In my role across boardrooms of businesses in the UK and the USA I am fortunate to meet some strong, dynamic and uniquely talented women. Last week I had the pleasure of meeting a brilliant fund manager, who has created an investment fund targeted at female owned high growth businesses. She is transforming those businesses through the funding she enables.

We talked about the specific issues women face trying to attract funding, and their attitude to risk, fundamentally that women are instinctively more risk averse than their male counterparts. When faced with the decision to place their family home as collateral against a loan, women are far less willing to sign on the dotted line.

Despite these innate differences such as risk appetite, I believe that there are strategies women can adopt if they seek to get ahead.

One of my big issues with companies established to help women in business is that they talk only to women, about women. They talk about how much more co-operative, and collaborative they are and they talk about the shared difficulties and issues they face. I believe this is a bit like getting together in a church hall and listening to the sound of our own echo. Very comforting, in so much as we recognise the sound of our own voices, but not really moving the debate forward or preparing us for winning in business.

Clearly, business is a mixed team event and as business people it is no good training for the all girls rugby if you are about to go out on the field and come up against something looking like Mike Tindall. The world of business is not a church hall, it is a commotion, a mêlée, and unless you prepare for the mêlée then how do you expect your voice to be heard? To be considered for promotion? To be listened to?

I spend a lot of time in Manhattan and if there is one thing Manhattan does well it is really tall buildings. As a result, New Yorkers have some of the best and most polished ‘elevator pitches’ I have ever heard.

If you get into an elevator with an American, forty two floors later you get out knowing who they are, what they do, why that matters, where they are headed and how you can get involved, and an invite to their next event. We can’t even manage to sustain interest over five floors... perhaps some of us would be better off taking the stairs! But we must learn to grasp these opportunities and following my seminar we will.

I look forward to seeing you there.

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You can see Katie Hopkins present on strategies for success at the following Women in leadership: what’s stopping you? events:

Wednesday 8 June – The Bristol Hotel, Bristol

Thursday 9 June – Charing Cross hotel, London

Wednesday 15 June – Park Plaza, Leeds

Thursday 16 June – Austin Court, Birmingham

To book onto these events please go to the relavent webpage above or fill-in the attached PDF booking form and send it to Kathryn Stubley, Event Co-ordinator at kathryn.stubley@cimaglobal.com or call 020 8849 2207.