On the 24th of March 2011 the French Chamber of Commerce, in cooperation with AmCham and the member company Grant Thornton, arranged a seminar about gender diversity in the business world in an international perspective.

Monica Söderlund, Head of Tax and partner at Grant Thornton, host of the event, welcomed the guests. Almost 100 people had signed up to participate in the event at Sveavägen. Monica gave the audience some figures about the gender situation at Grant Thornton where they work very actively with this question. 20% of the partners and board members are women, in top management 40% are women. And, the chairman is a woman.

Moderator Margareta Neld, founder of Neld International Consulting and Women In Progress, also gave some global statistics based on the global study made by Grant Thornton: the percentage of women in senior managerial positions 2011 is highest in Thailand (45%), Georgia (40%) and Russia (36%). Somewhat surprising. Sweden reached 17th position with 27% and France 27th position with 21% women in senior managerial positions. (More information about the study and the results).

On the panel there were three women leaders of different nationalities and all with international experience:

- Luisa Delgado, CEO Procter & Gamble Nordic.
Swiss. Leadership experience in local, regional and global roles, both business and functionally. Worked in UK, Belgium, Portugal, Switzerland, now for past 4 years in Nordic.

- Isabelle Ducellier, CEO Pernod Ricard Sweden.
 French. CEO of Pernod Ricard Sweden since July 2008. Has worked 20 years within Pernod Ricard group in France, Poland and Sweden.

- Ewa Johansson, Vice President, Strategic Business Development at Cale Access AB. Swedish. Lived in Canada and worked in Germany for five years in the building sector. 18 years of experience from International Sales, Marketing and Business Development, 12 in leading positions.

In order to have reflections and feedback from a man we had also invited Hans-Peter Lindqvist, Deputy Country Manager Adecco Sweden. Hans-Peter is Swedish, has worked for US, French, Norwegian and Swiss companies:  Xerox Corporation, Country manager for the French Company Accor, started up Norwegian Rica Hotels in Sweden. 

Margareta Neld, Monica Söderlund, Isabelle Ducellier, Ewa Johansson,
Luisa Delgado and Hans-Peter Lindqvist

Margareta Neld started out with the following question to the panel:
Are the possibilities and conditions for women to become leaders different in different countries?
- In France it is possible for women to become managers but not directors and it is the same in Sweden. The famous “glass-ceiling” exists also in Sweden. In Poland it is a lot easier for a woman to become a director, the problem there is limited access to education, answered Isabelle Ducellier.

- There are differences yes, such as childcare, but they are not the most important. Companies have the possibility to drive a cross-country development, said Luisa Delgado. I find it fascinating that gender diversity is still a topic in Sweden. Before moving here I thought this was not an issue in Sweden, but I was wrong.

- I have an industrial backgroud and has always worked in male dominated companies and I find it easier to lead men abroad than in Sweden, said Ewa Johansson. In Sweden it is not natural and men are frightened. We must fight false ideas about why a woman should not be a top manager. 

Do women lead differently from men? If so, in what ways is it different?
- Yes, said Hans-Peter. Women are forced to fight harder and they need to be better prepared if they lead men. Women are more eager to work with values in the company. Men are more focused on figures and profitability.

- It is to a large extent a matter of personality but if I need to generalize I think that women use both sides of the brain. Men are more rational but women also use the emotional side of the brain and therefore women think more global and make better decisions, said Isabelle Ducellier.

- Leadership is changing a lot and women are better prepared for the changes. Leadership was more one-dimensional before, now it is more complex and multi-dimensional. This is a great opportunity for women! said Luisa Delgado. Emotion is not regarded as something positive but it is a very useful tool. Being different is more (not less).

Ewa added that in Sweden emotions are regarded as “dangerous”, to be avoided.

Isabelle said that you need to be authentic to yourself, then you will be a better manager.

What are the benefits for companies to have a good mix of gender in management (and on boards)?
- It’s a must to have a good mix. Customers are also women and because of how the market looks top management must have a passion to reach diversity, said Hans-Peter Lindqvist.

- Mc Kinsey has made a scientific study that proves better performance and profitability in companies with more women in top management, said Isabelle Ducellier. (read full study here).

- Good governance of a company requires diversity on the board. It is broader than gender diversity but it goes hand in hand, said Luisa Delgado.

If there are benefits – what measures need to be taken from the management or the board in order to reach a good mix. What is a “good mix”?
- The target must be 50/50 in management teams, said Hans-Peter Lindqvist.

- Companies need to implement tools for flexibility, mobility and coaching and thereby support women to become leaders. Targeted succession planning is also a good way, said Luisa Delgado.

- Managers born in the 40’s and 50’s soon retire so companies need to work with talent management and planning with a good gender mix, confirmed Hans-Peter Lindqvist.

- Pernod Ricard is a male driven organization and gender diversity is a rather new question in our group but it is necessary to create a company where women can develop and grow, said Isabelle Ducellier.

France and Spain have, as Norway and Iceland, introduced minimum quotas for women on boards. Is this the way to go? 
Yes, said Isabelle Ducellier. If you had asked me 20 years ago I would have said no but now I say yes. Ewa Johansson and Luisa Delgado also said yes. The only one saying no was Hans-Peter.

Camilla Wagner from Veckans Affärer then asked Hans-Peter if he finds taht competence is reflected in todays’ figures (22,2% women on Swedish boards) and he confirmed that of course not, it should be much higher.

Another question from the audience was how the women on the panel became leaders?
- It just happened; it wasn’t anything I planned for, said Isabelle. I like to build organizations.
- I was seen and pushed by my superiors, said Ewa.
- I have an ambition to make a difference, I like challenges and seek risk assignments, Luisa told us.

A conclusion was that, as a woman, in order to succeed you need somebody above that believes in you and mentors you. Top management and senior leaders  must work actively with gender diversity and inform the whole organization that this is important.  

Text and photo by Kristina Hulteberg, French Chamber of Commerce in Sweden 

Here below some photos from the seminar and the cocktail that followed.

Ewa Johansson

Isabelle Ducellier

Luisa Delgado

Hans-Peter Lindqvist

Moderator Margareta Neld

Monica Söderlund, Jean-Claude Celle and Ewa Hallberg

Elizabeth Falk from Grant Thornton, Margareta Neld, Camilla Wagner from Veckans Affärer and Lena Johnson from Grant Thornton

Kristina Hulteberg, CCFS, Isabelle Ducellier, Jérôme Arnaud from Doro
and Ewa Hallberg from Grant Thornton

Emilie Hallberg, CCFS, Marcus Oscarsson from Ministry of Finance and
Jessica Scalamonti from Berlitz