We are as diverse as our professions; introvert, extrovert, sweet, edgy, empathic, driven, chaotic, precise, creative, all present in different quantities in each of us. Each with different experiences in our working lives, ranging from soaring success to ‘flat-on-your-face’ failure, and everything in between.

Although our list of professions does not include ‘organisational psychologist’, ‘gender specialist’, ‘writer’ or ‘editor’ we decided to overcome our own imposter syndrome 6 and write down what we learned from our (undoubtedly flawed and incomplete) experience, our research, our interviews with global role models, our focus groups, and our lively discussions, on common workplace challenges regarding diversity and inequality.

Our perspective is that of women, but many, if not all, of these topics touch men as well and the topic of diversity extends well beyond gender diversity.  If our book helps you address even one small part of one obstacle or help you improve, we will have achieved what we set out to do. Hopefully all the tiny incremental changes will eventually contribute to a shift in our work culture to reflect a more diverse, balanced, happier and more productive workforce.