She is also one of the few female bosses of a mid to large fund manager. "People are still adapting to women in leadership roles. We don't have that many women as CEOs of large asset management firms — it's still the exception rather than something that goes unnoticed," she says..
"A lot of it is generational. I think the younger generation approach it in a more open manner, I don't think they look at leadership through the gender lens in the way that we have had to. Maybe there's sufficient role models that they have seen different styles of leading, they don't map those skills to particular genders.
"At the beginning [of my career], I was very aware of the expectation to lead in a more conventional way — very assertive, extrovert, a highly confident, articulate leadership style, which is very masculine. The pandemic has changed some of that."
Now there is wider acceptance of more "people-centred" leadership, she says. "It would be good to think of empathetic leadership styles without thinking whether they're a man or a woman; but the younger generation are more agnostic."
Melanie Tringham is features editor of FTAdviser
