Overcoming cultural biases against women in leadership roles has long been a formidable challenge. I remember back at university, if you had any kind of leadership drive, you had to work much harder than your male peers to be taken seriously. The bar was so much higher for women leaders. Pretty often, you would save yourself a lot of grief by biting your tongue and sitting on your hands staying quiet. But when you knew you had a better idea and you spoke up, you would typically either be considered “bossy” or worse, or you needed to spend so much precious energy apologizing for having the best idea. Looking back, it was ridiculous and exhausting.

Fortunately, paths for women leaders between these two extremes are emerging. I think role models such as Rona Ambrose and Dawn Farrell temper the trailblazing extremes set by leaders such as Thatcher who, given the times, understandably ruled as the Iron Lady.

The current times are more amenable to the competence, drive and humanity women bring to leadership roles – in fact, I find it’s so often the case that most companies need women’s leadership more than they realize. But we can’t take our eye off the ball – we must vigilantly nurture women’s leadership orientation, not only for their sakes but for the benefit of all the enterprises in which they invest themselves. Women have a wisdom and competence too long hidden by history and stepping out of masculine shadows is long overdue.

–	Kerry O’Reilly Wilks, Executive Vice-President, Legal, Commercial & External Affairs, TransAlta Corp.