Head of Council of Women World Leaders on Problems Women Face - Building Gender Balanced Business

• Laura Liswood, secretary general of the Council of Women World Leaders, sees lots of hard work in changing the balance of power in terms of gender.

• [I]t will take a little time to analyze what the specific differences are,” she told Der Spiegel Online, adding, “You are asking people to change. That’s always hard work.”

• “[I]n most cases it is not that men don’t want women to make a career. Most of the dynamics between dominant and non-dominant group members happens unconsciously. … We all gravitate towards people who are like ourselves. It would help a lot if we could make more men become aware of these dynamics. It would also be helpful if women would be aware of it.”

• Liswood said that the applicability of quotas depends on the country, but that some form of first step is needed.

• “Why would anybody in a position of power change the situation? I think people do for three reasons: pain, that’s where laws and quotas come into play; gain, that means women on your team make your performance look better; then comes leadership vision.”

The Spiegel Online interview