About Women and Work
Dear Friends,
Hearty cheers to money-vember.
Recently, I have been in conversations about women, money, work-life balance, and fulfillment. One of those conversations inspired this letter, my colleague wrote an insightful piece about women here.
Research shows that women tend to carry more of the burden when organizations experience collaboration overload, and there is a trove of studies that show women are expected to be communal and nurturing, even at work.
Despite the seemingly promising future for women, the state of women in the world hangs in a balance, women are increasingly getting burned out at work and home. As of January 2021, nearly 3 million women had dropped out of the workforce compared to the year before, signifying a 33-year low in women’s participation in the labor market. Why is this happening?
The mental strain of mastering the balancing act has been apparent for decades, Covid-19 cast a particularly broad light on the problem. Statistics show that stress and burnout are affecting more women than men, and particularly more working mothers than working fathers. This could have multiple impacts on the post-pandemic world of work, making it important that companies and the wider society find ways to reduce this imbalance.
On the brighter side of women and work
Women need to help more women in the workplace, studies show that companies with more women — especially more women in leadership — perform better. The power and performance of female leadership have been particularly visible around the globe during the pandemic. On aggregate, countries with women at the helm have outperformed those led by men.
We experienced a year of incredible disruption, despite so women are setting a new standard for leadership. I have read severally that women leaders are stronger people managers and more active champions of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Currently, I am enjoying the leadership of my team lead, yes she’s a woman. She juggles home, work, and life well, she admits that she has help from her family and owns her life. It’s incredible to watch!
This year, a lot of women especially Nigerian women in Africa and Diaspora took on leadership positions.
Dara Treseder: Dara is a business leader with expertise in building and leading high-performing global marketing, communications, and commercial organizations. Dara is currently SVP, Head of Global Marketing & Communications at Peloton—the world's largest interactive fitness platform.
Bozoma Saint John: Bozoma Saint John is the Global Chief Marketing Officer at Netflix, the world’s leading streaming entertainment service with over 200 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, documentaries, and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages.
Ukonwa Kuzi-Orizu Ojo: Global Chief Marketing Officer of Amazon Prime Video & Studios. In her first year at Amazon, Ukonwa Kuzi-Orizu Ojo has led marketing for the company’s streaming and production companies during a time of rapid growth amid the ongoing streaming wars.
Olatomiwa Williams: Ola is a business leader with over 20 years of experience in the Information Technology Industry helping organizations leverage the power of technology to achieve their business objectives. She is currently the country manager for Microsoft Nigeria.
Blessing Adesiyan: Blessing is the Founder and CEO of Mother Honestly, a company creating sustainable solutions for women and families at home and in the workplace.
Mother Honestly reaches over 300,000 mothers in the United States alone through engaged social media, podcasts, conferences, and an app. She’s also a mom of four, doing exceptionally well-balancing work and life.
There are thousands of women across Nigeria, Africa, and the globe experiencing burnout, breaking glass ceilings, and balancing life. My advice to you today is to strengthen your confidence muscle. Don’t be pressured to conform to society and work pressures.
We need to be aware that maybe, the challenges and burn-out we meet in the workplace and homefront are not just in our heads. Maybe, and we have data and research to prove it, especially in Nigeria/Africa.
What do you think about women and work, share your thoughts with me?
Personally, I want to do more; interesting, collaborative, and innovative work.
With BBQ Tortilla wrap and Green juice.
TobyD