Book Review: Women and Leadership by Julia Gillard & Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

‘It’s a man’s world,’ are the famous lyrics in James Brown song This is a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World. If you were to look at the political landscape in the majority of the world’s countries, this would prove to be true. There is a significant disparity between men and women in positions of leadership. This has led to numerous struggles for gender equality that continue in 2020. Julia Gillard former Prime Minister of Australia from 2010 – 2013 and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala former Finance and Foreign Minister in Nigeria teamed up to lend their voices to this cause in the book Women and Leadership. The scope of women in leadership is broad and the authors chose to view it through the lens of political leadership.

The authors’ rationale for focusing on women in political leadership was birthed from their own experiences in the political arena and because women in politics face the most scrutiny. The authors said, “While women leaders in other domains are also frequently in the public eye, none are more exposed to judgement than those whose fate is determined by voters.” Gillard and Okonjo-Iweala came up with eight hypotheses regarding women and leadership. To test the eight hypotheses, they interviewed eight women from around the world who held office at one point or another in their lives. The women are— Jacinda Ardern from New Zealand, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf from Liberia, Michelle Bachelet from Chile, Erna Solberg from Norway, Hillary Clinton from the United States of America, Theresa May from the United Kingdom, Joyce Banda from Malawi and Christine Lagarde from France.

Some of the eight hypotheses that the authors have are how boys and girls are raised differently, the way women’s appearance tends to be a subject of discussion, the choices they make regarding family, and how there is a perception that women do not support each other. The authors ask the eight women what their experiences were when they were in leadership (Jacinda is the only still prime minister). There are striking differences among societies perception of women in politics. For instance, Jacinda and Erna did not seem to have faced many challenges in terms of their leadership in comparison to Theresa and Hillary whose scrutiny bordered on abuse. It was also not smooth sailing for the African leaders, Ellen and Joyce whose leaderships faced immense opposition and their leadership capacity questioned.

The common thread among the 10 women, which includes Gillard and Okonjo-Iweala is that when the opportunity presented itself to be leaders, they took it. It may have come with the support of others, the mentorship of those who went before them and their desire to make a change. They took it upon themselves to break down the barriers so that the next generation of women could have it easier. This was by changing policies, creating organisations, questioning the establishments and being role models.

Women and Leadership is a revealing and insightful book. Some of the issues addressed are not new but there is no harm in iterating them. It offers a glimpse into the lives of women who have shattered the proverbial glass ceiling. There are still numerous glass ceilings that need to be shattered that Gilliard and Okonjo-Iweala hope would happen soon. The book offers sound advice to women who should not be disillusioned when they find themselves in positions of leadership but be prepared for the challenges. For the men who read this book, it shows we can be part of the solution in addressing the challenges that women face. It can start by calling out sexism in the spheres in which we operate. The authors say, “Our world can only eradicate the gender bias in politics, and leadership generally if it is identified, discussed, studied and challenged, and evidence-based change strategies are implemented.”

Women and Leadership: Real Lives, Real Lessons

301 pages

Publisher: Bantam Press

Available in Bookworld