Mrs. Natalia Brzezinski at the ABBA Museum

Celebrating Swedish icons in music & design

On May 10, 2013, in Sweden, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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How many of us have not danced around our living room while vacuuming or sung loudly in our car to the addictive tune of ABBA’s “Dancing Queen”? I know I have. The song and the iconic band have connected generations around their addictive melodies and emotive lyrics. I remember clearly as a young girl in the 1990s watching hours of ABBA music videos—entranced by the two beautiful women, talented male singers and their fantastic costumes— alongside my father, one of the world’s biggest ABBA fans!

A few days ago, my childhood wonderment came to life at the grand opening of the ABBA Museum in Stockholm. Hundreds of people gathered in the outdoor courtyard of the museum which will also serve as a luxury hotel and a space to highlight rising young Swedish musicians. In this way, the concept of the museum acts as a conduit between the old and new— a way to learn and celebrate the past, while promoting a bright future.

The dynamic museum display located on the ground floor follows this theme. In one area we see the original sound-board used for the earliest ABBA songs, the original glittering gold costumes worn by the group in the 1970s as well as the newest technology showcasing holographic, life-size representations of each of the members that dance and sing, or computers that one can use to “mix” your own ABBA song with the tap of your finger.

The fantastic evening concluded with a surprise performance. As hundreds of guests gathered in the elegant, cobbled courtyard the rooms facing us began to light up and some of Swedish best young singers, rappers and dancers appeared in the large window balconies dancing hip-hop and singing songs ranging from traditional ABBA tunes to Swedish House Mafia. Every guest was swaying and bobbing their heads in amazement at that point, and the fireworks bursting at the end signaled a finale to an evening that Mark and I will always remember.

Later that week, I gravitated from Swedish icons in music to design. Svenkst Tenn is one of Sweden’s most famous design stores started in 1924 by Estrid Ericson and located prominently on one of Stockholm’s most beautiful and central streets facing the Baltic Sea—Strandvagen.

It’s rare to find a home in Stockholm without some element of Svenskt Tenn adorning it. Whether it’s an elegant, clean-lined plush couch or a traditional chair conceptualized by Joseph Frank— the famed long-time designer— in 1940s that’s manufactured in Sweden by a family that has passed on craftsmanship from generation to generation or paper napkins with the bright, often nature-inspired signature patterns. The dynamic spectrum of items in a wide price-range was formulated in the vision of Ms. Ericson who wanted every Swede to be able to afford something lovely and high-quality, according to CEO Maria Veerasamy.

I met Ms.Veerasamy for lunch in the tea room of the store (another part of Estrid Ericson’s vision) and we sat next to a glass-enclosed space which was the original office of the founder whose goal was to create a brand that would last for hundreds of years. In fact, each decision that is made focuses on the question: will this help us last 300 more years? Veerasamy explains the values of the company to me as long-term, extremely protective of the original clean design and tradition, and quality, quality, quality. The goal is for each piece to be made entirely in Sweden and of the highest quality in every point of the production chain.

Although the brand is typically very Swedish, there has also been a strong thread of multiculturalism interwoven into the design and corporate culture. Joseph Frank, the famed designer and creative partner of Estrid Ericson, was of Jewish descent and escaped to the United States when WWII broke out. He came back to Sweden afterwards and brought a little bit of America with him, creating “Jackson Pollock”-inspired patterns and one even called “Manhattan.”

Veerasamy herself comes from an immigrant background with an Indian father. She grew up in a smaller town and has no formal education, she often says. But she has a vision and a determination to protect the original inspiration behind Svenskt Tenn and make it timeless. In my opinion, she is an amazing face for this brand and it was a deep pleasure to spend the afternoon with her and learn more about Svenkst Tenn!

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SACC-NY Executive Women’s Conference

On April 22, 2013, in Sweden, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Reception for the 2013 SACC NY Executive Women's Conference

Last week I had the fortune to do something very special and close to my heart: celebrate and learn from successful female executives from both sides of the Atlantic!

The Swedish-American Executive Women’s conference is organized by the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce based in New York City. This year we commemorated the 10th anniversary of the dynamic women’s conference which this year saw tickets sell out months in advance. This is a testament to the work of the chamber’s first female President, Renee Lundholm, who has made SACC-NY into an effective vehicle for shared Swedish and American values and deepening people-to-people ties between our two nations through business.

The theme of this year’s conference was prescient and forward-thing: Making money in the 21st century. How do we evolve along with changing business models and shifting demographics to continue creating growth in our companies?

Several panels intermixed with individual speeches focused on “knowing and growing your value”, growth and leadership in a financially turbulent and constantly changing world, and even more detailed explanations of private equity versus conglomerate business models. Much of the discussions focused on trends and how to adapt those into growth. The co-existing trends of urbanization and digitalization, a quest for simplicity and essentiality, how the Internet is changing consumer behaviors and business models, and changing demographics, were topics of discussion.

Healthy renewal is central to any organization. I believe leadership and profitability in the future will rely largely in an ability to foresee challenges and adapt to change. This was the over-arching theme of my keynote remarks at the conference, which I was very honored to be able to deliver to such an amazing group of women.

My speech focused on how we can harness the unique values of the Millennial generation to create greater profitability. But beyond that, how can we use the values of openness, work-life balance and transparency to advance women’s leadership and create a more diverse, dynamic future workplace. In my opinion, there is a clear synchronicity between the values set of the young generation and women’s leadership.

I also believe that the United States and Sweden are ideal partners in promoting women’s empowerment. Lagom (work-life balance), consensus, transparency and even decentralized office spaces with the elimination of the “corner office” have been interwoven into Swedish society for several generations already. Our strong shared values and future goals for socially just societies bring us together with our Swedish friends on a very substantive level and make the possibilities for future partnership on gender equality and entrepreneurship, as well as a variety of other areas, endless.

I will end by imparting the advice that these successful women were willing to share with us in the audience on how to maximize their professional potential.

·         Build on our strengths, not fret continuously on our weaknesses
·         Women tend to say “no” more to opportunities, say “yes”!
·         Find a mentor, or better yet a sponsor, to support you over the long-term and explain the informal rules of an organization to you
·         Have passion for your job, but also for making your community better
·         Follow your gut instincts
·         Stay “employable”, always do the right thing and protect your personal brand, reputation is everything
·         Keep your pulse on how business is changing, find an area where you can be part of transformative change
·         Try out different roles and reinvent yourself, never stop learning
·         Women have something special of their own to bring to the table. Don’t feel that you need to bring the qualities a man would bring, being different is a plus!

Thank you Renee Lundholm, SACC-NY and the amazing women who participated in the conference for opening my eyes to new ways of thinking about growth and value and inspiring me to believe in myself and promote other women too!

For more pictures from the event, see our Flickr page!

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Dialogue with Professor Muhammad Yunus

On April 15, 2013, in Sweden, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Professor Muhammad Yunus speaks with Ambassador and Mrs. Brzezinski

On Saturday, we were honored to host the father of social business and micro-finance, Professor Muhammad Yunus, for a two-hour dialogue on diversity, empowering women through entrepreneurship and helping society through financially-sustainable, long-term measures.

Professor Yunus’s visit to Stockholm was sponsored by the Postkod Lotteriet, and directly from here he was traveling on to Washington, D.C. where he would be receiving the Congressional Gold Medal. As a testament to his visionary status, he is only one of seven people in history to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold medal.

Beyond titles and awards, Professor Yunus radiates positive energy and lights up a room. The moment our guests began to arrive, you could sense the way they were drawn to him and the joy he took in interacting with a dynamic array of guests from some of Sweden’s most successful entrepreneurs, CEO’s and venture capitalists to governmental development aid experts from SIDA or two teenage girls from Rinkeby (a suburb outside of Stockholm with a high population of immigrants and political refugees). Our two female students from Rinkeby Akademien, budding entrepreneurs in their own right, made such an impact on the event with the articulate manner they introduced themselves and engaged in the dialogue!

Around a large dining room table, Professor Yunus described the genesis of Grameen Bank and its goal of helping the poorest people lift themselves out of poverty by providing small loans and imparting basic financial principles. Much of Yunus’s work focused on empowering women, so much so that he has been named an honorary woman in Bangladesh, a fact he shared with us smiling gleefully!

Many of our guests had the chance to ask questions ranging from how the micro-finance model can be extended to entrepreneurs in the Islamic world to the digital future of using cell phones as ways to perform ultrasounds or test your eyes in the developing world where in many nations access to nurses and hospitals is sorely lacking. Time and again, Professor Yunus interjected a common theme: one person can make a lasting impact on any social challenge through creativity and sheer determination. When youth unemployment was mentioned, he mischievously looked many of us in the eye around the table and exclaimed: one of you can hire one person, just one, and make a difference!

At a time when social entrepreneurship is the buzzword of the moment, it can be stultifying that Professor Yunus catalyzed the concept and model more than 37 years ago. In fact, he told me that in 1987 he was called up by a Governor from a very poor state in America to try to solve the challenges of poverty through a business model. That man was Governor Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary, headed up the initiative. Yunus has had a long relationship with Clintons since then, and this is a shining example of the shared values between the U.S. and many of its global partners on the challenges we face today. For me, it was so special to host Professor Yunus in Stockholm because Sweden has such a rich legacy of generosity in development aid and strong core of social justice. What a wonderful evening we all spent being inspired by this great man!

You can see more photos from the event on the US Embassy Flickr page!

 

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Mrs. Natalia Brzezinski visits Ftrack

Visiting Ftrack & diving into the world of our imaginations

On March 28, 2013, in Sweden, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Mrs. Natalia Brzezinski visits Ftrack

Most of us have been transfixed by the special effects of a Pixar film or heard the squeals of our children as they faced a scary sea monster peering at them through a movie screen. As the movie industry becomes more technically-enhanced with characters dancing in front of our theater chairs and touching our imaginations in new and innovative ways, it has become more important for the film production process to be streamlined, efficient and cost-effective.

This week, I was able to learn much more about these modern practices by visiting Ftrack, a path-breaking new company that has revolutionized the production and visual effects processes. I was met by CEO Fredrik Limsäter and Chairman of the Board, Eva Redhe Ridderstad, at the spacious, light-infused offices of Ftrack in a modern building in Södermalm, Stockholm’s more bohemian neighborhood and home to many creative and artistic companies.

 
Fredrik told me about the genesis of Ftrack. He worked at a major movie company in Los Angeles and soon realized that the rather long and occasionally cost-bloated visual effects process could be managed in a much better way. He came home to Stockholm and in 2008 developed a state-of-the-art, fully-integrated management platform to oversee all aspects of the production process. Along with a team of brilliant young programmers, he is incessantly improving upon the software to make what’s already a very user-friendly, aesthetically pleasing system even better. The software manages budget, supervises projects, edits images, and controls time and cost in a pragmatic manner. It is a unique development in the field which the company expects to permeate the market.

A tour of through the office space took us on a journey through the raging, blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean to the grassy, cow-speckled knolls of Northern Europe with rubber faces of hairy monsters or swarthy pirates interwoven through the adventure. The marriage of fairy-tale and the most evolved levels of high-tech was truly fascinating and instructive. Sweden is a leading producer of connective technologies and Ftrack is a prime example.

To add to the whimsical and positive energy was Alfred, the son of Ftrack’s CEO who followed us inquisitively throughout the tour, dodging between computers and under desks. Seeing a serious businessmen bring his child to the office and work seamlessly, unperturbed alongside the energetic boy was a lovely sight for me!

Thank you Fredrik and Eva for the generous tour! I cannot wait to see the new dimensions Ftrack will reach in the future!

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IKEA1

Visiting IKEA headquarters

On March 20, 2013, in Sweden, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Ten years ago while a first-year student at university, IKEA represented freedom, independence and a breadth of new opportunities to me. At that time in America, it had become a near requirement to purchase all of your university furnishings at the gleaming super-store.  Each piece of lightweight, streamlined furniture purchased represented one step closer to a new, exciting life!

Today the iconic brand symbolizes much more than just possibilities and potential for a fuller life. It symbolizes a core set of values— egalitarianism, sustainability and protection of the world’s resources, gender equality, social justice, philanthropy, diversity and inclusion, fiscal conservatism, a sense of community— which inform everything from its products’ “democratic design” to its style of informal, consensus-building leadership within the corporation’s management structure.

The short one-hour flight from Stockholm to Växjö, in the province of Småland, transported us to a serene, stony landscape dotted with leafless birch trees and known for its moose, and perhaps most of all, for IKEA and its founder Ingvar Kamprad who grew up there on a farm.

The land was notoriously hard to farm, thus instilling its people with a flinty hard work ethic and an aversion to waste. Kamprad brought the lessons he learned coming-of-age in a challenging setting to his vision for IKEA. A laser focus on efficiency is one of the reasons IKEA is able to provide its products at such low prices, explained CEO Mikael Ohlsson. Ensuring efficiency and strong partnerships with shared values along the entire supply chain is critical to IKEA’s success. The company has a “People & Planet Positive” goal for 2020 to make its stores, products and suppliers as sustainable as possible.

The focus on sustainable forestry is deeply impressive at a time when large timber tracts around the world are under intense pressure.  Great emphasis is placed on developing content alternatives other than just straight wood.

During our visit, we were able to see the production centers, scientific testing laboratories, design, the first-ever IKEA store and speak to designers in Älmhult. We even experienced a taste of home when we encountered an American supplier from Toledo, Ohio who was at IKEA headquarters with his wife for training and meet-and-greets, something IKEA does regularly to enhance partnerships and strengthened values transmission. When I asked Steve what he liked best about IKEA, he pointed to the strong focus on relationships.

One of the most personally exciting elements for me was their commitment to gender equality in the workplace. Many of the higher-level managers in the company started on the shop floor, and investing in employees’ productivity and development is paramount.

Today, IKEA has 42% female managers and has a short-term goal of 50%. One way they are attacking this challenge is through an initiative called “Battle of the Numbers” co-founded by Swedish media maven Eva Swartz Grimaldi  and Sofia Falk, that has received a one-year commitment from many of Sweden’s top companies (Ericsson, SEB Bank, H & M) to engage its top females in several seminars to discuss problems in gender equality within their corporation and find solutions. The solutions will later be presented to the CEO’s of all the companies to hopefully institute. IKEA’s assistant to the CEO, Fredrika Inger, an amazingly bright woman who helped guide and inform us through the visit, is directly involved in the initiative.

We ended this enlightening day in a very fitting place for Mark and me— the children’s section. Children, their development and their freedom to be and grow in every part of the home is a central value and driver for IKEA. The designers work with renowned children’s research centers to develop products that are first and foremost completely safe, even edible (as their markers are) but also lend to a child’s openness and creativity. Healthy eating and lifestyle are a key part of this message, and to underscore that we scanned reading books discussing gardening and squeezed plush toys shaped like carrots! Giving kids a healthy start is a passion and priority for our First Lady Michelle Obama and her path-breaking “Let’s Move” initiative, and many of IKEA’s values lined up perfectly with those of our President and many Americans.

Thank you Mikael Ohlsson and the IKEA family for an incredible visit! One that opened our eyes not only to IKEA, but allowed us to better understand the Swedish culture and what is important to Swedes.  Our visit places our shared values in an even stronger light!

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International Women's Day lunch guests listen to Mrs. Natalia Brzezinski

Celebrating International Women’s Day

On March 11, 2013, in Sweden, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Celebrating International Women’s Day underscores a clear fact: empowering women in leadership positions is central to a more economically prosperous, innovative and stable world.

Secretary of State John Kerry crystallized this message in an official statement on March 8th: “It is a great and too often untold global success story that so much of the political, economic, and social progress of the last few decades could never have been imaginable without the leadership and courage of strong women.”

To honor the scores of path-breaking female leaders in Sweden, I convened a lunch of 32 women, including established CEO’s, businesswomen and political leaders, matching them with younger “rising stars” in the business world. The sun finally emerged from a long absence on the Swedish horizon and shone valiantly through the large windows as women of all ages streamed into the U.S. Ambassadorial residence.

The theme of the afternoon was connecting generations of female leaders to share stories and have honest conversations on the “how” of women’s empowerment. How do we overcome long-held gender biases in the office, the promotion process and traditional leadership structures? How do we balance work and family in a way that doesn’t deplete our productivity and joy? How do we empower ourselves and each other?

To help answer those questions I asked two of my role models here in Sweden— Maria Veerasamy, CEO of Svenskt Tenn (the iconic Swedish design brand), and Eva Redde Ridderstad, CEO of Spago and former CEO of several finance firms— to share with the group how they achieved success.

Being the only child of an immigrant father who left South Africa during apartheid, Maria Veerasamy never had a formal higher education and began her professional life working with her hands as a tailor. That is how she forged a commitment with a concept that is now the cornerstone of Svenskt Tenn: quality. She began at the lowest level of another merchandise store in Sweden, always asking her employers “What’s next?” She never became complacent and maintained a laser focus on challenging herself and what potential opportunities lay ahead.

Eva Ridderstad is an effervescent woman brimming with positive energy and determination. As she described her career story, these qualities shone through and underlined the advice she gave to the group: surround yourself with positive people, do something you are passionate about and that is beneficial for the world, focus on results and have fun! Helping younger women climb the corporate ladder and believe in themselves is something she weaves into everything she does, and giving back is her key message.

An amazing thing I’ve been able to discover in Sweden is phenomenal role models and mentors both inside and outside of the U.S. Embassy. These women have been unabashed supporters, springboards for ideas and wells of confidence-boosting when I needed it.  Because of them I have never felt such a strong conviction in my identity as a woman, a mother and professional.

Sweden is a special place for women’s leadership. It’s a country that places a premium on social justice, equality, human rights and equipping both men and women with the tools they need to fulfill their goals. Both the United States and Sweden share these egalitarian values and a belief that people have the right to maximize their potential.

With this common foundation, our International Women’s Day celebration had a unique spirit, substance and joy about it.

Happy International Women’s Day to all!

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Stockholm’s vibrant start-up scene: visiting Wrapp

On February 11, 2013, in Sweden, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Wrapp

Could there be an equivalent to Silicon Valley on the other side of the Atlantic? One city that is being singled-out for its energetic start-up scene, strong human capital and highly educated populace is Stockholm.

The editors of Fortune Magazine recently embarked on a global search to find a city that combines the “creativity and capitalism” of San Francisco’s Bay Area and presents a safe, transparent and dynamic place to do business. Stockholm was chosen as one of the seven best cities in the world for start-ups. In particular, there seems to be an especially vibrant high-tech environment noted by the Fortune article.

This is no surprise as Sweden has the most Internet users in the world (approximately 92.9% of its population), the United States comes in second with just over three-quarters of Americans on-line. According to a recent article in Reuters, there are twice as many people on Facebook in Sweden than in Germany. Incidentally, the only Facebook server located outside of the United States is in Sweden and under construction at the moment in the frigid, near-Arctic northern city of Luleå.

In my 15 months living in Sweden, I’ve been amazed at how everything you do from ordering a taxi, procuring a bus pass and booking a yoga class is done on-line or via an iPhone application.

Naturally, investors have been flocking to Sweden and according to the same Reuters article over the past five years Sweden received the highest amount of tech venture funds per capita in Europe. Hence companies like Spotify, SoundCloud, Klarna, Skype, Izettle, Toca Boca, Uber and many more have had great success. I visited the headquarters of one of these burgeoning start-ups on Friday to learn more.

Wrapp is located in a spacious yet nondescript building that is the epitome of the low-key, practical sensibility I have come to admire about Sweden. There is no massive signage to allude to the company’s bubbling success, just a panoply of door bells for an equally impressive set of start-ups located inside. A young guy glued to his iPhone finally lets me in and I meander around the corner through a bare gray hall with no sign of life. A short elevator ride takes me to a completely opposite set of images. As I hit the fifth floor, a gleaming utopia of techie culture greets me and the air is buzzing with activity and ideas.

Young smiling faces are sitting in deep consultation with their lap-tops in decentralized group settings. Some are quietly playing ping pong at the centrally located table and some noshing on carrots in the spotless, communal kitchen. I’m greeted by my host Andreas Ehn, one of the co-founders and former CTO of Spotify, and we take a quick tour and head to lunch.

Wrapp is a “social gift-giving service” where one can send free or paid gift cards from different stores or services via Facebook. As I understood, part of the genesis of the company was a feeling that the marketing of e-commerce was a niche that could be filled in a more social and efficient way. Wrapp allows users to engage in gift-giving in a more direct, easy and potentially time and money-saving manner. In addition to the offices I visited, Wrapp also has a San Francisco office and a small hub in New York City.

Beyond learning about the company, it was interesting to hear from Andreas the cohesive strategies and potential pitfalls of operating in a very fluid, intangible and international business environment. Despite my belief that I’m quite tech-savvy and “with it”, I quickly realized that that’s not the case especially in comparison to my brilliant friends at Wrapp. I’m definitely looking forward to learning much more about the start-up scene in Stockholm this year!

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A Dynamic Week: From Business Life in Stockholm to Culture in Visby

On January 25, 2013, in Sweden, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Visby, Gotland Photo by US Embassy

Despite the toe-curling cold, it has been an interesting and active week here in Stockholm! We started off the week with a visit to an innovative recruitment firm in Stockholm focusing partly on promoting women’s management and youth mentorship, and ended the week with a day trip to the stunning and historic island of Gotland.

On Tuesday, I was thankfully included with the Embassy team from the Political/Economic and Commercial sections to an informative lecture and lunch at Novare thanks to the CEO, Fredrik Hillelson. Novare is a human capital firm that recruits top talent for CEO and senior management positions for many of Sweden’s most successful companies. But interestingly, the company has leveraged its sterling network and accessibility for socially responsible and egalitarian-driven purposes.

This point was driven home when I walked into their sunny, open headquarters and saw several images. First, the staff all sat together in a decentralized seating arrangement with the CEO in a standard desk as well. The one difference was that his desk had an adjacent baby’s high chair nestled next to it from when he himself was on paternity leave and brought his son to work!

A large newspaper cut-out also loomed over the common area highlighting Novare’s globally-unique management program for parents on paternity and maternity leave. The image depicted three gleeful toddlers galloping and jumping on top of the shining, cherry wood conference table of a top investment fund in town. What a vivid way to tear down formality and promote inclusivity in the workplace!

Beyond just helping give parents the tools to balance work and life, Novare also supports women in the Middle East and North Africa learn how to build a business and bring it to scale, and provides training to young people age 25-35 to develop their business skills and helps businesses learn how to retain young employees.

The visit opened my eyes further to the great power the private sector has in promoting social equality, leveling the playing field for all (not just women but also young people and those with disabilities) and using profit-making structures for socially productive purposes.

Yesterday, we veered a bit from the business side to the cultural and political side with a trip to the historic island of Gotland, roughly in the middle of the Baltic Sea. I was able to accompany two superb women from the Public Affairs section. The short 30-minute flight transported us hundreds of years to the past, as Visby (the largest city on Gotland) is a UNESCO heritage site with ruins dating back to the Stone Age. The municipality symbolizes a dynamic marriage of past and future, old and new, as it is also the host of the unique and wildly popular “Almedalsveckan”.

Almedalsveckan is a week when all the political parties, along with most major newspapers, journalists, think-tanks and some businesses, travel to the island for conferences, speeches and networking across party lines. The week has a special, down-to-earth feel and it is not abnormal to see the Prime Minister waiting in line next to a junior journalist for breakfast, or the Foreign Minister in a panel with a young female entrepreneur.

Part of the purpose of the trip was for the Embassy team to begin planning for that week, as accommodations, boat tickets and even taxis are scarce and the programming is extensive. In addition to touring through the snowy cobble stone streets and feasting on local fish, we also had the honor to meet the Governor of Gotland County Cecilia Schelin Seidegård and tour her lovely residence. Thank you Governor for taking the time to greet us and I look forward to seeing beautiful Visby in July, when the sun only sets at midnight!

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Empowering Women in the 21st Century: U.S. Ambassador at Large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer Visits U.S. Embassy Stockholm

On December 14, 2012, in Sweden, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Ambassador Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues

Women’s issues are not just about women anymore. As President Obama said in April, “They are family issues, they are economic issues, they are growth issues, they are issues about American competitiveness. They’re issues that impact all of us.”

We have a President and a Secretary of State who understand the interdependence between advancing economic opportunities for women and advancing the overall prosperity and condition in society. Promoting and empowering women in business and political leadership positions is not just good for women, it’s good for all of us. Countless studies conclude it’s better for share-holders returns, better for the bottom-line and better for the productivity of corporate boards when more women have a seat at the table. The most creative innovation comes from a diversity of ideas and voices.

Our leaders take this challenge so seriously that Secretary Clinton created a brand new role within the State Department to implement this vision. Melanne Verveer is the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues. The Secretary has charged Embassies worldwide to deliver on this “strategic and moral imperative” of women’s empowerment as a top priority.

Mark and I had the honor of hosting her this week here in Stockholm.

Ambassador Verveer often cites the unique “power to convene” as an effective tool for American Embassies around the world. Bringing a diverse set of people together around a common challenge and facilitating open, authentic dialogue can be a transformative experience that can be a catalyst for change.

On Tuesday, we did precisely that. Mark and I brought together a group of Sweden’s top female and male CEO’s and senior managers around key questions: What are the critical components necessary for an ideal ecosystem to empower women in senior business positions? What can we learn from different models elsewhere? And what lessons learned could these leading business people thatlive in a country that leads on gender equality share with us? Essentially, what really works ?

We began from an empirical framework and examined low-cost childcare, maternity/paternity leave benefits, access to capital, entrepreneurial training, mentorship programs, role models, mandatory quotas and the commitment of headhunters on this issue, as basic components that could possibly create “virtuous circles” (or low cost, high leverage cycles) of change.

Low-cost, high quality childcare is an example of this. When women have low-cost childcare available they have more capital and time to put into something productive for themselves and society, such as an entrepreneurial enterprise.

Through the dialogue, Ambassador Verveer helped frame the issue for us. Simply put, gender diversity at the top makes economic sense. She called on the private sector, and in particular CEO’s, to make a commitment to empowering women and pointed to specific examples of public-private partnerships she is familiar with, like Coke’s 5/20 program. This issue is in our collective self-interest, as Ambassador Verveer said, yet no country in the world has closed the gap yet.

One country that has made great strides is Sweden. In Sweden today, there are more female Cabinet Ministers than male, including a female Minister of Defense. There are 1.5 women for every man in tertiary education (a statistic reflected also in the United States). And yet in this realm there is so much more that can be done — less than 2% of Sweden’s top executives are women although they have the highest representation globally with 21 percent.

All these numbers tell us one thing: we still have a great deal of work to do to unleash the power of gender and facilitate women’s full economic participation. With aspirational leaders like President Obama, Secretary Clinton, and Ambassador Verveer, I have true faith that women of my generation and our daughter’s will have a greater voice in the workplace because of the trailblazers before us.

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Creating a New Definition of Leadership

On October 12, 2012, in Sweden, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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What does leadership mean in today’s information-rich, interdependent economy? How can we create a new definition of leadership that encompasses diversity and openness?

These were some of the central questions asked Tuesday evening as I spoke to a group of young female professionals in a glass-enclosed, panoramic annex room of the Stockholm School of Economics. The young women were part of Barbro Ehnbom’s “Best and Brightest”, or the BBB network, which brings together rising stars from the university’s economics program to form a professional network. The goal of the network is to cultivate the leaders of tomorrow in the international business community, and the members receive valuable business contacts, scholarships and even job opportunities in China, which is Ms. Ehnbom’s latest scholarship effort.

Each year one of these women is chosen as the “Female Economist of the Year,” and I had the privilege to speak alongside one of the winners, Ambassador Lisa Svensson, on a range of topics concerning leadership, work-life balance and the obstacles women face in the corporate promotion and hiring processes, and especially in establishing an authentic form of personal leadership.

I relish these discussion opportunities because they are not moments where I speak at the group or preach my belief in work-life balance, but instead as a group we help create environments where we listen to each other and share lessons learned. I am not a female CEO or executive, and listening and learning from the panoply of international experiences those young women have had allows me to better understand the challenges that lay ahead for both young professional women and men. I truly believe that in the debate itself lies much of the solution. And together we were able to identify a series of obstacles that present themselves for young people in the workplace, such as avoiding burning out, managing personal life with career, and seeking out appropriate role models and mentors.

In the end, together we concluded what many statisticians and researchers have recently said: that the most effective executive boards or senior management groups are the ones with the most diversity. And not just gender diversity, but diversity in education, life experience, culture and religion. In an interdependent world where many corporations have a presence in more than a hundred countries around the world, being able to relate to others, have empathy and an open mind are critical to success. Being able to lead both from one’s emotional side as well as intellectual side is what the future of leadership will entail, according to many of the young women. Finding role models that emulate those qualities is of utmost importance. And one person mentioned time and again that evening as such a role model was Barbro Ehnbom, the founder of the network. Her passion for mentorship, belief in those young women and dedication to their futures is key to their self-confidence and something we all need more of: women helping other women, and human beings coming to each other’s sides in an increasingly competitive world rife with challenges.

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