Women Leaders

Drive it like you stole it. Really?

Recently, I came across a post, expressing the widely felt frustration that the needle isn’t moving for women with leadership ambitions. But blaming men doesn’t solve it. What makes a woman successful is being herself. ‘Ladies, “they” don’t want us behind the wheel. So, we better drive it like we stole it,’ the author wrote. But […]

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‘Nobody could have done it but a woman’ — Lessons about leadership from a president

‘The thing about leadership is that you have to be prepared to fail and start again,’ says Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. She is the living example of perseverance. She was jailed three times, had to flee the country and campaign more than once before becoming the first elected female head of state in Africa. For 12

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Women leaders, please don’t be nice!

Women in leading positions are often judged to be not nice. This is one reason why so few women want to be boss, I believe. Yet, one condition to achieve Sustainable Leadership for Women is indeed to stop being so nice. Women needing to be nice is why we’re practically absent where the decisions are taken,

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More women leaders? Get real women to the top.

At a time when women outnumber men at university in most Western countries, I think it’s safe to say that lack of intelligence cannot be the reason why women still are lagging behind when it comes to occupying decision-making positions. Similarly, it’s been known for at least 30 years that more women at the top

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More women at the top boosts share prices

Recent research by Bank of America Merrill Lynch shows that employing more women at the top is excellent for share prices. All male boards will soon have to let more women in, not because they like to share power, but because this is what moves the money. Women now have more economic power than ever.

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The art of being imperfect

‘I see so many women who are great at their jobs, but also at remaining invisible,’ says Elke Jeurissen, founder of the Belgian women’s network ‘De Straffe Madammen‘ (The Strong Ladies). On Story Club, the site where Business Story Teller Raf Stevens posts his interviews (in Dutch) with a variety of people, Elke Jeurissen explains

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Millions waisted on gender diversity programs that aren’t giving women what they need to succeed

Countless studies have shown women to be great leaders who improve company performance. Organizations across a multitude of industries that have embraced the business case for increased gender diversity are spending millions of dollars on programs to help women advance. Yet we have not yet reached gender parity in the C-suite. Why? A new study

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The women who shape Brussels

The leaders of the largest political groups in the European Parliament, the heads of their umbrella parties and the three EU presidents — of the Commission, Council and Parliament — are all men. Women still make up less than one-third of the College of Commissioners and just one-seventh of the Council. Meanwhile, only six of

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In ‘Unfinished Business’ Anne-Marie Slaughter explores: Can women have it all? 

Should putting family over work be seen as ‘dropping out’? And what about ‘halo dad syndrome’? Hillary Clinton’s former policy chief believes a lot needs to change. Here’s her take on women, work, men and family. Source: Unfinished Business by Anne-Marie Slaughter review – the latest episode in the ‘Can women have it all?’ soap

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Wanted: Women to be a rising force in business

In my new home, Belgium, only 33% of entrepreneurs are women. It’s the lowest level in Europe. But on March 8, international women’s day (yuck! I hope we will soon not need this ‘special’ day anymore) business organisations Start It @kbc and Straffe Madammen (Tough Ladies) have launched a campaign to change this. They’re ambitious,

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