Olga Galushko: it is more difficult for a woman to build a career than for a man

We continue the “Frankly speaking” section. Its heroes are employees of the Mosmetrostroy group of companies, who share their rules of life with readers and speak honestly about themselves. This time we talked with the General Director of Lizinkom LLC, Olga Galushko (pictured). She told me why female charm is useless in business, what a real man should be like and how to become a boss.

• I came to Mosmetrostroy in 2001. Then the country was emerging from the crisis. This company also faced difficulties. Most of the equipment was worn out and needed to be updated. To save money, we decided to lease everything. This is a form of installment plan - you can buy now and pay later. Mosmetrostroy needed an organization that would take on such functions - this is how they opened Lizinkom. I worked in a bank for 10 years and got bored with the monotony. Mosmetrostroy's offer was a breath of fresh air for me.
• It's not easy to be a woman leader. Most CEOs are men. They can stay late at work because they don’t have to cook dinner, clean the apartment and take care of the children - they have a wife to do that. But I don’t have such a wife, I run the household myself and spend time with the child.
• Leadership qualities showed up when I was little: in kindergarten I lined up kids on a line. Even adults could not organize them. When I caught a cold, all my parents called my mother to find out when I would return to kindergarten.
• I'm not a feminist. More like common sense.
• I can’t help but lead. At the bank she quickly rose to the rank of boss, although she didn’t push anyone aside with her elbows.
• Previously, children wanted to be astronauts and ballerinas, but today they want to be designers and programmers.
• At school, they were good at mathematics and history. I didn't like physics and chemistry. However, I entered economics - they took exams in my favorite subjects. Classmates asked: “Olya, do you want to become an accountant with armbands?”
• I had the image of an excellent student. True, this did not stop me from taking the class to the cinema instead of a lesson.
• Our main customer is Stroymekhservice. We bought a huge amount of equipment for them.
• A man must be smart and decent. Another mandatory quality for me is a sense of humor. I'm afraid of people who don't laugh.
• It's better to lose with a smart person than to find with a fool.
• I don't like hysterical and narcissistic women.
• I listen to jazz, I especially love Frank Sinatra. Of the Russian groups, I like “Um2rman”.
• Female charm does not help in your career. The bank managers I work with are predominantly women. My charm doesn't work on them. Yes, and on men too. In business they are guided by reason.
• I visited abroad for the first time at the age of 30. When I was an employee of a research institute, I had access to secrecy - I was prohibited from visiting foreign countries. After my dismissal, I received a foreign passport and traveled halfway around the world.
• I don’t play chess, but I always wanted to learn.
• Each book brings something new to my mind and heart. Young people don’t read – it’s easier for them to watch a movie. But you can’t convey your state of mind through it.
• I take care of myself, try not to overeat, don’t sit at the computer until three in the morning. For 30 years now, I have been getting up at half past five in the morning every day.
• I have no recipes for raising a child. When you become a parent, you understand that people come into the world with their own consciousness and soul. If a child has a character, you can’t mold him to suit you. You can educate by your example. Forbidding a child what he has allowed himself is wrong.
• Some people say that I am a kind leader, others consider me tough. If an employee is lazy, late and constantly makes mistakes, then I will be strict with him.
• I relax after work like all women - I run the household. I go to the shops, clean the apartment, cook. Then I take care of the child. I read before bed.