Trailblazers - Portraits of Female Business Leadership in Emerging and Frontier Markets
Turgut Cankorel, Senior Counsel, International Finance Corporation (tcankorel@ifc.org)
In July 2019, IFC (in partnership with the World Bank Group SDG Fund and the governments of Canada and Luxembourg) launched a new publication entitled “Trailblazers: Portraits of Female Business Leadership in Emerging and Frontier Markets”.
The publication showcases specific cases of female leadership around the world – featuring the inspirational personal stories of 20 female business leaders and their advice to other female professionals aspiring to top positions. It highlights the positive impact of their leadership on private sector development in emerging and frontier markets. It also provides key gender facts and data on the status of women on boards and in business leadership around the world.
Identifying many of the same challenges and recommendations as in the Law Society of England and Wales report on gender inequality in the legal sector (the subject of the preceding article above), the publication also emphasizes the importance of relatable female role models who can lead by example – encapsulated in the message: “If we can do it, so can you.”
The team conducted interviews with 20 female business leaders. The women come from emerging and frontier markets around the world, and represent a range of industry experience, including IT, engineering, shipping, education, development finance, and healthcare.
The publication profiles these women business leaders in the categories of “groundbreakers” (establishing “firsts” for their company or industry), “market makers” (focusing on innovation giving rise to new industry sectors), “value creators” (creating value for their organizations).
The profiles include a Yemeni “groundbreaker” who was the first female general manager in a country where only 1.7% of women have their own bank account, an Indian “market maker” who co-founded India’s foremost provider of home healthcare services, and a Brazilian “value creator” who orchestrated a total financial restructuring of a struggling Brazilian newspaper in her role as CFO – all in the face of gender-based challenges in their careers.
One personal story that drives home the message of “If we can do it, so can you” is that of a Turkish businesswoman who attained top success in the male-dominated world of professional sports management, through perseverance and self-belief. In the face of the bias challenge prevalent in this sector, which she describes as “cutting through reinforced concrete” (rather than breaking the glass ceiling), she became the first female general manager a preeminent professional soccer club, and thereafter the first female general secretary of the national football federation. At that time the national sport faced massive match-fixing scandal and the federation worked with the authorities to investigate nine football clubs. During this investigation, she faced a campaign of smearing, personal threats and intimidation by fans of the affected football clubs. These tactics terrified her but did not stop her. “I received thousands of emails wishing my family and me the worst. They thought I would break because I was a woman in soccer, but I didn’t.” She pushed ahead to resolve the crisis, was vocal about the importance of bringing more women into sports management, and later designed a unique leadership program aimed at training women for management positions in football.
Filled with many other gems of personal wisdom and advice, this publication is an inspirational read and well-contextualized within the global context of gender inequality factors. To sum up the powerful message of leading by example, I will leave the readers with a quote from one of the profiled trailblazers: “As a woman, you need to open doors for others. You also have to show other women by your own actions that you should never get discouraged. Instead, if you are mistreated, use it to strengthen yourself and become even more ambitious.”
The publication showcases specific cases of female leadership around the world – featuring the inspirational personal stories of 20 female business leaders and their advice to other female professionals aspiring to top positions. It highlights the positive impact of their leadership on private sector development in emerging and frontier markets. It also provides key gender facts and data on the status of women on boards and in business leadership around the world.
Identifying many of the same challenges and recommendations as in the Law Society of England and Wales report on gender inequality in the legal sector (the subject of the preceding article above), the publication also emphasizes the importance of relatable female role models who can lead by example – encapsulated in the message: “If we can do it, so can you.”
The team conducted interviews with 20 female business leaders. The women come from emerging and frontier markets around the world, and represent a range of industry experience, including IT, engineering, shipping, education, development finance, and healthcare.
The publication profiles these women business leaders in the categories of “groundbreakers” (establishing “firsts” for their company or industry), “market makers” (focusing on innovation giving rise to new industry sectors), “value creators” (creating value for their organizations).
The profiles include a Yemeni “groundbreaker” who was the first female general manager in a country where only 1.7% of women have their own bank account, an Indian “market maker” who co-founded India’s foremost provider of home healthcare services, and a Brazilian “value creator” who orchestrated a total financial restructuring of a struggling Brazilian newspaper in her role as CFO – all in the face of gender-based challenges in their careers.
One personal story that drives home the message of “If we can do it, so can you” is that of a Turkish businesswoman who attained top success in the male-dominated world of professional sports management, through perseverance and self-belief. In the face of the bias challenge prevalent in this sector, which she describes as “cutting through reinforced concrete” (rather than breaking the glass ceiling), she became the first female general manager a preeminent professional soccer club, and thereafter the first female general secretary of the national football federation. At that time the national sport faced massive match-fixing scandal and the federation worked with the authorities to investigate nine football clubs. During this investigation, she faced a campaign of smearing, personal threats and intimidation by fans of the affected football clubs. These tactics terrified her but did not stop her. “I received thousands of emails wishing my family and me the worst. They thought I would break because I was a woman in soccer, but I didn’t.” She pushed ahead to resolve the crisis, was vocal about the importance of bringing more women into sports management, and later designed a unique leadership program aimed at training women for management positions in football.
Filled with many other gems of personal wisdom and advice, this publication is an inspirational read and well-contextualized within the global context of gender inequality factors. To sum up the powerful message of leading by example, I will leave the readers with a quote from one of the profiled trailblazers: “As a woman, you need to open doors for others. You also have to show other women by your own actions that you should never get discouraged. Instead, if you are mistreated, use it to strengthen yourself and become even more ambitious.”
