The Magic of Women Leadership

From a very young age, I was mainly surrounded by men. School, university, social & work environment - in most cases, men were a clear majority. I have to say, it never really bothered me; quite the opposite, it allowed me to become who I am today. I watched them and learned, I followed and I led, but it was not until I spent a week at the European Leadership Academy that I genuinely understood the magical power of being surrounded by women leaders.
Being surrounded by so many incredible women leaders has taught me more than I could ever imagine learning in such a short period. Here, I want to share some of the most important lessons I took away from this experience.

Don't Be Afraid To Learn
A famous piece of research by HP shows that men apply for a job when they meet only 60% of the qualifications, but women apply only if they meet 100%. Additionally, another research suggests that 75% of women are experiencing imposter syndrome in their careers, constantly feeling inadequacy and self-doubt that makes them continuously question if they are qualified enough for the job.
Honestly, I felt the same way for the biggest part of the European Leadership Academy. Every one of the 28 other participants was an intelligent, ambitious, and inspiring young female leader who was already doing so many amazing things. Computer scientists, engineers, young politicians, future doctors, founders & entrepreneurs, and many more. All of these personal stories sounded so impressive to me.
But as we all started to work together and build the ideas, I realized that our different backgrounds, knowledge, and experience could be combined into something even bigger and even more impressive, and the gaps could be filled by learning everything along the way. So don’t be afraid to learn, because we can’t know everything, but we can always collaborate and learn anything!

Representation Matters
Representation matters because it sets a positive example and breaks stereotypes. With all due respect and best intentions, I have never felt so empowered than watching panel discussions about cybersecurity, big data, and entrepreneurship with only one man attending amongst other brilliant women.
Representation matters also for creating a non-gender-biased future. We are on the edge of the AI and ML revolution, and how the algorithms will be developed & trained will determine if the gender gap is eliminated or pushed even further.
Representation matters for making decisions that will benefit all genders equally. One of my favorite books ‘Invisible Women’ by Caroline Craido Perez, gives numerous examples of female underrepresentation in the data world, from medical diagnosis to national budgeting. Heart attacks among young women could be diagnosed on time if female data were more often collected for scientific research, and a lot of money and efficiency could be saved if roads were cleaned after snow storms in consideration of women's daily commuting habits.

Female Role Models and Mentorship
When asked what could help us, women, to take more firm actions toward our ideas, the most common answer was mentorship. The lack and obvious need for mentorship and role models was discussed quite extensively throughout the week. As a result, some girls even pitched the digital female mentorship platform idea during the Female Founders, Venture Capital and Sustainable Finance workshop led by excellent European Commission business coach Aikaterini Liakopoulou.
As mentioned before, representation matters, but we can only achieve this with relevant examples and support. During one of the evenings, I had the absolute pleasure of meeting the loveliest Daria Tereshchenko, Mastercard cybersecurity & intelligence business manager - and discussing the lack of women representation in cybersecurity. Even though it is a really well-paid job and concerns everyone’s daily life, only 23% of people working in cybersecurity are female, but why? Explosion and role models: The lack of female role models and mentors in the field makes it difficult for young women to envision themselves succeeding or even considering careers in cybersecurity.
Having mentors or role models can bring more confidence and empowerment, help overcome gender bias and stereotypes, and, most importantly, it helps to break down barriers for women in various fields.
But you can also start with yourself. Quoting wonderful Lilyana Borisova’s advice: ‘Surround yourself with people who are truly the champions of your success. Find mentors and sponsors for your career. But it is also your responsibility to be a mentor and a sponsor for someone else’s career.’

Beautiful and meaningful things can be created when we are not afraid to speak up. I was lucky to meet quite a few inspiring examples of that in Valencia, among which :
Sevim Aktas - policy officer at the European Commission and the most amazing EU Green Deal influencer;
Hafsat Abiola - president of Women in Africa Initiative, with a deeply touching story of women’s collaboration and empowerment;
Cara Doumbe Kingue - ELA alumna who actively shares her journey in raising awareness about mental health;
and Inga Henrikssen & Ardis Rut - The founders of Lilja App, who are unafraid to tell their story and fight gender-based violence.

I wish I could elaborate and give you all the magic that the European Leadership Academy has given me. Still, I genuinely believe that a community of strong female leaders will make a significant impact in spreading this magic and empowering others, so stay tuned!

Giedre Krotovaite on 22/09/2023