What’s Next in Women’s

Leadership?

Dr. Mary Gresham

Society of Consulting Psychology

February 8, 2013

“Fifty per cent of the talent in the country, we’ve pushed off in

the corner for almost 200 years,” he said. “Now that we’re . . .

starting to use 100 per cent of our talent, it makes me very

optimistic.”

Record number of women

elected to House and Senate

Where are the women?

Where we are today in the U. S.

Is there a payoff for diversity on the

Board?

McElhaney and Mobasseri

Haas School of Business research

Correlation of 3 or more women on

board and measures of ESG on the

MSCI index

Problems: small sample size;

correlations from .15-.47

Other findings

Less likelihood of financial

restatements

Enhanced company reputation

Better board attendance

Better notes taken at board meetings

More likely to have a photo of the

board in annual report

More likely to have females in top

leadership of company

Why so few in the C Suite?

Successful Bank CEO advice

Second Generation Bias

Largely unconscious

Brain categorization processes

Systems self-perpetuating

Gender Diversity Ecosystem

McKinsey: Making the Breakthrough

N=235 European companies

What matters: 4 areas

1. Visible commitment at the top

2. Analysis and Tracking

3. Company Culture

4. Customization based on data

MUST BE RATED AS WELL DONE!!!!

Ratings by Level

What are criteria for well done?

CEO: Makes business case for it, open

and visible sponsorship

DATA: Gender data on pay, attrition,

promotion rates, % at each level

CULTURE: address 24/7 ideal,

feedback processes, discomfort with

mentoring, training, coaching

CUSTOMIZED: Data based

Examples of Customized Actions

Entry: Reach out to college women

and offer internships, opportunities

Middle: Flex work for both genders;

fast track women before children;

Coaching, encouragement, skills

training

Senior: Arrange success for high

performing women, visibility, credit

Individual Level Changes

To succeed in leadership role:

Intensive information gathering

Mobilize Backing

Negotiate for Resources

Getting Buy In, Overcoming Resistance

Make Visible Difference

Kolb, Williams, Frohlinger (2010)

Coaching for Women

Business School Programs

with Women’s Leadership Intensives

Harvard, Stanford, Northwestern,

Simmons, Barnard, Smith, University

of Virginia, University of Southern

California, Wake Forest, UCLA, UC

Berkeley, Rutgers, Wash U, Michigan,

Georgetown, UNC, Dartmouth, etc.

Change is Coming

Women’s magazines

Groups Pushing for Gender Diversity

150 Diverse Candidates Directory

Wall of Shame

No Women on the Board

Blackstone Group Live Nation

Burger King Pilgrims Pride

Cheesecake Factory Quiksilver

Chesapeake Energy Service Corp Int

Del Monte Urban Outfitters

Expedia Warner Music

First Data

Level 3 10% of Fortune 500

Wall of Shame (cont.)

No Women Executive Officers

AIG Delta

Apple Exxon

Bank of America General Mills

Bed Bath Beyond Kellogg

Capitol One Oshkosh

Citigroup Sherwin Williams

Costco

Whirlpool 27% of Fortune 500

Shareholder Activism

Quotas

Legally mandated quotas for public

companies

Norway

Belgium

Iceland

Italy

France

Spain

Mandated Quotas for Gov’t owned

companies

Switzerland

Israel

South Africa

Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012

Australia: Collection of gender equity

data for each company with 100 or

more employees.

Report signed by CEO and made

public

Focus on outcomes not initiatives

Comparisons of how well a company

does against a benchmark

What’s next in the US?