What We Can Learn About Success When Women Lead & Why We Have So Few Women Leaders

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Julia Boorstin is a Senior and Media Tech Correspondent of CNBC. She is also the author of the upcoming book ‘When Women Lead: What We Achieve, Why We Succeed and What We Can Learn’. The unveiling of this book is on the 11th of October, 2022. Mrs. Boorstin has always been fascinated by merely asking questions, and therefore she could not have chosen a more suitable career.

The family heritage amassed with journalists and writers led her in her initial media endeavor in the newspaper of her High School. After claiming a similar position in the College newspaper and attending some writing classes during the same period, she sought a way into the booming Magazine Industry in New York. She landed her first job in the Industry mentioned above in Fortune Magazine.

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Mrs. Boorstin recalls the importance of landing her first job in a prestigious company like Fortune Magazine. She attained a great deal of knowledge regarding Business in these formative years and had alongside her numerous role models. As a result, she started appearing as a contributor on CNN and CNN Headline News before CNBC hired her in 2006.

Furthermore, Mrs. Boorstin claims that the rapid insertion of online news into our lives played a significant part in her career. But her main driving force was, and remains, the burning passion for reading, researching and asking questions. These processes, alongside her love for telling stories about people that inspire others to live to their fullest, led her to write her latest book.

The process of writing the book When Women Lead: What We Achieve, Why We Succeed and What We Can Learn’.

This October-bound to-be-released book is based on two projects Mrs. Boorstin had on CNBC. The first project is the ‘Disruptor 50 List’, which focuses on the 50 fastest-growing private venture-backed companies that can alter the way of thinking in the corporate world. This project took place some years earlier and included numerous interviews with the CEOs of these companies regarding Leadership and Innovation.

Unfortunately, male CEOs vastly outnumbered their female counterparts, but the female CEOs had excellent communication, organization and the other necessary for their role skills. Mrs. Boorstin quickly assessed that this project intertwines with another project called ‘Closing the Gap’. This project encouraged various companies to address any imposed discrimination policies regarding gender or other forms of identity.

The ultimate goal has always been a fairer representation of women in the upper ranks of the corporate world. An alarming statistic regarding this matter demonstrates that female CEOs capitalize on merely 3 % of the total sum of venture capital financing. Mrs. Boorstin attempts to alter the narrative by incorporating the stories of female success from her ‘Disruptor 50 List’ project.?

Mrs. Boorstin states that she wants to share the stories of these exceptional women in her upcoming book because they exhibited unique Leadership characteristics that can educate the public. The book comprises the stories of 65 different women accompanied with the backing of data on Leadership and the credibility of 100 academic studies—the overall number of interviews needed for this book culminated in the impressive number of 150.?

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Pattern Matching and other Prejudices

Mrs. Boorstin believes that the unequal and unjust representation of women in the upper ranks of business is due to several social and structural issues, mainly pattern matching. Pattern matching is a habit investors adopt and follow an already established and successful route. If someone has received their backing in the past and was a success, he doubles his chances for another generous package in the foreseeable future.

Therefore, the shortage of women in the top hierarchy of companies dents their hope for a fair investment. The lack of many successful precedents discourages possible investors from investing, despite the meticulousness of the business plan. Pattern matching is a primal instinct rooted in our psyche for eons.

Mrs. Boorstin refers in her new book to the innovative tools facilitating the hiring process in companies. These tools demonstrate an alternative way of decision-making, where the potential of an individual outweighs his/her experience. Using the same tools in Venture Capital Funding is paramount for adopting an innovative decision-making system circumventing pattern matching and other social prejudices.

Another prejudice against women is their apparent inability to cope with their careers and motherhood. Mrs. Boorstin encouraged the women she interviewed to share the stories of how they exhibited courage and resilience against these toxic adversities. Most women demonstrated remarkable adaptability in their roles and stated that they absorbed any bias towards them and transformed it into magnificent deeds.

The Pillars of Being a (Female) Leader-In Wrapping Up

Mrs. Boorstin states that no one is born a great leader, but it is a gradual process that first and foremost involves being resilient and determined in the face of a crisis. She provides three characteristic examples of the CEOs of non-profit organizations, ‘Care USA’, ‘Feeding America’ and a Biometric company in the airports. The female CEOs of the above companies faced numerous adversities during the pandemic, but they remained calm, clear-headed and had a thorough escape plan in case a crisis emerged.

Vulnerability is another central pillar of effective Leadership. Women, by nature, are more comfortable in being open about their struggles than men, and this trait elevates them in the eyes of their employees. Being vulnerable establishes a culture of psychological safety within their company, and the employees feel more drawn to them. They lead by the example of being a person with weaknesses and without superficial traits.

A predominant example of the above is the actress Gwyneth Paltrow. She founded a company named Goop and never claimed that she knew everything. Furthermore, she revealed her struggle with postpartum depression, and this demonstration of vulnerability made her a role model for all the female Leaders and her clients.

The last pillar of a genuine Leader is contextual thinking. Mrs. Boorstin believes that contextual thinking is the process of finding the root of a problem and applying the appropriate solution. It is a simple precautionary process, and its motto is: “Better be a fire preventer instead of a firefighter”.

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Companies with better employee experiences have more engaged and productive workers, higher profits, and the ability to attract and retain talent. In today’s competitive talent landscape, companies can’t afford not to invest in employee experience.?Download your copy ?and start creating better experiences for your employees and customers today!