An Interview With Laura Fleming

Written by Laura Fleming, CEO Hitachi Energy UK

1. Why is “an approach to leadership that resonates with women” needed?

We see women consistently not stepping up into leadership positions, which in part is down to the way women approach new roles and hesitancy to take the risk if she doesn’t feel 100% confident she can manage all aspects of the role – this is something we need to teach women to see differently. However, leadership is also not always appealing to women either as leadership in organisations, tends to be based on hierarchical and patriarchal structures which doesn’t really get the best out of women. You may ask why is it important to have women in leadership roles if it doesn’t suit them and they are reluctant to step up? The answer to this is that we now have particular societal issues to resolve that require leaders to be able to collaborate, be creative and have empathy, skills that women particularly are able to excel at.

2. Halfway through the Expedition what are you uncovering?

I find that the answer is multi-faceted – it captures topics such as culture and language, environment, beliefs and values. It’s also clear that its not the intention to rip up the rule book and say what has been thought to be leadership to date is now no longer valid, or that men are excluded, its quite the contrary. Instead we need to be acutely aware of the lens through which we observe but not judge and be open to learn from others however unlikely it any seem initially.