Tracey Massey, president of Mars Chocolate in North America, made a seemingly rare admission on Tuesday. She told a women’s leadership conference that she sometimes leaves her office at 3 p.m. to catch her daughter’s soccer games, even though she knows her subordinates are watching.
“Don’t underestimate how many people see you do that,” she said. Massey says she hopes her early departures send a message to her employees that it’s okay to have rich professional and personal lives.
In exuding the kind of culture she wants her workplace to have, Massey is an executive who practices what her company preaches. The disconnect between what a company promises and the kind of behavior its employees actually adopt—especially in terms of vacation and maternity-leave policies—is what makes some feel-good corporate benefits altogether toothless. Executives who act like Massey, meanwhile, help ensure that workers feel comfortable taking advantage of the flexible hours and time off they’re offered.
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EUROPE/MIDDLE EAST/AFRICA
| . |
| Wheels of change? |
| Iranian police chiefs have warned that women caught cycling would be prosecuted so some women in the country are protesting by posting photos and videos of themselves riding bicycles with the hashtag #IranianWomenLoveCycling. |
| Motto |
| . |
| But first, a breast exam |
| Amid ongoing economic woes, Egypt is now requiring women who request subsidized baby formula to undergo breast examinations before receiving it. Critics are calling the new rule degrading, but the government says it's a way to ensure that only those who need the cheaper formula—those in poor health or women unable to produce enough natural breast milk—are the ones getting it. |
| Washington Post |
THE AMERICAS
| A fair hike |
| Mylan CEO Heather Bresch did not offer a mea culpa for her company's controversial EpiPen price increase on Wednesday. Instead, her appearance before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform was a defense of pricing practices Bresch still believes were fair. |
| Fortune |
| . |
| A billionaire bureaucrat |
| Why does Elaine Wynn, one of the wealthiest women in the United States, serve as the president of the Nevada State Board of Education? This profile says it's because she delights in the jargon and tedium of slow-burning education reform. |
| Pacific Standard |
| . |
| Finally in the ring |
| For the first time this fall, the West Point military academy required all women to take a boxing course—just as all men must do. The change comes after the Pentagon’s historic decision last year to fully integrate women into all combat roles and is aimed at teaching leadership and testing how cadets react while under attack. |
| Washington Post |
ASIA-PACIFIC
| Martha heads East |
| Martha Stewart is the queen of all things home in some parts of the world, but it's uncertain whether her appeal will translate to China, even with the recent endorsement by e-commerce behemoth Alibaba. |
| Fortune |
IN BRIEF
| How World War II opened the door for one of the first black women at NASA |
| Washington Post |
| Kabul gets its first restaurant run by women, for women |
| BBC |
| The Brit who dresses Beyoncé |
| The Times of London |
| Study says Muslim women face discrimination in the German job market |
| DW |
| Ann Coulter, high priestess of Trumpism, takes a victory lap |
| Vanity Fair |
PARTING WORDS
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|---|
| Adele, as she honored the recently-split Brangelina with two-plus hours of breakup songs |
