Women as manufacturing leaders: disruptors or adapters?
As a male-dominated industry, manufacturing battles to attract and retain women in leadership positions. If manufacturers want to tap the greatest pool of talent they need to understand the reasons for this. Research has shown that women in leadership positions can provide greater diversity of perspectives, innovation and a more balanced approach to management. However, women leaders still experience significant challenges and contradictions in influencing their male-dominated organisations. Simply increasing the number of women leaders in organisations is no guarantee for the empowerment of other women or the transformation of organisations.
This seminar explored the barriers and enabled women experience in leading male-dominated environments and how the manufacturing ecosystem can benefit from greater inclusion of women.
About the Presenter
Lisa Kinnear heads up academics at the Toyota Wessels Institute for Manufacturing Studies (TWIMS). She completed her PhD in 2013 and has a Masters of Management (Strategic HR) from Wits Business School. Her doctoral research focused on emerging models of power amongst South African women business leaders.
Lisa has lectured on management programmes offered by the University of Stellenbosch Business School, Wits Business School and the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Graduate School of Business and Leadership. She has published a number of papers in academic journals and continues to conduct research and teaching in the field of organisational development studies.
In addition to her academic role, Lisa is the owner-manager of Leadership Insight, a KwaZulu-Natal based organisational development consultancy that specializes in leadership coaching, team development, and organisational change. Through Leadership Insight, Lisa has facilitated leadership development and change management interventions with numerous businesses, non-governmental organisations and corporations over the past 12 years, spanning banking, healthcare, education, manufacturing, and associated industries.
Prior to this, Lisa gained corporate experience in Johannesburg as a Human Resource Development Manager at De Beers and as an internal Organisational Development Consultant at Investec Bank. Her organizational development experience spans 23 years.