DACH consultant, Gianna Elif Moncorps introduces her blog for International Women's Day.

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In business, results speak louder than narratives. And the results are clear: companies with more women in leadership positions tend to perform better.

 

According to McKinsey’s “Diversity wins” report from 2020, companies with more than 30 percent women executives are significantly more likely to outperform less gender diverse businesses by up to 48%.

 

This especially matters in Private Equity and Venture Capital backed businesses, where we, at Camino Search are observing an unprecedented demand for top tier finance leaders.

 

The opportunity for women is therefore not only to be part of that leadership pipeline, but to position themselves clearly and confidently as the strategic leaders these firms are looking for.

 

However, representing leadership does not start when you open the office doors but rather way earlier.

 

At the end of 2025, Camino Search published its fourth edition of The Global Report.

 

Featured within this edition of the report was Darktrace CFO, Catherine Graham, someone who I found particularly inspirational as a female leader within the private equity community – having notably been the architect who sold Darktrace to Thoma Bravo in a multi-billion-dollar deal (Camino Search: The Global Report, Issue Four ‘The Billion Dollar Buy-ins’).

 

 

Her narrative within the report was clear “If you don’t write your own story, the bankers will.” The decisiveness of this thought which provoked inspiration for me to pen this blog for International Women’s Day.

 

For most people that story begins with a strong leadership-focused CV that emphasises the value that was created, the deals that have been led, and the teams that were managed.

 

Rather than just describing a list of responsibilities it is crucial to steer awayfrom passive phrasings, to set the focus on impact-driven statements that are underlined by metrics and clear ownership of achievements.

 

But confidence is not only reflected in how a CV is written but also in the willingness to put oneself forward to senior roles.

 

An internal report from Hewlett-Packard suggests that this is a critical point where a lot of women are hesitant.

 

According to their results, men tend to apply for jobs when they meet about 60% of the listed qualifications, whilst women apply only if they meet close to 100%. Meaning that for women specifically confidence also means trusting their own assessment of their abilities.

 

If a role aligns with their experience, it is important to step forward and clearly articulate the decisions they have made and the results they have delivered. When leadership potential is expressed clearly and with conviction, it becomes visible to others long before the title follows.

 

A strong example in this space is Elona Mortimer-Zhika, who rose through finance roles before becoming CEO of the private equity backed IRIS Software Group – we also featured her story on ‘Building Winning Cultures’ in our third issue of The Global Report published in Spring, 2025.

 

What stood out to me out in her career is how she used financial expertise as a foundation rather than a limitation.

 

Instead of remaining positioned purely as a finance specialist, she consistently stepped into broader strategic and operational discussions.

 

For women in finance aiming for leadership roles, there is a clear lesson here. Use financial expertise as a platform to engage in bigger decisions.

 

Speak up in strategic conversations, connect financial insights to the direction of the business, and position yourself not only as someone who analyses numbers but as someone who helps shape the decisions behind them.

 

If you’re a CFO looking to make your next career move, please reach out to me – I’d be keen to connect and explore opportunities to help you move into your next leadership position.

 

You may also find my colleague, Ben Grinsted’s, CV template for executive leaders helpful if you are preparing your CV for your next move. You can click the banner below to visit the landing page and download it.

 

 

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Camino Search is a specialist human capital and talent advisory partner to private equity investors and their portfolio companies.

 

Unlike many recruitment and executive search firms, we focus exclusively on private capital-backed technology and professional services businesses, parterning with investors to solve essential hiring challeges, where experience in the technology/SaaS/AI and professional services ecosystems are vital to the company growth trajectory.

 

We believe that talent transforms businesses. As a result, we partner closely with the private capital ecosystem to appoint transformational leaders who align with growth and value creation strategies.