“You are enough”: What it means to be a female leader

The Investec Female Leaders Network is a community focused on championing women in the workplace. This year’s summer reception included a candid discussion on the realities of being a female leader. Investec’s CEO Ruth Leas was joined by Tamara Lohan MBE, the CEO and co-founder of boutique hotel platform Mr & Mrs Smith, and Elisabetta Ricci, Chief Operating Officer at Stirling Square Capital Partners.

1. “Every lesson is valuable.”

Mr & Mrs Smith started life as a passion project, inspired by a disappointing stay at a Lake District hotel. The online platform, which helps travellers select boutique hotels for luxurious trips away, sold to hospitality chain Hyatt for £53 million in 2023.

But CEO and co-founder Tamara Lohan was keen to dispel the myth of the successful woman business leader who has it all. “I went in thinking I was going to be this perfect CEO,” she said. “I ended up being just ‘me’ because I couldn’t be anything else. There was nothing I could lean on. There wasn't a 100-day plan. I thought ‘I’ve just got to do what I feel is right’.”

Her message for other female leaders was: “You are enough. It takes so much energy trying to be someone else. It might not go right, but every lesson is valuable and sets us apart.”
 

2. “Speak up for yourself.”

For Elisabetta Ricci of Stirling Square Capital Partners, a London-based private equity firm, women regularly have to explain “why we think differently, what we bring to the table, what our needs are, what our perceptions are, and how we project ourselves”.

To do this, Elisabetta stressed the importance of staying true to yourself. “I said ‘no’ when people were trying to impose policies just because they could. At some point, you have to speak up for yourself,” she said.

At times, Elisabetta has been the only senior female in an organisation. “It's slightly harder when you are alone,” she added. “But I think you just need to stick to your principles. It’s important, because, however small a change is, somebody will come after you that will benefit from it.”

Investec CEO Ruth Leas highlighted the importance of maintaining momentum. “You can make progress, and there’s a sense sometimes that progress has been made – but how do you actually keep it going?”

3. “Try as many different things as possible.”

What advice did the panel have for the next generation?

Tamara urged future leaders to stay open to opportunities. “One of the greatest things in our business is when people move from one department to another. They feel empowered to speak up that perhaps the route they're going down isn't quite right and they've seen an opportunity elsewhere. I love it when that happens. I don't think people do it enough.”

Ruth Leas agreed. “When you’re younger, you feel that your decisions are irrevocable and irreversible. You make a choice, and that is your career path for life. I would encourage people to try as many different things as possible.”

Meanwhile, Elisabetta highlighted that while men might apply for a job even if they have only five out of the ten skills required, women can be less inclined to do so, unless they have fulfilled all the criteria. “That’s the only time when I would say try to think more like a man,” she said.

4. “A strong support network can be life-changing.”

Support is critical when fostering future talent and enabling more women to rise and thrive in senior roles.

“There comes a certain point where you realise it's not about you anymore. It's about making sure the doors open for other people,” said Tamara. Her own support system started as a WhatsApp group of female CEOs and has now morphed into a Women in Technology network which provides advice and guidance. “Had I had more mentorship along the way, and an incredible network of females around the world earlier in my career, I think I would have made fewer mistakes,” she admitted.

Elisabetta highlighted that mentors should be chosen, “irrespective of gender”.

5. “Metrics can be useful, if applied correctly.”

The panel debated whether using metrics and targets to promote diversity works.

Ruth Leas was clear about the need for measurement. “I don’t like metrics and targets,” she said. “But they do work. In some cases, unless you put them in, you don’t get progress.”

Elisabetta Ricci, agreed, and added that metrics “can’t come at the expense of proper meritocracy”. Targets need to be set in a way that allows people to rise based on their own talents.
 

6. “We’ve come a long way.”

Two key ambitions emerged in the panel’s discussion. Firstly, more investment is needed in female-led businesses. As an entrepreneur, Tamara highlighted that this could be facilitated by more women sitting on investment panels and creating a supportive environment.

Secondly, the panel recognised the importance of engaging as many men and women as possible in discussions about female empowerment. This, according to Ruth, will avoid holding discussions in an echo chamber and bring change forward more quickly.

One of her key messages to the audience, was to “pay it forward” and help others rise. She concluded: “Each of us should do what we can to help others. The more we grow the numbers of talented women in senior positions, the easier it is to bring about change for others.”