Pathways to Leadership: A Conversation with Female C-suite Executives

On May 16^th, 2024, we were happy to host the latest Lunch & Learn Online Event - powered by WU EA Female Leaders Network - "Pathways to Leadership: A Conversation with Female C-suite Executives"

Katarina Stanisavljevic, President of the WU EA Female Leaders Network, Founder and MBA Marketing & Sales alumna, welcomed over 55 participants who had dedicated their lunch hour to listen to the experiences of three distinguished female leaders that were ready to share strategies and skills they applied to assume their C-level positions.

Lilly Sommer, WU EA FLN Board Member, Business Developer Leader Europe Market – Hospital Partnerships at Philips and MBA Entrepreneurship & Innovation alumna, kicked off the panel.

She reminded us that providing insights into the career journey of Female Leaders and learning from their experiences of how to overcome challenges on the way is a timely and vital topic despite the strides that have been made towards gender equality. She cited the most recent McKinsey workplace report 2023 which states that only 28% of C-level positions are held by women. And while historically this is the highest percentage ever, we are still a long way from parity. Lilly also continued to point out that one of the reasons is also that women in the early staged of their career are less often promoted to their first managerial roles which means of course less women in the pipeline to C-Level.

The introduction of the panelists followed and what a diverse group of inspiring leaders we had the chance to listen to providing insights of their pathways to leadership:

Claudia Eder is one ofour Global Executive MBA Alumnae and Managing Director at ASFINAG Maut Service Gesellschaft, an Austrian publicly owned corporation which plans, finances, builds, maintains, and collects tolls for the Austrian highways.

When Claudia started out her career she was dreaming of a position in Human Resources. After moving abroad to work for Daimler Chrysler she reached her initial goal at just 29 when she was appointed head of HR at the ÖBB Personal Transport and HR strategy head in 2011. A key moment was when she entered a general management role supported by her boss at the time whom she described as ‘a mentor and sponsor because he gave me his trust!.’ Due to changes in the company Claudia decided to establish her own company to foster digital skills in Austria but her path to leadership once more took a turn as a call from a friend looking for a Managing Director at ASFINAG reached her. Initially hesitant to apply, because of the political context, in the end Claudia was selected from over 100 applicants.

Claudia showed adaptability, flexibility and always open to new experiences and to adapting her skills to changing demands. She demonstrated resilience and recognized when a changed was needed and moved out of her comfort zone in ceasing opportunities.

Anita Kirilova: Global Executive MBA alumna, Co-Founder of the WU EA FLN and General Manager at MetLife one of the world’s leading financial services companies, providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to help its individual and institutional customers navigate their changing world.

As a born saleswoman, replied when asked for the challenges she faced on the way up the career ladder: ‘Challenges are business as usual. If you do not have challenges everyday…why to you exist!’

One of the main challenges she faced was finding a balance between work and private responsibilities being a mother: ‘For more than 20 years I as feeling guilty that I did not give enough attention to my daughter. The WU EA Female Leaders Network and my Global Executive MBA peer group supported me a lot to close this gap of feeling guilty.’ Anita emphasized the importance of finding a peer group you can trust in overcoming professional and personal challenges.

Anita also made a very interesting observation she felt that when she became a leader she stopped being a professional in specific field and acknowledged that goer her the most important thing is to create a team of people one can trust who want to go into the same direction together.

Olena Khlon: Global Executive MBA alumna, CO-Founder of the WU EA FLN and Chief Executive Officer at SHB Finance among the top 8 consumer finance companies in Vietnam with 30 years of experience and more than 7000 employees.

She has managed a mayor transformation of her company putting it on a path of sustainable. When Olena joined she had not been informed, that there was an acting with whom she had to find a way to collaborate without conflict while redefining their roles. In this process Olena described how challenging collaboration across cultural backgrounds can be. She managed a highly emotional situation through clear and empathetic communication and cultural sensitivity, acknowledging skills and giving a chance to contribute.

How important were mentors and mentorship on the path to leadership?

Anita mentioned the importance of coaches and mentors and how important a male mentor was for her in a  male dominated field as he could provide from a male perspective: ‘He taught me  how to start and keep small talk. Women are often too focused on the purpose, and she needed to figure out to use small talk to communicate effectively. It is also important for a leader to take up space: ‘At a table, in a room….occupy space.’

Claudia emphasized that mentors are with you all your life: ‘Keep your eyes and ears open. When you are in a difficult situation you might already two alternative routes people took….and then you can work out your third way more easily.’

Has Gender bias affected you throughout your career?

Olena said she has never have been affected by gender bias, but by age bias: ‘Being the youngest leader has been a challenge because you need to prove that the lack of years does not matter. What matters are the ideas and solutions you bring to a company.’

When asked for advice for young people aspiring to take leadership roles the panelists brought up the following points:

• If you can hire a team, do so.
• believe in yourself and your capabilities
• focus on results and ask to be judged by them if you are confronted by bias
• listen to yourself and have the courage to use your own judgement
• take feedback from people that you trust
• go out of your comfort zone,
• dare to change and learn
• Join great supportive communities
• Resilience, adaptability, continuous learning
• Know your values, trust in yourself, listen to your personal needs as well
• Just do it!

Nina Schweighofer, Senior Team Lead Banking Supervision at the European Central Bank, Global Executive MBA alumna and member of the Female Leaders Network and the International Advisory Board, moderated a lively Q & A session before the event came to a close. The insights provided by these female leaders illustrated clearly that as an executive you have to find a way to combat challenges that fits your personality. Clearly, if does not only take one, but many qualities to become a good leader.

Thanks to the WU EA Female Leaders Network for organizing this event, to our 3 panelists and to all WU Executive Club members who participated in this event! Did you miss it? Watch the recording here.

Follow the WU EA Female Leaders Network on LinkedIn and check out their event summary here. Keep an eye on our Events Board on WU EA Connect to be a part of our upcoming community events.

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