{"id":1570,"date":"2018-10-22T19:37:02","date_gmt":"2018-10-22T19:37:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ceo-worldwide.com\/blog\/?p=1570"},"modified":"2025-05-15T21:19:34","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T21:19:34","slug":"where-are-the-women-capable-of-being-corporate-directors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ceo-worldwide.com\/blog\/where-are-the-women-capable-of-being-corporate-directors\/","title":{"rendered":"Where are the Women\u2026 Capable of being CEOs and Corporate Directors?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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One article among others in France highlights \u201cA scarcity of women with CEO\u2019s experience, one of the profiles that companies are seeking widely for their board of directors\u201d. This implies that in order to validly exercise a mandate in France, it is almost essential to have managed a company, at least a business unit? Not to mention the essential financial expertise\u2026 Do we often become CEOs after having been CFOs? Not so sure: that\u2019s not the point here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The purpose is to guide the gaze in another direction, to make people aware that there are many women with demonstrated leadership. All you have to do is look and see, open your eyes wide, even better your ears and your heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other types of responsibilities may have been exercised and real added value may have been added to a Board of Directors\/Supervisory Boards (BoD\/SB). If this works for foreign companies, is it worth missing out on in France?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FIRST AN INTRIGUING QUESTION \u201cA PREVIOUS CEO\u2019S EXPERIENCE\u201d FOR WHICH REASONS?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Have already held a corporate office? For legal liability? For the complexity of stakeholder relations? For the loneliness of the leader? The reservoir to satisfy these demands goes beyond the scope of companies alone: without looking very far, chairing a non-profit organization already requires knowing how to play, or even juggle, with these components. And in many cases, with the added complexity of the absence of a strict hierarchical relationship\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Have an ambition for the company, a sharpened understanding of its challenges, a strategic vision? Have the foresight to apply it in activities, taking advantage of transversality up to the operational level? In other words, being open to the environment of the company and the sector of activity, being in contact with its customers and more generally its external partners, its teams and in particular the managerial line and of course the directors? Here again, acquiring and cultivating skills can be done through other channels, other responsibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, it could be a risk. The non-executive director is not a CEO bis. Its mandate can thus be justified through skills that the CEO does not have, whether they are more specialized or from another perspective that enriches the debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ONE CAN HAVE SUCCESSFULLY MANAGED BUSINESS WORTH MILLIONS OF \u20ac ($) WITHOUT EVER HAVING HELD THE POSITION OF CEO.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This is the case of a contract\/project pilot because this responsibility requires knowing how to act in
complexity, to find the right alchemy to satisfy paradoxical injunctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A multiple strategic vision.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 External: linked to the client\u2019s environment, its transformations. This has to be taken into account to help the client succeed, decode and take advantage of power games, skillfully set up alliance strategies, ensure congruence in decision-making and the implementation\/effectiveness of actions\u2026
\u2022 Internal: that of the employing company, which has its own environment to decipher, its ambitions to satisfy, its power plays to take into account\u2026 For which an enlightened contribution to the elaboration of the strategic plan and a strong commitment in its deployment are expected.
The strategic evolution factors of the customer(s) may also be factors for the company\u2026 or not. It is necessary to be comfortable with this point to deliver value-added products\/services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Various operational constraints.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Relational: adjusting customer interaction flexibly to meet justified needs, avoiding commercial risks and maintaining a relationship of trust over time, in other words knowing how to combine various relational modes
\u2022 Represent the company to the client
\u2022 Deliver product\/service
\u2022 Continuously negotiate (many multi-year contracts\/projects now mean a \u201cpermanent sale\u201d within the framework of existing legal support. This requires acting as a value-added \u201cadvisor\u201d).
\u2022 Partners: establish a balanced relationship with partners and service providers to ensure their long-term success, by securing their achievements (at stake: customer) and giving them sufficient visibility on their revenue so that they can organize themselves as effectively as possible. Proactive and reactive management.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"women<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u2022 Managerial: exercise a functional and cooperative management, satisfying divergent demands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Actively contribute to the development of teams (medium- to long-term progress, diversity in their activities) and optimize the quality of production.
\u2013 Find the right balance between immediate performance (working with those who already  know  how  to do) and  sustainable performance (and commitment) (taking risk)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 The contract\/project pilot has a wide range of skills<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Financial: dealing with the internal pressure that poses a multiple unknown equation:
\u2013 Always more profitability by producing at the lowest cost,
\u2013 Be 100% focused on satisfying the customer\u2019s right need (medium term) and\/or the need to sell (short term),
\u2013 Maximize customer contact while supporting non-productive internal activities that are essential to the smooth operation and her visibility inside her company.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"ceo<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

A type of experience that therefore combines:
\u2022 strategic and operational,
\u2022 transversal vision,
\u2022 sales\/development,
\u2022 production,
\u2022 management (people including paradoxical hierarchy, and performance)
In other words, significant challenges and risks to be controlled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 Skills of the true (?) CEOs<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A downside? If you \u201cfail\u201d on a contract\/project, you are not likely to sink the company. Not sure. This depends on the contract\/project (e.g. share of activity) and the reason for the failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is similar to what a large number of SMEs and even TWAs, depending on major contractors, are experiencing. Is it a strategic or operational error? Who\/Where are the safeguards?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of turnover and number of employees, many SMEs are \u201csmaller\u201d than multi-year contracts\/projects. Managing a contract\/project means managing a profit and loss account, ensuring the level of profitability expected by shareholders\u2026 with a team that is not always chosen.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So when you have successfully evolved in a complex universe and have been able to adapt to it, you are, a priori, able to find your place in the group that is a BoD\/SB . Able to bring value to it thanks to the speed of adaptation and reaction to situations, to all the relational intelligence developed to successfully manage a contract\/project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are indeed essential skills when dealing with stakeholders with diverse or even divergent interests. They are very useful to quickly understand what is at stake for the company, the alliance games within the members of the existing BoD\/SB, to co-develop the strategy, to act in the most effective way to ensure its sustainability and development.
A contract\/project pilot has all these skills.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you agree to look in this direction, to open up to these talents, the \u201cpool\u201d of female non-executive directors<\/a> immediately becomes much richer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where are the women\u2026 potential independent\/external directors? Everywhere if you want to get out of the frame, out of the mold, out of the clone and dare (a little!) something different. Want to move forward? Innovation? Agility?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where are the women\u2026 potential independent\/external CEOs?<\/em><\/strong> Everywhere if you want to get out of the frame, out of the mold, out of the clone and dare (a little!) something different. Willing to move forward? Innovation? Agility?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 What is valid at the board table can also be valid for managing a SME.
2. As a minimum, let us say from the lower third of the SBF 120 and all the ETI\/PMEs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

About the author: Founder of 2 consulting and coaching firms; professional background in major international consulting firms. Specialist of management and innovative change. Expert in transformation projects with high profitability. Seasoned experience in designing and developing a new business unit. Click here to view Viviane\u2019s Short Bio<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One article among others in France highlights \u201cA scarcity of women with CEO\u2019s experience, one of the profiles that companies are seeking widely for their board of directors\u201d. This implies that in order to validly exercise a mandate in France, it is almost essential to have managed a company, at least a business unit? Not … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":4019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[24,8],"tags":[10,283,285],"ppma_author":[668],"class_list":["post-1570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-non-executive-directors","category-top-executives","tag-ceo","tag-female-executive","tag-women-leaders"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ceo-worldwide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/pexels-photo-5717556.jpeg?fit=1880%2C1253&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7XjMV-pk","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4017,"url":"https:\/\/www.ceo-worldwide.com\/blog\/ceo-job-duties-description-responsibilities-skills\/","url_meta":{"origin":1570,"position":0},"title":"CEO Job Duties, Description, Responsibilities, Skills, and More","author":"CEO Worldwide","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"Labour statistics project a continuous growth of employers seeking top executive officials. 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Specialist of management and innovative change. Expert in transformation projects with high profitability. Seasoned experience in designing and developing a new business unit. View her short bio<\/a>"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ceo-worldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ceo-worldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ceo-worldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ceo-worldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ceo-worldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1570"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.ceo-worldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6771,"href":"https:\/\/www.ceo-worldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1570\/revisions\/6771"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ceo-worldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ceo-worldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ceo-worldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ceo-worldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1570"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ceo-worldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=1570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}