When I was returning to work 4 months after the birth of our first son. It was hard. It was hard because my manager didn’t remember I was coming back. It was hard because my husband didn’t think he would need to pick up or drop off our son at childcare. It was hard because I wanted to crawl under my desk and just sleep from exhaustion.

This week (Monday 1 August to Sunday 7 August) is world breastfeeding week. This week makes me reflect each year on my journey breastfeeding my two boys. Of course, we all know that breast is best but it’s not an easy road and it’s not for everyone. It’s important to remember that fed is best. When you are in the fog of a young baby you can get pretty caught up on stuff that doesn’t matter too much in the long run.

I used to love international women’s day. I used to love the events that brought fabulous women together to celebrate their fabulousness. I loved listening to different speakers and hearing about their career journey. I loved the opportunity to get dressed up and attend lunches and morning and afternoon teas, and breakfasts and cocktail events.

I was going to start off by saying I’m annoyed today but actually, I’m pissed off. But not just today, it’s been building over the last week.

“I’m so tired of talking and sharing about successes….”

I started The Culture Ministry because over the past 20 years of my career (mainly in male dominated businesses) I have been frustrated by the lack of progress and change needed to improve diversity and inclusion in organisations.

Brooke Black, is the Director People, Culture and Talent at the Department of Premier and Cabinet (NSW, Australia) who not only lives and breathes flexible work (she job shares in a senior role) she was instrumental in building a flexible work culture over the past 6 years. How did she do it? And what are her lessons? Here you go…..

“Hi my name is Lisa and I am a cynic”

I admit I am probably more more cynical than my pre-pandemic state, and I realised that this is a strength when working in D&I, so I decided to own this feedback.

Ultimately anxiety is just anxiety. It can crop up at any time. We will continue to be under pressure and face really challenging times… Therefore, I wanted to share my top 5 tips, which will ensure you feel more resilient and confident whatever happens in your day.

These five are some of my “go-to’s” whenever I am feeling overwhelmed and can be done with anyone of any age – the energy flick and breathing can be particularly fun to do together with kids.

I found out that working in D&I is lonely and tough. Decisions take a long time to happen. Actions take a long time to implement. Progress is slow and wins don’t happen very often. There are so many things that need attention and there is never enough time in the day. Sound familiar?

Last Friday I had lunch with two other women friends, both in full time senior roles. We talked about whether we are working back in the office, or still at home. One friend noted that she doesn’t want to bring her whole self to work. My ears pricked up. When you work in diversity and inclusion, we are often talking about being comfortable and feeling safe to bring “your whole self” to work as a sign of an inclusive culture.

Whenever part-time roles are advertised I suspect there are hundreds of people who apply. It's tough. I think the majority of part-time jobs are created by people in full time jobs who need something to give. They were able to argue for something that suits them better and will have a track record of performance behind them.

One leader I worked for (when our working relationship was new) continually complained to me about the people in the previous office he was based. He complained that they would come in at 9 and leave at 5! And most of them worked from home on Friday! He told me this story a number of times, which a) I didn’t give a shit about, and b) what was his point?

Inclusion is much harder than cultural fit. To get cultural fit you effectively design what you want the in crowd to be. You define behaviours and what you want the organisation to look like, and then you hold each person up to this and assess if they fit or not. It’s often working out who you like and who are like you. You end up with people with similar experiences and backgrounds.