Female leadership: Achievements and challenges of women in the electronics market
In a mostly male universe, the presence of women in leadership positions in the electronics sector cannot yet be considered high, but great advances have already occurred. They have knowledge, expertise and, above all, add a new perspective to the market.
by Dilnara Titara and Leda Cavalcanti
The choice of women for leadership positions in Brazil has been growing, shows the Panorama Mulheres 2023 study, released by the Talenses Group and Insper. Forbes, in turn, informs that, from 2019 to 2022, women in the position of CEO increased from 13% to 17%, a rate that should reach 20% in 2023. In the vice presidency, they rose from 23%, in 2019, to 34%, in 2022. In councils, from 26% to 21%.
Another recent survey, by Datafolha, showed that 56% of Brazilians want more women in management positions. In companies, the change is already visible and for several reasons. Female leadership is based on authenticity, on the ability to observe the whole and on solidarity, which includes putting the team first. In this article, women leaders talk about their challenges, achievements and protagonism.
TALITA BRUZZI TALIBERTI
Production engineer from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Talita Bruzzi Taliberti has been at Amazon for just over six years, where she leads the Alexa team in Brazil. But she has served as head of Amazon Prime and senior manager of Kindle Direct Publishing. She also worked with consumer goods marketing at Nestlé and Souza Cruz.
About the challenges that women face in the corporate world, especially in predominantly male sectors, she says: “It is common for them to demand perfection and work harder to gain respect and overcome the unconscious biases that lead to the erroneous belief that they are inferior. The lack of examples of women leaders, who serve as inspiration, generates a feeling of exclusion. In addition, the burden of taking care of the home and family still falls on women, making it challenging to manage the demands of professional and personal life”.
Talita feels privileged to be at Amazon, a place with a very active agenda on diversity, equity, and inclusion. As a result, the company has achieved excellent female representation, including in leadership positions. “Here I have the inspiration of several leaders, space for speaking and listening, I am respected and valued for my skills and background. And, on the personal side, I have a great partner who shares the responsibilities of the house and the children, in addition to supporting my professional growth.”
For a long time, she did not feel that she was being discriminated against. “It’s not always easy to identify unconscious biases and, at the beginning of my career, I wasn’t very aware of it. Today, I recognize that I unconsciously needed to don some armor and create a firm work style to succeed in male-majority environments. This came at a huge cost, whether in greater mental load and hours worked to demonstrate high performance, or not making room for other leadership skills, such as empathy or kindness. After many years, I realized that I could shed this armor and make room for my more feminine leadership style, without fear of prejudice.”
To be a leader, she gives three tips: “Go ahead, even with butterflies in your stomach. In general, girls are brought up to seek perfection, and with that, it is normal for women to feel insecure about taking on a new challenge. I like to think: go scared, but go. Understand your priorities, seek a balance between them, deal with the frustration of imperfection and learn to say no. Seek to surround yourself with people who support and encourage you, be it your family, team, or mentors, internal or external to the company.”
ANA PERETTI
With more than 20 years of experience in marketing in the Brazilian and Latin American market, leading teams and designing growth, brand, media and communication strategies for multinational companies and startups, Ana Peretti has a degree in administration. At Columbia Business School, she majored in digital business leadership.
In her opinion, a good leader is one who knows people well, listens actively and invests time in learning about its potential and that of others, and understanding where she can contribute more, with empathy and closeness. “Leadership, for me, means maintaining constant learning and trusting the team that is by my side, so that, together, we deliver the best result to the company, in a way that also generates improvements for ourselves.”
A recent study by Google, Impact ESG, showed that half of the most loved brands in Brazil are also those with the best ESG reputation, which places Electrolux as one of the leaders in this ranking. “We believe in diversity as the best way to think, produce and act. However, more than acting abroad, a diverse environment is a fundamental condition for success in a company.”
Diversity goes beyond the need for companies to reflect the societies in which they operate, says Ana. Electrolux’s goal is to reach 40% to 60% of women in leadership positions by 2030. In Latin America, this number is 31%, with 33% in Brazil.
As in many other sectors, women and other underrepresented groups need to further prove their worth and abilities to reach positions that, historically, have been held by men, says Ana. Another challenge is open dialogue, which generates knowledge and, more importantly, self-knowledge.
“We work with a 50/50 leadership model, with people who have the ability to look at business and people with same balance. It is necessary to have more empathetic leaders, who have active listening, openness to learning, adaptability in a fast-paced world and high capacity to make decisions, and this can be found in men or women.”
BARBARA TOSCANO
Graduated in advertising from the Federal University of Pernambuco and in journalism from the Catholic University of the same state, Barbara Toscano has a postgraduate degree in marketing at Fundação Dom Cabral and an MBA in economics and business management at FGV. She started her career in Recife, worked at Telemig Celular (MG) and Petrobras (RJ), and has been in São Paulo for 15 years. She worked at Claro and LG and has been marketing director at Lenovo for more than three years.
“In general, especially after the world started to bring ESG-related issues to the center of the debate, we observed a market that was more open and more aware of the participation and contribution of women in different fields. I see that our challenge is to support and demand companies to be more and more diverse and inclusive, as well as to encourage the technology market to be more attractive and desired by women”, she says.
Opportunity, this is the biggest challenge to expand women’s activities, says Barbara. “With companies looking more at ESG challenges, we are seeing changes in the market. I believe they are here to stay.” In its latest ESG report, Lenovo received honors for being an inclusive workplace. The goal is to reach 27% representation of female executives in its global workforce by 2025.
Leadership is conquered by example and respect, she says. “If you encourage a culture of empathy, of listening, talking, debating, and operating as a great team, respectfully, you will certainly inspire people to reach their maximum performance. As women, regardless of whether we are leaders, we cannot allow disrespectful behavior.”
About diversity and inclusion, the executive says that the consumer is more attentive to the behavior of brands in the market. “When he understands that people like him were part of the process of building a product/brand, he understands that it was made for him too. This makes more sense when we talk about technology and innovation companies. How could a technology company innovate and improve the quality of life for all people through its products and services, without diverse ideas? This makes diversity not a choice, but a necessity for technology companies.”
DEISE AMORIM
Graduated in technology, with a master’s degree in accounting sciences and an MBA in administration and marketing, Deise Amorim began her career in trade marketing, at FaberCastell. After almost seven years, she went to Mondial Eletrodomésticos, where she has been for nine. “Here, I found the space and stimulus to consolidate myself professionally and, more than that, the daily incentive to create a story of development and growth, for me and the team”, she says.
The challenges she faces are part of the profession, she explains. “Fortunately, I always found a fertile environment, which allowed me to conquer space. I was motivated to grow, to seek solutions and to positively challenge myself. The vision has always been one of results, growth and what is needed to achieve the objectives. I took advantage of the opportunities and could count on the recognition of my leadership.”
In her opinion, the woman, in addition to being flexible, is very determined, dedicated, engaged and with the ability to make a plural reading of the environment to propose creative solutions to problems. “This has contributed to it conquering more and more space in the market. It also contributes to achieving relevant leadership positions”, says Deise. “It is important that teams and leaders are diverse to complement each other. People’s expectation is that companies make diversity possible, reflecting the reality of the population.”
To be a successful leader, you need discipline and self-management skills, says the national trade marketing manager. “It is fundamental to have a strategic vision of the company, to guide and drive the team, focusing on what is essential. It is important to stimulate the development of the group and disseminate the organizational culture.”
SILVIA ARASSIRO
Graduated in electrical engineering from FEI and in marketing from ESPM, Silvia Arassiro completed an MBA at Fundação Dom Cabral. She began her career in the vertical equipment industry, where she worked for 11 years. She was customer service manager at Philips Walita and Samsung, equipment manager at Johnson & Johnson’s medical division and director of services at Positivo Informática. Today, at the Grupo MK (Mondial, Aiwa and XZone brands), she is after-sales director, being responsible for customer service, dealerships, parts logistics and authorized technical assistance.
In her trajectory, she went through moments of discrimination, she says. “As I started my career in heavy equipment engineering, I had some barriers, mainly in field operations activities. Today, in the current company, which has a respectful work environment, I lead in a way that personal characteristics enrich the experiences and professional growth of the team.”
Silvia believes that empathy is an important characteristic in female leadership. “Leaders must convey strong positions, but also maintain a welcoming attitude, promoting a cooperative environment. I am a professional very focused on results, but attentive to people’s emotions and behavior”, she says.
With attitudes, female leaders are successful in predominantly male segments. “It is important to maintain good interpersonal relationships, act with resilience, adapting to situations of change and conflict.” To expand the number of women leaders, it is necessary to overcome social stereotypes about female behavior and focus on individual skills and continuous learning. “A successful leader must have self-awareness to evolve and effective communication to positively influence the people around her”, says Silvia.
In the director’s opinion, companies with diversity in their professional staff are better evaluated by consumers. “They expect companies to reflect their values in society. A company that promotes a healthy and collaborative work environment reflects this in the service, which is highly valued by consumers.”
SONAH LEE
Born in South Korea, Sonah Lee has been in Brazil for 36 years, where she studied literature at the University of São Paulo (USP). Passionate about technology and innovation, she has been working for over 25 years in the marketing area of large global companies. During this period, she developed a dynamic profile and broad vision of the technology market.
“I’ve been at LG Eletronics do Brasil for over eight years, the last three as head of marketing, in charge of integrated communication strategies. My mission is to represent the brand of a company committed to innovation and sustainability, which develops high quality products that add value to consumers’ daily lives”, says Sonah.
One of the biggest challenges of leadership in the sector in which she operates is to keep the team motivated and prepared to respond to the growing demand for novelties. Therefore, it is essential to think about macro strategies, so that the brand is remembered and conquers consumer preference. “I believe that women have more empathy and sensitivity, important characteristics for those in leadership positions, helping to deal better with people, their nuances and differences.”
Consumers have valued companies that are open to diversity. Different cultures, histories, and habits, added together, generate new ideas, which is always welcome and constructive for everyone. “I believe that this discussion needs to permeate conversations in society and in companies, since they play a fundamental role in the formation of new leaders. They must invest in internal talent and promote women’s protagonism. It is essential to encourage girls, from childhood, to recognize their value and potential”, says Sonah.
Successful leadership is based on good examples and active listening, exemplifies the head of marketing. “A good leader invites his subordinates to get involved in the business, guides them towards the correct way of doing things. He needs to be the team’s biggest motivator, encourage creative thinking, stimulate collective intelligence, and keep an eye on market news to take advantage of opportunities. In addition, the leader must offer fair feedback and recognize the merit of the teams he leads.”
SIMONE CAMARGO
An engineer with a postgraduate degree in business administration and marketing, Simone Camargo is married and mother of two children. She started her career at a large white goods manufacturer. Always very curious about projects, after four years she received an invitation to enter in marketing area. She was development, product, and brand manager and, today, she is marketing director, responsible for communication, trade marketing and product management.
“After more than 30 years working in the consumer electronics market, which is predominantly male, I can say that there is an unconscious prejudice that underestimates the skills of women leaders and poses challenges in accessing growth opportunities. They tend to face more difficulties in establishing their authority and gaining respect. They may be questioned more frequently compared to their male counterparts. The good news is that there are, more and more, female leadership role models changing this landscape,” she says.
For Simone, there is no borderline between female or male leadership. “But I see in female leadership greater empathy with the team, greater focus on collaboration and building environments of trust, ability to deal with conflicts constructively and seek solutions that meet the needs of all parties involved. In the business view, women can bring different perspectives, based on their unique experiences and backgrounds. Usually, leaders give more priority to diversity and are more attentive to issues related to social responsibility and sustainability.”
In her opinion, in order to expand the role of women in positions of trust, it is necessary to generate more opportunities, actively promote diversity and help achieve a balance between personal and professional life, so that issues such as maternity leave and flexibility in the workplace work stop being critical. And how to be successful? “It is essential to believe in yourself, have self-confidence and resilience, recognize that growth requires continuous effort and be willing to learn from experiences, whether positive or negative.”
KARIN SCHÖNER
She started her career as a trainee at Bayer in the administration area and soon became in charge of the supply department, now classified as logistics, falling in love with the sector. She switched to logistics at Lufthansa Cargo and participated in the alliance process of major airlines, such as Star Airlines. She found then, in the 1990s, the importance of diversity due to the different views of people coming from different countries.
The diversity of culture was the first big shock, says Karin. “I saw how the world can be when we have several people working together and with different points of view. After a while, I changed companies, went to the United States, experienced September 11, learned from the changes in the logistics sector due to the attack and how fast the world changes and decisions also need to be fast.”
Interested in resilience, she participated in US Army training. “It was one of the best trainings I’ve had in my life, I learned to perfect my mind before actually executing”, she says. In the pandemic, she saw how important quick decisions are and with a different bias, that of listening and engaging the team in a delicate moment, when it was necessary to listen and be motivating. She has been at Maersk for a year and two months and has a new paradigm: learning, being curious, creative, bringing energy and listening to people.
For Karin, being authentic is the most important thing in leadership. “People think they need to get into a stereotype. The most striking feature of female leadership is authenticity, which brings together curiosity, creativity, looking at the team and understanding the moments. Even when we face new directions, like now at Maersk – which, from a shipping company is becoming a logistics integrator –, being able to engage the motivating side that women have is the differential.”
In her opinion, there is prejudice in understanding that each person is different. A successful leader must understand the differences, the nerves of the company and the people, making them bring a little of their history and worldview. Today, each consumer is unique, looking for diversity and for those who understand their needs.”
CRISTIANE CLAUSEN
In 2000, Cristiane Clausen began her career at the company as an import supervisor. Over time, she became a manager and then executive director, consequently having the opportunity to move through all departments. With a general and strategic vision of the company, she assumed the general management. “My premise is always to do the best and keep a team engaged and motivated”, she says.
“Challenges will always exist in the work environment, whether they are related to relationships, innovation actions and strategies, among others, but what matters and what should speak louder is competence. Regardless of labels, you need to have an attitude, qualifications, understanding of the company, of the team and, above all, humility to exercise a leadership position”, says Cristiane.
Among the most striking characteristics of a female leadership is the sensitive look at all situations. “This does not mean that we are fragile. Even women should not carry this label, they have their own characteristics and know the ideal for the team they are leading. The differential is in the personality and in the way of conducting the company’s directions and the relationship with its team”, says Cristiane.
A very challenging factor, according to the executive, is that some women are under pressure to keep their jobs and take care of the house and children. Many companies still have prejudice and devalue the potential of women, but this situation is changing. “In Britânia, we have 44% of women in leadership positions in the administrative area and 36% in the entire company.”
The company also values a diverse workforce, as it allows for new points of view that make everyday life more human and more real for teamwork, says Cristiane. “For successful leadership, the main thing is to work with dedication and give yourself for a professional purpose. It is also very important to believe that you are capable and chase your dreams”, says the general director.
CAROLINE RAIMUNDO
Caroline started her career more than two decades ago and has been in the technology sector for 13 years. “My professional journey to reach the current position is one of a lot of experience and challenges. Since joining Acer, I have acquired essential knowledge about the market and its dynamics. I worked to improve my skills, advancing into management and directorships. In the last year, I was given the responsibility of leading the Latin American market, in addition to Brazil”, she says.
In a predominantly male field, such as technology, women are faced with unique challenges, but they have already achieved great advances, she says. “We still face entrenched stereotypes and cultural challenges. I firmly believe that the diversity of perspectives brought by women is an asset to any company, especially in an ever-evolving industry where innovation and creativity are key.”
Acer was included in Forbes’ “World’s Best Women-Friendly Companies” list in 2022. In the year, women represented 38% of the total workforce, with 31% in management positions. “A diverse environment contributes to the success of companies, not only because of the balance between different ways of thinking, but also because it has representatives of all races, genders, and ethnicities. We need different people in leadership positions”, says the executive.
Characteristics of a female leader include empathy, collaboration, strategic thinking, and effective communication skills. “They tend to bring a multifaceted approach to challenges, consider different points of view, and look for innovative solutions,” she explains. The Ready-Now Leaders report, by the NGO Conference Board, shows that companies with at least 30% of women in leadership positions are 12 times more likely to be among the top 20% in financial performance.
A successful leader is formed by the constant search for learning and development opportunities, both in the technical aspect and in the improvement of skills, as well as by building solid relationships and a support network. “You have to be authentic and resilient, be willing to face challenges and overcome obstacles”, highlights the marketing director.
Source: Eletrolar News – #155
