Transcriber: Miraya Mittal Reviewer: Alexey S.
Businesses would female leaders are 50 percent more profitable.
Yet most companies are not tapping into this gold mine. Why is that?
Let me share with you, why this question gives me all sorts of feelings.
I was raised between two very different cultures.
Both my parents had immigrated from a bustling city in the Middle East
to a teeny tiny place here in Austria.
When I was nine, we spent yet another summer break visiting family abroad.
I love those times, because: a). there was no school, and
b). every dinner we had, it seemed like a big party.
The meal itself wasn't my favorite part of those family gatherings.
It was the after dinner chats.
Once everyone's bellies were filled with delicious food,
that was the magical time for me.
The men would like to sit in the living room,have some tea and discuss business.
I would listen in on stories from them, traveling to China or the US,
stories from tough negotiations and disagreements,
but also great friendships they made along the way.
And, of course, their proud accomplishments,
when yet another successful deal was made.
In the meantime, every single woman in my family was cramped in the kitchen.
They were giggling, gossiping, cleaning dishes and making lots of jokes,
especially about the men, screwing up some of those business deals,
because of their temper. Icould not stop laughing,
and I could not decide, whether to stay in the kitchen or go back
to the living room to listen in on the business talks.
I want it to be in both rooms at the same time.
So, from that moment on, I knew I wanted to create a life and career,
where I can be that warm hearted person, taking care of everyone’s belly
and, at the same time, be a strong smart business leader.
Great career goals for nine year old, right? I thought so, too.
You can clearly tell from my excited face here.
So, while I got this initial spark to go into business from the male side
of the family, the most essential business lessons I received from the women,
the women were conscious in having everyone's interests in mind.
They knew how to build relationships and make everyone feel included and valued.
In fact, they showcased, what research finds
as good leadership qualities.
So, I never quite understood, why they wouldn’t bring in
their insights and skills into the conversation with the men
and make business decisions together.
To be honest, this thought got stuck in my mind
and I’ve been dedicating my entire career to bringing these learnings
from the dinner table to the boardroom table.
Today, we know -- gender balanced organizations perform better.
I’m not here to argue, whether women add value to business,
because we have the data to prove they do.
Still, only 16 percent of executive leaders in Europe are women.
In my past 10 years of being a business leader and running
an organization, that helps companies find female talent,
I’ve heard many reasons, why businesses are struggling
to set up more diverse leadership teams.
And they mostly boiled down to three misconceptions.
So, I want to take you on a journey now
and give simple solutions to these top three -- let’s call them -- obstacles.
Obstacle number one. I’m tired of this conversation.
We already live in a gender equal business world in Europe.
This was the assumption
of a middle aged German business leader,
who has witnessed women’s rights and our participation
the workforce evolved very much compared to 40-50 years ago.
It’s true that half of our working population in Europe are women,
but it’s also true, that only six percent of CEOs in European companies are women.
In Austria, we have more board members named Peter,
than the total number of women represented on boards. That’s funny, huh?
Well, this, my friends, is a so-called gender leadership gap.
So, while Europeans perceive living in a gender equal society,
the numbers prove -- we’re still not there yet.
In fact, we’re going backwards.
According to the World Economic Forum,
it will take us 276 years to reach parity in women’s economic participation
across the globe. Let that number think in for a second.
Your Grand Grand Grand Grand Grand Grand Grand Grand granddaughter
will witness that -- eight generations from now.
This number has increased due to the COVID 19 pandemic
by more than an entire generation. Why?
Because in times of crisis, the flaws of our systems come out more than ever.
Our systems were not set up to support a gender equal society.
According to the United Nations,
we still do not have gender parity in any country of this world,
and the recent pandemic put a fine point on what we already knew,
even when both parents are working from home.
It’s generally the women, who take on a disproportionate amount of
the unpaid labor, caregiving, household tasks, homeschooling all the fun stuff.
See, the framework of our world of work was set by Western educated men
at a time when men were the primary providers
and had their wives stay at home. These guys did their best. It's not their fault.
These were simply the circumstances back in the 19th century.
But we're in the 21st century now.
And 80 percent of millennials live in
the partnership where both partners are working.
Still, most companies seem to act according to
the structure set two centuries ago. So what can we all do about this?
First, acknowledge it, acknowledge this gender leadership gap as an opportunity,
not a challenge. Hillary Clinton once said:
“Women are the largest untapped reservoir of talent in the world”.
I say, it’s about time we tap into this pool of talent.
It's about time we do a 21st century update to our systems.
For me, the percentage of women in leadership or women on boards
is an indicator for the long term success of a business,
not because of the specific gender of the person joining,
but because of the mix of talent and diversity at that company.
It translates directly to a more modern and more inclusive workplace culture,
greater innovation and better decision making. This is not just my opinion.
This is based on a lot of studies, I promise.
One of those studies looked at over 200 teams across completely different
companies over the course of two years.
They wanted to analyze the quality of decision making in those teams.
Fun fact, they had not enough all-female teams to, you know,
make statistical assumptions.
So they just looked at the difference between all male and mixed teams.
Surprise, surprise -- mixed teams make better decisions.
73 percent of the time sounds like a compelling business case, right?
Obstacle number two. We tried, but couldn’t find a woman for this position.
We simply didn’t get enough applications.
Well, this can happen in certain sectors,
but in 90 percent of cases it happens, because women are either not applying,
because you don’t seem attractive to them
as an employer with those five guys in a suit on the website,
or they are simply being overlooked in the hiring process.
In the book “Invisible Women” by Caroline Criado-Perez,
I came across a fascinating story
about the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
For most of the 20th century this orchestra
didn’t have a single female musician.
But then all of a sudden something changed,
and percentage of female musicians went from statistically zero to 10 percent
within a decade, that something was blind auditions.
The hiring committee could not see, who is playing, only hear them.
Today, the orchestra has 50 percent female musicians.
Why am I telling you about this musical example?
Because it's such a simple recruiting solution.
This is the first step in recruiting --
a diverse set of people, that is not being judged by race, gender, ethnicity,
sexual orientation, physical ability or age.
Let me show you some more examples.
When a European company advertised for a technical position,
using a stock photo alongside the copy “competitive”,
they got five percent female applicants.
Then they said, OK, huh, we need to change something about that job ad.
So they went and replaced the picture with a team photo and
and the word “competitive” with “results oriented”. Boom!
40 percent female applicants.
Language and visuals matter, because they create the image for us.
What image do you want to portray in your job ads?
Another example from a global tech organization,
you might have a product or two from them.
They started tying the bonus payments of their executives
to the diversity goals they set.
Within six months, they surpassed their initial goals.
And women and minorities made up 43 percent of new hires. See?
If it isn't measured, it won't get done.
By treating gender diversity goals like any other business case,
instead of a charity project,
this company got the job done.
When it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion,
we need to set concrete targets,
incentivize managers and measure progress -- as simple as that.
My company’s latest project was finding women for the management team
of a fintech firm in Estonia.
According to the founders,
it’s super hard to find women in fintech and find them in Estonia.
Well, we managed.
After two months they had gender parity in their leadership team.
How? Because we knew from studies that having one woman
in the shortlist of candidates is simply not enough.
There is statistically no chance she'll be hired.
So, what we did is simply create a larger,
more diverse funnel of talent and add more women to the shortlist.
Simple. That’s it.
Obstacle number three.
Women wish to concentrate on their family and cannot pursue a leadership role.
Is this really mutually exclusive or do we just have
an outdated idea of what leadership entails?
There is no statistical gender difference in the willingness to lead.
Research shows -- women want to lead.
So, how about we start redefining what leadership looks like?
When I started my career, the definition of a leader
was the person in power or in charge.
That’s the old paradigm. That definition doesn’t resonate with
the upcoming generation of leaders, who seek flexibility and authenticity.
Their definition of a leader is the person, who builds a winning team
and doesn’t lose their authenticity along the way.
The 21st century leadership skills are human factors,
such as collaboration and empathy.
Who of you has ever used a dating app?
Even if not, you might have heard of Bumble.
Their CEO, Whitney Wolfe, is today’s leader,
because she attends their IPO celebrations
at the stock market with her baby.
Redefining leadership also means making flexible leadership models mainstream,
not just for women's benefit, but for everyone.
I mean, who doesn't like flexibility in their job? I'm currently a co-CEO.
Living a dual leadership model,
sharing this role means -- we share the responsibility of running
the business and play trust strength.
We have two sets of skills, experiences and networks.
We also have double the energy.
And -- most importantly -- we have more clarity when sparring on decisions.
I'm not telling you how you should lead.
I just want to challenge your assumptions of what leadership looks like.
If you allow leadership in a more flexible way,
You will automatically become more inclusive.
My nine-year-old self wondered:
“Why the women in my family were not taking part in the business decisions”.
Nowadays, I wonder: “How world would be, if more women would take decisions
together with men, if their perspectives would complement
the male perspective in our boardrooms?”
While half of the world’s population are women,
having a female angle or approach is still considered niche or minority.
Women in the workforce are not a minority.
Let’s stop treating their interests like one.
Let’s get them their deserved seat at the table.