Whats the difference between male and female entrepreneurs?
I think women tend to be much more attuned to what all of the people in their environment are doing. Women are very centered on making sure that everybody in the environment is doing well. Then when that group is nurtured and taken care of, they go out and do more. Men don’t seem to be attuned to that. At some of the businesses where I did consulting work and that were male-owned, I’d say, “Do you realize you have some real employee problems here?” They’d say, “Really?” And women tend to be more risk-averse, and less willing to ask for money. They’re inherently afraid. And that’s a real problem. We try to address that with some of the programs we provide at Chatham. Question: What’s your own leadership style? Answer: I’m very much of an inclusionist. My feeling is: provide people with the information they need to have to do a really good job. Empower them to make their own decisions. Trust that people can do a lot of work on their own and they’ll come up with better ideas themselves. I
