News
Gathering Explores Competition Versus Collaboration
Last month 30 women gathered to explore the question of competition – how, when and why. Questions addressed included: Can you be both a competitor and collaborator? How do you compete – or abdicate? What does it take to 'win?' What lines should not be crossed on the way toward winning? Several women attending were athletes, and in sharing what contributed most to their success, they mentioned focus, discipline and practice, interestingly, identical to what's required for success in any endeavor! Connecting was the ultimate goal of this gathering, and pretense was banned from the evening! Much appreciated was a generous donor, who underwrote the evening's refreshments!
Grant Made to Girls Academy for Financial Education
This winter 15 high school girls from around NYC are braving the wintry blasts and snow to arrive for class at the relaunched Girls Academy for Financial Education. Held at the Museum of American Finance, this program of after school classes and field trips is intended to empower young minds, introduce key money management concepts and open up career possibilities perhaps not even considered.
What Exactly Creates Value in a Network?
What makes a network work? What does a community – either gender or affinity based – need to be of lasting value? This blog details 7 steps to creating a network, examining why the 'old boys' club' is so strong – and highly frustrating for women. What lessons might you take away and begin to use in your own networks in a new and more courageous way?
Diversity of Gender and Color = Better Financial Results
From the Wall Street Journal January 21, 2015
A new study of 366 public companies in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Brazil, Mexico and Chile by McKinsey & Co., a major management consultancy, found a statistically significant relationship between companies with women and minorities in their upper ranks and better financial performance as measured by earnings before interest and tax, or EBIT.
The findings could further fuel employers’ efforts to increase the ranks of women and people of color for executive suites and boardrooms, and thereby reap benefits of the so-called diversity dividend.
McKinsey researchers examined the gender, ethnic and racial makeup of top management teams and boards for large concerns across a range of industries as of 2014. Then, they analyzed the companies’ average earnings before interest and taxes between 2010 and 2013. They collected but didn’t analyze other financial measures such as return on equity.
Businesses with the most gender-diverse leadership were 15% more likely to report financial returns above their national industry median, the study showed. An even more striking link turned up at concerns with extensive ethnic diversity. Those best performers were 35% more likely to have financial returns that outpace their industry, according to the analysis. (The report didn’t disclose specific companies.)
Highly diverse companies appear to excel financially because of their talent-recruitment efforts, strong customer orientation, increased employee satisfaction and improved decision making, the report said. Those possible factors emerged from prior McKinsey research about diversity.
McKinsey cited “measurable progress” among U.S. companies, where women now represent about 16% of executive teams—compared with 12% for U.K. ones and 6% for Brazilian ones. But U.S. businesses don’t register a financial payoff from gender diversity “until women constitute at least 22% of a senior executive team,’’ the study added. (McKinsey tracked 186 U.S. and Canadian companies.)
The Best Guide Ever – for BOTH Women and Men
Joanne Lipman has captured many truths in this piece for the Wall Street Journal, and perhaps most importantly, her call to action is spot on. We need to engage men in this revolution, and savvy companies are doing just that. In the meantime, however, a courage boot camp just for women certainly can't hurt! If you cannot access the full article, please let me know so I can send it to you. Worth reading!