Web, weather and women - Building Gender Balanced Business

“Women are one of three emerging forces shaping the 21st century, along with global warming and the internet.” This quote from the book Why Women Mean Business – Understanding the Emergence of Our Next Economic Revolution by Avivah Wittenberg-Cox and Alison Maitland was highly pertinent to a conference organised by the London Business School’s Women in Business (WIB) group, held on Friday, March 6, 2009.

Wittenberg-Cox and Maitland call these forces the three W’s (Weather, Women, Web) and the interconnectedness of these three elements clearly came through during the course of the day. In other words, it suggested that women are probably a driving force in the whole “three W’s” story.

Making the world a better place
The conference was called “Beyond Ideas: Making Global Impact”. It is hard to imagine a conference run by men for men having so much passionate debate about what we can do to make the world a better place. That is not to suggest that men don’t have any desire to do so. Just that a roomful of male MBAs is more likely to focus on the numbers, on the money, on the gritty stuff of pulling out of the recession and so on.

This was not the case at the WIB event. As far as the recession goes, there was some gloomy pondering on the mess and on its consequences, as yet not fully known. But the overwhelming buzz was about the opportunity to create something new, something better.

The whole room was full of talk about people’s personal stories of effort and hope and desire. It was in its way inspiring and in a way that men rarely get to see. It is a shame, therefore, that men did not get to take part because everything that was said was as relevant to men as to women.

Work-life balance
It is clear from the talks that women do have to contend with the personal issues, the relationships at home, the biological clock and the maternal instinct to stay with your child in a way that men never experience. The attendees were told over and over that “you cannot have it all at the same time.” You can have it all but not at the same time. They were told that there is a tension between work flexibility and making sure you are visible. To help them navigate, mentors are crucial, all agreed.

There was lots of talk about being confident – something the delegates did not seem to lack (but perhaps they are about to enter a new phase in their careers where this advice will come in handy.)They were told to follow their dreams, to be bold and to clearly construct a path for their ambitions. They were told that it was going to be tough, very tough. But they could achieve anything they wanted.

The first keynote speaker, Candace Johnson, described as a “Serial Communications Entrepreneur”, asked delegates to stand up and share their personal dreams. Some did and they were impressive. “My mother always said stand up, speak up and then shut up”, Johnson told them. The common theme was disillusion with the banking world and a desire to create projects with a social dimension.

Be visible
They were also told to make sure they get credit for what they achieve – do it in a nice way but don’t hold back. It was assumed that men will grab the limelight if they don’t (of course, not all men would, many hate boastfulness just as much as women but there was no room for such subtleties at this gathering). One delegate said that a former Chairman of BT had said when he had a 30 minute cab ride with a woman, she did everything to prepare him for his talk or meeting. When it was a man, he spent the whole time telling the Chairman stories about his achievements. That drew a collective and knowing gasp from the audience.

Weather, Women, Web

But back to the “three W’s”. Here are some of the ways in which the “three W’s” linked up in the conference.

• Candace Johnson’s current project is called the Blue H Group and is the world’s first deep-water off-shore windmill. It will produce renewable energy in different sites across the world including Europe, Asia and the United States.

• A panel of speakers on the economic crisis agreed that women were more resilient than men at times of crisis, and that they would have their eyes on broader issues such as family and society.

• Keynote speaker Judy Gibbons, a Venture Partner of Accel Partners, talked about new internet start-ups that were good investments. For example, she mentioned autoclick, a revolutionary new website for buying and selling second-hand cars. By cutting out so many middlemen, the buyer gets a good discount, everyone gets less hassle and the company makes a good profit. Not a sexy business, she said, but a great new business model that works. She also talked about two new internet ventures, WeeWorld, an interactive avatar site for children started up by one of the other speakers, Celia Francis; and a firm called SpreadShirt, also run by a woman (who commutes from Boston to Leipzig), which enables customers to create their own T-Shirts.

Tips and advice
There was too much packed into the day to recount here but here are some of the highlights.

Useful questions from Judy Gibbons
What are women best at?
Whatever they put their mind to.

Where do they flourish?
In a nourishing environment (think soil and plants)
Where they can be authentic
Where they are convicted

Where do they have great impact?
Where there is lots of opportunity, lots of growth and uncharted territory
Where they can flourish

Useful warning of what to watch out for by Judy Gibbons

• Too much of your energy going into making yourself heard
• Assimilating and losing your identity
• The narrowing of the gap in your personal life
• Forgetting that not all women have the same advantages and opportunities as you

Inspiring quote
“Whatever you dream you can do it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.” (Goethe)

Recommended reading from Candace Johnson
Peter Drucker’s The Effective Executive
Dear Abby’s The ABC’s of Realizing Inner Dreams

Candace Johnson, entrepreneur
Judy Gibbons, Accel Partners
Alejandra Kindelán, Banco Santander
Mandy Minnix, Nomura International
Emma Fitzgerald, Shell
Francesca Cornelli, LBS
Kate Grussing, Sapphire Partners
Elin Hurvenes, Professional Boards Forum
Chioma Okoye, Goldman Sachs
Christine Raynaud, Hudson
Elizabeth Coffey, Spark Leadership
Simone Siebeke, Henkel AG
Ellen Miller, LBS
Geeta Gupta, Consensus Business Group
Lucky Dissanayake, Dakini Books
Heather McGregor, Taylor Bennett
Celia Francis, WeeWorld
Peggy Czyak-Dannenbaum, Royal Opera House
Isabel Fernandez-Mateo, LBS
Jane Karczewski, Deutsche Bank
Sandra Boss, McKinsey & Co

For further information go to the WIB’s website.