Women on Boards
We wish to address a huge gap in understanding about the role of women on Boards.
Lord Davies goes part of the way ...
Lord Davies' report (Women on Boards, February 2011) brought together much of current thinking. The numbers of women on Boards is too low, and although avoiding quotas, he suggested "FTSE 350 companies should set out the percentage of women they aim to have on their boards in 2013 and 2015. FTSE 100 boards should aim for a minimum of 25% female representation by 2015".
He laid weight on the 'diversity' argument, and gave four key dimensions for more women on Boards:
- the link between the number of women on a Board and a Company's performance;
- the size of the untapped talent pool;
- women on Boards could more reflect the customer base;
- the link with better governance decisions.
Lord Davies said "This is not just a gender numbers game. It is about the richness of the board as a whole".
Think different
We think that Lord Davies' richness can be more fully understood with a shift in thinking.
Rather than 'men' and 'women', you can consider the way a Board operates in terms of its 'masculine' and 'feminine' choices - whoever brings those to the discussion.
We believe passionately that a problem is generated by masculinised practices that have been well cultivated in our working world of business and organisations; practices that both men and women work by. So what could it take to achieve a healthy balance in the board room? We believe that feminine practices are undervalued and underestimated; ways of working that include relational values, holistic thinking and growing people to their greater potential. Again, these are practices that both men and women can work by. However, just like the masculine is well rooted in mens ways of working, so it is that women's ways of knowing are naturally rooted in feminine practices. This is what women can bring to the Board if these qualities are recognised and cultivated alongside healthy masculine practices, such as decisiveness, direction, discernment.
Our experience develops understanding ...
This problem seems resistant to the usual skills and knowledge training. It can however be tackled by increasing personal and group awareness, by developing understanding, and doing this with respect to the specific context within which you work.
So we:
- provide the understanding for men and women to look beyond the well trusted masculine, and recognise feminine practices for the value that they can add to Boards and to organisations;
- provide understanding for women in valuing their feminine strengths, to uphold and advocate these with confidence and self belief, and not to hold back - particularly in the context of predominant and self assured masculine practices. Then, perhaps the men will more value these qualities in themselves;
- provide men and women with understanding on how to bring masculine and feminine practices together inwardly and outwardly in service to the Board, and as a role model for the organisation.
