18 July 2019
The recent business trek to Iceland was full of information and insight. Discussions covered innovative entrepreneurialism, what really makes a successful business, social responsibility and business ethics. Oh, and of course, as we were in Iceland—surrounded by environmentalism, sustainability and volcanoes.
The most striking aspect of the trek for me was female leadership. There was a naturalistic element to women with power and authority that I’ve found comparatively rare in the UK. Women in senior positions can still find themselves having to pick up the chair and insist on putting it at the table. Oh yes, and having to insist they should be listened to and that their expertise is as great as that of men. In Iceland it seems the chairs are already there and waiting.
Our guide on the first day of the trek was proud to tell us about the proportion of women in parliament (48%); the implementation of equal pay legislation; and a cultural tradition of valuing women as equal contributors. Iceland is the world’s leader in closing the gender gap, having been top of the World Economic Forum’s rankings for ten consecutive years. Iceland had the world’s first female president in 1980 and currently has a female prime minister.
At Islandsbanki we met with Birna Einarsdottir (CEO) and her team. I’d previously seen Birna on film, talking about her experience of sorting out the bank after the crash of 2008. I was very struck at the time by her pragmatism and how she collaborated with her team to find ways to tackle the challenges facing the bank. From this, I had a real sense of an authentic leader at work—driven to get it right, with the full knowledge that this required every person to be fully engaged and committed. Eleven years on, with a successful turnaround behind her, Birna is now leading developments and innovations in banking for Icelanders.
Mary Beard, in her book Women and Power argued that "You cannot easily fit women into a structure that is already coded as male; you have to change the structure". In Iceland, there is evidence of a country that is committed to equality and is working to achieve this through structural change. Policy makers and politicians aren’t relying on the old trope of encouragement and measurement that mean (at the latest estimate) it will be 217 years before women have equality with men. Instead they are making change happen—ensuring women leaders are able to deliver for business and society. We need to learn from this and make structural change happen here.
Joanna, Executive 91´óÉñ