Women and Leadership: Lessons from some of the world’s most powerful women

For readers of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Sheryl Sandberg and Mary Beard, Women and Leadership is a powerful call to arms about the lack of women at the top.

'Who better qualified to delve into this topic?' Business Life
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Women make up less than 10 per cent of national leaders, and behind this lies a pattern of unequal access to power. In conversation with some of the world's most powerful and interesting women, Women and Leadership explores gender bias and asks why there aren't more women in leadership roles?

Using current research as a starting point, Gillard and Okonjo-Iweala form questions and hypotheses, then test them on the lived experiences of women leaders such as Jacinda Ardern, Hillary Clinton, Christine Lagarde, Michelle Bacheletand Theresa May.

Speaking honestly and freely, they talk about having their ideas stolen by male colleagues, about what it's like to be called fat or a slut in the media, and about the things they wish they had done differently. Their stories reveal how gender and sexism affect perceptions of women as leaders, the trajectories of their leaderships, and the circumstances in which they come to an end.

The result is a rare insight into life as a leader, and a powerful call to arms for women everywhere.

Who better qualified to delve into this topic? ― Business Life

Julia Gillard was the first woman to serve as Prime Minster of Australia. She received worldwide attention for her October 2012 speech in Parliament on the treatment of women in professional and public life. She is Chair of the Global Institute for Women's Leadership at King's College, London. In April 2021 she became Chair of the Wellcome Institute.

Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is an economist and international development expert with over thirty years of experience. She served twice as Nigeria's Finance Minister, and briefly as Foreign Minister, the first woman to hold both positions. From 2015-2020 she was the Chair of GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance which improves access to new and underused vaccines for children living in the world's poorest countries. In 2021 she became the Director-General of the World Trade Organization. She is the first woman and the first African to hold the office.