They are the object of both curiosity, admiration and respect.

The women who occupy the most senior management positions stand out because they are few in a sphere that is still largely dominated by men.

Who are these women who succeeded in breaking the glass ceiling?

How did they get there? Are they facing the same challenges as their male counterparts? How and why do they become entrepreneurs?

To become the head of a company, female managers mainly go through the creation or purchase of a business, as well as through internal promotion.

However, compared to managers, there is a greater percentage of women who access management positions through family transmission, and less through external recruitment.

Entrepreneurship and professional development are at the top of the list of reasons why women agree to take control of a business.

However, unlike 24% of men, 31% of women accepted the executive position (KPMG study) because the opportunity presented itself, without them particularly looking for it.

This shows that they know how to take advantage of their opportunities, but also that women still let themselves be carried away by the course of events, instead of provoking them.

Challenges and Self-Confidence

Women leaders are more likely to report a lack of self-confidence. Even at the same academic level as men, they are more likely to doubt their ability to run a business.

At this level too, the people around you are a great help in regaining some confidence. As another obstacle, one in ten women still cite being a woman. Fortunately, this proportion is low, but the gender issue does not appear to be an obstacle for men.

Gain self-confidence:

These facts demonstrate that in-depth work must still be done beforehand with women in order for them to succeed in feeling more capable, in the same way as men, to take control of a business.

The Importance of Balance and Diversity

When it comes to leadership, unlike their male counterparts, work-life balance is not the first challenge. They are more affected by pressure and stress. On the other hand, they perceive management less as a difficulty.

In terms of motivation, women place twice as much importance on customer relationships, relationships with business stakeholders and coaching others.

Women managers are more convinced of the benefits of diversity within top management than managers. Indeed, they are more likely to perceive diversity as favorable to dynamism and to the consideration of human issues.

Therefore, they are committed to improving the situation of women in the company they run. To do this, their main lever of action is the organization of working time.

For their part, although they also say that, to a lesser extent, they are committed to improving the situation of women, they remain less pragmatic; they are still focusing on listening and dialogue.

However, this propensity of women managers to make the situation of women better in companies does not necessarily encourage them to favor when recruiting. Indeed, they are more likely to not take gender into consideration when hiring.

“Thing manager, think human”

Managers therefore generally meet in terms of the motivations and paths that lead them to the head of a company. With a few differences, the difficulties are the same before and during the performance of their duties.

While the motivators may vary a bit, the fact remains that leaders are just as successful.

We are far from Virginia Schein's formula, “Think manager, think male”, which means: to be a good manager you have to think like a man.

A better formula would be: “thing manager, think human”. Female or male.