What's Next in women's leadership looks at the recent research on women and leadership. this presentation was given to Div 13 mid-winter meeting in Atlanta, Ga

1. What’s Next in Women’s
Leadership?
Dr. Mary Gresham
Society of Consulting Psychology
February 8, 2013

2. “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.”

3. Record number of women
elected to House and Senate

4. Where are the women?

5. Where we are today in the U. S.

6. Is there a payoff for diversity on the
Board?

8. 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

9. 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

10. Why so few in the C Suite?

11. Successful Bank CEO advice

12. Second Generation Bias
 Largely unconscious
 Brain categorization processes
 Systems self-perpetuating

13. Gender Diversity Ecosystem

14. 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!!!!

15. Ratings by Level

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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)

19. Coaching for Women

20. 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.

21. Change is Coming

22. Women’s magazines

23. Groups Pushing for Gender Diversity

24. 150 Diverse Candidates Directory

25. 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

26. 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

27. Shareholder Activism

28. Quotas

29. Legally mandated quotas for public
companies
 Norway
 Belgium
 Iceland
 Italy
 France
 Spain

30. Mandated Quotas for Gov’t owned
companies
 Switzerland
 Israel
 South Africa

31. 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

32. What’s next in the US?