Women & ambition - it's a complicated relationship

Forbes recently published an interesting article on women's relationship with ambition and how important it is for employers to foster an environment to support women in their ambition.

The article focuses on a study carried out by American Express. One of the findings which I particularly relate to is that many women feel that ambition is not a simple thing; it has many facets. Women want to have successful careers, financial independence and skills, be healthy, great parents and have fulfilling personal relationships. This essentially means finding the right balance in every aspect of our lives, which can be extremely challenging.

Since American Express launched The Ambition Project, 5 more women have joined the Executive Committee and more than 100 women have been promoted or joined the company at the executive level. At the beginning of the study, only 31% of women at American Express said they were proud to call themselves ambitious and now 67% of women at the company describe themselves as ambitious publicly (that's over double!). This just shows that employers have a large role to play in helping women achieve their own definition of success.

Check out the link below to read this inspiring article which is particularly topical in the lead up to International Women's Day.