The battle of the sexes is still raging in the nation's boardrooms, according to a survey.

Almost 1,000 chief executives, company directors and senior managers from around Britain were asked their opinion on leadership and the results found 84 per cent of men firmly believe they make the best leaders while 59 per cent of women disagree.

The survey, conducted for the inaugural International Leadership Summit, also revealed the number of women that believed men made the best leaders was more than double the number of men that thought women were better.

The results surprised Caraline Brown, founder and chief executive of Sussex's largest public relations company, Brighton-based Midnight Communications, but she believes the disparity in numbers between men and women in boardrooms is getting smaller.

Ms Brown, who was recently made a Fellow of the Institute of Public Relations (IPR) in recognition of her outstanding work in the field, said: "Women appear to be less concerned with status than men and are more concerned about getting the job done than how they look.

"Being a leader is all about personality - having conviction in your views and being unafraid about carrying them out regardless of whether you're right or wrong.

"I don't think it is about gender. However, in the early days of the sexual revolution women were less practised at having their views heard and consequently were less likely to lead others. As the sexes grow closer I believe we will see leaders emerging equally from both sexes."

The summit is at Earls Court on October 18 and 19 and speakers will include Rudolph Giuliani, Jack Welch, Michael Porter, Alvin Toffler, Lester Thurow, Frank Maguire and Robert Kaplan.

Further information is available at www.leadersinlondon.com or on 0207 9155193.

Tuesday July 13, 2004