Women & Leadership

Melanie Veness:  PCB CEO

I read a shocking statistic the other day. According to the 2011 Grant Thornton International Business Report (IRB), women now occupy almost a third of all management positions in South Africa, however, men still hold 97% of all CEO positions. So, while there is good news in that women have assumed more prominent positions across virtually all sectors (including traditionally male-dominated industries like construction and engineering), the bad news is that women are not well represented at CEO level. In fact, South Africa is an embarrassing five percentage points lower than the global average of 8%.

National Minister for Women, Lulu Xingwana, believes that in many instances women are actually moving backwards in real terms, because the number of blue chip companies with 25% or more women directors and executive managers has actually decreased over the past three years, from 58 in 2008 to 37 in 2011.

And, if one takes a closer look at what positions women are occupying at managerial level, more specifically at where the growth referred to in the IRB has occurred, it is clear that the majority of growth is in what are perceived to be “women-friendly” portfolios i.e. human resources, marketing and finance. 

We need to move away from this way of thinking.  Women need to move away from this way of thinking. We have to be confident in our ability to succeed across sectors and we need to acknowledge that we offer a unique range of competencies and bring a valuable perspective to the workplace. We are our own worst critics, and we are highly critical of each other.

In a study of 2 000 women in full or part-time employment, women were asked whether they would prefer to have a man or woman as their immediate manager. Sixty three per cent expressed a preference for a male boss, while only 37 % opted for a woman. Even more telling, was the fact that four out of 10 women who have female bosses believe they could do a better job than their superior, while very few of those with male bosses questioned their ability.

Of course women are as capable as men, but only when women truly start to believe this – not just about themselves, but about other women as well. At legislative level, government is in the process of fine-tuning the Gender Equality Bill, which will provide legislative authority to hasten the empowerment of women. This is good news, but in order for real empowerment to take place, a mindset change is required – not least of all amongst women.

Eleanor Roosevelt  said: “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." We need to assert ourselves in the workplace and we need to support other women in positions of leadership. We need to legitimise our place in business.

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