Page 24 - CSA Speaker Bulletin September 2016 | CSA Celebrity Speakers
P. 24
WOMAN POWER
Why Women
Make The Most
Practical
Leaders
Ray Hammond is Europe’s most aggressive and dominant board-room backed early-stage businesses.
experienced and most widely performances. You will have seen
published futurologist. For over 30 competing alpha males in action – it’s Men also make the most inspiring and
years he has researched, written not a pleasant or efficient exhibition. charismatic leaders – because it’s a
and spoken about how future We’ve inherited this from the natural human trait to admire heroic
trends will affect society and imperatives of our evolutionary past. risk-takers. But that approach can
business. Of course there are exceptions in both be very dangerous for an established
genders; I’ve come up against women business.
Ihave now served on company who were impossibly opinionated
boards continuously since 1974. In and uber-dominant, just as I’ve met I have argued for more women in the
those 40-odd years one thing I have – and worked with – experienced boardroom since the 1970s and on the
learned is that women leaders and male executives who are considerate, current board of which I’m chairman
decision-makers are generally superior thoughtful and thorough. (a sizeable property company in
to men. London) women outnumber men
But in general I would always pick two-to-one. I am very grateful for it.
Few women bring their egos into a woman as CEO of an established Calm, thorough and knowledgeable
the board room, or into deal- business over a similarly qualified male decision making is the usual signature
making. Many men directors seem rival. of today’s professional female director.
incapable of the rational, common
sense pragmatism that is regularly The one place where I know men to be I’m delighted that we may soon have
practised by women with executive more successful as corporate leaders female leaders in three of the largest
responsibility. is in the start-up phase or when a world economies. I welcome this in
business is going for explosive growth. the knowledge that when the going
Men feel they are constantly competing Men indulge in the sort of risk-taking gets tough men try to act tough whilst
and their personal measure of self- and hubristic visioning that most women get thoughtful. From long
worth often seems to accrue from women would avoid – something that’s experience, I know which works
very necessary in a start-up or in VC- best. n
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