Women are CEOs of two-thirds of all small businesses in India. This number has increased from 40 per cent in 2001 to 60 per cent today, and it’s expected to rise further as women have become more confident about their abilities as business leaders and entrepreneurs.
The reason why many female CEOs prefer working with smaller teams is that they’re less likely to get distracted by other people around them and focus on what needs doing right now rather than worrying about everyone else’s ideas for how things should go down or how much money someone else might need if something went wrong (i.e., investors). They also tend not to use resources like excessive salaries or perks because those aren’t necessary when you’ve got good employees who will help take care of everything else. At the same time, you focus on growing your company instead! On average, they run 6% higher profits than men at this stage in their careers.
Here are the top women CEOs leading the way for other woman entrepreneurs today:
Mary Barra, CEO, General Motors
Mary Barra is the CEO of General Motors. She was born in Royal Oak, Michigan, and graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. Before becoming CEO, she worked as an engineer for several years at GM and Ford Motor Company before becoming president of their global vehicle programs in 2008. In 2012, she was appointed vice-chairman when Alan Mulally took over as CEO.
In 2015, she became chairperson after former chairman Dan Akerson retired from his position due to health reasons; this made her the first female CEO of a major global automaker.
Virginia Rometty CEO IBM Corp
Virginia Rometty is currently the CEO of IBM Corp, having taken over in 2012 after Lou Gerstner’s departure. She has been associated with the company for 35 years and is responsible for its worldwide sales, marketing, and service activities.
As an African American woman in a traditionally male-dominated field, she has made history as the first woman to head a top-tier company in the US. She was born in Brooklyn, NY but grew up on Staten Island, where she attended public schools and earned her undergraduate degree from Cornell University with majors in psychology and philosophy/religion before earning an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Patricia Woertz CEO Archer Daniels Midland Co.
Patricia Woertz is the CEO of Archer Daniels Midland Co., the world’s largest privately held company and one of the ten largest agricultural businesses in North America. The company has more than $125 billion in revenue and employs more than 17,000 people worldwide.
In addition to her role at ADC, she serves as president on several boards, including Avis Budget Group Inc., Brunswick Corp., Coty Inc., Herbalife Ltd., Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS), and Tyson Foods Inc.
She is also on the board of trustees at Washington University in St Louis where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics.
Irene Rosenfeld CEO Kraft Foods Inc.
Irene Rosenfeld, the CEO of Kraft Foods Inc., is the first woman to lead a company in the food industry. She was born on August 29th, 1945, in Chicago, Illinois, and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in International Relations.
Rosenfeld has been working for Kraft Foods since 1986, when she joined as vice president for marketing and sales development.
Falguni Nayar CEO Nykaa
Falguni Nayar was born in India and is the CEO of Nykaa, a leading online shopping platform. She is the first woman to head an Indian e-commerce company and one of only three Indian women to make it on Forbes’ list of 100 Most Powerful Women to have successfully launched an IPO in 2021.
Ghazal Alagh, Co-founder of MamaEarth
MamaEarth is an Indian D2C company that specialises in natural products. Ghazal Alagh, the founder of MamaEarth, has been listed among Forbes’ “30 Most Powerful Women In Business” and Fortune’s “40 Under 40: Power Women Rising.”
MamaEarth is a premium organic brand with diverse products. The company’s products include powders, lotions, shampoos, and other personal care items designed to be used as part of a daily regimen that improves overall wellness while reducing stress levels.
Vineeta Singh, CEO of Sugar Cosmetics
Vineeta Singh is the CEO and founder of Sugar Cosmetics. She has been educated at IIT Madras and IIM Ahmedabad.
Sugar Cosmetics was founded in 2014, and under Singh’s leadership and marketing strategy, the brand has crushed the long-established Lakme and its monopoly in the Indian market.
Singh was also featured as an investor in the entrepreneurial reality show Shark Tank India.
In 2022, we’ve seen some fantastic things happen in corporate leadership, from CEOs who are women and minorities to those who have made history by working towards breaking the glass ceiling.
