Five reasons why more women leaders should be on the Board?

11 Feb Five reasons why more women leaders should be on the Board?

Fifty percent of the world’s population is of women. However, when it comes to women’s representation at top positions, the statistics are not very optimistic. In the corporate sector, the percentage of women at C-level jobs or board seats is only 15% or 16%. Out of 190 heads of states, only nine are women.

One may ask, why is this significant? Or is it even relevant?

Well, many discussions are going on across different forums and platforms in the world about increasing women’s representation at all places. Some of them are talking about the fairness of our system to allow every gender a fair chance. Which, of course, is a valid point.

However, there are several other reasons why women leaders should be on the board?

1. To bring on the board the perspective that is missing: As Gail Becker, a panelist and the chair of Canada & Latin America said, “ Board must realize not just what women bring to the table when on boards but what is missing when not.” It is a very significant point, because when women are not a part of the board room, their perspective is missing, which is a loss to the companies. When half of the population are women, one cannot overlook their perspective. It can add a lot of value to the organization’s outcomes.

2. To have a positive impact on profitability:  Data shows that gender diversity has a positive impact on the profitability of the company. A survey conducted by “The Peterson Institute for international economics” shows that having women at the C-suite level increases net margins significantly. They found that a profitable company in which 30% of leaders are women could expect to add one percentage point to their net margins.

3. Gender diversity brings creativity:  In an analysis of Fortune 500 companies, it was found that diverse companies became more creative. The analysis found that companies having women at the top-level experience “innovation intensity” and produce more patents, at least 20% more than the teams lead by male leaders.

4. More women at the top bring more credibility and respect: Women are conscientious, courageous, and more compassionate, and it results in higher credibility of the organization. According to the GFP index, Fortune’s “most admired” companies had more women at the top than less reputed companies.

5. To have onboard the feminine power: Harvard business review conducted a study. They interviewed 64000 people across the globe to find out what modern leadership characteristics were most wanted. And eight out of the ten of those characteristics were attributed to being feminine. We can boil it down to an acronym called POWER. Where,

P is for being patient.

O is for being open, which means being open to intuition and being inclusive.

W is for being warm, which means being compassionate and nurturing.

E is for being expressive, which means feeling one’s feelings and honoring them.

R is for being responsible. The best leaders take 100% responsibility.

According to experts, even men who have these feminine qualities become better leaders.

So, having more women leaders on the board can lead your company to higher success, creativity, and profitability along with a better work environment. It can also lead to the creation of a better world as women being more inclusive in their approach take decisions that result in greater peace and harmony.

Women leadership coaching should be a focused effort in all organization to ensure more and more women leaders reach the C-suit leadership positions.