May 9, 2008. Shanghai campus --The world is changing and women are playing an increasingly large role as the transformation takes place. This was one of the primary messages voiced at the2nd Annual Women’s Forum hosted today at the China Europe International Business School.
"The environment has changed," said Jean Lee, chair of CEIBS management department and organizer of the event. “Our mothers used to live in families in small towns… now our stage is the whole world.”
And the world stands to benefit, said Pedro Nueno, executive president of CEIBS. In his welcome address, he added: “If we can better incorporate women into our businesses, we will better achieve success.”
Speakers at the 2nd Women in Leadership Forum included leading women from the global business community as well as academic leaders. Topics ranged from the role that women have played throughout history to challenges they face in international companies.
CEIBS Honorary President Liu Ji
"When manual labor was the most important for society, it was for sure that women have to give away some power to men," said Liu Ji, honorary president of CEIBS. "In this age, women will be equal to men."
Sharing examples from their own experience, the speakers candidly related their own missteps and the way in which their careers have impacted their personal lives. Many remarked that they hope young women in the audience will learn from their experiences.
"In China, we used to say if your husband does well, then you also do well -- but not any more," said Wang Hongmei, chairwoman of Shanghai Fenghua Group. “This kind of thinking will prevent you from moving upward in the future.”
The forum, another step forward in the development of women leaders, helps fulfill an important part in the reaching the greater goals that the school has laid out for itself, said Rolf D. Cremer, dean and vice president at CEIBS.
"CEIBS was designed to play a modest but important role in China’s reform and opening," said Prof. Cremer. “The role of China in the world is being re-shaped, and part of this transformation is that we try to build not just managers, but leaders.”
HISTORICAL RESPONSIBILITY OF CHINESE WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS
CEIBS Honorary President Liu Ji started his speech by putting the modern rise of women in the workplace into context. The increasing influence of women, he said, is happening alongside the rise of the information age, expanding globalization and the peaceful rise of China.
Businesspeople are the new generals, Liu commented, as China enters the world as an economic power. “Now we have lots of successful women business leaders here,” he said. “You have not reached the levels of generals yet, but you are probably majors. You are going to play a very important critical role in the rise of China.”
FROM CINDERELLA TO CEO
In a more romantic light, CEIBS Professor and Michelin Chair in Leadership and Human Resources Management Jean Lee characterized China’s new businesswomen, not as generals, but as modern-day Cinderella’s. In their mother’s eyes, women were all princesses, Lee said, but as they grow older, women find the business environment is not as friendly as their own homes. Cinderella found a similar challenging environment in her step-mother, who abused and ignored her. The competition the Cinderella faced in her stepsisters, women now find at work.
CEIBS Professor and Michelin Chair in Leadership and Human Resources Management Jean Lee
"Our competition with people around us may not necessarily be negative," Lee said. "Competition is part of life; competition requires that you get prepared in order to win."
Cinderella built the skills of cleaning and cooking; today’s businesswomen instead build management and problem-solving skills. Like Cinderella, women are improving themselves so they can seize opportunity when it presents itself. “The shoe represents the opportunity for you,” Lee said. “You have to wait sometimes and find the shoe that fits you best.”
CHINESE WOMEN IN GLOBAL ECONOMY
For many women in Asia, today’s proverbial “shoe” is tied to the development of the regional economy on a global stage. Conference speaker Liu Mingming, the president and chief representative of Voith Paper Technology (China) made the decision to tie her own career to the growth of China. To do this, she first studied in Germany, bringing language skills and business savvy with her when she returned to China, moving to Yunnan Province.
"In Yunnan province there was lack of management talent, I had to grasp this opportunity and display my talents to the outside world," said the former housewife. "You have to be very innovative. Always think what will be possible and don’t focus on what will not be possible."
In Asia, however, pressures are still great to fulfill a traditional female role, said Jean Liu, vice president of corporate affairs of EDS Asia. Women can find innovative ways to combat expectations, however, particularly if they have a global perspective.
"Women leaders will sometimes face the challenges from male counterparts that they should stay at home," Liu said. "I went abroad very early, so I had my own perspective that men and women should be treated differently. I asked myself, "Why should the male leaders be successful?""
One answer, she said, was networking. Women can further their careers by networking among each other.
Women can also overcome stereotypes simply by proving them wrong, explained Wang Hongmei. “Every day I would show up the earliest; I would clean the office, get the hot water so people could make tea,” she said. When the opportunity to help open a bank branch came along, she opted for the branch in the toughest area. That put her on the team of a demanding and unsupportive boss. But soon after, a vice president of the company offered her a better opportunity -- her boss’s job.
CROSS-CULTURAL DIFFERENCES -- MANAGING DIVERSITY AT THE WORKPLACE
As women begin to advance on a global stage, the difficulties they face will be cultural as well as gender-based. Success, however, is more dependent on management skills, according to Peter Alatsas, general manager of The Westin in Shanghai. “It’s not about gender, it’s about results,” he said.
Accomplished leaders can overcome differences and create a culture of their own within the business team they are working on, said Caroline Wang, a former senior vice president at IBM. “From my observation, one common quality among great leaders is that they are not self centered,” she said. “They often forget about themselves, they are team centered and mission centered.”
WOMAN IN THEIR 30s, 40s AND 50s
The goals of women do change as they age, as family pressures ebb and flow and careers shift direction. Women of different ages also bring different historical experiences with them. Lilia Zhang, general manager of Enterprises Services, Ingersoll Rand (China) Investment Co brings with her the memory of the Cultural Revolution and it has impacted her career decisions. “I realized that caring and love for each other is important to help you pull through all of those most difficult periods,” Zhang said.
Monica Li, the general manager of BrandUnion, who is still in her 30s, faces a different set of challenges. After actively pursuing a career, Li is considering the complicated process of balancing starting a family with the demands of her career. “As you start to get into your 30s you start to have lots of pressure in terms of family,” she said
Family can also be a source of support, said Kuan-Thye Sean, human resources managing director at FedEx China. “I’m doubly blessed with a very supportive husband who gave up his dental practice and became a traveling spouse,” Sean said. “I’m extremely blessed with a mother who retired as a teacher but who went on to a second career as a grandmother and a nanny. “ With her family behind her, Sean is unafraid of what the future might hold. “Life can only get better as we mature,” she said. “Like wine, we mature very gracefully.”
DOES THE “GLASS CEILING” EXIST?
While many women encounter the “glass ceiling,” success depends on your own perspective, agreed Paul Mak, president for Greater China, Mary Kay Inc and Chialing Hsuen, general manager of MCM, Greater China and South East Asia.
Mary Kay, the founder of the company of the same name, broke through a glass ceiling of her own by quitting a job where she was not advancing and starting her own business, Mak said. Hsuen, similarly, decided to leave a job with Phillips late in life to pursue an industry she found more interesting. “You have to come to terms with what you really want and then go for it,” she said.
As women become more successful, however, they do often encounter double standards. “As for the success of female business leaders we encounter double standards, if you are successful; and determined, people will criticize you that you are so tough,” Hsuen said. “When I raise my voice at a meeting to argue, my subordinates will criticize me that I am not like a woman.
"This is the double edged sword," she said. t is not so much a ceiling as a barrier or a burden, Mak added.
WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP -- SUCCESSES AND FAILURES, GAINS AND LOSSES
This is the age of opportunity for women, as international companies pursue diversification programs and women are becoming more accepted as leaders.
"In your 30s and your 40s, your life will be much easier than all of us," said Marjorie Woo, chairwoman of Keystone Leadership (Shanghai) Inc. The trick for today’s entrepreneurs is to decide on their goals. f I were to do it over again, the sooner I would start looking at: who do I want to be; what do I want to do; and what do I want to have,” she said. “Put yourself in the equation so that you know who you are and that you accept who you are.”
One of Shi Xiaoyan’s, chairwoman of Beijing Illinois Investment Co., greatest regrets is not finding the right partners to work with. “If I could do it again, I would find partners that are very strong in logical thinking,” she said. “I’m crazy, so I can’t afford to have any other crazy people in the company.”
Success often depends on recognizing your own strengths and weaknesses. “(These women) are successful because they keep learning and they are brave enough to face the challenges,” said Yu Yafei, managing director of Yaning Public Relations. The trade offs are often personal, however.
"I have some regrets, when the kids were very young I didn’t spend enough time with them," Shi said. "Now they no longer need me."
Shi does feel she has set a good example for her children, however. "If you want to make money, then you have to work hard," she said. "Women have a lot of pressure--pressure from your parents, pressure from you husband, pressure from your career."
"Don’t think about the pressure," she said. Take a bath, listen to music, Shi advised, and get some exercise.
(For full coverage of the 2nd annual Women in Leadership Forum, see the Fall 2008 edition of The LINK magazine.)
