“A girl should be two things: who and what she wants.”
There has been considerable success in improving the participation of women on Boards of the FTSE 350 at around 40%. A key aspect of this progression was compliance with targets, facilitated by removing the recruitment blockers and ‘qualification’ barriers to women achieving Non-Executive Director roles. However, in Executive Leadership roles there remains a significant lag, with women in Executive Leadership positions at 35% in the FTSE 350 and only 28% participation of women in the key Executive Committee of the Business. Crucially there is a significant and persistent deficit of women in the pivotal role of CEO, currently only 9% of CEOs in the FTSE 350 are women.
All this from a workforce of 47% women. We need to see a significant push to ensure we are not wasting valuable resources on behalf of shareholders.
“It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.”
A Russell Reynold Research study in 2023 illuminates where the log jams into the CEO and Executive Committee roles might be impinging on progression. For example, the participation of women who are in the three key ‘feeder’ roles to the CEO position show low female participation numbers, with 21% in P&L (Profit & Loss) roles; 25% in CFO roles and 11% in more junior CEO roles. Operation/Supply Chain/Logistics female participation is also low at 13%, but this role is not seen as a feeder role to the CEO position. The same research indicated that women Leaders perform equally or better on all key Leadership competencies alongside their male counterparts. On the Coaching & Development Leadership competency, they significantly outperform men.
There are various structural reasons, rationales and remedies put forward for this Leadership ‘lag’. We are, however, at a point where we need more action to free the logjam and get the participation of women in Senior Leadership roles accelerated.
While coaching women in Senior Leadership positions my experience has been that where women are provided with the right support, encouragement and confidence to breakthrough the perceived ‘constraints’ they own the future and set it as they want it to be.
While we continue to identify and remove the structural barriers to women’s progress, we need to more directly tackle immediate issues which are slowing women’s progress into the CEO roles. In my view, it is critically important that we get to a position where women have a sense of all the options before them before making very early decisions on their careers and stepping back because of perceived conflicting demands in their lives.
Along this line I am taken with the concept of career structures for women which assume a position of women being ‘in the game’ until they specifically and directly rule themselves out. This counterbalances the current requirement for women to make early pre-emptive decisions to actively pursue a particular career direction if their career is to flourish, with many heading for Human Resources, Marketing and Legal careers which are perceived to provide greater flexibility and be less’ demanding’. The positive assumption of women having equality in the ‘career game’ seeks to overcome the systemic and cultural factors that make career progression more challenging or less appealing for women, particularly in demanding Industries or in Leadership positions.
The positive assumption of women maintaining career options open would attract training, development and mentoring processes without any pre-exemptive decisions requiring to be made. The prioritisation of resources and opportunities becomes neutral and creates a self-sustaining process of progression. This process is a mindset shift and as such can happen quickly. Women do not have to think if they want to be in the ‘game’, they are in it, until they actively decide to ‘opt out’ for whatever reasons. Essentially, this is the traditional position assumed in most men’s careers. It also provokes the Organisations and individual’s consideration of how to best support successful female careers, pushing onto the CEO roles, where balancing a range of family and other commitments is the routine.
“After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backward and in high heels. ”
We are not so blessed by talented Leaders that we can afford to ignore a talent pool on our doorstep. This is especially true in these challenging times, with research indicating that businesses with more women in senior positions are more profitable, more socially responsible, and provide safer, higher-quality customer experiences.
Clearly, as indicated by the Russell Rynolds research the early involvement in the P&L of a Business, is a key determinant of progression into the CEO role. So how do women shape up in in the P&L stakes and how do we keep them more involved. Women under representation in P&L Leadership roles is a complex issue influenced by structural, cultural, and systemic factors.
So how do we counterbalance the clear cultural bias, with women ‘directed’ or steering themselves away from key roles directly tied to revenue generation, which are perceived to be ‘too demanding’ before they have even experienced them. At the same time women are disproportionately steered toward support functions like HR, Legal, or Marketing, which don’t typically include P&L responsibilities. Early career coaching can often support females in keeping their options open and positively viewing these critical ‘turnkey’ roles and where they chose HR, Marketing or Legal et al to see them as a stepping stone and not a destination in a longer term Business Career.
These early career choices are surrounded by gender stereotypes and biases which often associate Leadership and decision-making in high-stakes P&L roles with men, which impacts selection, hiring, development and promotion practices. This is exacerbated by the typical career Leadership landscape of a Business, where assumptions about women limits early career access to development opportunities and assignments to roles with P&L responsibilities, such as managing Business Units or Operational Teams. These roles are crucial stepping stones to higher Leadership positions and are well sought after by men who will actively seek mentoring and sponsorship to support their cause.
While the younger generations take a more balanced approach to family caring and education decisions and responsibilities, their remains a pressure for women to seek more flexible roles, with P&L roles perceived as more demanding. This must change, while female participation in the most senior positions is slowly opening up, there is still a debilitating lack of female role models at the most senior levels providing nourishment and support to aspiring Female Leaders. How different it would be if 40% of CEOs in FTSE 350 positions were filled by women as opposed to the current 9%.
As we look to turn the tide on the early access to P&L responsibility, my own coaching of aspiring Women Leaders suggest some of these structural issues are dissipating. There are few FTSE 350 and large Businesses which would actively block or dissuade women from a particular career path. Consequently, it is often an open, or at least partly ajar door. It is more a failure of imagination on behalf of Businesses and Women which imposes these constraints.
“The most effective way to do it, is to do it.”
The changing Landscape of Business is supportive of an acceleration of women into traditional male P&L roles. We now have the experience, acceptance and technically proven ability for the most Senior roles to be effectively and more efficiently delivered remotely. You do not need to constantly be on a plane to succeed, the concept of globetrotting across the airways to engage in International Businesses, is becoming ‘old hat’ and is often contrary to the Brand drives of a Business. For example, the gathering of 23,000 delegates and Political Leaders jetting from across the globe to meet up to reduce the Global emissions and carbon footprint is becoming slightly absurd.
Efforts to address the barriers to female inclusion in the CEO pipeline include targeted Leadership programs for women, early career coaching, bias training, and organisational changes to provide equitable access to P&L responsibilities. Companies achieving gender parity in P&L roles tend to have strong Executive Sponsorship for Diversity, formalised mentoring programs, an equality of access to senior coaching experts and a culture of accountability for inclusion.
Additionally, we are in a true digital age which is growing exponentially and where the younger generations communicate differently. This is being accelerated by the AI competence demonstrated by the emerging female and male workforce, diminishing and eliminating gender distinctions. The expertise of younger generations in digital communication is enhancing decision-making processes by improving accessibility, data integration, and collaboration. No longer is the need to be tied to a desk, or even in the same country or continent to engage effectively. The old traditional model of physical face-to-face communication is fading fast. This can only be good for enhancing Female Leaders’ perception of the ‘career game’ becoming more flexible, easier and less personally demanding than has been the case.
Recent studies have highlighted that younger professionals are driving the integration of digital tools into decision-making, reporting greater confidence in the speed and quality of decisions made through digital collaboration tools. Organisations that adopt digital-native approaches (e.g., agile methodologies) show a 25-30% improvement in decision-making effectiveness due to quicker feedback loops and inclusive participation.
“Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain.”
Digital communication removes geographical barriers, allowing diverse teams to collaborate in real-time. This inclusivity leads to decisions that consider a wider array of viewpoints. Work methods like shared documents and instant communication allow for continuous input and review, facilitating more thoughtful and informed decision-making. Women Leaders are well placed to take advantage of this coming wave as prodigious multi-taskers, includers and sharers. Switching the presumption to women as ‘natural’ Leaders in the new Society and Global Business Environment gives some hope to achieving a dramatic increase in the female CEO population towards the 40% mark.
“In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders.”
