Women in Leadership in 2023

Last year I shared my favorite Ted Talk by Sandi Toksvig, British television host, activist and gay marriage advocate with all of you.

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 2022 there were 10 FTSE 100 companies run by women, and in 2023 that number increased to….11.

The fact that just 11% 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, in 2023 that number increased to 8.

Of the top 100 companies in Fortune’s Fortune 500 Companies (Top 500 Companies in USA) just 9 are run by women in 2023. This is a reduction from the 12 that were run by women in 2022.

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”.