In an internal memo earlier this year, Peter Bakker, chief executive of TNT, the Dutch-based logistics group, was frank about the benefits of having Marie-Christine Lombard join the management board as its first female director. “Marie-Christine has been on the board for over a year now and the egos have left the room,” he said. “Board meetings have a much better tone and feel about them now.”

Lombard, a Frenchwoman who heads TNT Express, the business-to-business fast delivery division, is also one of the new names on the Financial Times and Financial Times Deutschland’s second annual list of the top 25 women in European business. Her inclusion, along with nine other newcomers, reflects our greater focus this year on chief executives and women heading divisions of global companies.