Advancing Women – what CEOs and Board Chairs can do
Beatrix Dart
Professor of Strategy and former Associate Dean, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto| Academic Director, Global and Experiential Learning, and Acad Director Initiative for Women in Business| Board Director
In early November, at a CEO Summit Event that was co-hosted by the 30% Club Canada and Catalyst, we discussed “what will truly make a difference to get more women onto boards and into senior roles?” The discussion was very lively, and over the course of an hour, the CEOs and board chairs agreed that there are at least 6 critical strategies executives can and should do to make a difference.
The 6 Strategies:
- Promotion lists. Check that every promotion list and board candidate list has more qualified women than men on it. This ensures that women have an opportunity to be seriously considered.
- Provide a chance. At some point someone took a risk to give you your first senior role/board appointment. Give a chance to a qualified women.
- Check for unconscious biases and stereotypes. Unconscious bias refers to a bias that we are unaware of, triggered by our brain making quick decisions. Check that we don’t measure women with higher standards than men.
- Invest in pipeline building. Recognize that senior women do not magically appear from nowhere. Help by sponsoring, mentoring and providing leadership training so that women are confident in their ambition to take on the next role. This includes investing in getting your talented women back into the organization after a leave of absence (check out Rotman Back To Work ).
- Inclusion is a choice. We all need to contribute to a more inclusive workplace. We can do this by embracing different styles and viewpoints.
- Be willing to move outside your comfort zone. Diversity will challenge you. It is often when you are outside your comfort zone will you see a true opportunity to grow, bring new ideas, and ultimately get better results.
Will we see an improvement in the number of women in senior roles and board positions from these six strategies? I remain hopeful. The fact that male CEOs and Board Chairs are engaged through the 30% Club Canada is a major turning point. But perhaps more importantly, it resonates with men on a personal level as well. One of the key moments occurred when a few CEOs with daughters (should they be lucky to have one) reflected on their personal situation: “Would I want my daughter to have lesser chances to advance in her career than my son because she is female?”
I’m betting that more CEOs will take the personal challenge to make Canada a better work environment for all daughters.
Prof. Beatrix Dart, Executive Director, Rotman Initiative for Women in Business
@RotmanWomen @RotmanSchool
Communication & branding - making people, products and services shine 🌟
7yThank you Beatrix Dart for the great post; as we know, it makes good business sense to have diverse, balanced boards. I would add: Create an environment that encourages women to put themselves forward for bigger roles. It is also about women making sure they are branding themselves as being #boardready - don't be shy !
Executive Director, Mosaic Institute
7yGreat piece and great comment Alexandra - it's unfortunate that society only think about women's proximity to men (wife, daughter, sister) to treat them like humans, be on equal footing. This is not exclusive to Board room space either.
Senior Global Product Manager Platform Management at Giesecke+Devrient
7yIsn't it fascinating that it is for the daughters that many men are ready to fight, but not for their wifes? There are at least two challenges for women to advance: 1. Bias of decision makers who prefer maximum similarity - which often translates into same gender and same background and therefore is a major obstacle for men with different background as well. All efforts towards diversity are geared against this preference for the well-known(= similar). 2. Family support. A former, male colleague once worded it: You need a wife to wash and iron your blouses; you don't have the time to do things like this yourself when you are establishing a management career.