International Women's Day

Last week we celebrated International Women's day! I love the 2026 theme of 'Give to Gain' and its emphasis on the importance of empowering women and that in doing so society is lifted as a whole. I wrote about the importance of lifting women in my article for IWD 2020 and it still holds true today. What I am particularly interested in is women empowering women. I am lucky enough to work in a company which is 70% women and so we have many opportunities to do this each day at work. Here are some thoughts on how we can all 'Give to Gain' on a daily basis at work:

1. Appreciate the women in our lives

We are all surrounded by amazing women in our lives; mums; leaders; friends; sisters; colleagues. And we have opportunities every day to support and empower each other. At work we can do this by thanking a colleague for support, sharing and amplifying other women’s achievements and showcasing each other’s work.

2. Support mothers in the workplace

My experience is that mothers make amazing colleagues. They support the people they work with, can quickly and easily go into emergency mode, express kindness and empathy regularly, are pragmatic and seem to have the efficiency of a superhuman!

There is a saying (commonly attributed to Benjamin Franklin) – ‘If you want something done ask a busy person’ and you’d be hard pressed to find a busier person than a working mum!

Supporting mothers at work essentially requires flexibility. And when we allow the whole team to be flexible (whether they are a parent or not) it allows us to adapt to changing requirements and support each other when things aren’t quite going to plan. I can’t count the number of times I have seen one mum jump straight in and take over a fellow colleagues work when they fall ill, their childcare falls through or they need a break.

3. Advocate for women at work

We can do this in many ways, such as supporting another woman’s point of view in a meeting if it’s not being heard; speaking up if you hear women being treated unfairly; calling out inappropriate behaviour; or supporting a colleague when you can tell she is struggling. Working together as a positive team will give us the momentum to move things forward.

I think there is sometimes a belief that there are not enough opportunities for everyone and I believe this can lead to some women feeling pressured to compete with female colleagues in order to promote themselves. I believe it’s our role as female business leaders to encourage the women we work with to help each other – push each other forward and pull each other up – if we did this, we would all be lifted together.