In late June, the Boston Business Journal published an article titled, “There’s Light on the Horizon for Increasing Women on Boards“. The article highlighted a conference in Boston at which Mayor Marty Walsh and Gov. Deval Patrick were in attendance — along with 125 CEO’s, business people and other people of influence — all coming together to discuss how to get more women on corporate boards.
Not a new initiative, of course. In fact, the article mentioned that The Boston Club had been “at this for 35-plus years.” I’ve been shouting the business case for increasing women on boards for years in my own practice. The good news is that people, men and women in varying levels of leadership, understand the business imperative for gender parity. Bottom line: Women leaders are good for business. If anyone’s still arguing that point, I trust they are only doing so in 1950 sitcom re-runs.
However, understanding of and visibility for an initiative are just the first hurdles to jump. Implementation, follow through and action are what move the needle. The article mentions that “the momentum is shifting.” And, in the end, this meeting of the minds had created some resolutions and action plans that leave me hopeful.
Those leading this conference impressed me with their willingness to expose the dynamic inherent in the challenge of legislating change. They noted that this would be a dual commitment between what leaders do individually and what they do in conjunction.
What they left off, however is what women themselves must do in order for American companies to see what the author and I agree are “long overdue results.”
It’s not just a top down enterprise, it’s also bottom up. There are, indeed, ‘binders full of qualified women’ but they need to be vocal and give us the full benefit of their wisdom and ability; they need to actively take up space, deliberately and strategically putting themselves in contention. This is an unfamiliar place for many women but their talent is too great to waste. There’s nothing worse than getting in our own way — there are plenty of other external obstacles — so they’d be best served by investing in their professional development to ensure they have effective communication skills, a distinctive personal brand and a compelling executive presence. We need to equip them to do so through personal branding
Competence isn’t the question. And understanding that women are great on boards is no longer an issue. It’s the visibility and ability to seize open opportunities — with confidence — that’s missing.
Bottom line: The business leaders are on board. We now need to assess and improve and make real time course corrections on the effort presented by women themselves. In my work with women of all ages, all pay scales, all rungs on the corporate ladder, I equip them with the skills to TAKE THEIR SEAT at the table… rather than waiting passively for it to be offered to them.