Laura Carmichael

from neuroscientist Dr. Tara Swart. The insight here for me was about how your mind isn't strictly creative or analytical at any one moment. I've often experienced these two mindsets as mutually exclusive, but this research goes into more detail on what's actually happening. She does back up my anecdotal experience that it's key to create a time-bound space for creative work, and to keep it non-goal oriented.

"To understand why homogeneous teams have worse investment outcomes, it’s critical to determine exactly when decision making suffers...Thriving in a highly uncertain competitive environment requires creative thinking in those areas, and the diverse collaborators were better equipped to deliver it." Is there really a causal relationship between diversity and financial performance? In a study of VC firms, Gompers and Kovvali found that diversity significantly improved financial performance on measures like profitable investments at the individual portfolio-company level and overall fund returns. So the answer, at least in this case, is Yes. If a company chooses to be more homogeneous, it may be leaving a lot of money on the table.

For # InternationalWomensDay my blog post on why I think cultivating a Strong Back, Soft Front and showing our True Colours is essential for women to make world a better place. https://www.serious-play.net//8/its-international-womens-d

Indeed, we are not just one dimensional. But we may be tempted to hide behind our comfortable communication habits with a shrug and "I just want to be authentic" especially when it doesn't go so well. But leadership means you do the work to connect to your audience, not the other way around. So you're willing to go out of your habitual "communication comfort zone" in order to do your best to make it work. It's not just what you say but how you say it. It's all authentic if y...ou make friends with all the sides of yourself, and there are tools and techniques to learn to do this. This HBR article has some great ideas for developing POV, listening and content. I'd say do that, then amplify your ideas with vocal variety and vocal presence. Want to know more about what impact presence and variety can give you? Want to be able to make strategic choices about how you communicate your message? Check out the True Colours Ideas to Action Workshops for Women in Amsterdam at #DroogDesign, to focus on authentic leadership and your authentic voice. More info at http://bit.ly/TrueColoursRetreat

Free creativity resources from True Colours to get unstuck. Check it out at http://bit.ly/TrueColoursFreeCreativityResources