Laura A. Liswood Council Pushes for Women To Break Global Glass Ceiling by John Shaw Laura A. Liswood, secretary-general of the Council of Women World Leaders, has long been interested in business and government leadership and in the professional development of women. In the early 1990s, these two interests converged when she came across a study of women in U.S. state legislatures. Published by the Center for American Women and Politics, the study showed that women in elected positions reshape the policy agenda through their legislative priorities and their work on women’s rights bills. It provided evidence that women public officials are changing the way that government works. These women tend to support openness in government and be responsive to groups that were previously denied full access to the policymaking process. In an interview with The Washington Diplomat, Liswood said the report confirmed her view that women in senior political leadership jobs can make a difference and prompted her to speculate about how a woman president of the United States might govern. To assess this concept more concretely, she thought it might make sense to consider women leaders in other countries. So Liswood decided to request interviews with all 15 of the women who were serving, or have served, as presidents or prime ministers of their countries at the time. She was determined to learn about their family backgrounds and values, how they conducted their jobs, and how they dealt with public expectations. “Not one of the leaders turned me down,” she said. The interviews included Corazon Aquino, former president of the Philippines, Benazir Bhutto, then the prime minister of Pakistan, Edith Cresson, former prime minister of France, and Mary Robinson, then the president of Ireland. Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was her last interview for the project. Liswood assembled a video and wrote the book “Women World Leaders: Fifteen Great Politicians Tell Their Stories,” which was presented to the Fourth World Conference on Women, sponsored by the United Nations, in Beijing in 1995. The women leaders liked Liswood’s findings so well that they created a club of sorts, the Council of Women World Leaders, and asked Liswood to be its secretary-general. She has been serving in that capacity for nearly a decade, during which time she has been thinking and writing about power, women and the U.S. presidency. Liswood said her case studies did not lead to easy conclusions about women’s leadership styles. Although anecdotal evidence suggests women in leadership positions tend to be more inclusive, non-confrontational and nurturing than men, she said all the leaders she studied embraced roles that worked for them and the specific political circumstances they faced. She cited Thatcher as an example of a leader who molded her style to accommodate her country’s political norms. “She adapted herself to the dominant group style. She took on the coloration of the species she invaded,” Liswood said. Speaking more broadly, Liswood said strong leaders of both genders have striking qualities. “Really good leaders, men and women, are storytellers. They articulate the issues in a way that is quite understandable. They communicate issues in a way people understand,” she said, noting that Thatcher liked to explain the need for disciplined fiscal policies in the United Kingdom by referring to her own commitment to balance her checkbook. Liswood holds a bachelor’s degree from California State University in San Diego, a master’s of business administration from Harvard Business School and a law degree from the University of California-Davis School of Law. Next Page