By Cleo Thompson (London), founder of The Gender Blog

Lee Chalmers is a woman on a mission – and that mission is to transform the face of leadership and, more crucially, to change what gets recognised as leadership – in both business and British politics. London based, she runs an executive coaching business Authentic Living, working with men and women to help them live their lives with purpose, in an authentic style. Her clients include major global companies in financial services, banking, oil and gas and she has worked all over the world with a variety of different cultures and leadership styles.

Chalmers’ crossover from business to politics came in the summer of 2008, when she realised that many of the issues impacting women and leadership styles which she saw in the corporate world were mirrored in UK politics. Despite constituting 51% of the population, British women still hold only 11% of directorships in business boardrooms, 19.3% of seats in the Houses of Parliament – and there has only ever been one female inhabitant (Margaret Thatcher) of 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the British Prime Minister.

Together with writer Indra Adnan, an exponent of the concepts of soft power and balanced leadership, Chalmers founded the Downing Street Project in 2009. Chalmers and Adnan were inspired by Marie Wilson’s US-based work and progress with the White House Project and thought that the UK needed a similar organisation and political intervention.

Read more

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

In a recent blog post, Clay Shirky, a world-famous new media scholar and consultant, wrote, “not enough women have what it takes to behave like arrogant self-aggrandizing jerks.”

This is bad for women, he reasons, because, “people who don’t raise their hands don’t get called on, and people who raise their hands timidly get called on less. Some of this is because assertive people get noticed more easily, but some of it is because raising your hand is itself a high-cost signal that you are willing to risk public failure in order to try something.”

Men, on the other hand, seem to have less of a problem with stretching the facts in order to promote themselves. “There is no upper limit to the risks men are willing to take in order to succeed, and if there is an upper limit for women, they will succeed less.”

Read more

By Tina Vasquez (Los Angeles)

For the past five years, the UC Davis Graduate School of Management has worked in conjunction with the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and Executives (FWE&E) to collect the data for their Study of California’s Women Business Leaders, which takes a census of California’s women directors and officers and sheds light on the lack of female representation found in these roles. For many of us already aware of the dismal numbers in which women are represented in c-suite positions and on boards across the country, it will come as no surprise that 2009’s study found that women continue to remain one of California’s most untapped resources.

The Bay Area: A Contradiction in Gender Representation

Nationally, only 15.2 percent of board positions are held by women and the numbers aren’t much better in California. FWE&E CEO, Wendy Beecham, has the unique perspective of having the area where she both lives and works be a representation of the best and worst of California. Beecham is a major proponent of diversity in the boardroom and her Palo Alto, CA office serves the entire Bay Area. Oddly enough, the Bay Area has both the highest and lowest numbers in the state for women directors. In San Francisco County, 15.7 percent of board positions are held by women, which is the highest in the state and higher than the national average. Just a little over sixty miles away; however, the booming Silicon Valley in Santa Clara County, considered the high-tech hub of the country and home to technology giants like Adobe Systems, Apple, eBay, and Google, continues to remain an all boy’s club with just 8.2 percent of board positions being held by women.

Read more

By Liz O’Donnell (Boston)

According to a recent report by the Anita Borg Institute (ABI) for Women in Technology, “Retaining a Diverse Technical Pipeline During and After a Recession,” top talent is at risk of disengagement during a recession and should be considered a high flight risk when the recovery starts. Dr. Caroline Simard, vice president of research and executive programs for the Anita Borg Institute and author of the study, cautions that while companies undergo cost-cutting measures to weather a downturn in the economy, they should protect the practices that support a healthy work/life balance. Otherwise, they may experience a spike in turnover when the economy improves.

It makes sense. Often the “survivors” of layoffs are burdened with more work and no extra pay, if not reduced pay, as employers cut staff in order to maintain profitability. The team that remains can experience significant stress from bigger workloads and longer hours. And at the same time that job demands increase, benefits and perks often disappear. While no more free coffee may be disappointing, no more flex time can put pressure on an employee trying to manage childcare, elder care or health issues as well as a career. And the loss of professional development programs such as training and mentoring can lead to cynicism and disengagement from once motivated employees. Simard says these conditions create “a perfect storm” and increase the likelihood that talent will leave once they get the chance.

Read more