Today is International Women’s Day (IWD), a global day to recognize the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. This year’s theme is #BreakTheBias, seeking to oust the stereotypes that inhibit women from achieving our full potential, understate our value and strip women of the celebration that is so well deserved. 

For this four-part series, we sat down with IAC Group’s Chief Administrative Officer, Iwona Niec Villaire to explore how biases have impacted her career, how she rose through the ranks in a male-dominated industry and what advice she has for today’s women in the workforce.

The Value of Empathy

According to a global study , women have been proven to hold an advantage in highly-sought after soft skills, outperforming men in 11 of 12 key emotional intelligence competencies. Niec Villaire noted her leadership advantage was that of a soft skill – empathy. 

“I learned early in my career to lean into empathy. Rather than constantly trying to fix problems, I learned how to listen and understand what someone might be going through. Learning how to empathize made me a better professional, a better mother, a better leader, and a better friend.”

Niec Villaire also underscored the importance of empathy alongside support – especially for the working mother. Citing the number of women leaving the workforce to stay at home with children, Niec Villaire considered if those women would make the same choice given a better support system in both arenas. 

“A number of women are leaving because they feel they have no choice but to leave the workforce. We need to do a better job supporting women and helping them continue their career – if they want to. The pressure that working mothers often feel to perform perfectly at home and at work is unrealistic. If we feel both empathy for working mothers in our circles, as well as support them through encouragement and flexibility, we’ll see those pressures start to melt away and more women finding a career is possible in tandem with motherhood.”

Niec Villaire went on to state the importance of diversity within leadership and how the different backgrounds and life experiences provide a more clear lens to view an organization. 

“When we share our perspectives as a diverse team, we’re going to make better decisions and be stronger leaders for that. Research shows women make the majority of household spending decisions – that alone proves it’s wise to have female perspectives informing business decisions. That same correlation is true across different social and cultural circles. It’s wise to have different perspectives informing business decisions, employment decisions, human resources decisions.”