The perfectionist gene
Sexism & the Bundestag
Welcome to The Chief Brief. Every Sunday, I spotlight global, diverse, and innovative female leaders impacting the world around them. I curate and break down stories from across the world that caught my eye and help you connect with the women you should know, if you don’t already! Welcome to my passion project of building a globally aware and connected community of women leaders.
Happy Sunday!
This week’s been a busy one. Kicking it all off on Monday was the opportunity to sit with my friend, and VC extraordinaire Janneke Niessen in a room full of amazing women like her - the entrepreneurs, those holding the purse strings, the leaders. First off, it felt amazing to be back physically in a room full of women doing fantastic things. And secondly, boy was it a different experience for this veteran of all thing’s conferences! I’d wangled my way into the 2021 gathering of Accelerate Her at London Tech Week this year as an entrepreneur, rather than wearing my usual hat of journalist or MC.
I felt what so many of you tell me you do when we meet at these events - the sheer sense of being inspired by just being in a room full of women doing amazing things. Of being galvanised to reach for my own dreams by the drive of the founders I met, their passion, innovation and sheer will power to succeed. And while it was interesting to understand Google and Goldman Sachs views of how big tech and big money are adapting to the new normal - one session really set the tone for the rest of the year (for me).
Between them Virgina Simmons, McKinsey’s UK and Ireland boss, Hillary Clinton, I Stephanie Boyce the new and first black woman President of England’s Law Society, and Claire Barclay boss of Microsoft in the UK left quite the impression, and message.
Virgina and Claire talked about the challenges of navigating a corporate career and the critical importance of finding allies and mentors especially post Covid. Hillary highlighted how much work there was still to be done for women in the workforce and honestly shared the experience of unabashed hostility through her career (She once had men turn up in their hunting gear to watch her court because they wanted to see a “lady lawyer” . I Stephanie’s frankness about the challenges she faces as a black woman in the legal profession, while not surprising was still eye-opening.
Hillary summed up what each of these women were telling us:
“Too many young women have what I call the ‘perfectionist gene’, not the ‘good enough gene’, and if you're not perfect you somehow feel you're not ready, or you're not worthy, or you're not qualified. You've got to get over that, as quickly as you can, because it's a real impediment. You have no idea what might be possible for you. I never thought I would run for political office, I certainly never thought I would run for president - and I've run twice.”
I Stephanie Boyce, wryly agreed saying — resilience is absolutely key to success — Holding four fingers up she made her point repeatedly through the session:
“It took me running four times to be elected to the position of Law Society President - giving up was not an option.”
As much as I have heard successful women over the years talk about the ‘imposter syndrome’ and how to deal with it - for some odd reason this conversation really resonated with me! Maybe the timing of it was spot on. I’ll leave you with Hillary’s final word on finding success, however you define it:
“Never give up - if you want something you've got to prepare for it, and you often have to prepare more than someone else to be considered - and keep going, no matter what the obstacles or the setbacks.”
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Policy matters
Sexism & the Bundestag
German general elections are today and as we wait to see who must fill the big shoes Angela Merkel is leaving behind, one thing is clear - even in Germany sexism in politics is still very much prevalent, as Politico points out.
The Green party candidate Annalena Baerbock was an early contender in the election, leading her two main rivals for several weeks in the spring — an unprecedented feat for the Greens, who have never before had a real shot at the chancellery. Since then, she has come under unrelenting attack for a series of off-the-trail missteps, including revelations of plagiarism and resume inflation, while male rivals have more easily sidestepped their minor scandals. She has also been the target of frequently gendered disinformation attacks, one of which featured her face photoshopped onto a naked woman’s body with a caption implying she was a sex worker. Along the way, Annalena has faced more familiar examples of sexism, such as questions about whether she can balance the chancellorship with being a mother.
How she and the Green party do today will be telling. Did Angela Merkel’s 16 years leading Germany change attitudes at all? And if not, what will?
Iceland’s coalition works
Climate action and Covid took the spotlight in Iceland’s general elections yesterday and it was close a close one. Preliminary results indicate the ruling left-right coalition looks set to strengthen its majority even with Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir losing ground. The coalition is made up of the Left-Green Movement, the conservative Independence Party and the centrist-agrarian Progressive Party.
Opinion polls had forecast the coalition would fall short of a majority but a surge in support for the centre-right Progressive Party, set to win five more seats than in 2017, pushed its total count to 38 seats in the 63-seat parliament Althingi.
India’s Supreme Court Ally
India's Supreme Court has set a deadline for women to be admitted to the country's elite defense academy for the first time next year, despite the Modi government trying to delay the decision. That’s now potentially opened the door for women to achieve high-ranking military positions in a field traditionally dominated by men.
But the the Supreme Court isn’t stopping there. The country’s top judge, Chief Justice NV Ramana is advocating for a 50% reservation for women in the judiciary. He says he also supports the demand for similar reservations in law colleges across the country.
Addressing women advocates of the Supreme Court the Chief Justice said, “it is your right. We need 50% reservation for women in judiciary. It is an issue of thousands of years of oppression. In lower levels of the judiciary less than 30% of judges are women, in High Courts it is 11.5%, and in the Supreme Court only 11-12% are women. Of 1.7 million advocates in the country, only 15 per cent are women. Only 2% of the elected representatives in state bar councils are women. I’ve raised the issue of why the Bar Council of the India National Committee does not have even a single woman representative.”
Leaders in waiting
Sweden’s Magdalena Andersson
Magdalena Andersson is favourite to become Sweden's prime minister when her Social Democrat colleague Stefan Lofven steps down in November. If her name sounds familiar it’s because not only, is she a member of the Swedish Social Democratic Party but is known globally as Sweden’s Minister of Finance. A job she’s had since 2014.
Domestically Magdalena is a well-known entity. She’s been Deputy Director-General at
the Swedish Tax Agency, State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, Director of Planning at the Prime Minister's Office, and Political Advisor at the Prime Minister's Office. And considering the state of affairs in Sweden she’ll need to take the lessons from all those roles if she wants to keep that job once she has it.
Japan’s Sanae Takaichi
Shinzo Abe may have resigned but he is now backing Sanae Takaichi to lead the governing Liberal Democratic Party. If she is elected this month, she will almost certainly become Japan’s first female prime minister. The feat of getting the leadership mantle in a male dominated culture itself may be historical, and she is a long shot for it - but not everyone, especially women are excited at the prospect.
A hard-line conservative, Sanae is a divisive figure among women’s empowerment advocates. She rarely talks about gender equality and supports policies like the law requiring married couples to share a surname. For all that anti feminism, as Abe’s ally since 2006 she’s held a whole bunch of cabinet positions including ironically - gender equality. Not something feminists in Japan have been able to stomach.
Business not as usual
Meng’s home
After almost three years of house arrest and countless hours of depositions and lawsuits, Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer, daughter of the company’s founder and heir to the telecom company is back in China. Her return from Vancouver was broadcast on Chinese state television as she got off an Air China flight in Shenzhen (where Huawei is based) wearing a red Chinese flag coloured dress. And boy did she get a greeting from the very large group of flag-waving airline employees - you would have thought she was a returning warrior. Meng’s first words were directed at the Chinese communist party and President Xi Jinping.
“I have finally returned to the warm embrace of the motherland. As an ordinary Chinese citizen going through this difficult time, I always felt the warmth and concern of the party, the nation and the people.”
Meng’s house arrest in Canada in December 2018 was based off a U.S. warrant. She was indicted on bank and wire fraud charges for allegedly misleading HSBC in 2013 about the Huawei’s business dealings in Iran. Her release came about with a legal settlement with U.S. prosecutors that also saw the release of two Canadians held by China. As we all know by now, all things Huawei have become central to the theme of nationalism for the Chinese communist party.
She’s next for Visa
Visa is expanding its global She’s Next initiative to empower women entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa. The initiative is Visa’s global advocacy program for women-owned small businesses giving them tools needed to grow and advance their businesses. The initiative comprises a series of programs giving women entrepreneurs access to insights via research and engagement with small businesses, private and public sector communities and educational resources.
Afghan Women: Keeping tabs
1. #EvacuateHer
As part of the #EvacuateHer campaign, U.K. House of Lords member Baroness Helena Kennedy QC has launched a petition calling on the U.K. government to provide sanctuary to Afghan judges and lawyers whom the Taliban would consider a direct threat and challenge to their authority. Over the past 20 years, about 270 women have sat as judges – about one-tenth of the country’s judiciary. The U.K.’s Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (Arap) initially stated judges were eligible under the scheme but that is no longer the case.
2. Asylum relocation
Seven female taekwondo athletes have been resettled in Melbourne
The Afghan girls’ national soccer team and their families (group of 80 included the 26 players, aged between 14 and 16, and their family members) were granted asylum by Portugal and arrived in Lisbon after weeks on the run from the Taliban.
Six female MPs from Afghanistan arrived in Athens, Greece via Tbilisi, Georgia, accompanied by their family members this week. They will continue on to the U.S.
Still awaiting a solution for relocation: The Afghan women’s volleyball team. They’ve already lost one squad member to a Taliban execution. Female taekwondo and karate trainers are practising in secret. Many sports women have reportedly burnt their gear to avoid detection by Taliban sympathisers, who are often family members.
3. Women’s work
Female employees in the Kabul city government have been told to stay home, and only women whose jobs cannot be done by men are allowed to come to work in the latest restrictions imposed by the Taliban in Afghanistan. One of the only jobs women can do for the Kabul government is clean female bathrooms, according to the announcement by Kabul's acting Mayor Hamdullah Nohmani
This effectively means women are now barred from government work in the Afghan capital leaving hundreds of women out of work. The Mayor claims there are 2,930 people working for the municipality - 27% of whom are women.
Be a sport
Wage cap fines
It seems kicking a ball with a vagina is somehow worth less to football/soccer clubs than if you played for the other gender. But if they get caught doing it - the game’s not so fun!
Mexico’s anti-monopoly commission this week fined 17 soccer teams for conspiring to impose a cap on the salaries of women soccer players. But despite the conspiracy, it seems the actions were pretty blatant, done openly through the Mexican Soccer Federation and included the country’s top soccer teams.
The commission said the effect of the wage cap was “to deepen even further the salary gap between male and female soccer players.”
The cap seems to have been in place since the very inception of the women’s soccer league in 2016. The wage cap was then increased in 2018 and continued through 2019. The teams will be fined about $9 million for illegal practices.
The artsy stuff
The woman king
South Africa’s generous incentives for international productions seems to be paying off when it comes to Hollywood’s big budget productions. Tristar pictures is taking its historical drama ‘The Woman King’ starring Viola Davis to the country. South Africa will double for the 18th and 19th century kingdom of Dahomey in a movie inspired by true events. Gina Prince Bythewood (who made Old Guard) will direct and will be working with Dana Stevens’s screenplay. Also joining Viola on screen is The Underground Railroad’s star Thuso Mbedu. The story follows the general of an all female unit (played by Viola) and her recruit (played by Thuso) in the Dahomey army.
FIFA’s two-seater
I’m going to level with you. I’m no expert at video games, especially FIFA. But the game’s soundtrack has always got my attention. They somehow manage to put the most amazing line up together, and if they ever have a concert, I’ll be the first one to show up! Everyone from Blur, Gorillaz to Billie Eilish have been featured through the years and the 2022 soundtrack promises to be yet another one to blow your socks off.
It will feature established artists like Little Simz, Glass Animals, Joy Crookes and Chvrches as expected. But it will also introduce newer artists like Willow Kayne to the massive FIFA following. Willow’s song Two-seater will be on the album and she says - that in itself is a “bucket list” moment for her.
"I remember when we made it, I thought it sounded like a FIFA tune at the time. When it came out, I had a lot of comments with people saying the same. I'm now a total FIFA girl."
Must Watch
Willow Kane’s Two Seater!
Have you met
Blythe Masters, The new queen of SPACs at the 5th Credit Suisse Global Women’s Financial Forum
Blythe Masters’ made headlines in the last financial crisis for all the wrong reasons. Her innovative career led her to create Credit Default Swaps. But what those headlines didn’t say about the woman who was first given the moniker of “The most powerful woman on Wall Street,” was that she’s a glass ceiling breaker, innovative to a fault, and brilliant at her job.
She was the youngest female managing director in J.P. Morgan at the age of 28 and culminated 27 years at the bank in 2014, after holding every decision-making title possible. She was a member of J.P Morgan’s Corporate & Investment Bank Operating Committee, Executive Committee, Head of Global Commodities, Head of Corporate & Investment Bank Regulatory Affairs, CFO of the Investment Bank, Head of Global Credit Portfolio and Credit Policy & Strategy, Head of North American Structured Credit Products, Co-Head of Asset Backed Securitisation and Head of Global Credit Derivatives Marketing.
Blythe then took on the charge for digital innovation as CEO of Digital Asset, a provider of the world's leading smart contract modelling language, DAML, which serves customers including the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
In addition to her multiple board seats, in 2019 she joined fin-tech private equity firm Motive partners whereas CEO and Board member of Motive Capital Corp (Motive’s SPAC) she most recently announced its merger with Forge.
I had the opportunity to delve into how Blythe views the world, her take on fin-tech and SPACs and women in finance at this year’s Credit Suisse Global Women’s Financial Forum. The line-up for the forum (Sept 29-30) is an amazing one. It’s all virtual and also features leaders like Malala Yousafzai, Julia Gillard, Sarah Menker, Meredith Whitney and others.
If you want some fantastic insights do register with Credit Suisse’s team and get involved.