Thought Leadership

Written by: Sophie Warwick I was recently asked in a panel discussion, “why can it sometimes be hard for women to support other women?” The question brought me back to a presentation I made about 8 years ago on improving gender diversity in the engineering sector. An attendee raised their hand and shared that they believed the greatest barrier to women exceling in the workplace was other women. In her experience, she shared that she’d had many fantastic men as leaders but had

Written By: Jillian Climie. At The Thoughtful Co., we’re often asked to speak on the topics we’re experts in: compensation negotiation and gender equity. We offer workshops on these topics, and we’ve now done these across the globe, at organizations including Oxford University, Nokia, CFA Society, Stantec, Rotman, Wealthsimple, Tech Ladies, and Ledcor.  Still, we often get asked to speak for free, and those asking are sometimes frustrated when we won’t. This comes from a good

A coach’s perspective on big things women executives face and what can help. Guest Writer: Kelly Gorder. As a coach, I work with some pretty compelling women in executive roles. These women are smart, driven and intuitive. They navigate a deep duality around managing complex workloads and being liked while doing so. Meanwhile, these women are the glue holding their worlds together at work and home. They maintain an unwavering ability to make stuff happen–for themselves and ot

Written by: Sophie Warwick. With less than 2 months until International Women’s Day (IWD), many employers and Employee Resource Group (ERG) leaders are busy planning celebrations for their offices. Each year on March 8th I find my social media pages full of pink cupcakes with little IWD flags on them. And while I love an opportunity to celebrate gender equity and am the first to admit I have a sweet tooth; I often find these posts lacking impact. In this article, I’m sharing

Written By: Jillian Climie. As we close off year two at The Thoughtful Co, I’ve reflected on what I’ve learned from our clients and community. 1. You can’t grow alone. In my work life, I’ve historically operated quite independently. I felt working hard and executing on my responsibilities was most important, and didn’t leave much time for collaborating with others for new ideas or support. But since co-founding The Thoughtful Co, I’ve realized how essential learning from and

Written by: Sophie Warwick. At The Thoughtful Co, we work with clients on implementing, revamping, and maintaining thoughtful and impactful Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). With over 90% of Fortune 500 companies having ERGs in place (Forbes, 2017), many companies have already recognized their value but may find themselves unsure of where to start. In this article, I’ll outline the four key initial steps to launch a powerful ERG that fosters positive change and inclusion at wo