The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and How to Address Them

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five dysfunctions of a teamHigh performing teams, and the desire for them, is a common occurrence in corporations. While teams and groups are commonly used as synonyms, they are different from each other. Oxford Dictionary defines a team as a group of people who work together at a particular job while a group is defined as a number of people or things that are together in the same place. As common as teams are, it should come as no surprise that some work better than others. Dysfunction in teams is all around. Behnam Tabrizi found that nearly 75% of cross-functional teams were dysfunctional. In his book, The Five Dysfunctions of A Team, Patrick Lencioni describes the most common dysfunctions in a team. These dysfunctions are as follows:

  1. Absence of trust
  2. Fear of conflict
  3. Lack of commitment
  4. Avoidance of accountability
  5. Inattention to results

Lencioni argues that trust is foundational for teams. Without the basis of trust, dysfunctions will not be able to be resolved. Research from the Harvard Business Review found that people who work in places with high trust levels reported 106% more energy at work, 76% more engagement, 74% less stress, 40% less burnout, 50% higher productivity and 29% more satisfaction with their lives compared to those at a low trust workplace. Low trust workplaces often have to deal with, and navigate, office politics. Resolving the absence of trust dysfunction is crucial to resolving the later dysfunctions. Each dysfunction is based on the resolution of the previous dysfunction and cannot be mastered out of order. For example, if your team shows lack of commitment, it is likely that there is also a fear of conflict from some, if not all of your team members. When a member doesn’t feel as though they can disagree and create conflict with a coworker, they will not be fully committed to the solution proposed because they were never able to weigh in their own opinions.

So how can you tell which dysfunction your team is stuck at and what can you do to resolve it? Here are some examples for each level:

Dysfunction #1 – Absence of Trust

Teams with absence of trust may:

  • Not own up to mistakes made
  • Not admit that they can’t do something to hide their weaknesses from other team members
  • Be unwilling to go out of the realm of their job descriptions to help a coworker

What can you do to address it?

  • Have team members be vulnerable and tell the team something about themselves then discuss as a team what you learned. This increases vulnerability between the team and makes it easier to continue to be vulnerable.
  • Focus on everyone’s strengths. Doing this will help team members gain confidence in themselves and their work. This could inspire coworkers to appreciate the strengths and talents of their peers.

Addressing lack of trust can:

  • Lead to quicker reaction to issues, now that mistakes can be admitted more openly
  • Prevent mistakes before they happen if coworkers feel comfortable to ask for assistance on projects
Dysfunction #2 – Fear of Conflict

Teams that fear conflict may:

  • Not listen to understand during a disagreement, rather listen to win the disagreement and argue their point
  • Not converse with a coworker they disagree with and speak behind their backs
  • Let leaders dominate a meeting and leave the meeting
  • Display artificial harmony in which there is no conflict at all

What can you do to address it?

  • Suggest an obviously bad idea and see if anyone in your team argues. If they don’t, there is a blatant fear of conflict.
  • Show your team that having opposing views can be productive and helpful.
  • Have a “devil’s advocate” portion of the meeting in which an opposing view can be argued.
  • Thank team members for bringing up different points of view that may conflict with the consensus.

Addressing fear of conflict can:

  • Lead to quicker resolution of issues
  • Lessen the amount of office politics
  • Allow more diverse views and lead to innovation
Dysfunction #3 – Lack of Commitment

Teams that have a lack of commitment may:

  • Have members who don’t commit to an idea because it’s not their idea
  • Have the false impression everyone is on the same page after leaving a meeting
  • Mean members don’t contribute to the discussion because their ideas differ

What can you do to address it?

  • Ask members if they have anything to add, any other ideas or (especially) differing opinions on the topic at hand.
  • Encourage team members to ask questions for clarification.
  • Set a team goal and have objectives for everyone to commit to.

Addressing lack of commitment can:

  • Help the team understand why a goal is being addressed in a certain way
  • Help members commit to an idea after being heard out about their own
  • Show the main goal of the team and what is expected of team members
Dysfunction #4 – Avoidance of Accountability

Teams that have an avoidance of accountability may:

  • Have peers who won’t hold each other accountable on performance and behavioral aspects
  • Have leave leaders with the sole responsibility of discipline
  • Include members not performing to the best of their ability

What can you do to address it?

  • Start at the leadership level and call members out on their behavioral mistakes and let this trickle down to peer level.
  • Regularly review team members’ individual performance and remind the team of the high standards expected.
  • Have the team come together and share one thing for each member that could be improved to promote accountability between team members.

Addressing avoidance of accountability can:

  • Lead to quicker and higher quality performance from the whole team
  • Urge poor performers to improve performance
  • Take some of the strain off of leaders
Dysfunction #5 – Inattention to Results

Teams that have an Inattention to Results:

  • Don’t focus on the team as a whole when working on projects
  • Attain personal goals more often than team goals.
  • Fail to develop as a team

What can you do to address it?

  • Have regular meetings to review key metrics
  • Keep a scoreboard of some type that keeps the team updated on tasks that have been completed.

Addressing inattention to results can:

  • Increase the amount of team goals hit
  • Increase team work and minimize individualism in these settings
  • Increase development as a team

All of these dysfunctions take time and effort to resolve. You have to start at the beginning of the five dysfunctions and work your way through them all to create a truly functional team. If you find that your team is exhibiting dysfunctions of one stage and they can’t seem to be overcome, try taking a step back and looking at the dysfunction level before it. You may find that your team’s problem lies there. Sometimes moving backwards is the only way to avoid an obstacle (or dysfunction) and move forward. Use these tips and ideas to work on creating the trusting, highly functioning team that businesses should aim for and see if the research done by the Harvard Business Review rings true for you.

By Chloe Williams

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Op-Ed: Want to be a CMO? Learn to Pivot.

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Learn to Pivot (by Marcy Comer) I’ve spent my career working to get into the C-Suite, because I wanted to have the challenge and opportunities that come from leading a company and being at the top of my discipline. Now in this role, I’m continuing to learn that the secret to making it to, and staying in, the role of CMO is based on learning to pivot.

I grew up playing basketball, and a pivot is a classic move in which the player stops, holds the ball, and looks around for an opening on the court. You can apply this move in your job and your career. It requires you to stop and evaluate potential next moves. You have to stop the daily grind and evaluate. The more you look around, the more opportunity you find to make the next big move. And, making a big move is the way that you help to accelerate your career and the success of your team.

Here are five ways you can actively bring a pivot-first mentality to your career:
  1. Embrace the struggle as an opportunity: Most people avoid the pain of having to learn something new. But, when you take on painful work, you’re relieving the pain for your manager, coworkers, etc. Start finding the fun in learning and it will no longer be a pain; and it will make you a valuable asset in the organization. This is a pivot from just doing your job, to becoming someone who does hard jobs or unwanted jobs can be a big step towards career success. I’m not the only one who believes this: in a survey of more than 50,000 learners who completed MOOCs on Coursera, 72% reported career benefits such as doing their current job more effectively, finding a new job, or receiving a raise.
  2. Be your own futurist: Find out what’s on the horizon from people that are already respected and be that person for your circle; this means staying on top of news, ideas and conversations and learning from leaders in various fields. The only way to see which way to pivot is to be paying attention to the ever changing horizon and landscape around your business. CNBC has listed “futurism” as the number one skill for leaders.
  3. Don’t just talk about it, try to apply it: Get a trial of a new product, sign up for a course on it and experience the new thing for yourself. Bring it to your organization with your own point of view. Recently I spent a lot of time learning ChatGPT because I wanted to understand how it could impact the marketing function and what it could do to help the aerial imagery business, EagleView, where I work. I was able to apply those learnings to improve business processes, by pivoting to embrace the future, I was able to then lead others within the company on the new tech.
  4. Get better at your weaknesses: A weakness is only a weakness until you make it a strength. The pivot is in skill but also it is mental: if you believe a weakness can be turned into a strength, you will. Once I was in the final stages for a marketing role I really wanted but I didn’t get it because they said I didn’t have enough B2B experience. So I went out and learned as much as I could about it, started consulting companies as a B2B marketer and turned it into a strength. 77% of organizations report they are currently experiencing a leadership gap. Fewer than 20% of organizations have a bench of capable leaders ready to fill critical roles. You have to improve your areas of weakness to step into leadership roles.
  5. Don’t believe everything people tell you: People will always try to put you into a bucket, because it is easier for them if you are exactly who and what they think of you as. However, the pivot is to make sure that you don’t believe people who aren’t seeing your pathway to success. Once, I had a terrible manager at Amazon who kept telling me I needed to learn SQL to get ahead. While coding is definitely a weakness that I *could* get better at, what CMOs are writing SQL every day?

There are similarities between these examples and all of them ladder up to mindset. The key to bringing the pivot forward is to be constantly learning, understanding the world around you and then leveraging that knowledge to help those within your team and company. The more you scale and grow yourself, the better you will be able to find roles that interest you and a career with exponential growth opportunities.

Marcy Comer is the CMO of the EagleView Commercial Business, a role she stepped into after leadership roles at Amazon, Sears, 7-Eleven, Dosh, and Spruce. As a leader who has worked across B2B, B2C, B2B2C and D2C, she has developed a perspective for herself and her team on what it takes to succeed. Her unconventional approach is this: focus on the pivot.

(Guest Contribution: The opinions and views of guest contributions are not necessarily those of theglasshammer.com).

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Sylvana Quader Sinha, Founder and CEO of Praava Health

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Sylvana Quader Sinha“The problem just seemed so big, and I somehow had the naive courage to think that I could do something about it,” says Sylvana Q. Sinha, the Bangladeshi-American founder and CEO of Praava Health, Bangladesh’s fastest-growing healthcare company.

In 2014, Sinha left a promising career in international law to focus on the creation of a new disruptive, innovative healthcare company. The decision was prompted by a health scare her mother faced during a family visit to Bangladesh for a wedding; the challenges associated with the emergency appendectomy put Sylvana up close with the shortcomings of the healthcare system in that country.

Prior to founding Praava Health, Sinha led diverse, interdisciplinary teams in international law, business, development, and government relations at major international law firms (Gotshal, & Manges, LLP and Lovells LLP), management consulting firms (Boston Consulting Group and PricewaterhouseCoopers), the World Bank in Kabul and Afghanistan and New York, and think tanks in the Middle East and South Asia.

She conducted research on business and human rights issues for the Special Representative to the UN Secretary General, held the position of social protection specialist at the International Labour Organization, and served as a foreign policy advisor to the 2008 presidential campaign of then-Senator Barack Obama. Today, Sinha is also a PATH board member and a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Currently serving more than half a million patients, Praava Health’s tech-forward model is designed to be efficient, accessible, and scalable across emerging markets, where 85% of the world lives. Praava’s work has been featured by Forbes Magazine and Financial Times and was recognized by Fast Company as a World Changing Idea in 2020. In 2021, the World Economic Forum named Praava Health a Technology Pioneer, and in 2023, they were named a Global Innovator.

Sinha shared with The Glass Hammer her experience as an emerging market entrepreneur and CEO in a male-dominated field and why she’s using her voice to speak out about the challenges women-led businesses face in emerging markets, particularly when it comes to raising capital.

On taking the wheel to improve healthcare in Bangladesh:

“I spent about a year at the beginning of this journey learning all the pain points of the healthcare system in Bangladesh and talking to patients and those involved in the delivery of healthcare, both in Bangladesh and all over the world. It was like a year long global listening tour.

“The more I dug in, the more I saw how deeply-rooted the problem was, and the more obsessed I became with trying to solve it. Candidly, I didn’t find anyone who both cared about solving this problem as much as I did, and had the global networks and local resources to be able to affect change.

“I came across a lot of people who complained about different parts of the system with no plans to do anything about it. Then, there were those who wanted to solve the problem but didn’t have the right skill sets to contribute. I felt that with my experience as a leader and as a global professional, I had the skills, tools, and access to make a difference. I had access to global leaders and innovators in healthcare that we were able to learn from, adapt the global best practice lessons and bring them back to Bangladesh.

“I’d been looking for ways to make more of a direct impact through my work, and I just felt like this was the opportunity I’d been seeking. This was the thing that was the culmination of all of my skills – managing international risk, managing political and economic risk in an emerging market, and having a direct impact, changing lives on the ground. All of those things together inspired me.

“The problem just seemed so big, and I somehow had the naive courage to think that I could do something about it. I became obsessed with solving this problem.”

On what drove her desire for more direct impact:

“I was on the ground in Afghanistan, but I was working in these large organizations and there was so much bureaucracy that was crippling us, as close as we were, from being able to have an impact. These large organizations are so challenged by their own size and by their own systems that it becomes hard to create change. I thought, maybe you have to just build it from scratch.

“Also, from the early stages of my career as a 22-year-old management consultant and junior lawyer – and throughout my career – I worked for men. In particular, when I worked in the services industry, the men were always pitching business to clients, and I remember they would always claim they could do things that we had never done before. I knew, because I was part of their team, that these were things they’d never done before. But then I realized we could do it. We would sell the business; then, we would go learn, and we would do it. And as a woman, just like many other women I know, I feel like we don’t like to claim we can do things until we’ve already done them.

“This experience taught me that, with the help of a skilled and motivated team, I can learn, and I can make things happen. With the right people, we can build the airplane while we’re flying it.”

On how Praava is disrupting the standard of healthcare in Bangladesh:

“The big challenge in Bangladesh is that in addition to the huge gap in terms of the quality of healthcare, there’s also a changing demographic. We now have a very quickly growing and urbanizing middle-income population.

“We have a country that was traditionally more dependent on foreign aid and charity to provide healthcare for our citizens, and just a generation ago, Bangladesh was considered one of the least developed countries in the world. But now, it’s one of the fastest growing economies. This means more people are accessing the private sector for healthcare. But the private sector is largely unregulated and offers very dramatic variations in terms of the quality of healthcare.

“I think the public system does a really good job in terms of prioritizing primary care. But for anything beyond basic vaccinations and deliveries, the masses are accessing the private system. In Bangladesh, 72% of health spending is coming from the private sector. And this is true across South Asia. In most countries, the opposite is true – the health funding is mostly coming from the government, but in South Asia, the private sector is driving the growth.

“The very specific pain point is providing quality healthcare at an affordable price point. When Praava entered the market, the average amount of time doctors spent with patients was 48 seconds. There were only four international standard labs for a country of 170 million people. And 20%+ of drugs in the market were counterfeit.

“What Praava offers, at an affordable price point, is a one-stop shop for all of your outpatient healthcare needs that’s truly at a world-class level: The doctors are practicing protocolized medicine and spending at least 15 minutes with each patient. Our lab meets international standards. Our pharmacy guarantees that there are no counterfeits because we source directly from manufacturers. We’re the only player that owns the outpatient healthcare experience and the only player that does so with both in-clinic physical services, as well as remote and virtual care. While there is still work to be done, we’re contributing to positive change.

“One of the greatest rewards has been hearing stories from our patients about how we’ve been able to change their lives. A lot of people say they never thought they could have healthcare like this in Bangladesh. They thought they would have to travel abroad. To hear that feedback is extremely rewarding and gratifying.”

On how her experience has prepared her to be an emerging market entrepreneur:

“This role is the confluence of all of the different things that I’ve done, particularly when I’ve been forced to manage uncertainty. I think my legal training gave me a framework for how to think in general and how to think about solving problems in a really methodical and logical way. My experience as a management consultant, and working in war-torn regions such as Afghanistan, helped me to learn how to navigate uncertainty methodically, how to problem-solve, and how to be constructive.

“Also, as a lawyer, advising clients on managing risk in investing in new countries and legal disputes in those markets helped prepare me. And my experience working in U.S. foreign policy allowed me to consider how different people think about the world and how Americans, in particular, see the rest of the world.

“The resilience of continuing to fight against daily, or even hourly, ups and downs is what I feel came from all of my various experiences.

“There’s an obsession with very young entrepreneurs, like Mark Zuckerberg, who quit college and go off to start their companies. “But I think building a new scalable business is really, really hard. I don’t think I could have done it when I was in my 20s. There’s a lot of evidence that the most successful entrepreneurs are people who start their companies in their late 30s and early 40s. I started when I was 37. I think that coming to entrepreneurship a bit later, after I had done a lot of different things, made me much more prepared for the resilience and patience that was required and is still required for what we’re building.”

On why we need to (sincerely) fund women entrepreneurs in emerging markets:

“My biggest surprise of this journey is how hard it has been to get funding. I really thought that if we proved the economics of our business, investors would want to invest. Once we prove our value proposition, investing should be a no-brainer. Well, our unit was profitable in ten months, as of November 2018, and I quickly discovered that it’s entirely untrue that proving the economics of your business alone is enough to get investors to invest.

“It’s been eye-opening for me to learn that 80% of venture dollars go to companies headquartered in New York, Massachusetts, and California – still sees the rest of the world as a charity case, not a place to make money.

“So that has pushed me to use my voice and platform to educate people on the opportunities that exist for emerging market entrepreneurs – and the overlooked opportunities financially, particularly for women. The amazing thing about emerging market businesses is you have an opportunity to make money and to have a big impact. Telling that story in a truly compelling and impactful way has been a challenge.

“As an American woman who moved to Bangladesh for the first time in my life to start this company, I’ve seen firsthand how hard it is for women entrepreneurs to access capital. There’s a lot of micro-money for women in emerging markets and outside the United States. But there’s not a lot of money for women to scale their businesses. There’s barely any, actually.

“When we hear about funding for women’s entrepreneurship and women-focused venture capital firms, unfortunately, it’s primarily U.S. and Europe-focused. Even Pivotal Ventures, founded by Melinda Gates, only invests in the United States.

“So the only way to help these countries stand up on their own and be less aid-dependent is to develop the private sector, which requires investment. And the only way to empower women in these countries is to help them build wealth. And the only way to build wealth is to have more access to capital.

“Women are not going to access power and be able to build their wealth if you only give them $10 a month to fund their micro-enterprises. That’s great. But once those micro-enterprises are ready to scale, at this moment, there’s no one to fund them.

“I’m still learning how to tell the story of how these problems are intertwined. Being a public figure and the public face of the organization is outside my comfort zone, so this role is really pushing me. But I realized these lessons are unique and need to be told.

I was at the Forbes 30/50 Summit on International Women’s Day in Abu Dhabi, which was supposedly one of the largest global gatherings of women leaders and innovators. Every single entrepreneur speaker was from America. The only speakers from outside the U.S. were focused on themes like human rights and charity.

“I found this offensive, and I gave that feedback. There are women leaders in other countries. There are female-founded unicorns in India. Canva was founded by a woman in Australia. We have to stop thinking that America is the center of the world. There are huge opportunities outside the U.S. Even BlackRock pointed out that in 2023, when you’re going through global recession, the only parts of the economy still growing are emerging markets.

“We must break out of thinking that the rest of the world needs charity, and America is where people make money.”

On leading in an industry where less than 15% of CEOS are women:

“Eighty-five percent of healthcare decisions for households all over the world are made by women. Sixty-five percent of health workers are women. I’ve always felt that being a woman ultimately makes me a better leader. It makes me better at building healthcare products for consumers and bringing the voice of women to the table. For that reason and so many more, we need more women leaders at the table.

“As a female leader, I think I have been both challenged and underestimated. I’ve been told directly by men who’ve been in the room when I pitch that I’ve been asked questions that investors wouldn’t think to ask men, and that investors challenge me and push back in ways they just don’t with men.

“But what I say about that, ultimately, is that it makes me a better founder. Because I have to have the answers to those questions. Knowing my business better is always a good thing. So yes, I’m sure it’s challenged me in ways that are not equal or fair. But ultimately, it makes me better and it makes my company better.”

On leveraging her voice and platform to challenge the status quo:

“I was at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference that happens in January each year in San Francisco. It’s the largest healthcare investing conference in the world, though it’s mostly U.S. focused, and there was a panel of eight white men. How is this happening in 2023? This was 2023, and it was a panel talking about healthcare with eight white men.

“I think leadership is a double-edged sword for women. Because it’s harder for women, women don’t necessarily want to go after it. So you have fewer women going into leadership roles in this sector. Also, America likes seeing women-founded companies that are wellness-focused or fashion-focused. Those are important companies, and no disrespect to those founders, but I just think America is more comfortable with female founders for those types of businesses. We need to see more women leading financial services organizations and building companies that are providing basic services for consumers who are more than 50% women. We all have these needs in our life, so we need women’s voices to create the solutions.

“The lack of women in leadership in my field has pushed me to recognize that because there are so few women in these roles, I have to push myself to be out there more and to use my voice.”

On ‘walking the walk’ of valuing women in the workplace:

“An unexpected outcome of this journey has been recognizing the importance of valuing women’s work in business.

“During my first year as a founder, every single woman who worked for me – aged 22 to 40+ – on my team of 25 people got pregnant. This accounted for about half the team. It was a challenging year, to say the least. When one of my management team members came to me and told me she was also pregnant, she cried. I’m committed to being a founder who supports women, and while it was hard to manage, we did it.

“My team was able to rise to the occasion and create a workplace that truly supports women – even at a small startup with only 25 employees, we were able to succeed even with half the team out for three to six months in one year. And we are stronger for it. Providing the support women need to thrive in their careers IS possible.

“As an employer, I have now seen firsthand that women ask for less money and undervalue themselves. In our first year, a member of my management team asked for a certain salary, and we gave her what she asked for. Then, we did a market study, and I learned she was earning 30 to 40 percent less than the market, even though she had foreign experience at multinationals in the U.S. So I bumped her up – she didn’t ask for it, and she wasn’t going to. But it was the right thing to do.

“It’s so powerful to see the impact of the choices that create a supportive workplace for women. For example, during the pandemic, we did a lot of COVID testing through part-time consultants. When we discontinued some of their contracts, one of the women lab technicians begged us to find a job for her, explaining that she’d never worked in an organization that valued women the way ours does.

“This experience was so humbling. Frankly, I don’t know that I’ve been as intentional as I could have been about creating that workplace. But when the senior leadership of an organization has women at several points (at times, more than 50% of the management team), it trickles down.”

On why the world is waiting for women to step up:

“Our world has a lot of really big problems that need solving. I’m focused on one of them, but there are so many more that affect our day-to-day lives and our futures. We need people who are willing to take on these issues. We don’t get it right every day – I know I don’t – but what’s important is that we continue to have a positive impact. That’s what makes everything worth it.

“During a period in 2021, we were facing some regulatory challenges. It was a really dark time for me as a leader. I personally didn’t know how we were going to get out of this situation. As a resilient leader, I had faith we would but I didn’t know how.

“I do a lot of one-on-ones with people in the organization at all different levels, and I was doing more at this time to make sure the team felt supported, that we were being transparent, and that they had an opportunity to ask questions.

“In that time, I learned that they totally have faith in us as a management team. They know what we’re doing is the right thing and that we’re going to get through this. That was so inspiring to me to hear that and to see that in them. They were at risk of not even getting paid next month, but they were sure we’d figure this out. They were all so blasé about it and were just focusing on their regular day-to-day work. They put so much faith in me, and in us as a management team, that it was a great reminder that they believe in what we’re doing. What we’ve built is so much bigger than me or them, and it needs to be.”

On how she defines her own integrity as a leader:

“I think we’re always driven by treating each other well. I listen to this podcast series, Wiser Than Me, by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. She herself is 62, and she interviews all women older than her. Yesterday, I was listening to the episode with Diane Von Furstenberg, and she said the only thing we can control in life is our character.

“This really resonated with me. We cannot control the weather. We cannot control the markets. We cannot control whether investors are going to invest or not. But what we can control is the way we treat each other — from giving the security guard at the entrance of a building a friendly hello to the empathy and kindness we give our patients, it’s all about treating each other well. That’s always my guiding force – to be able to feel proud of how I interact with other people.

“There have been some hard moments where someone on my team has let me down, and I’m upset and disappointed. And these are the moments when we show who we really are. No matter what, leading in a respectful and dignified way is always important.”

Interviewed by Aimee Hansen 

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Spotlight on Asia Update: Women in Leadership

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Spotlight on AsiaThis month, the Glass Hammer is doing a Spotlight on Asia to provide an update on gender disparity in the financial technology world of Asia as well as highlight some of fintech’s top women leaders.

Changes in Women Executives

According to Grant Thornton’s Women in Business Report, for the first time all regions of the world have surpassed 30% of women holding senior management positions while the global average comes to 32.4%. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had the largest jump in women leaders from 37% to 40% making it among the top 2 regions for women in senior roles. APAC has increased to 32% and has outpaced North America (31%) for the first time in 5 years. It was found that India played a large role in this increase thanks to the 2020 government mandate that companies over 1000 employees must have at least one independent female director as well as the mandate for a minimum of six months maternity leave.

The Global Board Diversity tracker found that 84% of companies in Asia have at least one woman as a board member which increased from 73% in 2020 but still lags behind the global average of 93.4%. When looking at companies with at least two women, the percentage drops to 45.4% (78.3% globally) and with at least three the number drops to 17.5% (59.8% globally). Overall, women hold 14.8% of board seats in Asia, up nearly 3 percentage points since 2020. Comparatively, however, Asia is still trailing the global percentage of 26.9%.

Even if the numbers are not on par with the global average, they are still headed in a positive direction. While the numbers of women in leadership are increasing in Asia, some industries are doing worse than others. The technology industry is found to have the weakest profile of gender diversity at all levels. In Singapore, only 6% of executives are women and only 15% of board directors in tech are women. And worse, in Hong Kong, only 5% of executives are female and only 10% of directors are women. But Singapore and Hong Kong are not the only countries with prominent disparities in technology. Indonesia has the lowest share of women at any level employed at technology companies with only 22% compared to the women in the workforce at 32%.

The Boston Consulting Group and Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority found that there are three “moments of truth” playing a key role in women pursuing careers in technology. These moments are their choice of major at university, their first job selection, and their decision to stay in technology as their career advances. The research provides suggestions as ways to combat the moments of truth for young women which include introducing the idea of technology as a major to high school aged girls to increase familiarity, providing programs that link university students to companies, and creating learning and development opportunities for women already in technology.

Though there are low numbers of women executives in technology in Asia, there are still trailblazing women leading technology companies in Asia. We chose three of the top leaders who are at the forefront of the industry to highlight. These three were all named among the Top 25 Women in Financial Technology of Asia in 2020 by the Financial Technology Report.

Paroma Chatterjee

Paroma Chatterjee

Paroma Chatterjee is currently the CEO of Revolut which is a digital banking service app that includes many services like transferring money in 29 currencies, a debit card that enables cash withdrawal, crypto currency, as well as overseas medical insurance. Chatterjee received a Bachelor’s in Science with honors in physics from St. Xavier’s college then went to the Indian Institution of Management, Lucknow for a Post Graduate Diploma in Management. She began her career as a management trainee at Procter & Gamble. She then held multiple leadership roles at various companies before becoming Chief Business Officer at Via.com and Lendingkart. Now, Chatterjee is the CEO of Revolut where she builds and leads the company’s subsidiary in India. She hopes to continue to develop the subsidiary and build a talented team of people.

Cerulean Hu

Cerulean Hu

Cerulean Hu is the Senior Vice President of Blockchain Engineering at Crypto.com in Hong Kong. Hu received a Bachelor of Engineering degree from the University of Hong Kong before starting financial technology journey as developer in algorithmic trading at HBSC. From there she became a software engineer at ANX International where she was also a team lead in finance and trading systems. She moved on to work at Equichain and FINCOVA as a senior software engineer. Then, in 2018 she joined Cyrpto.com as a Lead Blockchain Engineer and worked her way up to Executive Vice President of Blockchain Engineering. Crypto.com is an alternative to traditional financial service with the belief that “it is your basic right to control your money, data, and identity.” The company has 80 million users in 90 countries and offers products like the Crypto.com app and Visa card. Hu has been in this position for over a year and uses her previous leadership experience to continue to grow her team and in doing so, the company.

Jessica Tan

Jessica Tan

Jessica Tan is the Co-CEO, Executive Director and Executive Vice President at Ping An Group, China’s largest non-State owned conglomerate by revenue with an expansive portfolio including healthcare, financial services and automobile services. Tan completed her university schooling at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she received a Bachelor’s of Science in both economics and electrical engineering as well as a Master’s degree in computer science and electrical engineering. She began her career at McKinsey & Company as a consultant before working hard and being promoted to partner. She later joined Ping An Group as the chief information officer and worked her way up to the position of Co-CEO she holds today. Ping An groups hopes to expand their technologies globally and Tan hopes to help globalize professional services, such as the ability for remote doctors as seen with remote teachers. Outside of Ping An, Tan also holds memberships with the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Securities of Future Commissions. She was also ranked 2nd Fortune’s Most Powerful Women’s international section while also making Forbes Power Women list in 2020.

It May Take Time, But It’s Worth It

While these successful women show advancement of women in Asia to high management positions is not impossible, it remains very uncommon. However, global research has shown that there is a positive correlation between companies in the top quartile of gender diversity and outperforming the other quartiles, from a total-return-to-shareholder’s perspective. These companies are 25% more likely to outperform lower ranked companies and better financial returns. When women match men’s participation in the workforce there is the potential for a significant financial gain. It is estimated to be roughly $12 trillion, or about 11% of the global GDP, lost while gender disparity is still present. Katie MacQuivey quoted in the Grant Thornton study, “It’s crucial that companies build a pipeline of diverse leadership across all levels and invest in long term programs to ensure success isn’t only focused on one point in time.” Having more women in executive positions would not only be beneficial to women but to the companies’ bottom lines.

By Chloe Williams

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Wanda Woo: Partner, Capital Markets, Shearman & Sterling LLC (Hong Kong)

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Wanda Woo(Spotlight on Asia) “If you have the right skills and are prepared, don’t be afraid when the opportunity comes to you. No one can tell you it’s not possible,” says Wanda Woo on being both a Shearman & Sterling partner and mother of three children.

Defining Her Own Growth Curve

Woo entered capital markets as a paralegal in 2004 after attaining a double degree in English literature and economics from the University of British Columbia. She planned to go the U.S. for her JD, but her trajectory was redirected after her father’s heart attack compelled a return to Hong Kong. Working as a paralegal with Linklaters in Hong Kong while studying undergraduate law via the University of London was not easy but her mentor at that time taught her to never underestimate herself.

“I made it, and it was painful, but I feel very proud of that process in the end,” says Woo. “I saw early on what I was capable of.”

Woo went onto join Shearman & Sterling for eight years as an associate, during which she had three children, and then after leaving for four years, she decided to rejoin the firm.

“It was destiny to have the opportunity to rejoin Shearman & Sterling as a capital markets partner. The timing couldn’t be better. The firm has really been the only place that has truly been very important for me throughout my career path. It’s like coming back home.”

Being a Mom of Three And a Partner

Woo confesses that she thought of resigning from Big Law after her first child, worried she would not be able to meet the travel and work demands, but instead the partner she worked for at the time encouraged her to instead take flexible arrangements.

“I’ve always found Shearman & Sterling to be very gender-equal, where male partners are working well with female partners, and very supportive. I couldn’t imagine another place that would have supported me so much when I was working in such an intensive field with three children.”

“It can be challenging, but I wouldn’t personally be a better mom if I was around 24/7,” says Woo of the multiple roles she balances.

She adds the importance of loving what you do, especially if you are carving your own possibilities: “If you have the passion for the work, there’s always a way. Pick the right field, pick the right industry, pick the right job that you have passion for.”

Doing The Work that Fulfills


“I always have felt like I belong to this industry,” says Woo. “You are always meeting new people or working on new deals or learning different business models. I really like transaction work because it’s a people business at the same time. That ability to contribute is what keeps me going – the work of helping corporate entities get listed and then being able to continue that relationship onwards.”

Woo feels most fulfilled by the companies she has helped bring to IPO status, to become publicly traded companies, and the amazing colleagues and clients she’s had a chance to work with over the past 17 years.

“For better or worse, I always say I am a bit obsessive-compulsive. I’m very motivated to finish the work, be on top of it, and respond quickly to inquiries or client requests,” says Woo. “Partially, I want to be able to return home to my kids. So, this obsessive quality has also helped me be efficient as a partner while also being a mother.”

Woo is especially good at handling conflict between stakeholders while also advising her clients through transactions legally – a skill of calmness that she picked up from watching partners that inspired her.

With three kids growing up to inherit this world, making a positive impact through ESG is important to her. “How to make an impact, give back to the environment and contribute to society is something I’m learning more about and sharing more about, beyond the notions of making money or having year-on-year growth.”

“In transactional capital markets law, the issuers may not know that ESG is something that will help them in the long run. But when we bring the ESG frame, along with the regulators, to these companies, they start to realize the impact they can make to society through these measures and policies,” notes Woo. “This is something to start earlier rather than later, so it becomes a part of your corporate culture, and is inviting to other stakeholders.”

Networking, Authentically

Since becoming a partner, Woo has moved from being more execution-focused to developing and stewarding client relationships. Having once pushed herself out of her comfort zone to seek partnership has helped her to push herself yet again.

“As a partner, people will ask you questions 24/7 and you have to be responsive. But the bigger growth area is to compel people to come back to you for more work and to assure them that you have them in your mind and heart as a client so you build that long-term relationship.”

“Now that I’ve been a partner for several years, I’ve realized networking is not really about wining and dining,” observes Woo. “It’s really about being authentic, reliable and trustworthy. I’ve always had these qualities I feel, but I had to learn to show people.”

Being Inspired and Inspiring Yourself

Woo has been most inspired by the lawyers before her that demonstrated integrity: “Being a good lawyer is never enough. They showed me what it means to be truly respectable and professional in all acts. They were doing the marketing work and actively engaging in the real work. It was never just about getting deals. The common quality in the figures I’ve aspired to is that they are still immersed and involved.”

Woo urges junior lawyers to not get too caught up on monetary rewards for early career efforts but to frame it as an investment in yourself as a lawyer.

“You’re not just getting paid for the job that you are doing. You are also getting paid for the experience that you’re earning,” says Woo. “The more you earn the better. You’ll be prepared for the next step. When I was a paralegal, I treated myself as an associate. When I was working as an associate, I treated myself as a senior. I went the extra mile, put in two hundred percent, so the partners could see what I could really do, and then they would give me more opportunities. Not everything you’re doing can be measured in monetary value.”

Recently back from a 2.5 month trip to China to check in with the clients and teams in Shanghai and Beijing offices, Woo values time with her parents, her partner and her children, who are now 9, 7 and 6 years old.

Woo prides herself on taking challenging situations and turning them towards her favor – and ranks being both a mother of three and Shearman capital markets partner high among those accomplishments.

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