Her Money Matters - Interrupted

My regularly planned newsletter about delving deeper into the root causes of why women lack confidence in investing and other financial matters was put on hold last week as I recently received some exciting news -- I have been invited to speak on a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos next week. So I bring you this special bulletin instead.

Not held last year due to Covid, the controversial but well-known event is taking place this year from May 22 to 26 in its usual location in Davos, Switzerland. Last held in January of 2020, the gathering has been criticized as an elite forum for the super-rich. However, the event still serves as a useful place to gather together heads of government, heads of influential global corporations and the ultra-rich and powerful to discuss and create awareness of urgent issues facing the world today like climate change. Rumor has it that Volodymyr Zelensky will be attending this year. Let us hope.

Although I’m not super rich, or the head of a country, or large corporation, and my ability to speak fluent Russian will be more of a liability than an asset, I have been asked to speak on a panel about women’s equality issues. Specifically, why and how women can add value to corporations if they have better representation on boards. And on this topic, I have a lot of experience and a lot to contribute. ?I have often been the only woman in the room, starting from my 8th grade shop class at school where I was the only girl in a class of thirty boys to high level executive meetings. And, I’ve often been the only woman on the board, from the Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Moscow to becoming the only woman director and Chairman of the Board of a bio tech start up. It’s lonely, but you get used to it. And the work is extremely rewarding. So no complaints there.

The panel is part of The Female Quotient’s “Equality Lounge” series which aims to provide a platform for thought leadership for women and solutions for organizations “committed to closing the gender gap in the workplace.” They are joined by the Sybilla Masters fund, a VC based out of Seattle, in putting together an event to promote women on boards at their Equality Lounge in Davos.?The objective of the?event is to bring together highly qualified women who are ready to serve on major enterprise public boards and have them discuss the advantages of having their perspective, experience, and vision on major public boards, many of which still lack sufficient gender-diverse perspectives today.

It's a two-part panel. During the first part on May 24th at 3pm (CET), I will have an opportunity to present individually along with the other women on the panel. On the following day, Wednesday May 25 at 3pm (CET), there will be a panel discussion on the topic of agency and financial inclusion.?

While good strides have been made in increasing gender representation on boards, and some studies show that women led companies and boards produce better returns over time than those dominate by men, I would argue that the sample size is still too small to generalize that having women on your board will automatically generate better returns.

As one of my mentors used to say “If you are a woman, in order to be considered half as good as a man, you have to do your job twice as well. Fortunately, this is not difficult.” In order to rise to the top of corporations today, women have to be truly exceptional.

According to The Female Quotient -

Women account for 50% of the global population, but less than 30% of Board Directors. They acquire 20% more advanced learning degrees than men and hold 31% of upper?to senior management positions. Women led companies?achieve revenue goals?95% of the time vs. 65% for male led companies. Women return an average of 35% higher ROI than their male colleagues to investors, while receiving less than 3% of venture capital. Study after study provides ample evidence that presence of women in senior leadership and boards of directors is a powerful asset to companies and their investors.

However, let’s be frank: putting a few women on your board is no substitute for good corporate governance, a keen understanding of your customers and market, and a nimble and effective strategy for world domination. I would submit that as female gender representation reaches parity with men, so too will performance revert to the mean. However, there’s only one way to find out, and that is by reaching gender parity.

Studies show that while intake into entry level jobs is more or less equally divided between men and women, by the time the talent funnel approaches the C- Suite, the proportion of women has greatly diminished. This indicates a systemic problem in the way that corporations train, develop and retain high potential female talent. A prime example: when women take time out to bear children, their career progression often stops and never fully recovers when compared to their male peers. Neither does their earning power.

I would also posit that no one deserves to be put on a board just by virtue of being a woman or any other underrepresented group. It’s up to women to make the case why they are the best candidates for the job, and why, with their different life views and experiences, which breed resilience and creative thinking and come from overcoming obstacles and bias, they bring added value.

I have seen major $10 B+ revenue companies, one over 150 years old and another which occupied the number one position in its industry for years, brought down by ill constituted boards, boards full of representatives from blue chip companies, that were far too cozy with the CEO and/or each other and who lacked understanding of the companies they were tasked with governing. It happens time and time again.

When women, and other diverse board members, bring a much-needed independent and different perspective, they truly add enterprise value. So, Davos here we come.

May the best man, or woman, or non-binary person, as the case may be, win. All we are asking for is a chance. However you identify, help us make it happen. We can’t wait for another hundred years.