Yes, I think I would still be where I am today; but getting there would have been more challenging. Throughout my career, I always felt that the only things that matter are your ambitions and your performance – but not gender. However, as a woman and particularly as a mother, I would have experienced much more social pressure from people around me to prioritize family life instead of pursuing my career.

Many people don’t understand that you can do well at your job while being a good mother. In contrast, no one has ever asked me what I’m doing late in the office and why I’m not with the kids as a man and father.

When people think of consulting, they often have a male-dominated working culture in mind where you can’t succeed without a ‘work hard, play hard’ attitude. In my eyes, that’s not true. From the very beginning of my career, I have worked in mixed teams; and they performed better than non-diverse teams. Nonetheless, despite all the metrics we use to measure performance in a seemingly objective way, it’s crucial that we address ‘unconscious bias’. For example, a male manager might unconsciously rate the performance of a man in his team higher than that of a woman although both did equally well. We should be transparent about these biased decisions and openly address them in our work.

I try to lead by example and show people that you can both be a caring father and have a top-management position – you don’t need to sacrifice family life over your career. Many professionals still think that it’s either one or the other. In my eyes, changing this perception is the single most important step towards gender equality at the workplace. That’s where I, as a manager, have a big impact even with small things:  Sometimes, it’s as simple as openly saying “no, that’s my family time” when somebody schedules a call while I’m looking after my daughter.