MNT2LEARN Leadership Primer Halla Tomasdottir
It’s Time For Women To Run For Office
Halla Tomasdottir is a business leader, entrepreneur, investor and one-time presidential candidate in her native Iceland. She is the CEO of the B Team, a global organization dedicated to transforming business for a better world.
“I’m fed up with this tyranny of either/or choices in life - ‘either it’s men, or it’s women.’ We need to start embracing the beauty of balance.”
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
How did Halla describe what it felt like to have a single mom serve as the President of Iceland? What does that say about the importance of role models?
Do you have a role model that inspires you? What about them do you admire?
What characteristics of leadership did Halla demonstrate during her struggling campaign for President?
What can you learn from her journey?
Halla talked about the media having an unconscious bias based on her gender?
Do you see unconscious or conscious bias in your workplace? If so, what can you do to change that?
Halla shared that in her experience, women get penalized for using their emotional capital. How can women harness their unique strengths to be more effective leaders?
Reflect on Halla’s quote, “what we see, we can be”. How can you serve as a role model for girls and women in your community?
Additional reading
https://hbr.org/2019/02/research-based-advice-for-women-working-in-male-dominated-fields
https://hbr.org/2018/11/how-women-manage-the-gendered-norms-of-leadership