Corinne Poroli

When entrepreneurial identity meets multiple social identities

Purpose – This paper aims at exploring the dynamics of multiple identities of women entrepreneurs (WE). The paper analyse how WE do identity work in relation to specific identity regulations in the particular French cultural context. The objective is to understand how the entrepreneurial identity process of women is built through both confrontation and synergy with other social identities. Design/methodology/approach – The paper opted for a qualitative and abductive methodological design. In total, 41 French WE from diverse business activities were interviewed. The empirical material was subject to thematic analysis. Findings – The findings reveal the ability of these WE to deal with numerous and various identities. Their daily strategies to accommodate different roles depict how their entrepreneurial activity is intertwined with their personal and social life. The paper are far away from the picture of a monolithic entrepreneur without social dimensions. Given that, the findings broaden the too simplisti...

French Women Entrepreneurs’ Leadership Practices and Well-Being in a High-Growth Context

Entrepreneurial track is a source of innovation for women’s leadership (Bel 2009). What about the women who have spent many years as the head of growth companies that they created or acquired? In order to measure up to what point these women defy the canon, we wanted to examine the managerial and strategic postures that they assume. We conducted interviews in 2012 with six women leaders of growth companies. We observed that these women’s leadership reveals not only strategically transgressive attitudes, but also a radical rupture with a system of thought that tends to define leadership as an institutionalizing dynamic. This challenging posture does not intend to create a new type of leadership, but it highlights a trend towards a more authentic, shared and distributed leadership. Moreover, this type of leadership contributes to the well-being of these women entrepreneurs and their teams at work.