Author: Paul Faix: CEO of Fortix
Have you ever thought what is really stopping you from reaching your potential? Is it your accent, your height, your gender, the colour of your skin, your ideas, your upbringing, your education, your look or something else?
Whatever it is - you have the power to change your thinking to overcome any obstacle. Unfortunately, many people don’t have this option as their lives are locked in the bondage of preconceived ideas, history, traditions or religions. Their world is restricted by someone who is seeking to use their power to manipulate and control.
Just recently I was asked to talk at the very first Women Economic Forum conference held in Australia. I’ve joined delegates from over 20 countries for a conference dedicated to empowering women.
My research into this movement began at LinkedIn where I saw the post from Melinda Gates, wife of Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Melinda was opening the box full of books. It was the book that she wrote - The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World. I got the book and it was a great start to learn about the issues and struggles that women are facing around the world.
It was a read that opened my mind on how big and widespread this problem really is. I learnt about the struggles of women in developing countries, of lack of resources, of being expected to work long hours, look after men and families, source and cook food, get water and many other daily strife.
We’ve designed the system that measures economic activity by how much we spend on drugs and hospitals and we don’t value healthy people. Our system measures how much we earn at work but motherhood and social work at home are worth nothing. We measure how much we dig out from the ground, but healthy forests and pure nature is not worth anything.
I put forward the idea that our problem is, in fact, the problem of measurement. One of the best thought after leaders of our generation Clayton Christensen in his book How Will You Measure Your Life? describes how people adjust their behaviours to deliver the measures they are using. If you are measuring the profit you will do everything you can to get it. It would not matter the customer experience, happiness or the fact that you are lying, as long as you get the numbers.
Another visionary Marilyn Waring in her book If Women Counted describes the economic system completely ignoring the value of women and their work at home. I guess that her groundbreaking work was one of the inspirations for New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who recently introduced the Wellbeing Budget, as New Zealand begins the journey of wellbeing measures for their citizens.
If you want to change the world, change the measures. The UN, in their System of National Accounts, excludes women’s activity at home. The reality of the day is that women’s work is worth nothing.
Change the measures and you will change the world.
So where really is the inequality? In my opinion, it is in the freedom of choice that many women have been denied. Women are not always free. In many cases, they are locked in the economic system and establishment that doesn’t allow them to have a choice.
We can all just accept that it is what it is, or we can do something about it. For the sake of my children, I’ve decided to join this movement to make a difference. My hope is that you will do the same so together we can change the world for the better.
About Paul Faix
Paul is the founder and CEO of Fortix®, an award-winning technology company. Paul is also a diplomat, currently serving in the role of Honorary Consul of the Slovak Republic in Western Australia. In 2015 Paul set up a sporting event that was dedicated to raising money and awareness for children’s cancer in Western Australia. Working closely with Volleyball Western Australia the campaign attracted many of Perth’s businesses and raised over $10,000 for children’s charities.
Paul was recently recognised as ‘Male Champions for Change’ at the 2019 Women Economic Forum for his support for female entrepreneurs. The UNAAWA has the honour of having Paul serving on the judging panel at our upcoming UN Day event’s Gender Equality Award.
For more information about Paul, visit his LinkedIn profile on https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulfaix/
Comments