女性成功靠什么

    谢丽尔•桑德伯格的畅销书《向前一步》（Lean In）发售后不久，一项名为“女性、权力和金钱（Women, Power & Money)的调查发现，70%的Y世代女性认为自己“聪明”，高于Y世代男性54%的比例。

    仰仗如此强烈的自信足以让年轻女性实现成功。相比之前的婴儿潮一代和X世代，出生于1979年至1994年的Y世代是在1972年美国教育法《第九修正案》（Title IX）获得通过后的年代中长大的，她们知道，她们可以做任何男孩可以做的事情，甚至可能做得更好。

    但在前面这两代人中也不乏先锋人物，就像我们上周在《财富》杂志（Fortune）“最具影响力女性”伦敦站活动中看到的那样。面对由欧美公司董事会成员组成的众多嘉宾，哈里特•格林详细描述了去年她是如何拿下托马斯•库克集团（Thomas Cook）CEO职位的经历。她主动打电话给这家旅游巨头的董事长说：“你们需要我。”格林曾是电气元件分销商派睿电子（Premier Farnell）的负责人，没有任何旅游行业经验，但她深谙扭转业务局面之道。事实上，自从她掌管托马斯•库克集团以来，这家公司的股价已经上涨超过5倍。

    前雅芳（Avon）CEO钟彬娴现在是苹果（Apple）、通用电气（General Electric）和戴姆勒（Daimler AG）的董事.她也是此次会议的嘉宾，她同意格林的建议：“要积极主动。让人们知道你想当董事，”钟彬娴说。“要勇于展示自己的专长。”

    比利•简•金在《财富》杂志“最具影响力女性”伦敦站温布尔登首日活动中指出，过去，女性要取得成功（和建立信心）是多么困难。大约40年前的1973年6月20日，有63位女性在伦敦格洛斯特酒店（Gloucester Hotel）举行闭门会议，成立了女子网球联合会（Women's Tennis Association），金心不甘、情不愿地成为了这些人的领袖。经过努力，WTA为女性争取到了与男性相同的比赛奖金。“这是一个漫长的过程，”金回忆起当年她是如何策划推动这一转变时这样讲。她询问每一位WTA成员，询问这些女性运动员：你能影响谁？“我是这样分工的：‘好吧，罗斯•卡萨尔斯，你找这个人和那个人谈。安妮•琼斯，你找……’我们做了很多的游说和幕后工作。

    这一年，金领导的这群改革者曾经开会开到凌晨4:30，平均每晚只睡4小时。“哦，顺便说一下，我们那时还有一些网球比赛要打，”她说。

    那年，金29岁，她一度累到“认为自己可能会在第一轮比赛中就被淘汰。”但强烈的使命感激励着她。“那一年，我拿了三个奖，单打、双打和混双，我太高兴了。”

    那年9月，她还在男女对垒的性别大战中击败了男子冠军鲍比•里格斯。“对付女性的最好办法是让她们生完孩子待在家里。”里格斯在那场传奇比赛上夸口道。结果，金横扫里格斯，并在整个职业生涯中一共获得39项大满贯头衔。“压力是人生的特殊礼遇，”金说。“冠军们都知道如何调整。”随着本月一部名为《性别大战》（Battle of the Sexes）的纪录片上映，金将激励更多女性成为领袖。（财富中文网）

    On the heels of Sheryl Sandberg's best-selling Lean In comes a new study, "Women, Power & Money" that finds 70% of Gen Y women describe themselves as "smart," vs. just 54% of Gen Y men.

    That's a stunning level of confidence that young women can take to the bank. Compared to the Baby Boomers and Gen Xers before them, Gen Y women, born between 1979 and 1994, grew up after Title IX passed in 1972 and learned that they can do anything boys can do, maybe better.

    Still, their older generations include pioneers—as we saw last week at Fortune Most Powerful Women: London. Joining a panel of women who serve on both U.S. and European boards, Harriet Green detailed how she snagged the CEO position at Thomas Cook last year: She cold-called the travel giant's chairman and said, "You need me." Green, who had been chief of electrical component distributor Premier Farnell, had no cred in the travel business, but she knew how to do turnarounds. Indeed, since she took charge at Thomas Cook, the share price has risen more than six-fold.

    Former Avon (AVP) CEO Andrea Jung, who sits on the boards of Apple (AAPL), General Electric (GE) and Daimler AG (DDAIF), was also on the boards panel and echoed Green's advice: "Be proactive. Let people know you want to be on the board," Jung said. "Put your specialty skill out there."

    Billie Jean King, at MPW London on day one of Wimbledon, noted how hard-won success (and confidence) once was for women. Forty years ago--on June 20, 1973—King was the reluctant leader of 63 women who met behind locked doors in London's Gloucester Hotel and created the Women's Tennis Association. The WTA secured equal prize money for women vs. men in tournaments. "This was a long time happening," King said, recalling how she plotted the coup. She asked each of her fellow women players: Who can you influence? "I broke it up that way: 'Okay, Rosie Casals, you're going to go talk to this person and that person. And Anne Jones, you're going to…' We did a lot of lobbying and work behind the scenes."

    The King-led group of reformers held meetings until 4:30 a.m. that year and slept an average four hours a night. "Oh, we had some tennis matches to play, by the way," she said.

    King was 29 and so exhausted that "I thought I wouldn't even get by the first round." But the thrill of empowerment carried her. "I won three titles that year, I was so excited. Singles, doubles and mixed."

    That September, she beat Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes. "The best way to handle women is to keep them pregnant and barefoot," Riggs boasted at that legendary match. King whipped Riggs and went on to win a total of 39 Grand Slam titles. "Pressure is a privilege," King says. "Champions adjust." And now, as a documentary called "Battle of the Sexes" hits screens this month, she'll inspire a few more women to be leaders.