Ferguson Kirstin - Women kind : unlocking the power of women supporting women

Dr Kirstin Ferguson (above left) is an Australian company director. Beginning her career as a military officer, she went on to become the CEO of a successful global consulting business. With university honours degrees in both history and law, Kirstin also has a PhD in leadership and governance for which she has received a number of academic and industry awards. She has been named one of Australias 100 Women of Influence, is a Sir Winston Churchill Fellow, and was recognised by Women & Leadership Australia with an award for Excellence in Womens Leadership.

Catherine Fox (above right) is a leading commentator on women and the workforce. An award-winning journalist, an author and presenter, she had a long career with the Australian Financial Review, where she wrote the weekly Corporate Woman column. In 2017 she was awarded the Walkley Award for Womens Leadership in Media, and is a member of the Australian Defence Force Gender Equality Advisory Board, the Australian Women Donors Network board and co-founder of the Sydney Womens Giving Circle.

Published in 2018 by Murdoch Books, an imprint of Allen & Unwin

Copyright Dr Kirstin Ferguson and Catherine Fox 2018

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or 10 per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to the Copyright Agency (Australia) under the Act.

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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 76052 384 8 Australia

ISBN 978 1 76063 462 9 UK

eBook ISBN 978 1 76063 720 0

Cover design by Sandy Cull, gogoGinko

Text design by Vivien Valk

For our daughters

Emily and Zoe Ferguson

Simone, Evie and Antonia Fox Koob

CONTENTS

The first time we met we were both speakers at a women and leadership seminar in Brisbane, and got talking, as you do. Afterwards, Catherine needed to get to the airport and Kirstin, it turned out, had a car. On the way to the airport we didnt stop talking, and havent stopped talking since. And its all the highest quality conversation, too: work, family, politics with the odd bit of gossip and shopping or travel tip thrown in.

Trading notes on how truly fed up we were with the lack of progress for women, which was in danger of stalling, or even going backwards, one of the final straws was witnessing the widespread and pernicious silencing of womens voices on the social media platforms they loved and were using in droves.

After decades of advocacy and effort, we had both had enough. If we could do anything to speed up progress, we were in.

In 2017, when Kirstin asked Catherine to post a short personal profile for an online campaign shed created, it was quickly done. #CelebratingWomen was well underway at that point, with thousands of followers around the world addicted to these daily uplifting stories of a vast cross-section of random women but few could have predicted the far-reaching success of Kirstins humble campaign.

Catching up in Sydney to ponder what it had all meant, and why exactly the campaign had touched so many, and so deeply, we kept talking, and talking. The topic became so big and pressing we decided to write a book together.

Kirstins year had been highly productive as indeed her life has been. A skilled businesswoman with a portfolio of board commitments, she is also a regular speaker at conferences and events around the country. Catherine, with a long career in journalism, mostly at the Australian Financial Review, had only just launched her last book, Stop Fixing Women, and was on the speaking circuit, too. Kirstin lived in Brisbane, and had little time to spare; Catherine was in Sydney and had a busy freelance career. What could possibly go wrong? Actually, not too much, as it turned out.

We have loved writing this book together, about women working together. It has been a true partnership, generating many ideas and the occasional light bulb moment.

It has made us optimistic about womens lives, and reminded us of the power of womens friendships and support in tackling shared challenges.

Thats exactly what we hope you find, too.

Kirstin and Catherine

July 2018

At the beginning of 2017, few could have predicted the year ahead would see the biggest global reboot of the womens rights movement since the 1970s. Even as millions of women from all walks of life, communities and age groups started to knit pink pussy hats, and took to the streets in their thousands, the outlook was a little grim.

Backlash from efforts to close the gender gap was regularly reported and social media denigration of women was rampant. In Australia there were still 13 ASX 200 companies with no women on their boards, and just eight women chairs; there were fewer women CEOs than there were male CEOs named John, Peter or David. Womens voices were noticeable because of their relatively rare presence as sources of authority in the media and on the floor of Parliament.

In the US there were images of President Donald Trump on his first day in office surrounded by an all-male group signing the Global Gag Rule, a law prohibiting US funding of foreign non-governmental organisations that offer abortions to women, or even information about the procedure. The Oscars and Golden Globes were shaping up as yet more award-night ceremonies overwhelmed with male nominees and winners. And somewhere in the crowd was Harvey Weinstein.

Despite or perhaps because of this bleak picture, the months that followed unleashed an astounding collective social movement run by and for women, kicked off by those pussy hat marches, and then erupting with a surge of activity around the #MeToo campaign in October 2017. Those Hollywood award nights were very different events the following year, with Oprah Winfreys rousing 2018 Golden Globe speech thanking all the women who have felt strong and empowered enough to speak up and share their personal stories.

Accepting the Cecil B. deMille award at the 75th Golden Globes, Oprah delivered a powerful speech to loud cheers. Each of us in this room are celebrated because of the stories that we tell. And this year we became the story, she said, pointing out that the tales of harassment impacted women from all sectors and walks of life, and had been revealed in a wave of social change and support between women that was just beginning to make its mark. She added:

I want all the girls watching here now to know that a new day is on the horizon. And when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women, many of whom are right here in this room tonight, and some pretty phenomenal men fighting hard to make sure that they become the leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say, Me too, again.