“To improve diversity, women may hold the key, but men generally still control the lock.” Olivier Marchal, head of the French operation of Bain & Co. (source)
That quote says it all. For companies to thrive in the future (and frankly, in the present), they need to learn how to create a more diverse leadership team. Women play an integral part in that diversity. Research from Catalyst shows that Fortune 500 companies with three or more women on the board of directors experience returns on equity on average of 83% higher than companies with just a token woman or two on their boards.
To date, companies have been forcing women to adapt to the male-dominated thinking and behavior of it existing leadership requirements. Savvy companies are quickly learning that this is not the way to go. Instead, some companies are realizing that the key to long-term success is to adapt the company to more thoroughly embrace women. It turns out that changing the company is far more effective than changing women. It’s about time.
This information comes to us from Avivah Wittenberg-Cox and Alison Maitland whose new book, Why Women Mean Business, will be released in March 2008 and focuses on, “understanding the emergence of our next economic revolution.” Sounds like a must read for women in business.
Tags: women in business, businesswomen, female executives, business diversity, equality, career development, women on business, leadership
Susan Gunelius
Susan Gunelius is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Women on Business. She is a 30-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored a dozen books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing, 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and is a Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).
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