First women were told they had to Dress for Success to get on at work — buy a sharp suit and a boxy briefcase and the promotion was theirs.
Next it was “Lean In”: forget power dressing, work hard, take risks and stop trying to be perfect. Now a new obstacle on the path to the boardroom has been identified. Women lack “executive presence”, the winning combination of “confidence, poise and authenticity” which signals that this person is going places.
Sylvia Ann Hewlett, author of Executive Presence, has a history of stirring up a row. Baby Hunger, published more than a decade ago, triggered an intense debate about whether women can balance the demands of a career with their desire for children.
Ms Hewlett calls