Career woman: Looking to join a corporate board, here’s what you need to know

Women aspiring to sit in management boards have been advised to train and network as part of the process to join the highest decision-making organs in firms.

Berta Von Stiegel, a financial executive, founder and chief executive officer of Ariya Capital Group, said women who want to be on the top must prove they merit the position.

The fund management firm based in Gaborone and London, focuses on sustainable investments in Africa.

“Nobody is going to sympathise with you just because you are a woman. You must attain the necessary professional qualifications to be at the top,” said Ms Berta, author of novel ‘The Mountain Within’.

“You must also prove that you are capable of leadership. This implies aiming at your vision.” Berta, who in 2008 led a group of disabled people to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for charity noted that women face more obstacles than men in their quest for top leadership.

She rooted for enhancement of technical skills, studies and training saying they add to the experience necessary for women to rise to the top. “People will discourage you. They may tell you that your vision of how you see your success is unrealistic, culturally wrong, unsophisticated or impractical,” she said.

“But if you have a vision in your heart (if you feel it), you know it. Choose to do more than just build a career, important as that may be. Discover your calling, your passion and pursue your vision, not just for money or fame but to make a difference in the world.”

She noted: “One way of eliminating obstacles is to enhance your technical skills so that you can choose your transactions from a position of strength.”

She said women who want to offer transformational leadership must be ready to network. “Men are better at networking because they are wired differently. We don’t necessarily network because we are wired to be individualistic. So develop your emotional intelligence. Leave no stone un-turned to become what you want,” said Ms Berta.

Losing relevance

Speaking to women graduands in a programme sponsored by the Federation of Kenya Employers  which saw more than 60 women from various firms graduate, Berta cautioned against overstaying at the top even after losing relevance.

“Why do you think most African leaders continue staying in power even when it is clear they have outlived their usefulness?” she posed as she gave examples of President Museveni of Uganda, and the recently ousted Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.

“The world is full of such people who stay too long in positions of power; at best, they tarnish their legacy, and at worst, they can cause untold damage to themselves, their organisations, or their countries,” she said.

“We need leaders who can relate spiritually and humanely to their fellow human beings . . . They must be leaders who know not to stay too long at the top, because the rarefied atmosphere in the upper echelons cause us to lose perspective, become intoxicated with power, status, and wealth and to lose touch with what matters.”