The Intermediary – October 2026 - Flipbook - Page 93
B RO K E R B U S I N E S S
Opinion
Why don’t women
rule the world?
I
have a bookshelf full of books
about women. Most were gis.
One I wrote myself. A couple
I’ve even read. But here’s a
question: how many books on
your shelves are about men?
Exactly. Men are the norm. They
don’t need explaining, analysing,
fixing or empowering. They just are.
Women, on the other hand, seem
to require an entire industry of
books, conferences, podcasts and
coaching programmes to help them
become successful. We are apparently
complicated creatures. We lack
confidence, struggle with imposter
syndrome, don’t negotiate well enough
and, heaven forbid, sometimes want
to have children as well as a career.
Could it be that this is part of the
problem? At a recent conference,
I asked the audience: “Why don’t
women rule the world?”
We make up 51% of the adult
population. Hardly a minority. Yet we
remain under-represented on boards,
in executive teams and in many of the
positions where decisions are made.
Perhaps it’s time to stop asking
women how they can become more
like men, and start asking why the
system continues to work so well for
only one half of the population.
When a man is assertive, he is
decisive. When a woman is assertive,
she is aggressive. When a man knows
what he wants, he is ambitious. When
a woman does, she is pushy. When a
man takes charge, he demonstrates
leadership. When a woman does, she
is being controlling.
Funny how the same behaviour
can acquire such different adjectives,
isn’t it?
Of course, it is easy to blame men.
There is certainly no shortage of
evidence of male wrongdoing in the
world. But just this once, let’s not lay
everything at their door.
Many men assume that if there
aren’t many women in the room, it’s
because women don’t want to be there.
They trust that the selection process
is fair and unbiased. Aer all, surely
nobody would deliberately overlook a
talented woman? Bless!
The problem is that systems can be
biased without anyone consciously
intending them to be. And if nobody
notices, nobody does anything about
them. But there is another part of the
story that we women need to consider.
AVERIL LEIMON
is co-founder at White
Water Group
The confidence conundrum
During my keynote, I asked women to
go round the room telling each other
what they were good at.
It was excruciating. They squirmed,
laughed nervously and struggled to say
anything positive about themselves
without immediately qualifying it.
Meanwhile, many men have no
such difficulty telling you what
they’re good at. They are happy to put
themselves forward, promote their
achievements and nominate their
mates for opportunities.
Women oen work incredibly hard,
do an excellent job and wait patiently
for someone to notice. And then
they wonder why they didn’t get the
promotion.
This isn’t about blaming women. It’s
about recognising some of the ways we
may inadvertently perpetuate the very
situation we dislike.
We underestimate ourselves. We
don’t ask for what we want. We talk
ourselves out of opportunities before
anyone else has a chance to reject us.
We wait to be invited into the room,
while others simply walk in.
The view from the bus
The other day, on a crowded rush-hour
bus, I found myself surrounded by
women discussing their experiences at
work. It was a remarkably depressing
catalogue. One had been passed over
for promotion in favour of someone
she considered considerably less
talented. Another had been called into
a meeting at an inconvenient time to
discuss something that should have
Half the population, hard to understand?
taken 15 minutes. The leader then
proceeded to repeat himself four times
over the next hour while she sat there,
griing her teeth.
Another had received a call from
her child’s school demanding her
presence the following aernoon,
despite knowing perfectly well that
she worked.
And then there was the familiar
experience of being talked over
repeatedly in meetings. Oh, and being
told to “cheer up” and “give us a smile”.
I suspect many women reading
this will recognise at least one of
these experiences. Some will have a
collection of their own. And what
happens when women complain?
They’re told they’re being emotional.
Well, yes. They are furious. Quite
understandably, in many cases.
But instead of expressing that anger,
they swallow it, smile politely and get
on with things.
It’s not good for their mental
health. And it certainly isn’t good
for changing the culture. Because if
nobody says anything, nobody else has
to do anything. ●
October 2026 | The Intermediary
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