Latin American Board-Ready Women: A Win-Win for Global Boards

The best global Boards understand the importance of reflecting their organization’s diversity; their employees, consumers, shareholders and their wider communities. Diversity is not only societally healthy and morally equitable, it brings business results. Gender diversity in particular is positively associated with enhanced financial value, improved CSR ratings, and ethics. This also means that, at the highest level, diversity supports wise decision-making.

So, there is a compelling case for raising the representation of women on your Board. And if your company has operations in Latin America, or markets services or goods to this vast region, the case for this female representation to be Latin American is more compelling still. We are confident that during the next decade, global Boards will increasingly invite Latin American women to sit at their tables.

Latin America has been the cradle for a host of notable professionals. From Nobel Prize-winning scientists, to award-winning writers, musicians, artists and politicians.

Latin American Talent: A Unique Value Proposition

How is the region’s unique DNA reflected in its corporate leaders? Here’s our assessment, based on the last 20 years of intensive interaction with clients and candidates in our operating markets.

Cultural Diversity: Each of the countries that makes up Latin America has been marked in some way by conquest, colonization and immigration.
Resilience and adaptability: the ability to withstand and respond rapidly to changing contexts partly relates to the region’s often-turbulent history. Devaluations, inflation, and political instability are just some phenomena. This uncertainty leads to a strong sense of pragmatism, ‘getting things done’. It also intensifies the willingness of Latin American professionals to engage in continuous professional development to meet evolving demands.
Tenacity: This is a survival skill. Blended with a high tolerance to frustration; it results in an ability to quickly bounce back from failure, learn from it, and persevere.
Open-heartedness and empathy: these characteristics translate into good communication and interpersonal skills, encouraging team building, and improving performance levels.
Passion: when moderated by self-regulation, this quality brings a high level of energy and commitment to the table.
Creativity and innovation: these qualities are nourished by a frequent lack of resources (funding, faraway sourcing of supplies and services, etc.), diversity and changing contexts.
Inter-regionality/cultural adaptability: Latin American countries are geographically very distanced from other regions. This has led to a significant growth in inter-regional executive positions, and a new dynamic. Leaders who have operated in a relevant number of Latin American countries are highly valued, as each country still has unique characteristics in the way it does business.

Latin American Women - More Unique Still?

What happens when this distinct Latin American DNA is also embodied by female leaders?

1. Increased Productivity and Innovation

We relate this to the need for Latin American women to prove themselves in an environment still heavily impregnated with machismo. These factors, combined with their highly-tuned multitasking skills, continuously nourish the wells of creativity.

2. Improved Team Bonding & Dynamics

We relate this to the ability to promote dialogue and listen to different opinions, making decision-making stronger. Bonding through empathy strengthens communication and encourages problem solving.

Changing low female representation

We have referred to the correlations between gender diversity on Boards and enhanced financial performance, ethics, and social corporate responsibility. However, based on our field work and experience in recruiting executive talent, we propose that neither quotas nor further justification should be needed to promote the inclusion of women in the highest tiers of the corporate world. As stated at the beginning of this article: it is healthy for boards to reflect their organization’s diversity; their employees, consumers, shareholders and wider communities. This alone should be a sufficient reason to redress the balance. Also, all Latin American women inspired by and dedicated to a career in corporate leadership, need to be prepared and ready to sit at a global or regional Board.

The "Board-Ready" Profile

The Non-Negotiables

Undergraduate and ideally postgraduate studies
Minimum 10-15 years of recent experience in a senior leadership or executive role, plus a minimum of 5 years at C-Level, in reputable companies
Significant P&L responsibility
A solid grasp of financial reporting principles
Relevant experience, with specific knowledge, of a relevant function and industry, and ability to extrapolate learnings and innovations with the Board
High moral and ethical standards
Independent and objective thinking skills.
Excellent communicational and influencing skills
Courage and the ability to ask tough questions
Availability to grant between 40 and 60 hours per trimester to the Board
Understanding of the fiduciary aspects of a Director role (with no conflicts of interest)
Shares the values of the company
Complements the existing Directors.

Also Highly-Valued

Experience and commitment aligned with the company’s CSR objectives and activities (education, environment, poverty, diversity, etc.). A track record in NGOs, universities, or other organizations that promote this type of cause
Previous work as Professor, Lecturer, Speaker, authorship of papers/books
For most boards, regional or global experience.

What's Next?

The move to promote more women to leadership positions is now well established. In some cases the main purpose remains to meet quotas and other compliance demands. In others, it is rooted in a fervent belief in the potential benefits of change. Whatever the case, and as we have seen, the results obtained are hard to ignore.

A Latin American female executive not only brings solid technical knowledge, but also a wide range of experience in unstable contexts. This will allow your new board member to bring out-of-the-box solutions, infusing creativity and fresh vision to your executive team. The chances are also high that she will be adept in handling frustration and able to convey a sense of calm to others. Unlikely to feel cornered in the face of adversity, on the contrary, she will be able to stop, think, and execute an action plan. She will foster communication, and with it, the exchange of ideas that will enrich your team.

If you are a Latin American woman, we warmly invite you to have confidence in your value as a professional and to design a path for further development, inspired by your Board-ready peers. At Amrop we believe in the importance of understanding talent, knowing how to evaluate it, empower it and promote opportunities for a new generation – the Leaders For What’s Next.

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