Raw 04 - December 2008 - (Page 22)

RAW WOMEN IN BUSINESS Women in With Heidi Weir an you believe that we are already publishing edition 4 of the RAW Entrepreneur magazine? I would firstly like to thank each of you who have passed comment on the previous articles that I have written and thank you to those of you that have taken the time to email me to show your support for my honesty. I must say that after the 3 previous articles, this has been the first that I have been unsure of what to write and has had me sat staring at a blank screen for many days. I’m sure you’re all thinking that it’s rare for a woman (and particularly this one) to be unable to find something to talk about but here I am lost for words. I have had Scott English chasing for the article for some time. He wanted a feature within the magazine regarding Women in Business – what a vast topic? Yet again, it’s left to me to make sweeping statements about the topic that apparently I’m seen to be an expert in! I guess that there is no getting away from the fact that I am the only director in the business that is in fact a woman therefore there is nobody else to turn to. Business C It has got me thinking; exactly how many women are in the same position as me; being the only woman? Are we really still the underdogs in business? Are we still in the minority? Apparently over the past year, instead of the number of women in high profile jobs within the FTSE100 growing; it actually fell. I believe I’m right in saying that that there are currently under 15 executive directors within Britain’s leading companies that are female and over 20 of Britain’s leading companies have no female executives whatsoever. So, in a world where we are supposed to be able to ‘have it all’, do we actually? Is this fact down to choice or is it still truly more difficult for a woman to ‘get to the top’? Thirty years after women entered the Corporate world; can it really be the case that we are still fighting stereotypes, judgements and still seen as unwelcome guests within the ‘Old Boy’s Club’? I spoke to a lady at the Start Up exhibition in Olympia who was very passionate about the way she has been seen in the business world and the lack of respect that she has received over the years. She appeared extremely hurt and almost bitter about her treatment. So bitter that she was considering leaving the Country as she believed that her treatment was purely geographical. She believed that it was perceived that the only way for her to have achieved the position she had was by sleeping her way there – what I found frightening was that she believed that this was the assumption of both the men and the women that she encountered. I must admit that I’ve never felt this way. I’ve never felt stifled or stunted in business as to what I can potentially achieve. I’ve never felt bitter or angry about the treatment that I’ve received and I’ve never questioned how I have been perceived by others. So, is this something that actually happens or is it a barrier that we assume is there so we make our lives more difficult by fighting a perception that doesn’t actually exist? It does beg the question though: Is this attitude actually still alive or do we sometimes create our own battles by expecting others to make this judgement? Is the very fact that this opinion crosses our mind; proof that the attitude is still alive and kicking? Or are we the ones keeping it alive? They say that the best form of defence is attack but surely by simply being on the defensive and automatically attacking; we are in fact hurting ourselves? I guess looking back I have faced some stereotypes and my own challenges in business; years in the financial industry which at the time was a predominantly male industry; I faced ‘the old boy’s club’ attitude. Building trust with potential clients as a 22 millionimpossible.com http://www.millionimpossible.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Raw 04 - December 2008

Raw 04 - December 2008 Contents Imran Hakim Linda Klassen Brown Bradley Chapman Heidi Weir Colin Stroud Emma Thompson Raw Business Have a Care JPR Mortages TLB Events Alexander Davis

Raw 04 - December 2008

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