interview
Multi-Supervisory Board member Simone Menne
Career tips for women: “You have to be able to distribute”
Multi-supervisory board member Simone Menne is the host of the stern podcast “Die Boss”
© Carolin Windel
When is the right time for a career? How often can I ask for a raise? And what should women in particular pay attention to at work? Simone Menne, multi-supervisory board member and host of the stern podcast “Die Boss”, gives tips for professional success.
By Oliver Creutz and Sarah Stendel
In the stern podcast “The Boss – Power is Female”, top women talk to each other: the host is Germany’s most powerful supervisory board member Simone Menne (including BMW, Deutsche Post DHL, Henkel). She meets bosses from all walks of life to talk to them about their lives and careers. The third season starts on October 13th, starting with an episode about women in the start-up scene with entrepreneur and author Verena Pausder. In addition, listeners can look forward to exciting conversations with, among others, the Slovenian star chef Ana Roš, the Vice President of the EU Parliament Katarina Barley or the European Head of Facebook, Angelika Gifford.
At the start of the third season, we asked Simone Menne for her best career tips for women.
Ms. Menne, at what point in life should you decide to pursue a career?
Many people who have made careers were team captains or class representatives when they were at school. That doesn’t mean that in the first few years you say that I want to be a board member. You can also make a career by working more scientifically. This is a later change in the course, after you’ve already tried something: Do I prefer leadership and generalism when I can’t do anything best myself, but manage employees well? Or am I more the researcher who wants to influence through my voice and my books? It’s a career too.
What should a woman necessarily know who is aiming for a career in management or as a founder?
I think the most difficult thing is outside control. That you have a calendar that is largely filled by many others. You have to push through your own priorities very clearly. Another thing is certain that you often have to endure malice, both internally and externally. And the stupid sayings that come up when it says: “But for a mother and manager you are very slim.” Such sentences are borderline sexist. You have to be able to hand out and hit back, that’s part of the game.
How do you learn to cut back?
Girls learn less about this in their childhood. Girls play communication games very early: we go to school together or we do a shop. Whereas boys are more concerned with fighting games: who is the strongest, the best, the fastest? At the beginning of your career, communication and the ability to work in a team help, but from a certain position in the hierarchy it tips: From then on you have to fight. This is often more difficult for women.
Which is better for a career: shoving or patience?
Jostling. You can’t wait to be discovered. You have to have a lot of stamina, but you can’t stay passive. But women who jostle don’t fit the picture and seem rather annoying. It’s a balancing act.
How do women form networks, also across companies?
There are now networks for different species. If you google it afterwards, you will find it. For example Digital Global Women. Or the Nushu team. There are also networks for tax specialists. And for European Business Women. There is the Association of German Women Entrepreneurs. You have to think for yourself, what do I want with the network? Do I want to use his help to clarify professional questions, for example as a board member among other board members? And when it comes to how to bring family and career together, go to Working Moms. It is not enough to say that I want to talk to other women and drink Prosecco.
How useful are services like LinkedIn?
I just recommended women with exotic subjects to post on LinkedIn. This gives them visibility. And then headhunters actually come. Anyone who is in the pharmaceutical industry and interested in the digital should look for the “Digital Health” group. Then write an article there. Or comment on another article. You can build a reputation this way.
How regularly should you negotiate a raise?
If the position has stayed the same, I wouldn’t ask for three years. If you have something to add, you should ask immediately. Likewise when a woman finds out that a male colleague in the same position earns more. Also: launch an application, even if you don’t want to change at all. This is how you find out something about your market value. But the fact is: women ask far too seldom! I’ve never asked for a raise in my life, and of course that was stupid.
“Die Boss” appears every two weeks on Wednesdays on stern.de and the stern’s Youtube channel as well as on Audio Now and all common podcast platforms.