By: Doris Sommavilla
To mark International Women’s Day 2021, we hear from Doris Sommavilla, Director in our Family Office division, and third generation entrepreneur
Doris Sommavilla is a Director within the UK Family Office Division. She has wide experience with UHNWIs and business families, both as a third generation entrepreneur and as an adviser on governance and succession matters. Having inherited her own family business with no succession plan in place, Doris is passionate about helping ‘Next Gens’ – especially women – who face similar challenges.
Behind every successful women leader there is a role model. Usually another woman. Last year, together with three other women, I carried out some research*, interviewing 46 women in leading positions in 13 different countries. Interestingly, many of the women interviewed cited their grandmothers as their inspiration. Many recalled their grandmothers’ stories of hard work running the business while providing for the family and their struggle to earn a voice within society. It was they who paved the way for women’s empowerment today.
Surround yourself with a supportive group of women. It is essential to build a strong network - somewhere you can be authentic and speak openly about the challenges and opportunities you face. When I inherited the family business abruptly, without a succession plan, I felt isolated. I wish I’d had a support group of women outside the family that I could relate to. Today, I am proud to have established one of my own, where my colleagues and I can provide support to other Next Gen women.
How you ‘shake off’ prejudice is as important as shaking it off. My research revealed a tendency for women to be over defensive when it comes to prejudice. ‘’Totally counterproductive’’, said one who had worked in her family business for over 40 years. Being open, non-judgmental, assertive and even humorous is usually more effective in dismantling prejudice and creating a more tolerant environment. Before we do this, though, we need to ‘train’ ourselves in self-confidence.
Working on your self-confidence is essential. In their book, The Confidence Code, Katty Kay and Claire Shipman assert that the one thing preventing women reaching success is self-confidence. I have been there. As a young woman I was lost and insecure, having inherited my family business in a male dominated industry. At first, the fear of exposing myself to failure was paralysing. I reached an important turning point when I realised that by taking action I could succeed right away or learn from my mistakes and succeed later. Slowly my family’s attitude changed towards me.
Learning basic financial skills leads to self-confidence and independence. The asset management industry is still very male-dominated but we are seeing increasing numbers of women-centric programs, trained advisers and support groups coming to the fore. It is important to take advantage of these and get involved.
Many women still feel they don’t deserve their role within a family business. ‘Close your eyes and visualize the leadership in a family business’, we asked the women taking part in our research. Sadly, the majority answered ‘I see a grey-haired, middle-aged man’. This is shocking considering all those interviewed are women in leadership positions.
Abandon the quest for perfectionism. My advice is to take action and be open to learning from your mistakes. By taking action, regardless of the immediate results, we can conquer our inner doubts, challenge the status quo and design our future for good.
*Doris’ research was conducted in collaboration with Nadine Kammerlander, Sasha Lund and Elizabeth Bagger. The results will be featured in an article be published by Forbes Italy in May 2021.
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