BNEW: "Women are better positioned to be competitive in the future context"

Shocks like the coronavirus pandemic crisis have shown that leadership behaviors must evolve if progress is to be made in the 21st century. The social and economic crisis that has resulted from Covid-19 has highlighted the imposition of empathy governance. And, in this, women are experts. This idea summarizes the issues raised in the round table Women's leadership in global management, which took place within the framework of the Barcelona New Economy Week (BNEW).

The prominent executives who took part in the debate have argued that there is another type of behavior in leadership if progress is to be made in the 21st century and that innovative and transformative attitudes are what make the difference. All of them agreed that talking about "female leadership is a trap," and they ask, to what extent referring to female management as more efficient in certain fields of activity, is not also a way of "labeling" women?

These aspects have been discussed within the round table by Carla Arimont, managing partner of Lincoln Leadership Advisors; Blanca Sorigué, general director of the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona; Marta Lacambra, director of Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera; Idoia Sota, deputy director of Forbes Spain; and Sara Berbel, manager of Economic Policy and Local Development of the Barcelona City Council.

Berbel has stated that 21st-century leadership in global management calls for behaviors with more personalized attention to people and the promotion of teamwork, "differentiating aspects of female leadership". However, she warned that this does not imply that the more traditional aspects of leadership found in both women and men should be set aside.

In this regard, the speakers have agreed on highlighting the importance of shared leadership and how the pandemic crisis has shown that there is another type of governance and how this circumstance has led to the emergence of new female role models.

The directives have also reflected on aspects such as the digital divide and on skills "such as those related to STEM disciplines (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) or artificial intelligence that benefit the positioning of women at the forefront of global management," specified Carla Arimont, for whom "women are better positioned to be competitive in the future context".

21st-century leadership demands more personalized attention to people and fostering teamwork