Angela Merkel: on all fronts

Angela Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany and the first woman to have been elected at this position. In 2007 she was President of the European Council and she chaired the G8. The woman was given many awards and was always listed at the top of Forbe's list of the 100 Most Powerful women since 2006, and gained the first rank in 2012. Angela Merkel is commonly qualified as the current "Iron Lady of Europe", she is one of the main negotiators in the eurozone, Germany being one of Europe's leading country. Se is an example to follow, she managed to make her way through Politic's world of sharks. She proudly represents one of the too few women in decision-making positions. 

Politics is an especially tough sector for women to succeed in. Competition is harsh, unforgiving and back-braking. But women have to be present in order to represent equally the needs of the entire population. In Canada in 1984, they had 9.6% of the seats in the House of Commons, but today, this number skyrocketed as women posses 76 seats, which represents 24.8% of the seats of the House of Commons. 

But one of the first difficulties that women face is selecting themselves. They have to have the guts to give themselves a chance and believe in what they can achieve. March 8th is the International Women's Day, a day to celebrate such accomplishment but also ponder about the new but also old challenges. 

Having women holding decision-makig positions, benefits both women and their communities

The expression "self-made woman" should be growing more and more. It is even more difficult today for a woman to be "self-made" than for men one hundred years ago. Stereotypes, clichés and barriers are vehement and make it arduous for women to succeed in leading business positions, and that also goes for outstanding politicians. The difference of salaries between men and women at an equal status is something that has to be fought against. Many politicians, like Barack Obama use this fact to appeal to women and their vindictiveness. Michelle Obama, his wife, therefore played a protruding role in the American President's campaign, attracting women by denouncing the gender inequalities. That is a great strategic idea, and it is also a great progress for women and the fact that those questions about gender injustices are spreading virally and worldwide.

Indra Nooyi is PepsiCo's current chairman and CEO, the fifth in PepsiCo's history. This Indian-American businesswoman is continuously ranked amongst the World's 100 most powerful women. She was even ranked #1most powerful woman in business by Fortune in 2012, and #3 by Forbes in 2008. Since Indra Nooyi started as CFO in 2000, PepsiCo's revenues have skyrocketed by 72%! Well that is an influence! The woman conducted acquisitions like of Tropicana in 1998 or merges like with Quacker Oats Company. She seems to me to be an example of what women should long for, as they only represent 13% of prominent positions in the largest firms. The path to that rank is not easy to attain, but with hard work and self-esteem all of us can become leading entrepreneurs and be ranked as the most powerful people on the planet.  

The top business women of 2012

2012 has been a year of change and evolution for women in the business industry. For the first time ever, there are presently 20 CEOs that are women in the 500 largest US companies. They also represent 16% of the members of greatest company boards. The top one on the list of those powerful women is Sheryl Sandberg, which I have previously spoken of. "We now have more women at the top in tech than in most other industries" states Rosabeth Moss Kanter, a Harvard Business School professor. That is due to the fact that technology industries require innovation and entrepreneurship. If a woman can prove herself then she is esteemed. All those advancements show that a woman succeeding is not an exception but part of a whole group and trend. 

    Ginni Rometty

Irene Rosenfeld

  

A strong business woman: Sheryl Sandberg

Sheryl Sandberg is an example of a strong business woman. This American businesswoman is Facebook's chief operating officer since 2008, and she also was the first woman to be elected to the company's board of directors. She also own about $1 billion of unvested stock in the company. The key to that balance is to be ambitious and confident. In 2010, Sandberg was ranked 16 on 50 Most Powerful Women in Business by the magazine Fortune. Sheryl Sandberg is one of those, actually too few, women who believe that a woman can conceal a family life and a competent and distinguished professional life. She stated in August 2012 "I do believe in women and men having both a successful career and family. The more women we get into positions of power, the more likely we'll get that."

Why women still can't have it all

Anne-Marie Slaughter's article Why women still can't have it all was published in July 2012 in the magazine The Atlantic. Four days after its release, the review had been read by 725,000 people and had made a huge buzz on social networks such as Facebook, captivating attention for all around the world. In this article, Hilary Clinton's former Director of Policy Planning states 'the women who have managed to be both mothers and top professionals are superhuman', they do not belong to the norm. She continues by declaring 'If we truly believe in equal opportunity for all women, here’s what has to change.' A shock statement, to my opinion, being a believer of women's potential to erase many gender barriers, especially in the entrepreneurial world. At the end of her article, the author proposes the beginning of a solution: ' to elect a woman president and 50 women senators; to ensure that women are equally represented in the ranks of corporate executives and judicial leaders'.