Elite Traveler September-October 2015

IVANKA TRUMP

ON WOMEN IN BUSINESS

“It’s not enough to simply build a great business. To achieve lasting success, we must build great companies that great people want to work for –women, especially”

opting to leave the workforce after having children. And it’s why the companies who prioritize evolving their policies on gender equality and who promote a more progressive culture will find themselves able to attract and retain an increasingly diverse and engaged pool of talent. For the first time in history, women are embracing the fact that our lives are multidimensional. The professional millennial women I encounter today are ambitious and passionate about their careers, but they’re not solely defined by them. Time is a great equalizer. Regardless of who you are, we each get the same number of hours in our days. The millennials are on to something: they’re working smarter, not harder, and they’re simultaneously pursuing their passions and making them priorities. As an executive and an entrepreneur, I have discovered that it’s not enough to simply build a great business. To achieve meaningful, lasting success, we must build great companies that great people want to work for – women, especially. As leaders, we must create corporate cultures that allow women to thrive. For me, this means that I’ve built my brand and business with an emphasis on establishing a rich and inspiring work environment. I regularly bring in industry leaders to speak to my team and impart wisdom. As a company, we commit to ongoing challenges that bring us together as partners, not just colleagues, and build bonds that extend beyond the office. We ran a half marathon together this spring and in the fall we’ll be learning to code. Increasingly, more and more women – myself included – are shedding the pressures surrounding the pursuit of balance. It’s an outdated concept that we’d all do well to forget. Even a scale, by its very

Engaging women in business is crucial. Women make up more than half of the world’s population and it’s essential that we have equal representation at the table. Boards with greater gender diversity had fewer instances of governance-related scandals such as bribery, corruption and fraud, according to MSCI’s 2014 Survey of Women on Boards report. Research by Sodexo in 2013 also found that companies whose boards were made up of at least one-third women showed profit margins up to 42% higher and had shareholder returns 53% higher than rival firms with fewer women board members. Yet even with pros such as this clearly identified, many traditional workplaces are still surprisingly rigid when it comes to creating an environment in which women can thrive. It’s one of the reasons why we continue to see many female colleagues

nature, is never successfully balanced for long. The slightest disruption will send it off tilt. As women who work, we no longer have a ‘work life’ and a ‘home life’ that we’re constantly trying to sync together. It’s simply one life. How we define success will look different for each one of us, but we can pursue it with a shared formula. The key is twofold: identify your individual goals and priorities, both personal and professional, and architect your life around them. Let go of the inconsequential hindrances that try to distract you along the way. We each get one life – it’s up to us to live it to the fullest. Ivanka Trump is executive vice president of development and acquisitions at the Trump Organization. She is also co-founder of the Trump Hotel Collection and the founder of the Ivanka Trump Collection and ivankatrump.com

Words Laura Powell. Photo Splash