The Global Gender Agenda

William62

Making A Difference in the World Today

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• Economic Empowerment
• Leadership and Empowerment
• Politics and Society
• McKinsey Quarterly

I read an insightful article in the McKinsey Quarterly (the Global Gender Agenda) by Joanna Barsh, Sandrine Devillard, and Jin Wang that I want to pass on to my friends on this platform. It put together new data from around the world on women rising to leadership positions in business.

The article, along with the re-election of President Obama (and his acceptance speech), brought me to this point, thinking about not dwelling on the dark side, but the need to focus on the goal we are trying to achieve, and then working hard to get to where you want to be. For whatever reasons, struggles are rewarded through hard work.

Overcoming firmly entrenched barriers is never easy. But what seems to be working is that when a combination of factors come into sync - progress is being made. What are those factors? 1) A wholly commitment senior leadership; 2) active talent management; and 3) continuing efforts to change 'mind-sets' and behavior.

Not surprisingly Asia stood out with the relatively low rate of females in the labor force. Getting change at top leadership positions seems to be a key dynamic for bringing about change. The authors provide 4 priorities for committed business leaders that you may wish to have further discussions about within your own circle of contacts:
1) Treat gender diversity like any other strategic business initiative;
2) Ask for—and talk about—the data;
3) Establish a culture of sponsorship; and
4) Raise awareness of what a diverse work environment looks like.

Read this article and work on improving the pipeline of female talent.