WOMEN & LEADERSHIP

While it is encouraging to know that ‘women in leadership’ is now viewed as the norm rather than an oxymoron, it remains disappointing that only a select few women are making it to top management.

Research conducted by Catalyst, the White House Project and the journal Psychological Bulletin shows that female leadership positively impacts the bottom-line and employee performance, yet companies are still reluctant to shatter their own glass ceiling.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the boardroom. As noted in the recent Wall Street Journal’s ‘Top 50 Women to Watch Out For’, the number of women serving on boards of directors is decreasing, despite workplace gains for some high-powered professional women.

The lack of gender diversity on boards (as well as diversity of ethnicity, international exposure, functional background, etc.) is just as unacceptable as women not making it to the executive suites.

To put it simply, the board of directors makes important corporate decisions, with far-reaching impact.  Who is, or isn’t, represented on the board can affect how a company is governed, which strategies are put in place to recruit and retain employees, how the organization goes about understanding and fulfilling customers’ needs, etc. – all of which have a direct influence on corporate growth, and on success or failure. Board diversity increases the likelihood that the interests of all stakeholders (including investors,employees, consumers, suppliers, regulators, communities, and consumer advocacy and activist groups) are considered when making important decisions.

If the business case for board diversity is clear, then why aren’t more companies appointing diverse candidates to board positions? Bridge Partners LLC, an executive search firm with a focus on placing senior-level women and diversity executives to corporate and board roles, has conducted several senior management & board director diversity surveys.

Commentary on these surveys highlights a primary reason for the continued lack of board diversity – often an executive is appointed to a board position via a recommendation from a current board director.

Larry Griffin and Tory Clarke, co-founders of Bridge Partners LLC, state that there is a "significant 'untapped supply' of qualified, engaged senior-level female and minority executives who are rarely approached for these Board roles because they are not on the 'traditional' radar."

Having identified a need for diverse board members and a supply of qualified candidates, Bridge Partners LLC (http://www.bridgepartnersllc.com) created the Directorship Insights service in 2007. This service is aimed at connecting corporations with potential diverse board members. Within a year of launch, it had gained over 200 senior executive members. This membership continues to grow, dispelling the myth that there are not enough qualified diverse candidates interested in board director positions.  Hopefully corporations will take up the challenge to diversify their Board of Directors.