New-York tribune., 1919-06-15
English Discuss
Women as Leaders
In Business World
Opinion Divided OH Whether
They Are Successful;
Instances Cited TO Show
That They Can Win
Neto York Tribune


There is & distinct divergence of
opinion whether or no women will be
leaders in the commercial world of the
The divergence of opinion. is not a
sex one. There are men who, having
found the right woman, believe firmly
IN the business capacity of the sex;
and men, on the other hand, who have
no intention Of allowing any woman to
control any part of their business OF to
grant that any woman would be capable
of such a feat
There are quite q number of women,
too, who, being of inferior intelligence
themselves, would not accept direction
from a woman and refuse the woman
"boss " 1t is this group of women
which form the principal argument in
the case put forward by the men who
refuse to acknowledge that women can
ever become leaders in business. "Wom-
en- won't follow women" they say, and
when they have said this they think they
have said all. But if they acknowl-
edged that many men object to wom-
en- holding big commercial positions
and are reluctant to work under them,
they would be nearer the truth. The
woman who objects to a woman "boss"
objects to her in her heart of hearts,
because she feels that men do not like
working under q woman, and, being of
the sheep grade in business, as in
fashion, follows the lead Of such men
without testing on what it is based.
we'll known business man expressed
his views day or two ago to two
women, one of whom, unknown to him,
had built up within the last two years
wholesale business, entirely stated
by women, of an exclusive kind, with a
large turnover. His arguments were:
"A woman can never be a leader in
business because she is woman and
carries her seX's capability for worry
into her business life. If things 90
wrong at home she lets it influence her
attitude toward her staff, so that they
are uncertain any day as to how they
will be treated. Women cannot stand
this excess of emotional storm added
to their days work, and therefore pre-
fer the male boss who is more level
headed and forgets his home except
when he is in it,
The obvious answer was that all
women are not the daily subjects of
domestic worries, any more than that
all men are bankrupts. The business
woman instanced a very we'll known
woman who has opened shop after
shop in the West End and exclusive
shopping centres and has great work
rooms for the making of frocks which
cost a little less than French models
and are worn by some of the best
dressed women in London. Reluctantly
he agreed that she might be an excep-
tlon. The business woman he, was
speaking to did not give any inkling of
her own claims to distinction, yet her
work rooms are filled with women who
serve her as they would serve no man.
her unruff1ed spirit and her kindly
humor as well as her unerring judg-
ment making her an ideal employer.
Recently young university woman
who had taken her LIB degree and
looked forward to career Of a very
different sort found herself forced to
take over a licensed house owing to
the sudden death of her father and the
constant illness of an invalid mother.
She has made it success.