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13 - 19 October 2016 / Costa de Almería
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WOMEN
IN BUSINESS
Based on my own experience, women will tend to be inclusive, to reach out more, to care a little more. ” CHRISTINE LAGARD
Smashing the glass ceiling By Simon Firth COME November 8 the world’s most powerful nation could be led by a woman and it will be for the first time. The former US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, who will be 69 later this month, will then become the third member of the current G7 states to be led by a woman. If Clinton wins and becomes the 45th US President, will she enact any legislation to break down the barriers that persist between men and women? Margaret Thatcher is famously accused of doing very little on that
Hillary Clinton, Angela Merkel and Theresa May.
score. For many businesswomen it can be where those differences are most keenly felt. The female to male ratio in the company boardrooms of almost every country in the world may be the most often used, but still the most dramatic and starkest, indicator of how far women still have to travel to achieve equality in the world of business. In the UK just over a quarter of board positions on the FTSE 100 companies are occupied by women. By 2020 that figure should be 33 per cent, according to a government-backed report out last year. While the glass ceiling may be cracking a little then, it is far from smashed. This is one of the main drivers behind women choosing to go into business for themselves, to run the company along the lines they choose and to do business, as far as is possible, the way they want. Despite 53 per cent of graduates
BEST ADVICE according to the women out there, who are doing it for themselves is to be yourself, or to put it another way, find your own style. and 47 per cent of the workforce being women, going it alone can seem the only way to escape the twin dilemmas of PT and PP: part-time and poorly paid. For women to be successful in business one of the most crucial decisions is whether to be yourself in style and substance, or attempt to emulate the perception of men in the world of business; competitive and aggressive.
The best advice, according to the women out there who are doing it for themselves, is to be yourself, or, to put it another way, find your own style. And when aggression or forcefulness or assertiveness is called for then do it. If you don’t, you and your business could be rolled over. Ever heard the phrase: ‘It’s not what you know, it’s who you know’? It can be a killer, the sort of barrier that could stop someone from even taking the first steps. Knowing how and where to find the right networks that offer support, be it financial, legal, personal, can make the difTurn to page 38