Alison Rose, Or: Female and Director

The forced resignation of Alison Rose, CEO of the British NatWest Group, is yet another example of the double standards female leaders face. Rose’s mistake of confirming what Nigel Farage himself had already publicly declared is insignificant when compared, for example, to mis-selling Personal Protection Insurance to customers, as happened under Eric Daniels, then CEO of Lloyds Bank [1].

Yet Daniels remained in post, even claiming that most PPI sales had been correct [2].

Rose’s performance in her role was widely praised. But good performance doesn’t protect female leaders from getting ousted. In 2018, Rowohlt Publishing House in Germany terminated their CEO Barbara Laugwitz despite the company’s good standing under her leadership and the support she received from authors. Laugwitz was replaced by a man without publishing experience – but with what the Süddeutsche Zeitung would upon his departure only a year later call ‘such aplomb’.

‘Aplomb’, while admired in men and associated with good leadership in many minds, is not, however, welcomed in women. On the contrary: it gets them just as easily decried as unlikeable, with poor communication skills, even bitchy.

This is made worse by the fact that while men are assumed to be competent leaders, women have to prove it first – a vicious cycle when you’re censured for the very behaviour that is considered ‘leadership quality’ (ibid).

And so women are in a perpetual double bind: they have to highlight their continued underrepresentation and the discrimination they face, yet in doing so women are forced to collude in a framework that makes their sex an attribute of their professional selves.  

Women do not just pay the obvious price that Alison Rose paid. Women get ground down by this psychological warfare and the constant gaslighting that comes with it.

I know I do. I’ve had it with the references to my sex in my professional life [3]. I’ve had it with the gendered expectations whereby I am supposed to swallow and smile while I am getting patronised [4]. I’ve had it with having my credentials, knowledge and achievements ignored [5]. I’ve had it with…the list goes on.

I just want to focus on my job. I no longer want to be obliged to divide my energy to fight these battles.

What a shame that women have to weigh such factors when making their life and career choices. Women pay the price, yes. But so does society, one resigned female leader at a time.

 

Notes

[1] Alison Rose didn’t divulge personal information about Nigel Farage’s financial situation, as has been suggested in much of the media coverage. She confirmed, when asked, that his account had been closed due to ‘commercial reasons’. And just to be clear: In my view, even considering to close Farage’s account because his views do not align with the values of the bank are a far cry from a legitimate reason to pressure her to leave. Not when compared to the things male CEOs have gotten away with.  

[2] Eric Daniels’ actions would eventually cost Lloyds Bank a staggering £21.9 billion in compensation – hardly a job well done.

[3] ‘When they appointed a woman I didn’t think that was going to work. But you’ve done a good job!’ I was recently told by a man. He had a beaming smile on his face and probably thought he had paid me a great compliment.

[4] I’m not doing that anymore and promptly got accused of being ‘untransparent’ when I contradicted a factually incorrect representation of the current state of affairs in my sector.

[5] At a consultation event, of the three people with PhDs in the room, only my title was not put on the name badge. The other two people were men.