The latest issue of the Mckinsey Quarterly is a special issue on women and leadership. There is no doubt that the intellectual, social and economic contributions of women are vital to organisations and economic progress. So why aren’t more women making it to the C-suite?
The first article ‘A business case for women’ argue that there are tangible business benefits for companies that can hire and retain more women. Research from the authors found that across the European Union only 11% of the membership of governing bodies such as boards of directors included women. Whilst in the United States less than one third of the leading 1500 companies had any women top executives. Yet research shows that companies with several senior-level women tend to perform better financially. At a time when countries are facing talent shortages at all levels, the authors argues that hiring and retaining more women helps companies by enlarging their talent pools.
The second featured article ‘Centred leadership: how talented women thrive’ proposes a new leadership model that can help women along with their careers. In interviews with 85 female leaders from around the world the authors suggest five common themes that all executives can master to improve their leadership skills. The special issue also includes interviews with Sandra Dawson a pioneering academic from Cambridge University and Beth Axelrod from eBay.
The latest issue of Mckinsey Quarterly (2008:4) is available from the library desk
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