Claudia Woods, WeWork LATAM CEO, Shares Career and Leadership Insights

Woman, mother, daughter, leader, entrepreneur, boss—there is a myriad of roles a woman can embrace throughout her life. Amidst the symbolism of International Women's Day celebrated annually on March 8, these reflections intensify. Faced with numerous challenges and transformations, the REsource editorial team interviewed inspiring women in the real estate market who hold leadership positions, aiming to understand their key challenges and provide valuable insights for other professionals aspiring to the top.

You'll delve into an exclusive interview with Claudia Woods, WeWork LATAM CEO. A professional with a degree in Economics from Bowdoin College (USA), a master's in Marketing and Strategy from UFRJ, and certification from Harvard Business School, Claudia brings a wealth of experience in the Brazilian digital market, particularly in startups. Before joining WeWork, she held the position of General Manager at Uber in Brazil, leading a successful project to increase female presence in the company. Today, one of her career objectives is to promote equal participation of women in executive boards.

Notably, Claudia has been recognized as one of Brazil's most powerful women by Forbes (2020) and featured in Bloomberg's ranking of the 500 most influential people in Latin America for two consecutive years (2021 and 2022). Read on for the insightful conversation:

REsource: How was it to accept the challenge of leading WeWork in Latin America?

Claudia Woods (CW): Like many companies in my history, WeWork was born with the purpose of truly changing the status quo and how things are done. So, when the invitation to join WeWork came, despite the challenging times—we were emerging from the pandemic lockdown, and society was reflecting on the pros and cons of what we had experienced—I saw a tremendous opportunity to lead what is now a cliché, the future of work. This expression didn't exist three years ago, just like hybrid work or Anywhere Office. And WeWork was at the core of this discussion.

Our model inherently supported hybrid work long before it became a trend. Why should only large companies be in the best locations and have super cool offices? Why should small business owners or entrepreneurs lead lonely lives without the opportunity for exchange? All of this was at the core of the company, and from 2020 onwards, we have a great opportunity to make this the new model for the future.

Additionally, all my professional decisions always go through an initial filter, evaluating the level of impact I can have on the organization. I talk so much about the impact this company can have on the world, on society, and my personal agenda, about the impact I can generate. In the case of WeWork, these two things aligned perfectly, combining the company's impact on advocating, and building this new work model with what I could bring at this moment, with all my experience in disruptive companies, building new business models, in companies that were startups at some point. When I combined these two impacts, I saw that it was the perfect time to take on this challenge.

REsource: What were the main challenges you faced in your career so far?

CW: Often, people look at the resume, the brands, the quick stints at some companies, and there's always that judgment: "Wow, you worked in so many segments, but here you only stayed for two years?" I start laughing and say, "I stayed two years because the mission was to build the company and sell it. And we sold it." I see this as a very traditional lens for looking at careers, that traditional way of needing to be in the office, sitting at the desk at 9 a.m., getting up at 6 p.m., having a boss who checks to see who arrived first and who left first.

In my career, what was very consistent and still is the impact issue, driven by the innovation drive. How do we look at markets that always operated in a certain way and see different possibilities? How do we challenge society's problems, cities' problems, people's lives, and try to bring about a turning point? Regardless of the segments I have worked in, which almost become supporting roles in my central mission of disruption, impact, and technology.

REsource: The real estate market still has a strong male predominance. How is WeWork working to achieve gender equity in the industry? What are the main initiatives?

CW: Throughout my career, I've experienced all kinds of cultures, including the financial market, which is a much more traditional market where being a rising woman is much more difficult. I've also worked for companies that were leaders in the diversity process.

I like to believe that in organizational environments, generally speaking, some more immature than others, we have structures more prepared to meet this demand. For some years, I had the perception that I was lucky to go through environments that were not hostile or were super inclusive. The truth is, we didn't have that so top of mind, we weren't trained to identify it. Quite the opposite.

And at WeWork, I had the real opportunity to shape this. Here, we have 62% female employees in LATAM, and at the management and leadership levels, this percentage is above 50%. So, we have the two most sought-after metrics, which encompass the entire employee body and are rarely reflected in top leadership. It's a source of great pride; we are surrounded by female talents.

Additionally, we have a compliance and reporting process aimed at monitoring and maintaining our environments inclusive, respectful, and diverse for employees. We embrace the mission of keeping our communities this way. Today, the company's reporting compliance process functions within a building, and another company was created with an autonomous mechanism, with a system prepared for complete anonymity related to this matter and professionalism in an investigation.

REsource: How to ensure gender equity?

CW: Diversity must be on all sides. Generally, I like to think about this with two perspectives. One is the leadership's strength in believing in this, in setting goals for it, and being very vocal, transparent, and not ashamed to take up this cause. The problem arises when this approach depends on a specific leadership that does it with the power of shouting. On the day the shout becomes less strong or that leadership leaves, processes revert, and biases return. Companies naturally lean toward the easier path. And the easiest path is not the most diverse.

So, I like to work on two sides, the belief side, and the processes. This means looking at the recruitment process and ensuring parity of candidates who are finalists for a position so that you don't reach the final stage with only white heterosexual men to choose from. In other words, how do we insert an equal opportunity for everyone to compete for that position in that final stage?

Another crucial moment is in the promotion and internal evaluation process. Are those people being chosen really the best, with the highest performance ratings, the highest level of delivery, and cultural fit? It can't be just a choice because the leader is recommending it. I believe a lot in goals for this subject; it depends a lot on the company and the maturity of the company. There's no point in setting the goal without changing the process.

When did we imagine that we would have more than 62% of women? I see it because of the combination of my female leadership and my focus on the talents within the company, involving the identification of several high-performing women who knew the company's history and had everything to take on higher positions but were being left behind, mainly due to unconscious bias.

REsource: What advice would you give to women starting their careers and aspiring to leadership positions?

CW: I think this advice is valid for both men and women. The first thing is to be clear about what your purpose is versus the company's purpose. When this purpose is clear, choices become much easier to navigate. Be true to your purpose.

We, women, receive much more judgment in general. There is so much bias associated with our choices as women, mothers, daughters, bosses. And here comes the main tip, drown out the noise of judgments from previous generations. Understand what your purpose is and don't be ashamed of it. Don't be ashamed to say that you want a more flexible job so you can work from home as much as possible.

Another important tip is to make pacts with family members, the community, the boss—your allies, the people who are important for that purpose to happen. The truth is that the life of a working woman, especially if there is a choice of motherhood, the only certainty you can have is that you can't do anything alone. You need a support ecosystem.

In the coming weeks, keep following REsource for more special content for Women's Month. If you are interested in exploring the flexible office offerings provided by WeWork, access the giant coworking's complete portfolio on SPOT to check availabilities for positions, floors, or private rooms.