WHO'S TALKING HERE?! - IVAN POLIC, CO-FOUNDER, THE SYSTEMIC APPROACH INSTITUTE, USA

Ivan Polic experienced an 8-figure exit when they sold their high-tech aerospace family-0wned business in January 2022. One of the key factors contributing to their business success? More women in top leadership in an industry known for its male predominance.

Running a family business together with one's spouse is perhaps the best training ground for cross-gender communication. Your awareness, your observation, and your communication skills will be put to test daily.

One of the best things we could have done in our now former company was to appoint a woman CEO. Even though the airspace industry is very male-oriented and rough, she brought the necessary warmth and togetherness that our team and organization needed to be successful long-term. By the time we sold our company the majority of women in our top executive team were women, which gave us a tremendous competitive advantage.

In general women are more sensitive, more collaborative, more inclusive, more wanting to work harmoniously and to collaborate. They want to hear people out, which was a hugely missing ingredient in our industry.

We need to understand that systems have immunity to change. So, women leaders will face a lot of resistance when they come into a system that has been traditionally dominated by men for generations. This is why being successful in this environment requires a large amount of emotional maturity.

We all, men and women alike, carry numerous voices inside of us. Sometimes it's the voice of a daughter, of a wife, of a mother, and sometimes it's the voice of the leader and the chief culture office. This is why it is so essential to pause and pay attention: who is actually speaking now and why?

Bringing a woman - or more women - into an executive team increases the number of potential friction points in the room. Everyone needs to be ready for that when the decision is made to bring more women into top leadership.

System awareness and systemic training is extremely helpful and necessary if we want to succeed in challenging environments. Every woman leader would benefit from understanding the fundamental laws that govern living systems such as teams, organizations, and industries. Hopefully, this will make their bid for more positions in top leadership a bit easier.