My Big Loss; Or How Women Can Save the World.

Recently I experienced a big loss, only because a company - let’s name it XXX – had server issues. The result was that I lost my online creative project, which I had been working on until 2 AM for multiple nights. I evaluated that I had invested about 100 hours of my time, over-exhausted the creative part of the brain and lost effectiveness at my work as a result of sleepless nights. This project was supposed to be a Christmas gift to my lovely 3-year old girl. And one day it just disappeared. My dear friend, who just happened to be around at that moment, helped me go through the crisis and assured me that the company probably had backup of their servers and that the problem could be fixed. We wrote a letter to them, explaining how important it was for me to recover the project. At least, I kept hope up until one evening (which I will probably never forget) where I was informed that my project was irrecoverable. In order to comfort my frustrations, they compensated with a gift certificate, on which, of course, again, I would have to invest another 100 hours and lots of sleepless nights.

I was outrageously angry. I didn’t need another headache. What I needed was just a little understanding of my feelings, moral support and motivation to start again from scratch. The company XXX had chosen a strategy of solving the issue by giving me a gift certificate, a rational choice, I would say. However, neither did they succeed in restoring my project/frustration, nor in returning my customer satisfaction.

So was this gift certificate what I really needed? If they had just showed their understanding of my feelings, I would most likely have been more motivated to start over again from the beginning. But their apathy towards my feelings was overwhelming. So for now, I will never go back to them. 

“Soft” vs. “Hard” Leadership


Since then, lots of random thoughts about “soft” and “rational” values have crossed my mind. It is possible that if a woman led the company XXX, this issue never would have taken place, as she would have realized the emotional side and value of their product, and would have pushed for extra safety of their server data. Unfortunately, there are still not that many women who lead companies and corporations. I acknowledge the fact that there has been liberating changes for the better in women’s career lives. Today we can freely choose our profession and have equal rights at work. 

One of the latest changes in some European countries, (which I believe soon will be considered a historical change, since it has generated a lot of heat), is a mandatory quota of women represented on boards. And many other countries may follow.

So it has become evident that corporations do not recognize women’s values (nature) enough, and because of this fact, governments have begun to intervene to create equal possibilities and opportunities for women. For example, according to the Economist , men are promoted on their potential but women are promoted on their performance. What's more, there are still ongoing myths about women potential performance, assuming that they: Are not interested in profit and bottom line results

• Are not interested in power & status and are not willing to make sacrifices 
• Think less of their skills and need encouragement to apply for a position at a higher level 
• Cannot advance in a masculine culture dominated by the “Old Boys Network” 
• Do not see the value of formal networking and bringing themselves into play

I work in a male-dominated company. Our top management agrees on the fact that in general there are few women in top management. “We strive to have the best qualified candidate in the job at any point in time and for our top management to reflect the best candidates, regardless of gender”, the company says. Nevertheless, the company hires 99 % male managers, citing that not many women show interest in the company because they simply don’t have an interest in that particular industry.

 The company followed up its argument by proposing actions on how to recruit women leaders: Women would have to kill the myths about women’s leadership style and prove that they don’t lack hardcore business skills and are more suited for support functions.

I am not a feminist, but the argument frustrated me. And who said that “hardcore business skills” will do the job best? (Because it creates greediness, irrationality, bubbles?)

By nature, women and men are different. According to a book by William Bond 2, “Why Women Can Do a Better Job”, “the difference is that women are less competitive than men. A women’s body produces far less testosterone than a male one. This makes the average women not only physically weaker than a man but less aggressive as well. It’s the reason why men have ruled our world for the last five thousand years.”

Therefore, in the business world, hard core business skills are often associated by competitive and aggressive instincts. Consequently, fighting for power, wealth, and status comes naturally to many male leaders, resulting in creating highly unequal societies and devastating wars and terrors. Not to forget to mention accounting frauds (Enron), greed of CEO’s (WorldCom, Tyco, Ahold, Parmalat), ineffective boards (Amagerbanken), ignoring the warning signs of over-heated economy(Bernanke, Greenspan), Ponzie pyramid schemes (Bernard Madoff, Stein Bagger), manipulation of the academic research results.

So now I am asking a question: WHY SHOULD WOMEN PROVE THAT THEY CAN LEAD AS MEN? Treating women exactly the same as men is not egalitarian. Women’s nature is often different- and this should be considered as our potential.

“Action Plan” for the Promoting of Female Leadership Potential

According to my own understanding of the business world, having hardcore business skills are associated with the abilities to adapt the company to marked conditions. As we were told in business schools, profit maximization, value creation, market growth are considered to be the underlying purposes of an existence of companies. So the hardcore business skills (the skills that should fulfill the underlying goals) are the execution of growth strategies, increasing earnings potentials, adjusting a company to the market conditions and increasing the company value on behave of interests of investors.

So, taking women with the right education background, there is absolutely no doubt that they are competent enough to do the job by applying “hardcore skills”. The difference is that women apply those skills differently. Therefore I keep dreaming of becoming a CFO. Not an aggressive, power hungry, and profit-fixated one, but caring, tolerant in a soft feminine way, on behave of interests of all stakeholders.

I believe women’s maternal instinctive behavior and “soft” values should be supported more. In fact, this should be women’s competitive advantage. Thus, there are should be some changes in “value management”.

Firstly, I think our perception of maternal, caring and nurturing instincts and values should be perceived differently. Why are “soft” values being considered as weakness? While I was writing this blog, I researched a bit on the greatest women in history. Below are examples of powerful caring women. The example speaks for itself:

• Mary Wollstonecraft 1759-1797
Her tract “A Vindication of the Rights of Women” laid down a clear moral and practical basis for extending human and political rights to women

• Harriet Beecher Stowe 1811-1896
Harriet Beecher Stowe was a life long anti slavery campaigner. Her novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” was a best seller and helped to popularise the anti slavery campaign

• Queen Victoria 1819-1901
Queen Victoria became synonymous with the period symbolising propriety and middle class values.

• Florence Nightingale 1820-1910
By serving in the Crimean war, Florence Nightingale was instrumental in changing the role and perception of the nursing profession. Her dedicated service won widespread admiration and led to a significant improvement in the treatment of wounded soldiers

• Helen Keller 1880-1968
At the age of 19 months Helen became deaf and blind. Overcoming the frustration of losing both sight and hearing she campaigned tirelessly on behalf of deaf and blind people.

• Eleanor Roosevelt 1884-1962
made a significant contribution to the field of human rights, a topic she campaigned upon throughout her life. As head of UN human rights commission she helped to draft the 1948 UN declaration of human rights

• Annie Besant 1847-1933
Annie Besant was a campaigner for social justice, advocate of women's rights and later member of the Theosophist society. She also actively campaigned for Indian independence.

• Dorothy Hodgkin 1910-1994
Awarded the Nobel prize for chemistry Dorothy Hodgkin work on critical discoveries of the structure of both penicillin and later insulin. These discoveries led to significant improvements in health care. An outstanding chemist Dorothy also devoted a large section of her life to the peace movement and promoting nuclear disarmament.

• Eva Peron 1919-1952
She campaigned tirelessly for both the poor and for the extension of women’s rights.

Source: http://www.biographyonline.net/people/people-who-made-a-difference.html

Secondly, we need to hear more stories about caring women not only in magazines like Femina, or Woman, but also in business schools, or just in media. Going back to my example, how much do we know about their achievements? And how much do we enshrine them? Their contributions to the world were motivated by care for others. Well, my poor knowledge of history is also to blame, but I really could not name that many great women (apart from Catherine the Great, Jeanne D’arc, Jane Austen). Therefore, I may conclude that women’s achievements are not appreciated enough. 

Back to my point, the aggressiveness, arrogance and competitiveness are seemed to be enshrined and remembered by the history; therefore it is a norm for the leadership. In our society, women’s achievements and values are undervalued, therefore it is being called “soft” values. So I am asking myself the question: Why are “soft” skills perceived as negative skills, and therefore cannot be a source of competitive advantage of driving the business?

The Power of Soft Values 

My main point in this post is that, proved by history, the “soft” values should be considered great skills in running business life, as these skills could change the world in the better way. Especially now, when the Euro and US is in a big slump, we need drastic changes in our perception of the purpose of companies, or how economy works.

Business life should no longer be about increase in income, growth in economy and serving our own interests, but about investing in our children, their health and happiness; helping the poorest and sustaining our planet.

According to the Economist, in a special report on women and work Josef Ackermann, the chief executive of Deutsche Bank, caused a storm in 2011 when he said “that appointing women to the bank’s executive board (which currently has none) would make it “prettier and more colorful”. A German government minister, Ilse Aigner, advised Mr Ackermann “to look for pretty and colorful things in a field of flowers or a museum”. I would like just to add: Yes, the man-dominated business (in come case circus) needs something “beautiful” on the board: the beauty of helping starving children, or the beauty of fighting children’s cancer, or the beauty of protecting those who most need it, the beauty of protecting our fragile environment.

Therefore, women can actually be BIG leaders, politicians, and managers, as well as GREAT decision makers. We, as consumers, will restore our confidence in corporations, and consequently in economy. Then the economy would be more sustainable and more dynamic. This in turn will promote economic growth. Therefore, it is good for the world economy to have more women on executive boards, as well as on top management. And women have the skills to run the business, we just need more self-confidence, a little support and believe in our “soft” nature.

So yes, when women are coming on boards, the soft values should actually be their competitive advantage and their potential – and a reason for a promotion in our career life. In addition to all that said, from my own experience and own perceptions, a leader, who uses her feelings, empathy, friendless, appreciation and care is at the end a better leader. It doesn’t necessary have to be a woman.