Inspiring the Next Generation of Female Leaders – Egon Zehnder Leaders & Daughters Discussion event in London
Following the launch of its 25by25 initiative in which Egon Zehnder UK commits to 25 female CEOs in the FTSE100 by 2025, Egon Zehnder hosted a discussion event on 23 March 2015, with more than 100 business leaders and their daughters to discuss changes needed to achieve the 25by25-goal. In the lively panel discussion, Liv Garfield, chief executive of Severn Trent Water, the youngest of only five female CEO’s in the UK FTSE100, urged young women aiming for the top in their careers to seek out companies willing to take risks on talent. “You need to work for people in a company that takes talent risks – if they don’t they probably won’t start with you. And then think about how to get ahead. You need to find managers who will be supportive when things don’t go well,” said Ms Garfield. Also on the panel were Clarissa Bartram-Gent, head of Alliance Marketing at Rackspace and her father Sir Christopher Gent, chairman of GlaxoSmithKline and Tess O’Brien, currently working with Catholic Relief Services in Nairobi prior to doing a Masters, with her father, Damien O’Brien, Chairman of Egon Zehnder. “The world is craving for a different kind of leadership and I think this is going to happen whether the Establishment wants it or not. A talented younger generation today is looking for an authentic, flexible and more open-minded form of leadership,” said Damien O’Brien. “But it’s not going to be easy. Women have to step up, put themselves on the radar screen and be proactive.”
Find further information on www.egonzehnder.de/25by25.
