The fifth season of the world special project “100 Women” has started on the BBC channel. This year, it will address women's issues that are relevant throughout the world. One of them is career restrictions. At the same time, according to statistics cited by the BBC, "Russia is the world leader in the number of women leaders," where a special place is occupied by the ladies who head the traditionally "male business." Thus, Marina Potoker, General Director of ROCKWOOL Russia, became the main heroine of the story about a woman-leader from Russia.
Mostly in developed countries, there is such a problem as a "glass ceiling". That is, in almost any field of activity, it is quite difficult for women to take a place in the highest echelon of power. According to global statistics, more than a third of companies around the world do not have a single woman in their top management. However, in Russia the situation is the opposite, with a record number of women leaders.
ROCKWOOL Russia CEO Marina Potoker runs four stone wool factories and is responsible for the company's operations in the markets of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Marina told the BBC about how she feels in a male-dominated industry.
“When I became the head of the company globally in Russia,“funny”crisis times came. Natural curiosity and a desire to learn still outstripped the fear that was inside,”says Marina.
Marina Potoker's management approach is based not only on the implementation of innovations aimed at strengthening the brand, developing the market and the industry. Marina considers strengthening of the corporate culture and implementation of programs for personal growth and development of employees an important aspect, calling for “giving ideas from the bottom up” so that each employee understands that he is making a real contribution to the future of the business.
About what it is like for a woman to manage a “men's business”, Marina Potoker says: “Basically, in production, these are men, but in this case I do not divide into women's and men's teams. These are teams of professionals, first of all, with whom it is interesting to work, who are interested in setting ambitious goals, and who are absolutely ready to stand up and move forward."
Of course, everyone is interested in the question of how a woman leader copes with emotions: “I show emotions when I am sincerely happy for some achievements and results. I understand that I have no right to demonstrate negative emotions to people, although it seems to me that they now read a lot by looking,”Marina Potoker answered with a smile.
As part of the annual 100 Women special project, the BBC talks about the lives of influential and inspiring women in the 21st century in different countries.
In 2017, the BBC is asking women to help find solutions to four of women's most pressing problems - career constraints, female illiteracy, street harassment and sexism in sports.
The season began with the publication of the names of 60 prominent women, including NASA astronaut American Peggy Whitson, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and English football player Stephanie Jane Houghton. There are also several women from the CIS countries among the participants. Russia is represented by Marina Potoker, General Director of ROCKWOOL Russia. The final 40 women's names for this season will be released in October.
About company
ROCKWOOL Russia is part of the ROCKWOOL Group of Companies - the world leader in stone wool solutions. The products are used for insulation, sound insulation and fire protection and are intended for all types of buildings and structures, as well as for shipbuilding and industrial equipment. ROCKWOOL provides consulting services in the field of energy efficiency of buildings, supplies system solutions for facade insulation, roofing and fire protection, decorative panels for facades, acoustic suspended ceilings, sound barriers to protect against road noise and anti-vibration panels for railways, artificial soil for growing vegetables and flowers.
ROCKWOOL was founded in 1909 and is headquartered in Denmark. ROCKWOOL owns 28 factories in Europe, North America and Asia. The staff numbers over 10,000 specialists. Russian production plants ROCKWOOL are located in Balashikha, microdistrict. Zheleznodorozhny in the Moscow region, in the city of Vyborg in the Leningrad region, in the city of Troitsk in the Chelyabinsk region and in the SEZ "Alabuga" (Republic of Tatarstan).
