Women Of The C-Suite
This article is part of our Mentor-Coach Reading List series. Join the mailing list to receive this and more.
SETTING THE SCENE
Across all sectors, communities and societies, women have key contributions to make. From social impact and corporations, to sports and STEM, to politics and arts, diverse leadership benefits everyone. We have seen the differences in thinking and approaches with more women at the head table. Looking to next practice, even the most successful organisations say they still have “a way to go.” Talent management has to work ahead of the curve.
How WOMEN are RESHAPing THE C-SUITE
“After women join the top management team, firms become more open to change and less open to risk, and they tend to shift from an M&A-focused strategy to more investment into internal R&D. In other words, when women join the C-suite, they don’t just bring new perspectives — they actually shift how the C-suite thinks about innovation, ultimately enabling these firms to consider a wider variety of strategies for creating value.” (Adding Women to the C-Suite Changes How Companies Think, by Corinne Post, Boris Lokshin and Christophe Boone in Harvard Business Review)
“When I ask executive women during our mentor-coach discussions: “do you have power?” often there is a moment of reflective silence followed by confidence. They tell stories about their use of influence, how they create change, build teams, develop sustainable approaches that prevent crisis; and of power-to replacing power-over. They share what they have learned and create meaningful collaboration through these experiences. They talk of a kind of power that nurtures both power-with and power-within.”- Dianne Jacobs (Powerplay: Women, Leadership and the Getting of Power)
HAPPY READING AND STAY CURIOUS!
This reading list highlights how women can excel and confidently take the initiative to draw on the best around them. One of the takeaways is the value of joining circles of influence for guidance, support and development. Another is to seek out others with different ways of doing things, to notice and pick out people with approaches, styles and sector knowledge that both resonates and stretches your own perspectives.
Here’s more information on our selection of books.
CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest by three Senior Partners at McKinsey & Company, Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller and Vikram (Vik) Malhotra. To identify the 21st century's best CEOs, the authors of CEO Excellence started with a pool of over 2400 public company CEOs. Extensive screening distilled that group into an elite corps, sixty-seven of whom agreed to in-depth, multi-hour interviews. Among those sharing their views: Jamie Dimon (JPMorgan Chase), Satya Nadella (Microsoft), Reed Hastings (Netflix), Kazuo Hirai (Sony), Ken Chenault (American Express), Mary Barra (GM), and Peter Brabeck-Letmathe (Nestlé). What came out of those frank, no-holds-barred conversations is a rich array of mindsets and actions that deliver outsized performance. Compelling, practical, and unprecedented in scope, CEO Excellence is a treasure trove of wisdom from today's most elite business leaders.
In Her Own Voice: A Woman's Rise to CEO: Overcoming Hurdles to Change the Face of Leadership by Jennifer McCollum. What does it take for women to ascend to the highest levels of leadership? ‘In Her Own Voice’ from Jennifer McCollum, CEO of Linkage, a global leadership development firm, sheds light on this timely topic. Backed by in-depth and enlightening research, this book examines the specific challenges women still face in the workplace. Whether we’re contending with our own inner critic, being expected to prove our value time and again, or navigating the often-intimidating world of negotiating for ourselves, women today still have unique obstacles as we advance our careers—but they need not become roadblocks.
How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back from Your Next Raise, Promotion, or Job by Sally Helgesen and Marshall Goldsmith. Women face specific and different roadblocks from men as they advance in the workplace. In fact, the very habits that helped women early in their careers can hinder them as they move up. Simply put, what got you here won't get you there … and you might not even realise your blind spots until it's too late.
Women Mean Business: Over 500 Insights from Extraordinary Leaders to Spark Your Success by Edie Fraser, Robyn Freedman Spizman and Andi Simon. Female trailblazers are transforming women’s lives one voice at a time. Gathered together, like never before, these diverse women become a bold blast amplifying the path to progress for women in the world of business. Business needs women, and women mean business. This book provides over 500 insights from women you may not have in your own life when you need support. The voices of mentorship fill these pages to help you achieve your personal goals at every stage of your career. This book will help uplift and accelerate your career. The cast of female leaders and luminaries offering support will help you go where successful women go. Discover how to build circles of influence that impact you personally and your career advancement. Where are you going? Who can help you get there? How can you achieve and embrace the best possible you? How will you mean business?
Career Forward: Strategies from Women Who've Made It by former PepsiCo COO Grace Puma and former Nike President of Consumer Direct Christiana Smith Shi. They offer a groundbreaking, empowering guide for women that shows how to prioritise a career path, build professional value, and enjoy a full life both in and out of the workplace. At a time when many long-held workplace structures and beliefs are changing, ‘Career Forward’ is a beacon for women aspiring to achieve success and satisfaction in rewarding careers. Drawing on decades of experience reaching the top of Fortune 500 companies, this book shows women how to maximise their career journeys, get paid what they’re worth, navigate the shifts that occur in any company, build a leadership identity, and have a full life in and out of work.
My Life in Full: Work, Family and Our Future by Indra Nooyi. Generous, authoritative, and grounded in lived experience, ‘My Life in Full’ is both the story of an extraordinary leader's life, and a moving tribute to the relationships that created it. Indra Nooyi - the trailblazing former CEO of PepsiCo - offers clear-eyed insight and a call to action for how our society can really blend work and family - and advance women - in the twenty-first century. For more than a dozen years as one of the world's most admired CEOs, Indra Nooyi redefined what it means to be an exceptional leader. The first woman, person of color, and immigrant to run a Fortune 50 company - and one of the foremost strategic thinkers of our time - Nooyi transformed PepsiCo with a unique vision, a vigorous pursuit of excellence, and a deep sense of purpose. Now, in a rich memoir brimming with grace, grit, and good humor, ‘My Life in Full’ offers a firsthand view of a legendary career and the sacrifices it so often demanded.
OTHER ARTICLES AND IDEAS TO EXPLORE
EVERY EXECUTIVE NEEDS A TRUSTED SOUNDING-BOARD Most executives understand that the higher they are, the more difficult it is to talk about their real issues or concerns – and to do so free from the weight of company expectations. It is even harder to find effective and neutral listeners. Whether the objective is to be more effective in a role, to assess next-level strategies or contribute to a board, it helps to have trusted guidance.
A HIGH-PERFORMING BOARD Sustained success requires high-performance. What does this really mean for boardrooms? Discover the support we offer executives, new and aspiring directors.
LEADERSHIP, PERSPECTIVE and POWER Mentor-Coach Conversation: it is important how leaders perceive and use their power. People do not ‘have’ power as it is both conditional and situational. It depends on context, relationship, timing and dynamics. Empathetic, ethical and purposeful uses of power is what makes a better leader.
MULTIPLY AND SHAPE YOUR IMPACT As an executive, the legacy you craft depends on how you empower others, lead or build something that is smarter or better, nurture the right culture, use teachable stories, work with impact on what matters, prefer influence to authority and create a multiplier mindset.
EXCEL AS A CONNECTOR Mentor-Coach Conversation: the executive and director of the future will need to be a connector, possessing stronger capabilities in building and sharing professional relationships, and do so strategically.
SHAPE A PORTFOLIO CAREER AS A DIRECTOR Mentor-Coach Conversation: as you start to plan your NED portfolio career here is some tried and true advice to start the journey. Like most transitions, it takes time and planning as the move often unfolds differently to what you first imagined.
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