Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Sue Decker weighs in on the Ellen Pao/Kleiner Perkins case, female coaches are missing from March Madness, and a woman in Egypt has been living as a man for 42 years. Read on to learn about the trait that makes women the best leaders, and why the best-of-the-best could be, yes, Taylor Swift. Have a great Friday.
EVERYONE'S TALKING
• Follow these leaders. Fifteen of the 50 people on Fortune's new World's Greatest Leaders list are women. Who made the cut? GM CEO Mary Barra, Joanne Liu, international president of Medecins Sans Frontieres, and pop star Taylor Swift, among others. To learn more about the qualities that put them on the list, check out Fortune's Geoff Colvin's piece on the traits of great women leaders. Fortune
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
• Heeding the call. Former Yahoo president Sue Decker brought her two daughters to closing arguments of Ellen Pao's discrimination suit against VC firm Kleiner Perkins. She writes in Re/Code that she has been "obsessed" with the case, and that she identifies with many of the experiences Pao described on the stand. No matter what the jury decides, Decker hopes the suit "will be a wake-up call." Re/Code
• The Ellen effect. Four young women working in tech and venture capital tell Fortune what they think about the Ellen Pao case. One big question weighing on their minds: Will the case lead to more or less hiring and promotion of women? Fortune
• Who's next? When Ruth Porat leaves Morgan Stanley for her new job as Google's CFO (and a pay package of nearly $71 million), who will replace her as Wall Street's top woman? According to CNNMoney, there are two strong contenders: Marianne Lake, CFO of JPMorgan, and Karen Peetz, president of BNY Mellon. CNNMoney
• Stranger than fiction. Meet Sisa Abu Daooh, an Egyptian woman who passed as a man for 42 years. Now 64-years-old, Daooh says she began dressing as a man to escape restrictions on women’s employment in a patriarchal culture. NY Times
• Women coaching women. Been watching the women's March Madness tournament? You've probably spotted more than a few male coaches on the court. The percentage of women coaching women has steadily dropped over the last four decades, to 43% in 2014. Why? The passage of Title IX, which ensures equality on college campuses, has improved women's teams--drawing more male coaches. (One notable exception, Courtney Banghart, coach of the Princeton Tigers, made the World's Greatest Leaders list.) Bloomberg
BROADVIEW
And the world's greatest leader is... Taylor Swift?
Fortune's annual list of the World's Greatest Leaders is out, and the top-ranking woman is not wearing a pantsuit. Although Taylor Swift probably could pull it off, were she to try.
Does a pop star best known for writing kiss-off songs about her famous exes really belong at the top of this list? There's no denying that positioning Swift in front of established leaders such as GM CEO Mary Barra, philanthropist Melinda Gates, and Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is a controversial move. "It's contentious," says Laura Huang, an assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship at the Wharton School. "If you're talking about someone who can motivate people to act toward a common goal, it's a harder sell." And, judging by the Twitter reaction, there are plenty of skeptics out there.
But while haters gonna hate (hate, hate, hate, hate), the case for Swift is actually pretty impressive. Sure, we all know she can write hooks, and that she plays a mean guitar. But don't gloss over the fact that she's also the highest-paid woman in the music industry.
In the past year, Swift racked up an impressive list of smart business moves. Back in November, she pulled her entire catalogue from Spotify, saying that the streaming service doesn't adequately compensate artists. Since then, she's proved to be one of the savviest brand creators going. The singer took steps to trademark some of her key phrases (think "This sick beat"), devalued paparazzi snaps by posting her own photos to Instagram, and, just this week, made the news for buying up any adult-sounding web domains that include her name. She's become a massive cultural influencer—exemplifying the exact model of leadership that forms the basis of this year's list.
To read the rest of my story, click here.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
• Aided by allies? USA Today reports that Hillary Clinton, when she was a U.S. Senator considering a 2008 presidential run, used taxpayer-funded charters to speak at events arranged by her campaign donors and political allies. As she gears up for yet another presidential campaign, expect to hear more about the details of her travel records. USA Today
• Indra Nooyi's PepsiCo moves up: While Coca-Cola is still soda slurpers' No. 1 choice, new data shows that Pepsi-Cola has moved into second place, bumping Diet Coke down to third. WSJ
• A bad date? Kelly Steckelberg was named CEO of Zoosk late last year, after a round of layoffs and an aborted IPO. Her mission is simple, yet formidable: Turn the online dating company around. Fortune
• Does not compute. A new report shows a disturbing drop in the number of women working in computing. In 2013, only 26% of computing professionals were female, down from 35% in 1990. What's behind this decline? The study points to early gender bias, as well as unfriendly workplaces. Fortune
• A pair of firsts. The Victory Fund and Institute, a leading LGBT organization, has named Aisha Moodie-Mills as president and CEO. Moodie-Mills is the first woman and the first African-American to hold the title. Buzzfeed
Share today's Broadsheet with a friend:
http://fortune.com/2015/03/27/the-broadsheet-march/
ON MY RADAR
Nancy Pelosi turns 75 today. She's still the most effective leader in Congress Washington Post
5 things I wish I knew before starting my first job Time
Taraji P. Henson will be only the 10th black woman to host SNL in 40 years Fusion
Katie Couric on a new documentary, her new job, and the NBC rumor mill Time
QUOTE
You are a woman with a brain and reasonable ability. Stop whining and find something to do.
Actor Maggie Smith, as Violet Crawley on 'Downton Abbey.' It was announced yesterday that the series' next season will be its last.
