Women at LBBW – Board Member Stefanie Münz and COO Cara Schulze in dialogue

I would definitely say something has changed. I can speak from the capital markets: when I joined the bank three years ago, colleagues were a bit shocked to have someone who didn't talk about football. But through consistent steering with the balanced scorecard, we have seen successes. Diverse teams create a better atmosphere, and research shows you are more successful with diversity. Customers also expect a mirror of themselves and of society. I also want to highlight the male colleagues: there are more and more men who massively support us, especially among younger leaders. The desire of men to support women has grown significantly. The hesitant attitude is disappearing, and we are seeing a cultural shift. The art now is to use this momentum and institutionalize it.

One thing that is extremely different is childcare, which is regulated very differently than in Germany. As a result, longer family breaks like here don't exist in that sense. But generally, people there have been dealing with the topic much earlier. We are biologically inclined to surround ourselves with people like us, but through training and openness we can change that. The pressure from politics to simply no longer accept the status quo started much earlier too.

I already touched on that. I believe many women confirm that they need more self-confidence. They often ask themselves, 'Should I apply? Can I do the job?' before even trying. My advice is: ask yourself what you want, and imagine someone else will get that position – then you would ask, 'I could have done that.' So ask that question before the decision. Men have the responsibility to choose and take care of the process. I once had a boss who said, 'It's my responsibility to trust you – but you have to want it.' For men, the development is going in the right direction; they can contribute to awareness. If male leaders systematically work on developing the next generation, we will have taken a major step together.

I can only underline everything – the topic of daring yourself, going forward, raising your hand is really important. Performance alone without raising your hand won't get you anywhere. To the men: keep supporting us. Diversity is what brings us a more pleasant office atmosphere. And we must carry the topic of diversity further – not only gender, but also age, sexual orientation. Germany is multicultural now, and LBBW should reflect that. I wish for men and women to go this path together to make LBBW match the image of our customers. As an appeal to women: there is no better time than now. Awareness is complete, quotas are there, support is there from all sides. I can't imagine a better situation to take that step. Thank you.