Women Leaders Series: Crossing the line - how women leaders succeed inside and outside government

Miranda Curtis, Chairman of Waterstones and of Camfed, Non-Executive Director of Liberty Global, Marks & Spencer and the Royal Shakespeare Company, and a governor of the Institute for Government

Miranda opened the event by asking each panellist to reflect on her experiences and perspectives in the public and private sectors, and comment on how different sectors can learn from each other in delivering more diverse and effective leadership.

Helen Edwards, Director General of Localism and Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Helen discussed her 20 years’ experience in the voluntary sector and said that although the sector’s employees are two thirds women and it may initially seem like an attractive area for women to work, it is a less encouraging picture at the top. She said large charities are still led mostly by men. In her view, no sector has found the ‘magic formula’ to crack this problem and outlined three main issues at play:-

• Women consistently underestimate their abilities and are often hesitant to assert themselves, and need mentors who are going to push them further  
• Employers still aren’t good at accommodating women returning from maternity leave
• Men continue to dominate leadership positions and there is an inherent tendency to appoint accordingly

Julia Simpson, Chief of Staff, International Airlines Group. 

Julia identified ‘crossing the line’ as a major theme of her career, and strongly advocates for women to try it all. Julia’s diverse career includes endeavours in journalism, small business, trade unions, and the private sector but she emphasised the importance of spending enough time in each job to be able to give and get back. Julia identified Sarah Sands, Editor of The Evening Standard and Christine Largarde, head of the IMF, as two women she finds particularly inspiring. Julia said she was inspired by the way Sarah consistently addresses female genital mutilation in her newspaper despite it often being unpopular subject matter, and said it demonstrated Sarah’s commitment to creating change. Julia said she appreciated how Christine has courageously acknowledged the importance of women having trusting relationships at home: successful women must not be surrounded by people who undermine them. Julia concluded by saying that she didn’t think British boardrooms had become more diverse. She said that despite a huge effort to increase the number of women in leadership roles, the UK has gone backwards in recent years.

Helen MacNamara, Director, Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat.

Helen, who started her working life as a new media entrepreneur before joining the Civil Service had four main reflections:-

• Role models are hugely important, and women perilously underestimate the power of being able to look up to someone else
• The power of small change in making a big difference should not be underestimated, and an important step in driving this change is having more women on boards, even as non-executives
• New media and digitisation has enabled women to engage more creatively in spaces where they aren’t bound by hierarchy, and it is important for the Civil Service to use the power of this disruptive change to promote a more diverse environment
• To achieve more women in leadership positions, the focus should not be on fairness, quotas or positive discrimination, but instead on sourcing and nurturing talent  

Miranda asked Helen Edwards if she thought the Civil Service was doing enough for the ‘pipeline of diversity’. Helen thought the Civil Service now recognises the concept of a ‘pipeline of talent’ and is more concerned with identifying talented women and supporting them. She also said senior women in the service are spending more time mentoring others.

Miranda asked Helen MacNamara what the Cabinet Office should be doing to drive disruptive change. Helen said the problem with the Cabinet Office is that it doesn’t ask the right questions, it doesn’t step back and look at the bigger picture, and it avoids taking risks and making mistakes. She urged the Cabinet Office to be more brave and radical.

Miranda asked Julia about the challenges in meshing incompatible corporate cultures and achieving productive diversity. Julia said that the cultural differences between Britain and Spain made merging British Airways and Iberia difficult. But she also said that the global digital disruption is democratising different cultures and bringing us closer together.  

In responding to a question about pushing boundaries, Helen Edwards said that it took someone else to force her to step outside her comfort zone but once she did, she realised she could do it again.

Julia responded to a question about how to deal with failed visions. She encouraged the audience not to ‘fly solo’ with their visions, and emphasised the importance of having a team to bounce ideas off. Julia also told the audience that if things aren’t working out, shut it down and move on.

In responding to what feminist leadership means and how it differs, Helen Edwards said there is no model of leadership. More focus should be on ‘authentic leadership’ with people offering something personal and different to each leadership role.

Helen MacNamara responded to concerns that government still sees childcare and flexible working arrangements as problems for women to address rather than as a wider workforce issue. She agreed that childcare is a labour market issue and said that the Civil Service is a lot better than other organisations in dealing with it. Helen is seeing a new generation of men in the Civil Service who are working more flexibly and adopting more responsibility for childcare.