To Our Readers

By John Flanagan

Saturday, June 6, 1997

The case for woman leaders

WE have met the leader of tomorrow, and she is a woman -- or at least she should be, says McGill University's Dr. Nancy Adler.

The feisty Adler addressed business people, academics and students Thursday at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. She was part of a panel on leadership assembled by JAIMS, the Japan-America Institute of Management Science, which is observing its 25th year here.

Why a woman? Adler ticks off the reasons:

Increase your visibility. "When I walk into a room full of male CEOs, everybody remembers I was there, because I'm a woman."

Strengthen your relationships with people. As sisters, mothers and grandmothers, women have warmer, more intimate relationships with people than men.

Show that change is possible. If a company picks a woman CEO, what else is possible?

Tell the world your company is modern and progressive. Tansu Ciller of Turkey, for example, was both that nation's first female prime minister and the symbol that it was ready to join modern Europe and the EU.

Create unity. Violetta Chamorro, president of Nicaragua, has dinner each week with her four grown children. Two are Sandinistas and two back the contras. If she can keep that family together, why not the country?

But the best reason to pick a woman leader? Supply and demand. There's a huge, virtually untapped supply of women ready to lead.