This March 8th, for International Women’s Day, H+K Belgium’s CEO Melanie Faithfull Kent sat down with 25 young professionals under 35 to discuss female leadership and women in the workplace.
Drawing from her own experience as a communications professional in Europe and the Middle-East for more than two decades, Melanie exchanged views on several key issues. Here are some highlights:
On authenticity and leadership
“Authenticity is important for any leader. But it is even more important for a female leader.”
On gender balance at executive level
“We’re proud that 46% of H+K EMEA board members/executive leaders are women.”
On some key strengths female leaders should use more often
“Women are more inclined and better at seeing things from other people’s perspective; they generally can detect others’ motivations better. This makes them more flexible in terms of how they present an argument. I don’t call that a “soft” skill, I call it effective!”
“Women are often very good at getting people to simmer down and stop being so rigid and posturing. This is often undervalued.”
On teleworking
“Working from home or anywhere else should never be an issue. For anyone, women and men.”
Finally, Melanie highlighted some key skills for anyone who wants to pursue a high-ranking career : openness, flexibility, agility, a low self-orientation and a thick skin.
The event was organised by the Brussels New Generation, the British Chamber of Commerce in Belgium’s network of young international professionals.
If you would like to exchange views with Melanie, do not hesitate to send her an email : [email protected]