Today, Morison Global has celebrated International Women’s Day in a genuine and meaningful way.
Sponsored by our five female Board Directors, over 150 attendees joined us for an all-day celebration which showcased our inspirational women leaders from across the globe.
Over two events, 10 panellists and our Directors were skilfully navigated through a series of questions on why they had become accountants, what and how their leadership styles have evolved over time and what they feel diverse leadership brings to their firms and to management overall. While our speakers represented Singapore, the Philippines, Australia, Mauritius, Belgium, German, Kuwait, Canada and the United States, the messages were consistent no matter where they were from. They were that of collaborative, genuine and empowering leadership.
As role models to us all, our leaders, many of whom are pioneers in their markets, demonstrated their intelligence, courage and empathy as foundations of their success. They have been committed to their craft, developing their knowledge and empowering others to succeed. ‘Always strive for excellence, value people and empower them… take care of yourself so that you can take care of others.’
It was agreed that diverse leadership provides different perspectives and stronger, more sustainable decisions. This is especially true in a time of crisis, such as COVID, where a more empathetic approach to management has engendered greater loyalty among teams and clients. It has also enabled our leaders’ firms to adjust quickly to new ways of working. Diversity across generations, while a challenge due to differing expectations, is also an opportunity. Younger team members bringing their adeptness for technology and older team members generally have greater interpersonal skills these can all be leveraged to create more robust teams.
Our Directors said, ‘As we have seen today there are many women in senior leadership positions in Morison Global member firms all across the world; some of these women have been pioneers in their markets, paving the way and nurturing other professionals. We honour and thank them for their guidance, courage and perseverance.’
As part of the Morison Global Strategy (2020-2023), the association is committed to ‘promoting diversity and be more inclusive in our activities as an association’, this celebration is therefore our first step in delivering this aspect of the strategy.
40 members across the globe, representing 18 countries, contributed to our first thought leadership piece, especially for International Women’s Day: Collaborative, genuine and empowering leadership: Celebrating Morison Global’s Women Leaders. This can be found on our website or for members, in The Community. Anyone who is looking to develop their own leadership approach would benefit from reading this report.