Former British Prime Minister's Wife Urges America to Retake Leadership Role
Cherie Blair urged U.S. to reaffirm its leadership position on the world stage.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Feb. 6, 2009 -- Noting the world's fixation on the election of Barack Obama, Cherie Blair, the wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, urged the United States to reaffirm its leadership position on the world stage.
''Whatever the critics of [America] may say, the world needs this country's leadership now more than ever,'' Blair said earlier this week at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School.
A noted human rights and employment lawyer, Blair also holds the title of Queen's Counsel, given to the most senior lawyers in England. She focused her talk on workplace opportunities for women and highlighted the election of North Carolina Gov. Bev Purdue, the state's first female governor, as a step in the right direction.
''These elections illustrate America's ability to reinvent itself,'' she said, noting that shattering the glass ceiling must be a priority. ''It benefits everyone if we remove the barriers to women in our countries.''
Besides significant improvements in countries such as the United States and England, Blair noted a higher percentage of women in the national legislatures of Iraq, Afghanistan and Rwanda.
In the business world, Blair warned that companies who don't use women to fill positions at every level would not succeed. She used the term ''womenomics" to describe the importance of women to economies. The point, Blair said, is not about replacing men in the work force with women; it's about men and women working together to utilize each other's strengths.
While businesses may offer fewer opportunities for women, Blair also noted that women make choices that impede their careers. Women frequently seek out lower paying jobs that might be more flexible or supportive of family demands.
Among women who make more than $100,000 a year, Blair said, 43 percent are unmarried and 49 percent have no children. Among men making twice that per year, 17 percent are unmarried and 19 percent have no children.
Another barrier, Blair noted, is the old-style type of networking that may leave women out. Much of business is about networking, she said, and the informal networks in many businesses are designed for men. Women frequently have difficulty seeking advice from male colleagues, or socializing out of the workplace because of a fear of rumors or misconceptions regarding their intentions.
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