THE EVOLUTION OF WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP
strategy+business|Autumn 2020
Understanding how female leaders have developed over time can help us embrace the potential for their future advancement.
SALLY HELGESEN
THE EVOLUTION OF WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP

IN OCTOBER 2008, the Royal Barrière Hotel in Deauville, France, was the backdrop for the annual conference of the Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society. I’d attended the conference before and had found it earnest and sedate, in keeping with the luxurious but faux-historic venue (the original hotel having been bombed to rubble during World War II). But in 2008 — one month almost to the day after the collapse of Lehman Brothers — rebellion stirred the air. Participants were abuzz with outrage at events that had gathered momentum in the previous months and then, with remarkable speed, led the global economy to the brink of collapse in September.

The Forum was loosely modeled on Davos: several days of panels, workshops, keynotes, champagne toasts, and five-star dinners that brought together leaders and other professionals from around the world to discuss issues of global significance. Except at Deauville, the participants, speakers, and hosts were mostly women.

One keynote speaker captured the mood at the 2008 gathering. “These guys,” she sputtered from the lectern. “They kept telling us we weren’t qualified to make the big decisions. We didn’t understand strategy, we lacked vision and guts. It’s time for women to stop buying into this myth that we aren’t ready for top positions. Clearly, the world can’t afford for us not to step up!”

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Autumn 2020 من strategy+business.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Autumn 2020 من strategy+business.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من STRATEGY+BUSINESS مشاهدة الكل
Transforming information into insight
strategy+business

Transforming information into insight

Focus on six organizational elements to build a world-class data and insights capability.

time-read
8 mins  |
Winter 2020
THE URGENT NEED FOR SOPHISTICATED LEADERSHIP
strategy+business

THE URGENT NEED FOR SOPHISTICATED LEADERSHIP

The pandemic has highlighted a series of paradoxes inherent to the work of leaders. What comes next will depend on how well leaders face up to them.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Winter 2020
The road to successful change is lined with trade-offs
strategy+business

The road to successful change is lined with trade-offs

Rather than trying to convince people your change initiative is the right one, invite them to talk openly about what it might take to implement it: the good, the bad, and the frustrating.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Winter 2020
Sustaining productivity virtually
strategy+business

Sustaining productivity virtually

Maintaining productivity levels among remote employees is an enduring challenge. Here are five ways to help businesses and employees thrive while people work at home.

time-read
7 mins  |
Winter 2020
FORWARD TO normal
strategy+business

FORWARD TO normal

Entertainment and media companies are building business models that are resilient to the enduring changes in consumer behavior ushered in by COVID-19.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Winter 2020
How leaders can promote racial justice in the workplace
strategy+business

How leaders can promote racial justice in the workplace

Embrace four principles to turn today’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives into sustained progress.

time-read
9 mins  |
Winter 2020
CREATING THE OFFICE OF THE FUTURE
strategy+business

CREATING THE OFFICE OF THE FUTURE

In a remodeled world, it is vital for companies to reinvent ways of working.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Winter 2020
Consumer companies must take leaps, not steps
strategy+business

Consumer companies must take leaps, not steps

As shoppers show how quickly they can adapt to external shocks, retailers will need to radically reconfigure their business models.

time-read
7 mins  |
Winter 2020
Businesses can fast-track innovation to help during a crisis
strategy+business

Businesses can fast-track innovation to help during a crisis

“Unrealistic” timelines can actually work. Here’s how.

time-read
5 mins  |
Winter 2020
Agility and experience management work better together
strategy+business

Agility and experience management work better together

Many companies achieve early wins with separate transformational efforts, then stall. But if combined and enhanced using “return on experience,” or ROX, measures, these two programs can unlock each other’s potential.

time-read
7 mins  |
Winter 2020