See a photo of Lisa, her bio, Part 1 of this Q&A, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

Q&A with Lisa Rossetti, Question 6:

Q: You describe yourself as a “champion for women entrepreneurs.” To what extent have you noticed any differences in the way women and men entrepreneurs tell stories about their entrepreneurial enterprises?

A: I volunteered as an ambassador for Women’s Enterprise a couple of years ago, as part of an initiative sponsored by our Regional Development Agency (RDA) to promote women’s enterprise in the North West of England. That work has now come to end with the decommissioning of the RDAs this year. I found being an ambassador was a good platform for meeting with other women and positioning myself as a development specialist.

In my experience, women need encouragement to create a story of success that is authentic for them. I don’t think this is because women are less capable, ambitious or visionary. I think it has something to do with language and the range of metaphors prevalent in business culture. If you bring to mind any common business success metaphor, e.g., the Ladder of Success, a Ramp, a Mountain — these are things that require muscular effort and endurance, and are competitive rather than collaborative in nature!

I gave a presentation on “Authentic Female Leadership” last year to a group of professional women working in traditionally male-orientated businesses like legal and banking. My engagement with them, illustration and content was fundamentally story. I have recently worked with the Association of Coaching contributing what I learnt from that presentation towards an article published on the leadership website, Changeboard.

I find women are exposed almost exclusively to the “Hero’s Story” of male enterprise. The language of male entrepreneurial success is usually drawn from military or sporting worlds, and often aggressive. I wonder if the language that tells the Story of Success in the world of big business is just inaccessible to women. Without a language that you feel comfortable using, it is hard to tell your own story.