While most women are increasingly asserting themselves in the workplace, much remains to be done to achieve parity with men in getting rewarded for their commitment and competence in their chosen careers. The government is rightly arguing that one of the main strategies that need to be adopted to promote economic growth and defuse the pensions’ time bomb is to get more women in the active workforce.

So far some important steps have been taken to encourage more women to return to the workplace including fiscal benefits as well as more family friendly work practices, like flexitime working and the provision of childcare facilities. However, many argue that women still face an almost impenetrable glass ceiling when it comes to occupying senior positions in management.

Part of this handicap can be attributed to crass prejudice of some business leaders who fail to see the potential of appointing competent women to the most serious positions in their organisation. But another aspect is a sad reality that needs to be addressed. When women in managerial positions leave their employment for family reasons, they then struggle to fit in their place of work when they return after a few years of absence. In today’s fast evolving professions, it is easy to suffer from skills obsolescence if one does not engage in continuous professional development.

In 1997, an organisation called Women’s Executive Network (WXN) was set up in Canada “to create and deliver innovative networking, mentoring, professional and personal development to inform, inspire, connect and recognise a community of 19,000 smart women and their organisations in the pursuit of excellence”. It is easy to stamp this organisation as elitist and snobbish, but it is high time that women leaders in business and society are acknowledged as catalyst for creating economic prosperity and promoting social enrichment.

This year WXN organised an event in Ireland in which they rewarded the top 25 female leaders for their outstanding contribution to the advancement of women in society. Some of these women were interviewed by the Irish Times and their views on what works for them are very inspiring because for most of them balancing family and career will always be more challenging than for their male counterparts.

One of this year’s award winners was Pat Storey, the first female bishop of the protestant Church of Ireland. Rev. Storey is married and is the mother of two children. Her secret of success as well as her advice to other women leaders is: “Being yourself is the most important lesson life can teach you. To do that you’ve got to know who you are. Self-knowledge is a strong asset to bring to any job. Part of it is being quite secure in yourself.” Quite honestly this belief in oneself is equally important in both male and female leaders, but some women often need to overcome the self-doubt that the prejudice of our society imposes on them.

Another award winner was Maria Smith, assistant global controller at Oracle. For her the secret of success is that she has always put family and friends first.

“In life what you will regret is not attending events such as a milestone family birthday, a special anniversary or a son’s rugby match. If you have a good team, the work gets done. The more you balance life, the more one aspect of it helps another.”

I have no doubt that women leaders are much more capable at striking a family-career balance than most male leaders.

Catherine Day is the secretary general of the European Commission. Working is such a high profile political organisation dominated by male leaders, she certainly knows what works for women at work.

“The biggest lesson life taught me to date is to be a fighter. If you believe in something you should be prepared to work for and fight for it. You can’t always win, but at least give it a go,” she said.

Her advice to both male and female leaders is very pragmatic: the EU moves forward by trying hard to bring everyone on board – which makes for a lot of long and sometimes tedious meetings, “but it is important to make sure that all points of view are heard. Stamina and diplomacy are essential”.

Women leaders will break the glass ceiling not by imitating male management styles but by being themselves and exploiting their innate strengths to build around them a team of loyal followers.

johncassarwhite@yahoo.com