A complete irony that just as the words ‘women power’ are mentioned in the room, the power goes off. It’s a cold winter’s day in Johannesburg and the Greenside suburb that we are in for this interview is encountering unscheduled load-shedding. The word power was in describing Phuti Mahanyele’s and Stacey Brewer’s ascent to corporate celebrity. It was only when…
Heroes exist in history, on celluloid, in pop culture or in these digital times, at the forefront of technology. These are the mighty who shine on the front pages of newspapers, as the paradigms of victory and virtue. But every day in public life, surrounding us are some of the real stars, the nameless, the faceless we don’t recognize or…
The United Nations and the Italian government announced plans Friday to partner on a project aimed at empowering Syrian refugee women in Lebanon to take leadership roles in their communities. The initiative, which will be implemented by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia with funding from the Italian government, is part of a larger initiative to…
While so much is being written today about how to become a truly remarkable leader, most of it falls very short. Transformative leaders don’t just achieve phenomenal business success: they foster a culture that nurtures in people the ability to feel they are contributing at the highest level towards something that is making a true difference in the world. To learn…
The cornerstones of the Fashion industry today have been featured on the most Powerful Women lists of esteemed magazines like Forbes, Fast Company, and Time. Their achievements are indeed formidable and deserve acknowledgment in a time where gender equality across all industries is a global priority. The following women are leaders in their own right, and their commitment to the…
For women in marketing leadership roles, the trajectory to success looks different, with only 25% of executive management roles held by women for most industry subsectors (a subset that includes media and creative agencies, advertising, ad tech, and more). Women who advocate for themselves professionally are disproportionately perceived as “demanding” compared to their quieter counterparts. These observations, coupled with conversations Percolate has had with…
Of the CEOs who lead the companies that make up the 2018 Fortune 500 list, just 24 are women. That number is down 25 percent from last year’s record-breaking 32 female CEOs, the highest share of women since the Fortune’s first 500 list in 1955. While women were at the helm of 6.4 percent of the companies on 2017’s list, that number…
Every second Sunday in May we pay tribute to mothers everywhere and the invaluable contributions they’ve made to our lives, often having done so while balancing the demands of career and family. From efficiency to persuasiveness to delegation, many of the traits that great mothers cultivate and practice every day are being leveraged at home and at work to lead teams and run successful businesses. In this spirit, five power women…
What does it mean to do something “like a girl”? A popular ad from Always tried to answer that question by asking subjects to demonstrate running, fighting, and throwing “like a girl.” Older subjects put on a weak performance, but when young girls were given the same instructions, they ran, threw, and fought as hard as they could. The ad asked, “When…
Catherine Alonzo recalls that her very first boss who led their team did so from a place of wrath and terror. Six years into running her own business, she has found a raised voice to be one of the least useful habits to have in leading a team. Here are three essential leadership skills that she believes have enabled leadership to…
