnings, experiences and stories from diverse female role models,  raising awareness on new, different types of female leadership and successes.

As the two thousand guests gathered, it became apparent that women represent still a stark minority  in the sector, and at the same time,  that interest in the topic of gender balance and of leverage of the female brains is ever so relevant for men and women alike. 

The payments industry is not unique in gender inequality: traditional payments companies have been technology and finance driven, both mostly male-dominated industries that have somehow landed in a fairly versatile space.

The panel I was invited to sit on was expertly moderated by Angela Yore, Founder of SkyParlour, EWPN board member and leading advocate for women empowerment in the FinTech space. Fellow panellists were Megan Caywood, then Chief Platform Officer at Starling Bank, now Global Head of Digital Strategy at Barclays Bank, and Chloe Templeton,  Head of Mutuals and Women in Finance at HM Tresurey, now International Policy Lead for Women's Economic Empowerment at the Department for International Development (DFID).

We spoke about the importance of empowering women and men to achieve diversity and close the gender gap, and of how to frame and invest in our own personal brand.

What follows is a snapshot of our panel discussion with key take-aways.

Question: “What to do about the fact that confident women leaders are often seen negatively?”

Megan: “Be confident anyway. We need confident women leaders. The world doesn’t benefit by us shrinking so that others aren’t intimidated.”

Question: “Can you tell us more about the Women in Finance Charter?”

Chloe: “In 2016 HM Treasury launched the Women in Finance Charter which commits signatory firms to make significant progress on improving the representation of women at the most senior levels of their organisation. Over 270 firms have signed the Charter, who together employ more than 750,000 staff.”

Question: “Why is the number of women on boards still so low?”

Angela: “When I say to the Fintech leaders I work with, ‘why is your board so lacking in diversity?’, the tame response I often get is that women are simply not applying! And it’s true that women only represent 29% of staff in the sector and white men dominate the boardroom. Men still make up the majority of high paid jobs in financial services but good things are beginning to happen and . California is leading the way as the first US state to require women on corporate boards and PwC is the first of the big four to ban all-male job shortlists.”

Question: “How can women’s voices be heard more?”

Manuela: “A famous statement of Christine Lagarde post financial crisis quotes `If Lehman Brothers had been a bit more Lehman Sisters ... we would not have had the degree of tragedy that we had as a result of what happened.` Beyond the obvious what this highlights is that women are normally naturally more risk-averse than men. Which is very good for most businesses but can be backfiring when it comes to promoting ourselves in the workplace and our role in society. Our own personal brand should be the best representation of our values across our personal and professional lives, and should be out there.”

M.

(info@smartbizhub.com)

———-

For more information:

Women in Finance Charter materials here.

Analysis of the Charter’s impact here 

Firms who want to sign the Charter can do so here

Payexpo 2019

Rock Bottom has built more heros than privilege. #FearlessFridays

“ He who says he can and he who says he can’t are both right. ”

— Confucius

There are many reasons why  I cringe everytime I hear people stereotyping, or being biased, consciously or unconsciously, and the most important one is that by choosing not see through people, we miss an incredible amount of pure gold.

This is the reason why I strongly wanted one of my businesses  - #SmartPlan, launching in February  – to be made of smart minds and iron-will talent, competence and no arrogance. I made a conscious effort of steering away from old school hierarchies and titles, and chose to focus on those gems who do not let old flawed square structures define them, those who make real impact, those who do change the world, bringing incredible determination and strong implementable ideas to the table. I am after the real thing.

The day of the event she went up on stage with determination. Not the type of determination enhanced by titles of typical executives, but the kind, gentle and steel-strong kind of genuine determination that shows at first glance.  A young, strong, beautiful young woman with clear ideas, facts and incredible work done. Work that saves lives.

When people meet me the comment they often make is that they feel the energy and the passion I convey. When I later met her for an interview and sat next to her, I was taken aback by so much wisdom, energy, kindness, determination, passion and iron-will all packed into an incredible 28 year old Swiss woman.

I interviewed Liska Bernet on that November day after her TEDx speech, then again last week. I normally edit or add a few content hooks to my #FearlessFridays interviews but this time I will step aside and let her words and pictures speak for themselves.  She has had me glued to the spot every time. Enjoy the emotional ride dear reader.

 Q. Liska, can you tell us a bit about yourself?

Liska Bernet at TEDx Zurich in 2017

I’m a 28 year old Swiss woman currently living in Zurich with my partner. I finished my Master degree in International Development with a focus on humanitarian emergencies at the London School of Economics (LSE) in the summer of 2015. This was at a time when hundreds of refugees were making the perilous journey through the Mediterranean Sea every day. Many of them drowned and the rest was in desperate need of our help. And yet, the European response seemed lethargic. I felt shame, shame to be European, and realized I had to do something and take action. Over Facebook I connected with a group of people who were helping out along the Balkan route and shortly after I decided to join them. First, I went to Serbia and later to Lesvos, where I was confronted with a desperate humanitarian situation and with  police brutality against refugees. I saw that there were no big NGOs there and that the governments were just not there. However, in both places, there was a passionate team of strangers from all over Europe with a shared goal. They unloaded vans, prepared food, handed out winter jackets and shoes: students, retired people, mothers, truck drivers, doctors and bankers. And from there we started organizing ourselves. I was blown away by what we managed to achieve together while the officially appointed authorities barely showed their faces. And so I kept going – to this day.

Q. What did you do next?

Have a look at this picture of an official refugee camp in a European country in January 2017.

When thousands of men, women, and children arrived at the borders of Europe in 2015, I became part of a grassroots response to this European crisis. Because like many others, I just couldn’t quite comprehend that scenes like the one in this picture are really unfolding in our own backyard.

Over the last couple of years I saw many things I never expected to ever see in Europe. But what shocked me most were the conditions refugees were forced to live in.

I saw thousands of people sleeping on dirt soil, without shelter, water, or food. And I worked in camps where up to 6000 people shared 8 showers.

I have a background in development and humanitarian aid and I’m quite familiar with the typical excuses of why it takes three months to build a toilet or why refugees still live without proper shelter after two years. But none of these excuses really work in Europe. It’s a lot easier to ship a few containers of aid to Greece than to Syria. We have sufficient funding considering the number of refugees: in Greece, less than 1% of it’s population are refugees or people seeking asylum. In Lebanon it’s over 25% of the population.

The humanitarian system has been struggling and has been playing chess with politicians.

There have been some especially effective, scalable projects that manage to offer food, shelter, medical support and many other things for thousands of people- doing more with less. These projects and the people behind them are the grassroots response.

Q. What are their solutions? What do they do differently?

There are three takeaway lessons that we should learn from their efforts.

• Lesson Nr. 1: Put people first.

Traditional humanitarian systems are often based on a charity approach. They look at the people affected by a crisis as a beneficiary and not as a partner. The grassroots response grew out of solidarity. And solidarity means to work together and not for someone.

To give you an example:  in these pictures you can see a food distribution based on the logics of charity. This picture shows how bread is thrown out of the back of a truck. Whoever catches it, can keep it. Or below you can see how refugees have to stand in line for hours and hours every single day to receive their meals. And finally here you can see the meals. I’ll let you judge if it’s worth the wait.

Food distributions based on the logic of solidarity look different. In a community centre that we built in Athens - alongside refugees themselves, we built a kitchen where refugees cook food for up to 1000 people each day. And they decided to serve it restaurant-style because that’s more dignified than having to stand in line for everything. There is a lot more pride and dignity in empowering the people and the overall effect was happier, responsibility-taking people.

• Lesson nr. 2:  Change the dynamics of fundraising.

Big NGOs are often very funder-driven and often end up struggling with political pleasing exercises. In all this, they sometimes forget to engage with real people’s problems.

Grassroots groups mostly opt for crowd funding money for specific projects or to give directly to refugees.

• Lesson nr. 3:  It is 2018, not 1945. Digital engagement and social media do make an incredible tangible difference. Leverage it.

Slow, bureaucratic organizations often look like inefficient dinosaurs to a new generation of tech-savvy, entrepreneurial minds. Most members of the grassroots response grew up in a digital area and know how to leverage the speed and flexibility of our time. And because most of them don’t have a background in the traditional aid sector, they use methods and solutions that might seem quite unconventional for the humanitarian system - a system that hasn’t changed much since it was established after the second World War.

To give you an example, when I arrived in Lesvos in the fall 2015, hundreds of people were sleeping outside the registration centre in Moria. They were sleeping in the mud and didn’t have anything. Within a couple of weeks, we managed to build a well functioning camp for about 800 people. Though we were only a handful of people with literally no money, we had social media and we had technology. We used Facebook and other social media channels to get other teams and independent volunteers with relevant skills to come to Moria.

There was for example a group from Holland that usually works in the festival industry. They used their networks to get festival infrastructure shipped to the islands. Suddenly we had expensive high quality tents. Some of them also had very useful knowledge and skills regarding things like waste management and sanitary provision but also things like power, site lighting for safety or crowd control. I know it sounds ironic, but building a festival and building a temporary refugee camp actually has quite a few similarities.

Another team that usually runs a food waste catering business in England showed up shortly after and built a food tent. And within only a few days they established links with local supermarkets where they could pick up the food waste each evening and make it into nice meals.

One team even established a delivery system to bring items from the warehouses to the camps. The system worked a bit like Uber, except that it was free and that we used what’s app to ask for deliveries of the items we needed.

And now, not only in Greece, but across all European countries, people started countless initiatives to help newcomers find flats, jobs, bicycles and friends and all the other things we need to live a more or less normal, dignified life.

Q. What drives you every day?

Realizing that we have the capability of actually changing something if we have the courage to take action and to try is what keeps me going. This, and a massive need for action in this world. I’m extremely thankful that I found my passion at such a young age. When I went to Lesvos, I was thrown into a situation where I had to organize myself with others and start to build something very quickly. Every hour counted and there was no one who could tell you what to do. We just had to try. For me, this was a huge learning experience as I realized what we’re capable of, if we have the courage to just go for it. And it helped me to believe and trust in myself and my skills.

Q. There is a large debate going on around the future of work, talent retention and millennials values. What do you think the future holds for old school organizations ?

Many of the projects I worked in and co-established depended on a huge volunteer workforce - up to 150 volunteers per day. So you have to think about why people keep working for no money or only for a very basic income. Interestingly, quite a few people from the corporate world quit their jobs and decided to come volunteer with us instead. The same goes for personnel from the UNHCR or big INGOs. Our projects were always based on mutual decision-making and shared ownership. Of course this can be very challenging, especially when dealing with so many different languages – but the benefits of basis-democratic approaches and shared ownership are huge as well. People who could never voice their ideas in hierarchical top-down systems start to speak-up, to act and become agents of change. I think it’s very important to feel that you can make a difference with what you do. Innovative talents need work environments where they can contribute, collaborate, co-create. A work environment where their opinion is being valued and respected. Unfortunately, corporate environments are often the exact opposite of that – especially for women.

Q. What is next on your projects list?

I’ve realized that I want to keep building innovative bottom-up projects for humanitarian causes. There is so much work to do. We need to find ways that re-conceive displacement as possible win-win opportunity for host countries. This is what I’m currently working on – together with a great team -  a new impact start up organization, Glocal Roots focused on developing and supporting bottom-up innovation. The goal is promoting and enabling immigrants, supporting them from dependency to increased self-reliance, resilience, and development. The stakes are high: the success or failure of this transition can reverberate for years and in the worst cases for generations,  with strong repercussions on society. We want to have an influence on whether refugees become fully participating citizens who reach their full potential and contribute to their new society or remain in a poverty trap. Currently, we are working on our first projects in Switzerland, in Greece and in Lebanon. History speaks for itself, immigration is part of the human race, sadly we tend to forget that all of our ancestors, at some point in time, have been immigrants. Many of today`s first world countries are made of immigrants who at some point left their original countries and chose a new home, we have quite some interesting examples to look at.

(Those who wish to be involved with Glocal Roots can contact Liska directly, the support of bright minds and donors is very much needed.)

Q. Any final thoughts for the #FearlessFridays readers?

What we’ve seen in Europe over the past years will stay with us for a long time. Migration is not going to go away and people will continue to be displaced for different reasons. If we want to stop failing refugees, and our society and our children`s future at large, we need to come up with realistic solutions that work in today’s world. Solutions that are not based on old logics of humanitarian assistance and charity but on new practices of solidarity and autonomy. We need flexible funding and innovative, new ideas. We need solutions that reflect our Zeitgeist.

M. 

(info@smartbizhub.com)

#FearlessFridays. Is the balance of power shifting?

No career is a straight line. A few follow predictable paths; most take surprising curves to unexpected places; while others receive incredible boosts leading to different outcomes. After 17 years in the corporate world, last month I started some incredibly exciting business ventures and left behind a steady visible role in a large organization and decided to invest time, work and brain into some of my (remunerative) passions and purposes.

Will I go back one day? Maybe yes maybe not, surely not for a little while: I am increasing in value meanwhile as they say, staying laser-focused on my purpose and making impact where right now it matters most to me. I am incredibly grateful for what the corporate world has given me, I could not be doing this had I not had the experiences, network and discipline that only years of hard work in the corporate world often provide. Make no mistake, I worked hard, very hard and nothing was ever given for free, in fact, the opposite really, I gave much more than I received, as it happens for many in the corporate world. But if you are smart you learn from the good and the bad, I treasure this truth and have made it mine daily.

I am born and bread in the corporate world and have met a great amount of smart,  talented people in it. I have met those who love to thrive in it, and probably could not thrive elsewhere and surely not on their own, I have met those who believe to be seriously smart, but get nothing done and really smart are not, they simply shout louder or can temporarily leverage the right "vitamin", which by the way, will not last forever. I have also met a great amount of what one of my old bosses would call "floaters" - still makes me smile thinking of some people I have met over the years who perfectly fit this definition, you know who you are guys. And finally I have met some gems that could really shine brighter in other environments and some who are just perfect where they are and thank goodness for them, please keep shining. 

These dynamics today are increasingly interesting to me. Who stays, who goes back, who leaves the corporate world and why? Is it a generational phenomenon or part of the "4th industrial revolution" or both?

What becomes apparent rapidly once out is the highly peripheral view we often suffer from when plugged deep into a corporation. I recently had lunch with Mark A., an admirable ex colleague who has decreased to the minimum his working hours at his company and started his own exciting business. Like me he has been on his entrepreneurial journey for only a few weeks and we both marveled at the amount of reality we only found out about once both out and about to build our businesses. More about him and his story in the coming weeks.

So what happens once "out"? As mentioned you realize immediately that the business world is much wider than you had perceived. Of course, you do know that while at your corporate desk, but you don`t really size it up because everything you breathe is scanned through the "corporate lens". The incredible amount of seriously smart, brave leaders, ex-corporates mostly, who are driving and launching incredible businesses all on their own while having fast, high, tangible impact is positively overwhelming. And their impact affects their businesses, the economy and society at large. Not in years and multiple headlines, but in weeks or months with stats and facts.

From years as a D&I champion in various corporate roles, I had realized the high amount of talents that the corporate world loses every year. 7 weeks into my own entrepreneurship adventure I can see where many of the brightest minds are increasingly heading to. What will the future hold for large corporations who are no longer able to retain many of their talents I wonder and what could be the impact on society? Is the balance of power shifting? Is this due to the new generations coming in, moving up and out, to the new opportunities offered by digital life, to a new awareness, or is it simply cultural and economical winds of change?

Just over a year ago I was sitting in front of a very forward looking financial services economist, UBS`Paul Donovan who stated that "Labour markets are undergoing a cultural revolution: what we are seeing in the global economy today are the early stages of the 4th industrial revolution: 76% of UK businesses today employ nobody. They are 1 person businesses." Watch his presentation here.  How real does that ring now.

“Fearless Fridays" is about outstandingly talented human capital that has started businesses in the past few years. A series of blog-posts that will showcase the amazing stories of successful, purpose-driven entrepreneurs I have come across in my first 7 weeks outside of the corporate world and of those I met along the way in my highly formative years on the corporate ladder.

We will portray talents that have left the corporate world behind to do something less conventional, whether it was to move into a different sector, to start their own business, or to do something more creative. 

Stay tuned and don`t miss our first story on Friday 1 December on the single, most successful ever-recorded case of crowd-funding in Switzerland. 

M.

(info@smartbizhub.com) 

Credits: Joseph Pisani for Manuela Andaloro

Editing genes, delaying aging, flying cars. Welcome to the present.

• Cryptocurrency

• Estonian eResidency

• AI-based legislation

• Plastic ban

• Artificial Meat

• Vertical Forests

• Solar Farming

• Flying cars

• Biohacking

• Bionic Limbs

• Asteroid Mining

• Asgardia, the first space nation

If you think any or all of the above topics come from some futuristic novel, well, you may need to think again.

The future is here, and we are steadily working on solving some of the biggest environmental challenges of our time: climate change, food production, overpopulation, epidemic diseases.

Carol Hofmann presentation at FFS2017

Often, most of the latest progress made on some of these developments is happening under our nose. Literally. As in, my friend and neighbor`s husband is working on flying cars. Vertical farming and vertical forests happen 500mt from my apartment in Milan.

Milan, Bosco Verticale/Vertical Forest

You can apply for Estonian e-residency today if you wanted to. Mice experiments have shown that reversing aging is possible.  The office next to my gym hosts a start-up working day and night on alternative energy. They have one challenge only: too many requests, they are growing faster than they had ever expected.

I am an avid fast reader so I feed my brain for breakfast with news first, then espresso (or the other way round, it depends on the sleep deprivation degree).  I am a world citizen, so I care about the one and only planet we have and how we are handing it over to our children.  I talk over lunch with friends  or business partners about the tragedies happening as we speak but far from our eyes. How can this be happening. What can be done. There is little time for sadness, we need to act, fast, we can`t just sit there and read.

A month ago I was trying to come to terms with the incredible fact that we are de-facto eating plastic when eating ocean fish.  And in June I was wondering how fast can we get to use AI to counterbalance the amount of arrogance and ignorance in politics and in the corporate world. On this point, God forbid the return of Berlusconi seems to be real again. The guy is nearly 100 and while his aging might seem delayed, his stupidity is advancing.  

But what hit me the other night at the Female Founders  Summit 2017 was the amount of change that is coming our way.

Among many others, the wonderful presentation of Carole Hofmann, founder of the Summit, managed to pull together all the #FutureTech developments happening or coming our way and paint a fantastic, albeit sometimes scary picture. Thank you again, Carole, for such a good speech and event.

Carole Hofmann, Female Founders Summit 2017

What would happen if we were to have a prolonged electric black-out she asked?

My mind ran fast to the depth of our cellar where we keep a small solar panel charger. Which could probably manage to charge a mobile phone in 24 hours as opposed to the current 45 minutes. We have batteries, sure, but how many and for how long would they last? If we were to have an electricity black-out, we would go from highly sophisticated busy human beings to cavemen in the space of a few days. Riots would begin within a week. Have you ever wondered how much dependent we are on electricity? No phones, no heating, no water, no transport, no cars once fuel runs out. Surely no TV and related, and no analogical telephone lines are any longer available so no communication. No cooking, no life as we know it. Do you have a fireplace? Great, get out in the deep winter and start cutting wood once your stacks run out. Oh we have no tools for that, have we.

Suddenly the importance of the work of Tesla and all those wonderful start-ups working on alternative forms of energies and fuel seems of paramount importance.

“The smartest minds and smartest companies in the world are not only dealing with cryptocurrencies, but they are also bringing synergetic forces to finance a wide range of amazing solutions. One of these solutions: reducing travel time and solving traffic jams. For example, companies such as Tencent and Freigeist are funding Lilium, a German start-up company, to develop the first all-electrical vertical take-off five-seat flying taxi. “Lilium, a Munich-based company, promises to enable passengers to travel five times faster than by car. Lilium’s mission is to introduce “the world’s first all-electric vertical take-off and landing jet: an air taxi for up to five people. You won’t have to own one; you will simply pay per ride and call it with a push of a button. It’s our mission to make air taxis available to everyone and as affordable as riding a car.” (Read more here)

Lilium Founders

I have chosen to focus on one of the presentations that, among others, has hit a nerve. There were many others and there will be much written about them, about the great and brave founders of the event, about the importance of start-ups and of female founders. The Summit is a yearly event taking place in Switzerland, featuring pitches and showcases of innovative Female Founders, insights from the Ecosystem, access to Investors, Venture Capitalists, Business Angels, Corporate Venturing Initiatives, Networks and Mentors. In one sentence, it is the place to be if you wish to make a difference.

Follow the FemaleFoundersSummit on FB and mark you calendars for next upcoming events.

M.

Second to none

I had been living in Switzerland for about a week when I first heard the gut-wrenching term “secondo”.  Technically it refers to the children of the immigrants who moved to Switzerland in the 50ies and 60ies, who even if born here are not Swiss but “secondos”, ie, second generation immigrants.

Unlike in the US and in many countries in Europe, no “foreigner” who is born here is Swiss, they will be able to apply for passport and citizenship once they are 18, just like any foreigner who moves here later in life and can apply for citizenship after 12 years.  That means you have people in their 50ies who have lived here their whole life, native speakers, people who have nowhere else to call home, who actually are not Swiss citizens nor passport holders.  Some do have a passport. Many don`t and many refuse to get one because they disagree with the system. I have seen this only too often.

In practice, this term implies somehow “second best”. As if we are sitting in the center of the world here. So we have the “Swiss-Swiss” and the non Swiss, secondos, immigrants, expats & co.

Last time I had heard of a similar two-class society it was in secondary school on my history book when a certain movement born in Germany in the 30ies started to refer to a part of the “original” population as “Aryan race”. We know how far that concept went.

An episode of last week is a clear example of the status quo. We are planning the refurbishment of our house and have been talking to a few builders. One in particular, who introduces himself as a “secondo”, Italian origin - although when talking to him I have to suppress the urge to correct him - is worth mentioning.  At the end of the meeting for some reason we mention that one of my cousins is a great architect. She lives and works in Italy, is a university professor, has a master degree and various post university degrees, works for beautiful projects around the globe. His reaction: “oh, I have been looking for a secretary; you can tell her if she is interested.”

So perhaps I am wrong but is he thinking that because she is A- Italian (happily) living and having a very successful career in Italy as an architect and B – a woman, she would be interested in a job as the secretary of a builder in Switzerland (who with all due respect has never seen a university classroom)? Never mind that she is the actual expert. Incredible how some secondos bring wrong concepts forward.

Probably no need to comment further on this one.

There are hundreds of studies that show how key is for companies to have a diverse workforce, not just in terms of nationality, religion and the likes, but also in terms of diversity of thought, experience and mindset. Indicators point to clear economic benefits and better environment for companies that score high on the diversity front.

If this is true for companies, I am fairly sure it applies to societies and families too.

Let us do ourselves a favour and drop this daunting and nerve-wrecking “secondo” term.

I will tell my children that the fact that they live and breathe three cultures and are native speakers in three languages is a big asset, not a liability. They are Europeans, they are world citizens, they have an international family and background, they were born here because they come from educated parents who could have lived anywhere in the world and chose to live here mostly for logistics reasons after having travelled the world and lived in different countries. I will tell my kids to think hard before ever judging people based on the place of birth and on stereotypes.

I will tell them to travel the world, to live abroad, to ask and challenge the status quo, to ask why, always. To fear, if anything, ignorance, to fight prejudice and dangerous stereotypes.   

I will tell my kids to check out people's brains, not nationalities, places of birth or skin colour. 

M.

Don't expect to see a change if you don't make one

Increasingly we have seen media coverage on initiatives celebrating the strength of women, the resilience of mothers, the importance of time off for fathers and the importance of a healthy life balance to better perform, and to achieve an "integrated" work life equation. 

At last! We have come a long way from the previous generation, from the previous decade and actually, from 18 months ago, come to think of it. 2015 has been a very important year for topics related to diversity, gender equality and health versus productivity.

In 2015 HBR's ranking of CEOs has for the first time considered how companies score not only on the hard numbers, but also on "soft" facts (ESG performance) "In the past, our ranking was based exclusively on hard stock market numbers. We looked at total shareholder return, as well as the change in each company’s market capitalization. We liked the fact that the ranking was based solidly on data and not on reputation or anecdote. Yet it also felt incomplete, because it failed to account for the many aspects of leadership that go beyond mere market performance. And so this year we’ve tweaked things. We’ve added to the mix a measurement of each company’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance."

We have seen many financial institutions jumping into the growing trend of socially responsible investing and best of all State Street launching a diversity gender balanced fund , which will track an index comprising companies that do a great job at advancing women through gender diversity on their boards of directors and in management in general. We have seen extensive research that shows that companies with gender-diverse leadership tend to outperform long-term companies that don’t so I am surprised these funds are only starting to emerge.

Bloomberg has set up a new team of journalists and analysts covering the topic diversity.

The ex Norway Prime Minister was interviewed and asked about the reasons behind the success of her country (beyond the obvious oil related wealth) as in the 80s Norway was nowhere close to where it is now, its economy weak and common people barely able to afford decent living. "Success comes from the fact that you see fathers pushing strollers at 3 pm on a working day" she said. "What has changed in these 30 years are family politics and work culture. Retaining talented women in the workforce, giving family benefits and allowing fathers to be fathers and workers without stigma. Shorter working days and flexible working, which results into creative and flexible thinking".

There is McKinsey research on how and why "Women matter" and the latest Mercer report "When women thrive businesses thrive" being presented at the WEF last week and discussed by the CEOs of Cisco, eBay, Marriot and the president of UBS Wealth Management, Jürg Zeltner: "One other thing we all found common ground on was retaining talented women. They leave the workforce after you’ve invested and trained them as many find that workplaces are not family-friendly. Our challenge is to keep them and make the workplace flexible and supportive of their needs and priorities."

So there is all the progress being made just cited above, the daily strong commitment of many of us to raise awareness on the challenges women face and to bring positive change in the world. All of it is still probably only a drop in the ocean but change is happening out there.

Out there.

Then there is me, and I know that like me many other women and working mothers at times have a similar behaviour.

Rewind of two weeks, Monday 11 January, 6am. My husband and I are getting ready for work, kids still – thankfully – asleep. My phone rings. Terror (not quite, but close...). Our current Monday babysitter's little child is sick so she won't be able to come today. And it is of course no problem, it happens. However, a well known feeling that I merrily refer to as "the cold –spine" starts taking over. We quickly and frantically go through our blackberries, our plan in these cases is to take half day off each to look after whichever child is at home, aim is to cancel the half day which would result in the lower damage for the rest of the week. We decide that I stay at home in the morning with our 9 months old baby, dialling in for a couple of meetings, and my husband stays at home in the afternoon, also dialling in when he needs. I let my boss know, who very nicely and empathically confirms it is no problem at all (she has been there too). I tell my colleagues and team. On we go with the plan. At 11 am my baby is happily playing on his mat babbling away while I dial in for an internal meeting. I dial in and immediately go on mute. I barely comment and step in only quickly for fear that someone might hear my baby gurgling cheerfully in the background. Why did I do that? Even if anyone heard the baby chuckle, so what? They all knew where I was and why. I am not that junior or young any more or shy or lacking self confidence. So why did I try and hide the fact that as a working mum this too can be part of my life and it is really no big deal, in fact, hat off really for pushing through and balancing it all??!

Fast-forward to 4pm. The above nearly forgotten and not even yet properly processed. I have now been in the office for a couple of hours and my husband at home for 2 hours and taken as well a (video) call. I call him asking how the afternoon is going. "Oh great actually! Baby M. was sitting on my lap during my call, they loved him and he behaved really well."

No need to comment, I think these two episodes speak for themselves. Perhaps I will add that I am proud of how my husband handled the situation and a little less proud of how I did not stand up to my ideals.

So here is my lesson learnt and a better version of myself has come out of it.

Change, real change, starts from us and from how we expect the world to view us. We all have a lot more responsibility and impact on driving change than we often think.

M.

Childcare and the privilege of pressure

This time it was all planned. This time we were going to have everything organized and taken care of.

This second time my return to work post maternity leave was going to be smooth. Considering we were about to start new jobs, it had to be. We had it all sorted. It took 10 months to plan. It lasted one day.

In Switzerland maternity leave allowance is normally three months. Yes a “generous” three months. In my company the allowance available is exceptionally up to six months. The average EU mother has and takes 12 months leave, considering countries like Germany where parental leave is up to 3 years, although most mothers take 10-12 months, countries like Italy and the UK where it`s normally 1 year and countries like Spain where it`s around 6 months.  And considering countries which are 100 years ahead like the Nordics where parental leave can be shared, fathers can take 3 months off without stigma, flexible working is a reality and not a career killer and results are not based on face time, childcare is available, high level and affordable for everyone. 

Per se Switzerland´s 3 – 6 months would not even be too extreme if the support network around parents and childcare arrangements were functioning well or in some cases existed at all. If mothers and fathers who decide to invest in their careers had it a tad easier, going back to work a few weeks after birth would be possible without major headaches. In a country where nursery schools are mainly private (unless you fall under a certain income threshold, and only about 10-15% of the population does, in that case you could apply for one of the few subsidized nursery places, well before you plan to get pregnant), where the 0 – 5 care is fully and only up to the parents, it is not a surprise that only 25% of the women return to work after the first child, and less after child number two. 

The childcare bill is on the high end, come June, when our second son will start nursery, we will have a monthly CHF 6000 bill only for two nursery schools, 7.30 to 6pm, and we are not in the most expensive school. No, it is not in line with average salaries, it is well above, this the reason why mothers in the workforce are so scarce in full time or executive roles. The same goes for the majority of the working parents we know, mostly affluent or above, and still. That does not include a possible nanny to help with late work days, sick days, school holidays (12 weeks a year for which you still pay school fees). Nannies cost between 20 and 40 CHF per hour and most importantly it is not easy to find a person to whom you leave for the whole day your children, your house and your car while you are gone. Of course there are some amazing people and professionals out there, and we were blessed until now, but what an adventure to find them?

We are lucky to be able to afford this so that we can both have the choice and continue with our careers. But it is little wonder that a strikingly high number of mothers list costs as reason number one for deciding to take care of their kids themselves and stay at home, in many cases giving up to her aspirations and careers. Reason two and three being the pressure from the employer, from society, and of course from themselves. Yes, society. It was a family doctor in his 40s who told me with a grave voice “Why are you doing this to your family? Can you not just stay at home.” when I asked for vitamins as I was feeling slightly exhausted the first few months after my return, the lack of sleep, the weekly nursery bugs of my first baby and the long work days were tough.

Switzerland is an amazing country and we chose to stay here in Zurich instead of London, Milan, Frankfurt for example, because of the many advantages it offers. But one thing that this country is missing is realizing the potential of the many amazing talents who because of the above we are losing daily. While it is a great country for having a family for example, it is very far from being a good country for working mothers and fathers. Here a good article with stats about this.

After our first son was born, I returned to work after 5 months for 3 days a week for a short period of time, before going back to full time, we had a part-time nursery school and were positive that things would just work out fine. They do for some families, they didn`t for us. This first particular school we had in order to “stay competitive” accepted sick children, in some cases highly infectious children – the normal standard of care states that when visibly sick children should be sent home. This meant that my son hardly ever went to school as he was sick every other day, we paid for the nursery school to keep the place and we paid for a nanny who helped when he was sick to go to the school that weekly made him sick. An interesting loop. Until we cancelled the school and got stung with 3 months "exit fee" anyway although my son had been there 20% of the time while he was still enrolled. So nanny and family stepped in until our little man and his immune system were able to cope with the daily bombardment of nursery school germs.

Aware of the above and of the fact that this time I was going back to work full time, a few months before baby 2 came we started looking for a full time nanny who could take care of him the whole day for the first 14 months of life, until he would start nursery school. We made our choice and our new nanny started a few weeks after our second little boy was born. I was keen to have her with us during my maternity leave so that we could all get used to each other. Things worked, she was doing a very good job, the kids liked her and I felt in good hands. The plan was waterproof, older child in nursery school full time, 5 months baby at home with the nanny and family a few days a month when and if needed.

I went back to work on October 1st. On October 2nd I almost choked on my coffee while reading a text from our nanny, who was off that week as my family was with the kids, who asked if we could meet for coffee the next day.

I just knew. I have to say I totally understand her reasons and there is nothing none of us could have probably done differently. She was about to go back to the corporate world as had been offered a great job by a very good company. What can one say? Is there a prize for worst timing?

What was I supposed to do with my job and my baby? Our place at the nursery school would not be available until June, that was only ...8 months to go. I was now back at work, to a new job too, and had very little time to interview or “try” nannies. Once again one of our blessings, family, and a friend whom I cannot consider anything else than family, came in. But how many parents can rely so quickly on their families really? We will find a new nanny of course, but could timing have been worse? Why do many parents have to cope with and live in a constant house of cards when it comes to childcare?

To make things easier, within the first week of me going back, our then 5 months old baby started to:

- Wake up between 4 and 8 times a night (he had been a superb sleeper since birth and until then)

- Refuse formula (which we had often been given as a little top up and were now trying to increase)

- Demand milk the whole night and refuse it during the day (while I was away)

Only who has been there knows what it means to survive on little, interrupted sleep for months on end and try and perform at work and be on top of your life. It is a type of exhaustion, effort and pressure that cannot be explained. Thankfully, like everything else, you get used to it. Almost.

Everything beyond kids and work becomes secondary unfortunately. A particularly gifted journalist like Carolyn Hax, was  able to explain why parents really have little time and what they can do about it (guess?). Here is a great read.

However, I have now known for some time, while stressful, pressure can be good. In fact, pressure can be a privilege.

One of my favourite entrepreneurs, Mr Branson just wrote an illuminating post:

"The other day someone asked me how I deal with pressure. Without thinking over my response, I said that pressure is a privilege – which really is a great way to think positively and proactively about any challenge. When we are faced with exciting scenarios and situations, dealing with the stress that they bring can lead us to be more alert, alive and attentive. It can help to improve our performance."

"You need to balance high-pressure periods with plenty of time for rest, reflection and recuperation, or else you won’t be able to switch off and get perspective. This is partly why work-life balance and spending time away from the office is so important," he says.

"And remember: When the stakes are higher, the rewards are greater — and the journey is more enjoyable."

M.

#workingparents

I have now been back to work for a month from my second maternity leave.  Well, I have never felt more energised and ready to do, work, be committed, pull pieces together, prioritize and be ready to throw enthusiasm into new and old projects, at home and at work.  

I now have one of those fitness trackers which tells me what my husband and I have known all along. We do not sleep enough, it is probably safe to say that we have not had in the past three years more than 3/4 straight hours of sleep.  And yet somehow we, as spouses, professionals and parents have never been more on top of our life. We have learnt to make friends with stress and exhaustion, find energy, make "miracles" happen, work full days then once home bath, feed the kids, play and put them to bed, maybe work some more or catch up with our private and social life, then carve a pumpkin (or a turnip for our first Räbeliechtli!). What is incredible is that like us, hundreds of colleagues and friends are running the same silent marathon.

Once again questions are asked. "Don't you work too much? Where do you find the time and the energy? Are your kids going to be OK with you not being there most of the day?" Typically these questions are asked to me (a "working mum").  

I will elaborate another time on the answers. What is clear to me is that as parents and as professionals, it is about having the choice, it is about doing in the best possible way whatever it is that we are good at, and it is about feeling satisfied with our lives.

A few weeks ago the genius #manwhohasitall hashtag hit a nerve with his (her?) twitter posts targeting the endless amount of advice given to working mothers "about "how to have it all" with 'all' meaning happy kid, successful careers, great hair, healthy diets, immaculate wardrobes, the perfect beach body, good girlfriends, a supportive husband and a pristine house. But what if we applied the same type of inane language we use when discussing women in the workplace to men?"

http://www.breakingnews.ie/discover/if-we-gave-fathers-the-same-nonsensical-advice-we-give-working-mothers-700862.html

No wonder the pressure is on for many women. Over and over in all the diversity conversations, events, studies I have heard of, the topic "self-confidence in women" has been indicated as one key trait to perform and stay on top of their lives, careers, etc. At some point early in life, we build a reserve for a life of self-confidence. Families, social surroundings and corporate life have a deep effect on the amount left by the time a woman can thrive in business and private life. This 60 million youtube views video from Procter & Gamble goes straight to the point. Enjoy. #likeagirl.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs

M.

Do – Rest – Do

I have always been a fairly active person. The to-do-list and whats-the-deadline type. When I hear people say “I have nothing to do today” my face turns into a question mark.  Even if for whatever reason I am off work, I have always plenty to do. 

Years ago I would have not hesitated one minute to think that obviously, if you want to get anywhere, you need to get and keep going, and fast if possible. In short, I was more focused on the goal and less on the journey. Thank God, like everyone, I aged, and learnt. 

I have learnt that rest is as important as action, and that our bodies, as well as our minds, need the occasional day off to better perform. How much time do you allocate to the “dolce far niente” and how much to planning and doing? Do you run parallel projects close to your official job? What do you do in your "time off"?

Today, as a working mum of two, I see my time off work as a good occasion to get more done, but also to take a little break and think of myself. A massage, sitting by the lake doing nothing, one hour on a book during the day? Hey why not. My personal to-do-lists are now done on a weekly basis and I give myself plenty of  more time to “get there”, remembering that if I am well rested I can get double done, be more patient, and walk through my day with a smile.

I still believe in the “getting things done” and “making things happen” motto as, incredibly, when I step back and let things go…well, either I delegate or things just don`t happen! A new investment, a trip planned, a real estate project, fixing a broken toy, writing, sorting family pictures, volunteering for an association, keeping in touch with old and new friends or work acquaintances, keeping strong bonds with the people I love. This too requires effort. As a wife and a mum, I now prioritize family time above everything, but still try and cut out of my day a few pockets for what I call my “hobbies”.

So how do you find the right balance between "slowing down" while "making things happen"?

A few learnings from the past few years (no I do not manage to stick to them all the time, I just try :-)

1. Private victories come before public ones. Keep the promises you make to yourself (that work out, that language course, that healthier diet, etc)
2. If you have a good idea, try to take some action right away (a new house, starting your own company, changing job, etc)
3. Don`t get defensive.
4. If you are serious about something, do not lose attention. Stay focused.
5. There is something valuable to be learned from everything. Make it a habit of finding it.
6. If you are achieving 100% of your goals you should think bigger.
7. If an opportunity arises, seize it.
8. Put yourself in other people`s shoes.
9. Take time for yourself and to be yourself if you feel your body is running out of fuel. The magic recipe for me is sleep (with a 2 months old that`s often interesting!), exercise (Pilates) and shiatsu.
10. Cut as much as possible time spent with negative or false people. They are drainers!
11. If your husband says you are doing too much...you probably are :-)
12. Use diplomacy but be honest to yourself, and to others, some won`t like it, some will thank you.

How to MakeThings Happen in Your Life

Rest: The importance of slowing down

M.