APEC & the business leadership of women

In September 2011, ministers, officials and private industry leaders issued a declaration on behalf of the countries involved in Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) on Women and the Economy. The importance of ensuring greater diversity in economic development through the APEC region, in particular with the increased involvement of women, was summarised in this way:

Evidence from both developed and developing economies has shown that increased participation of women will generate faster and more equitable income growth, create greater business opportunities, and enhance competitiveness for firms and economies by facilitating innovative thinking and fuller use of a significant resource.

There is a fantastic summary of a number of these studies (which keeps getting updated) by Dana Theus on the Magus Consulting site, called Why you need women leading in your organisation: A summary of the data, which is not only worth reading but starts off with a great observation, which we won't spoil by repeating here.

The APEC leaders' declaration goes on to discuss why women are not as involved in business leadership as common sense would seem to dictate:

Studies have identified four major barriers preventing women from rising to leadership positions: organisational obstacles, including a lack of role models and exclusion from informal networks; work-life balance challenges, including travel requirements and long work schedules; institutional mindsets, meaning women are evaluated differently for positions from men; and finally, individual mindsets, due to a lack of positive reinforcement, and peer and senior-level support. We agree that these barriers are problematic not only for women looking to take on more responsibility, but also to the growth and success of the business or organisation.

This list has been kept short and simple, but there are a couple of issues that are worth highlighting more deeply. One of those is the hijacking of the conversation, which might come under Institutional Mindset. Every time the under-representation of women at senior levels of organisations is highlighted, certain issues are sure to be raised, especially in the mainstream media (which likes nothing better than reporting opinions that fly in the face of scientific evidence, whether or not those opinions are actually worth debating - witness the climate change debate) and online leadership/management discussions. So the imposition of quotas or the prospect of "positive discrimination" are raised as a matter of course, with the underlying assumption that government intervention in these ways is patronising to women and bad for governance.

The evidence demonstrates that increasing the involvement of women has markedly beneficial effects on business, both short and long-term. Therefore you would think that Boards and senior management teams striving to do the best possible thing in the interests of the company and shareholders would be clamoring for much greater participation on Boards and in senior management for women. If Boards continue to do the wrong thing by their shareholders, perhaps government should get involved, but it would be much better if business people stopped raising these "issues" and instead took the actions required to improve their business.

Then comes the argument that the situation is changing, that it takes time and that there aren't enough qualified women yet. We're fairly sure this argument recently celebrated its golden anniversary, 50 years of being pulled out of the bottom of the barrel. If you look at who is actually on Boards, you'll find plenty of younger, often non-tertiary qualified,  Board representatives out there, as well as the usual "family representatives". Examine senior management teams and you'll find plenty of apparently unqualified or under-qualified male senior managers who somehow got past the qualification requirements.

Even more ridiculous in this context is the failure to consider those thousands of women who, as part of work-life balance, have left the full-time workforce and who would be ideal for Board positions, given the greater time they can devote to their responsibilities and lack of conflicts they may have. Apparently you only consider the non full-time worker when they're retired from the workforce to look for opportunities in the "Boys Clubs" of the world to supplement their already ample corporate pensions and superannuation.

Finally, we should raise the deeply disturbing report by the founder of Guardian Angel Executives, Dr Terry Sheridan, Voicing Women Managers, which covers the impacts of bullying within organisations and identifies the far more detrimental consequences to women. As far as organisational barriers go, it is difficult to think of one that is more disturbing or that should attract greater attention.

Organisations are created by the shared values and visions of people. Diversity in all of its forms, including greater opportunities for women, helps organisations to identify these shared values and visions more precisely. Diversity generally results in establishing greater ability for an organisation to adapt to community expectations and changes, creating better prospects for long-term success.

It is time for business leaders and managers to stop debating issues and finding excuses, and to start taking actions that have been proved to result in better value for shareholders and stakeholders. Find more opportunities for women to be your business leaders.