I had the honor of co-Chairing the UC Berkeley, Haas School of Business Women in Leadership Conference this past weekend. I was inspired to share a story of my own: about what leadership means to me, especially as a woman.
When I younger, I dated a great guy. Smart, dependable, caring, fun. But, he told me I was too ambitious for him. At the time, I worked for a non-profit making under $20K/year: I wasn’t aspiring to be a CEO, but I was dreaming about what I wanted to do with my life. He was worried that my dreams would get in the way of his dreams to have a family.
Needless to say, that relationship didn’t last. But somewhere, deep down, the message stuck with me: Aspiring to be a leader is selfish.
Without even knowing it, I began to dream smaller: worrying too much about balancing my career with my ability to take care of others, going after things with reservation rather than with gusto.
This is just my example, but this story, that female leaders are selfish, pervades our society. Think of Hillary Clinton, when she was running for president. Think of Marissa Mayer, and Sheryl Sandberg. How often are they seen as selfish, as out for themselves? Compare that with Barack Obama, Warren Buffet, or Steve Jobs. Male leadership is selfless. Why is female leadership selfless?
Maybe it’s because our society grew up around male leadership: we have seen it build America, and our world in general. Male leaders traditionally support their families.
It’s time to rewrite the story around female leadership.
Here’s what I learned in my Women in Business class at Haas:
1) Women are only 14% of Fortune 500 executives, and hold only 17% of their board seats: and this number hasn’t moved in about 10 years. (Catalyst)
2) Women leaders are good business: research from McKinsey, Catalyst and Credit Suisse find that companies with one or more women on the board have delivered higher average returns on equity, lower gearing, better average growth and higher price/book value multiples over the course of the last six years
3) They’re also good for the world. A 2012 study of over 1,500 companies by Dr. Kellie McElhaney at UC Berkeley Haas shows that companies with more women on their boards of directors are more likely to environmentally sustainable, contribute positively to social issues such as access to healthcare and financial services, and have stronger governance.
What does this mean?
The world needs female leaders. They need our diverse voices. They need our unique style of leadership. They need us to steer the world in a better direction.
So, please, don’t be afraid to dream big, and to share those big dreams with the world. Because what the world needs is bold women who aren’t afraid to take the lead — and share that with the world. Bold women who will change the story.