Episode 342 - Don't Fix Women with Joy Burnford

'How do I .. move from being a curator to a creator? That was a big shift for me, and I think I got there in the end.'

People often talk about the value of the finished book - for the author and for the reader. Less talked-about is the value of the process of writing: the connections you make as you research and discuss the ideas, the deepening of your thinking, the shift that you make as an author from consuming and curating other people's opinions to setting out your own. 

Joy Burnford has been a 'curator of confidence' for many years, researching how women in particular build and sustain confidence at work, and developing her own in the process. But she realised that this is only one part of the equation: no matter how confident the woman, if the system at work is stacked against her, she cannot make the contribution of which she is capable. And when that happens, everyone loses out. 

A fascinating conversation on gender equality in the workplace, but also on how writing a book doesn't just change those who read it, but its author too.