Mensuel : Edition de octobre 2010
Rubrique : Ressources humaines
Titre : Inspiring women and success stories
For those of you contemplating the possibility of becoming a leader
Article : Women Leadership in the Greater Region – the new book by Clara Moraru

In our fast-moving globalised world, people strive to emulate successful individuals and organisations with a view to replicating best practices and applying others’ rules for success. Countless books and research articles have already been published on the subject of leadership development. So why this article and why another book - Women Leadership in the Greater Region - for this matter? Simply because there are very few articles, not to mention books, about women’s specific leadership issues – such as mental barriers, prejudices towards the role of women in society, opposition or resistance to female leadership styles, unequal access opportunities to entry and mid-level positions, and of course the demands of family life.

There are also no books available yet about the reality faced by many women in Luxembourg and the Greater Region who are looking for guidelines to help them better understand the different roles, requirements, challenges and satisfactions of leadership, while taking into account the obstacles women still face in positions of power and authority. There is a definite need to look at the successes of women from our region and to share their stories with a wider audience. In having done so in the Women Leadership in the Greater Region book, I hope that women in the Greater Region will be encouraged to connect with each other, advance their careers, balance their professional and family lives, and give leverage to the strengths and skill sets needed in order to be appointed to leadership positions.

Many universities and institutes have conducted research on the impact and influence that women have on profitability in business. In Britain, Cranfield University School of Management has a Centre for Developing Women Business Leaders that publishes an annual index known as the Female FTSE measuring the progress of women in the country’s top companies. They found that companies with women on the executive management team outperform their less diverse competitors(1). In 2005, at the University of California Davis, the Graduate School of Management found that companies with women in top leadership positions have “stronger relationships with customers and shareholders and a more diverse and profitable business” and concluded that “diversity of thought and experience in leadership is good business strategy.”(2)

However, despite the positive role women have in companies, they are not participating equally at all levels in the business hierarchy. The glass ceiling metaphor introduced in 1986 by the Wall Street Journal’s journalists, Carol Hymowitz and Timothy Schellhardt, has since been replaced by a more viable and robust metaphor: the labyrinth, introducing the idea of a complex journey towards an attainable goal worth striving for, with routes full of twists and turns, both unexpected and expected.(3) So if you are dreaming about advancing your career, and being entrusted with a leadership position, be aware that there is no magical recipe for success. A common thread in defining leadership roles is that the leader acts as a role model, and inspires and influences others. An analysis in the Harvard Business Review concluded that the most basic role for corporate leaders is “To release the human spirit that makes initiative, creativity, and entrepreneurship possible.”(4)

Can anybody become a leader? As I like to say: nothing is impossible! However, there is another important question to consider. Does everyone want to be a leader? I didn’t realise until recently that there are still women who do not see the satisfactions offered by a leadership position, but only the challenges. Many people, both men and women, simply don’t want to take on a leader’s role but prefer instead to thrive in an “expert” role. Recently I was discussing this project with several women and they explained that, for them, leadership roles mostly meant long hours in the office, problems balancing work with family life, the stress and fear of making the right decisions or unpopular decisions that influence the atmosphere of the organisation and the quality of people’s lives; solitude, isolation, organisational politics, and difficulties getting people involved and motivated. For those tempted by responsibilities and leadership position, there are two fantastic sources of satisfaction gained from being a leader. Firstly, the ability to change things and make a difference in an organisation and society, and secondly by helping people to grow and reach their potential. Indeed, great leaders are not always asking themselves “What’s in it for me?” but rather think of the well-being of their colleagues and company before their own.

But what leads to success? “Leaders do not have to be great men and women by being intellectual geniuses or omniscient prophets to succeed. But they do need to have the “right stuff” and this “stuff” is not equally present in all people.”(5) It’s this “stuff” that we read about in the thousands of books and articles written on the topic of leadership, and which we need to explore further to find the personal recipe that fits our own leadership personality. The universal theory of leadership states that certain leadership traits are universally important. One must possess leadership qualities and talents such as interpersonal, strategic, and analytical skills; an aptitude for effective decision-making, courage, determination, strength, and belief in your skills and capabilities. Hard work, team building and an ability to develop long-term strategies by communicating your vision, as along with motivation, knowledge, and persistence will also increase the probability that you can become an effective leader. However, what is true in one case is not true in another, because of the huge diversity of leadership situations. The type of organisation in which the leadership role is assumed as well as the leadership style of the leader will highly influence his or her effectiveness.

Which traits are more important than others in becoming and being a leader? Is it self confidence? Perseverance? Vision? Resilience to stress? Emotional intelligence? Sense of humour? Authenticity? I have distilled the advice of all the brilliant women and men I have interviewed during the last two years into 30 areas and attributes associated with leadership. Each piece of advice is worthy of your attention if you wish to enhance your visibility and be appointed to leadership positions, but some will resonate more with you and other less. While writing this section I thought specifically about our challenges as women, our needs and leadership experiences. I believe that most (if not all) of this advice applies to men too.
Although there is no single profile of a leader, we are inclined toward a general concept of a leader as a heroic and powerful man. Consequently, we follow the wrong assumption that there is only one type of leader. In reality, leaders come in all kinds of packages – just as people have very different approaches to leadership and leaders’ essential attributes, traits and qualities. This is why, in this book on leadership, I wished to highlight the different possible “packages” and, to illustrate this point, I have chosen various types of leaders: women entrepreneurs, women diplomats, leading women in corporations and women leaders in non profit organisations.

The exploration of leadership examples and role models begins with women entrepreneurs, who represent the highest percentage of the leaders portrayed in the book. The reason is that entrepreneurs generally embody key leadership qualities such as persistence and determination to get their small and medium enterprises up and running. Their motivation to succeed is never related to pure profit, so they also prove a different point: leadership is not about making money (even though money often comes as a result of effective leadership), but about passion. This is a concept unsurprisingly frequent among entrepreneurs, and often is true for all the categories of leaders I have chosen to present, and also for the representatives of those categories featured in this book. Indeed, leaders are those passionate people who use their passion to motivate and enthuse others, who strongly believe in what they strive to achieve, and who never give up. Having incorporated the experience and visions of more than 100 women from Luxembourg and the Greater Region, Women Leadership in the Greater Region aims to bring you a cross-section of women leaders’ stories with their challenges, satisfactions, and keys for success, in the hope that this might give you extra motivation and inspiration for your own personal leadership journey.

The book starts with different definitions of a leader, and then proposes a list of 30 areas to focus on in order to advance towards leadership and become an authentic and successful woman leader. It also incorporates advice from men in leadership positions, as well as some recommendations and inspirational quotes from well-known leaders, entrepreneurs and researchers. The third part brings you a Who’s Who of women in leadership positions from the Greater Region, and the fourth is dedicated to a short guide of networking platforms and associations in the Greater Region.

I invite you to read the book and hope that you find it valuable, in particular the advice gathered from women who are doers and achievers, thinkers and innovators, leaders and problem-solvers. Women still need to become the full partners and equals of men in companies and in families, as well as in communities, governments and in the wider world. You can make a difference by taking control of your career and pursuing your dreams with passion and determination. I extend my gratitude and thanks to the sponsors who believed in this project and agreed to support it: Assist Relocation Services, Caroline Biss, IB-C and Languages.lu. They are not just sponsors, but partners committed to excellence and making a difference.

Upcoming events in the framework of the Women Leadership in the Greater Region book:
- November 11th, 2010 – Gala Dinner Morocco - under the patronage of H.E. Samir Addahre, Ambassador of Morocco in Brussels. Presentation of two Moroccan business women from Luxembourg: Sonia Pinternagel and Aicha Bemer.
- January 27th, 2011 – Inspiring women in finance – under the patronage of the Luxembourg Minister of Finance, Luc Frieden. Presentation of women members of the Executive Committee of financial organisations: Françoise Thoma, BCEE, Isabelle Guillou, Société Générale and Sylvie Lanari, Capitalatwork Foyer Group.
- March 1st,.2011 – Charity Dinner Romania – Presentation of the 6 Romanian students selected for the 2010 Clara Moraru scholarship, the Romanian Judge at the European Court of Justice, Camelia Toader (tbc) and the social entrepreneur, Isabella Lenarduzzi, JUMP Forum, Women’s Academy Brussels.

For more details or to order your copy of the book, please check: www.women-leaders.eu

* Clara Moraru is a Romanian entrepreneur, based in the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg since 1999, with so far 4 successful companies created in Romania, the United Kingdom and Luxembourg. Clara Moraru holds a B.A. in Philology and Journalism and a Masters degree in Management from Lucian Blaga University Sibiu, Romania, as well as an MBA degree with a double specialisation in Marketing and International Business from Sacred Heart University Luxembourg, John F. Welsh College of Business. Clara Moraru was a founder of the Federation of Women Entrepreneurs in Luxembourg and of Femmes Leaders du Luxembourg. She is actively involved in the promotion of entrepreneurship and leadership, and is particularly dedicated to encouraging women to develop their leadership skills, enhance their visibility and image within their organisation, create and establish their brand as leaders.

For comments on this article, feel free to e-mail her at: info@women-leaders.eu

1) The 2003 Female FTSE Index
2) “UC Davis Study of California Women Business Leaders” – Nicole Woolsey Biggert et al., UC David Graduate School of Management, 2005
3) Women and the Labyrinth of Leadership, Alice H. Eagly and Linda L. Carli, Harvard Business Review
4) Christopher A. Bartlett and Sumantra Ghosal, Changing the Role of Top Management beyond systems to people, HBR, May-June 1995, p. 132-133
5) Shelley A. Kirkpatrick & Edwin A. Locke - Leadership: Do Traits Matter?, The Academy of Management Executive, May 1991, p.59

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