Women in Leadership
I was recently reminded of my favorite Ted Talk by Sandi Toksvig, British television host, activist and gay marriage advocate.
In the 2016 talk, Toksvig talked about the top 100 companies in the London Stock exchange(FTSE). At the time just 7 were run by women, meanwhile, 17 were run by men called John, and 14 were run by men called Dave. In October 2022, two companies were run by men called John, three were run by men called David and 10 were run by women. While there are currently as many companies in the FTSE 100 run by Alison as John, the fact that just 10% of top CEOs are women feels like a lousy representation when you consider that women make up 50% of the human population.
Of the top 100 companies in Fortune’s Global 500 Ranking in 2022 just 7 are run by women.
Of the top 100 companies in Fortune’s Fortune 500 Companies (Top 500 Companies in USA) just 12 are run by women.
Neither of these sources track companies run by people of color.
And the thing is…. It's not like women aren’t being allowed to run companies because they are bad at it. In fact, it’s quite the opposite; companies run by women actually earn more. Credit Suisse reported that “From YE13 through mid-16, companies where women accounted for 25 percent of senior leadership outperformed at a compound annual growth rate of 2.8 percent; this increased to 4.7 percent at companies where women comprised 33 percent of senior leadership; and then jumped to 10.3 percent at companies where more than 50 percent of senior leaders are women compared with a 1 percent annual decline for MSCI ACWI index over the same period.”
Women also create a better working environment. A 2018 Berlin Cameron study revealed that “half of Americans would prefer to work for a female-led company over a male-led company, including 46% of men”.
The Harris Poll study also revealed that “women-led organizations are also more likely to have engaged, inspired and satisfied employees than male-led firms”.
I’ve been lucky enough to work for some incredible women over the start of my career. While researching this topic I couldn’t help but think of an experience that my former boss had while interviewing with a successful client. She had interviewed on behalf of our team for an extensive landscape design project. The decision came down to two firms, ours, women owned and led, and another firm run by a man. In choosing our female-led firm the client said that skillswise he felt both teams were equally qualified to complete the project, but that our female founder had likely faced more adversity in starting her business than the male competitor. Therefore, he knew that she was likely more experienced and qualified for the project.
Food for thought.