Spotlight on Asia: The Future of Professional Women in Corporate Asia

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Leading a dynamic teamWelcome to The Glass Hammer’s Spotlight on Asia Week. We’ll be featuring profiles of successful business women working in Asia all week long!

By Michelle Hendelman, Editor-in-Chief

This week on The Glass Hammer, we are featuring profiles of senior level women living and working (not to mention succeeding) in Asian markets. Collectively, their stories are inspiring and offer a representation of professional women in Asia that is motivating to future generations. Individually, each of their journeys is truly remarkable. Here, we take a closer look at some of the key issues surrounding women’s career advancement in Asia and what the future holds for the talented and bright young women emerging from this region.

Women’s career advancement has become a focal point in different industries across the globe, and some countries and regions have progressed at a faster rate than others. When you take a look at the landscape of gender diversity in the corporate culture in Asia, you will notice a gap that is starting to gain a lot of attention from business leaders who are beginning to recognize the value of women leaders in the workplace.

Tapping into the Female Workforce in Asia

McKinsey recently released their report, Women Matter: An Asian Perspective [PDF], which offers an in depth look at the state of gender diversity in Asia. This research is based on their assessment of 745 companies and a survey of 1,500 senior managers to assess the interest in increased gender diversity, the challenges involved in getting more women in leadership positions, and the barriers preventing female talent from gaining access to the talent pipeline.

The report states:

“Asian cultures of course vary widely, so the picture is a varied one. Nevertheless, the survey results are an important benchmark against which to assess both the current situation and judge future progress. Not surprisingly perhaps, the results show women hold very few of the top jobs in Asia. On average, they hold 6 percent of the seats on corporate boards and 8 percent of those on executive committees. Moreover, although elements of a gender diversity program are in place in some Asian companies, the issue is not yet high on the strategic agenda of most.”

The data may look bleak, but it can only mean one thing –there is only room to grow from here. The global economy is growing, but Asia boasts some of the fastest growing economies in the world right now. In order to keep up with the growth on the consumer side, businesses must create growth driven strategies to stay competitive. What does this all boil down to? All of this economic growth is a driving force behind the need for more labor force participation, and if this does not include women, the well of the workforce will dry up pretty fast.

Aside from the sheer supply and demand economic benefits associated with getting more female participation in the workforce in Asia, there are strategic advantages as well. Champions of gender equality have been making the business case [PDF] for gender diversity in the workplace for years, but as more women fill the top spots, companies are starting to see a profound effect on their bottom line. Yet, according to the McKinsey report, 70 percent of the executives they surveyed stated that gender diversity is not a priority on their strategic business agenda.

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Why Role Models are Critical for Developing Women Leaders in Tech

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iStock_000009318986XSmallBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Recently, The Glass Hammer revealed our new research on women in technology – we wanted to find out what companies can do to better retain women at the junior and mid-career levels. Many companies are making a robust effort to recruit a high percentage of women at the entry-level, but few are building the organizational structure that will ultimately keep them there.

In our study, we identified a few motivators that stoke the career ambition of junior and mid-level women in technology – things like “walking the talk” (see our earlier article on the topic) and participating in a leadership development course.

Another key indicator of C-suite ambition was having a role model. In fact, the vast majority of our respondents (79.9 percent) said they had a role model. Meanwhile, respondents who didn’t have a role model were significantly more likely to say they had no C-suite aspirations than those who did have one.

That’s why, we believe, it’s important for companies to recognize the importance of nurturing connections between junior and mid-level technologists and the people at the top who support them through sponsorship initiatives, women’s networking groups, and mentoring programs.

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Passion and Purpose – Why Leadership Means Following Your Heart

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SHE Summit 2013By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Last week, thousands of women took part in S.H.E. Summit Week, a week-long event designed to empower women to take ownership of their careers and dreams. The week of pop-up events around the world culminated with a two-day conference on work and life in New York City. Speakers included people like Cindy Gallop, Joi Gordon, Gloria Feldt, Reshma Saujani, and John Gerzema, who examined the powerful and positive ways women leaders are reshaping the 21st century.

For Claudia Chan, the powerhouse behind the S.H.E. Summit, stepping into leadership meant following her true passion and purpose. Although she became a successful entrepreneur at 25 when she founded what would become the girls’ night out entertainment company Shecky’s, it wasn’t until she left her business nine years later that she began examining the greater impact she wanted to make for women and for the world as a leader. She explained, “During my latter few years of my last business, I had achieved material success but I wasn’t fulfilled on the inside because I lacked a deeper sense of purpose. Experiencing what I did as a female entrepreneur, I really started learning and thinking about the state of women. When the a-hah moment came that I needed to build a more purposeful women’s media business that would share and scale the advice of today’s female role models in a modern way, a whole new definition of leadership kicked in for me. To be the best leader I could be, I had to take the leap to pursue a vision that I believed could positively impact women at large, and I am extremely proud of what we have achieved since we launched just 15 months ago.”

Being a leader isn’t just about being successful in business, she explained. “It also means having a clear vision of what you want to build, knowing what is needed to achieve that vision at different building stages, acquiring and empowering talent where you have weakness, knowing when to fight versus be patient and humbled, never giving up even when it feels harder than ever, and building something profitable that improves the lives of everyone involved — from partners to clients to employees.” These are big themes for Chan – and they are themes of the S.H.E Summit as well.

“I had to ask myself, ‘Am I doing what I’m really passionate about? Why am I doing this? What am I doing this for?’ I realized I really lacked focus. And I really wasn’t doing something that was making me happy.” She continued, “It was going through those challenges, several years ago, that forced me to create positive change in my life and to create a platform that would inspire women to dream and do big with passion and purpose, just like in my experience.”

Leadership is often born out of turmoil, she explained. “It’s not the cliché of having success and making a lot of money and all of the sudden I became a great leader. I always say obstacles create opportunities, and the number one quality for leadership is humility. Going through challenges helped me become a leader.”

Chan says her goal with her business SHE Global Media (parent company to ClaudiaChan.com, and her global women’s week S.H.E. Summit), is to be the leadership and lifestyle media company that creates only positive and empowering content and products for women. “It’s about building a business that is of service to others – making a positive dent on this universe. That is really how I define great leadership.”

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Women of Vision Inspire Tech Millennials

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iStock_000006684238XSmallBy Robin Madell (San Francisco)

Last month nearly 1,000 people attended The Anita Borg Institute’s (ABI) 2013 Women of Vision (WOV) awards banquet held in Santa Clara, CA on May 9. Several hundred female college students also attended the event free of charge, sponsored by tech company representatives.

The event honored Intel as the Top Company for Technical Women award winner, as well as three visionary individuals: Genevieve Bell, Director of Interaction and Experience Research for Intel Labs, Intel; Vicki Hanson, Professor of Inclusive Technologies at the University of Dundee and Research Staff Member Emeritus from IBM Research; and Maja Matarić, professor and Chan Soon-Shiong Chair in Computer Science, Neuroscience, and Pediatrics at Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California.

Intel was recognized for having achieved momentum on almost every Top Company metric, including recruitment, retention, and advancement of technical women at all levels—both in management and individual contributor pathways. Programs like the Command Presence Workshop, which helps women increase their visibility and effectiveness in the organization, and the Women Principal Engineers and Fellows Forum, which brings together senior individual contributors each year, are examples of the company’s commitment to fostering diversity through specific initiatives to attract, develop, and promote women.

Intel also boasts one of the lowest voluntary turnover rates among women in the industry, holding at 2 percent over the last three years. That’s in part because the company continuously experiments with new, innovative programs and practices aimed at leveraging the full benefits of a diverse technical workforce.

The night’s keynote speaker was Diane M. Bryant, senior vice president and general manager of the Datacenter and Connected Systems Group (DCSG) for Intel Corporation. Bryant told the packed house that despite many gains for women in the tech industry, “there’s still a lot of work to be done,” citing a “horrible decline” in the number of engineering degrees awarded to women. This number peaked in the 1980s with women earning 30 percent or more of the degrees, but which has since plummeted to just 12 percent.

Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer also spoke, emphasizing that increasing representation of women drives diverse business perspectives that help to create better products. Schroepfer said that in celebrating the achievements of these three amazing women, “we acknowledge something even more important: the need to have more women driving the development of technology that shapes our future.”

Bell, the WOV award winner for leadership, is an anthropologist and researcher. She leads a team of social scientists, interaction designers, human factors engineers, and computer scientists to research new computing experiences centered around people’s needs and desires, which shapes and then helps to create new technologies and products.

Bell told the audience of her technology peers and students that if you set your mind to it, you can make big changes in the industry. She shared that her mother taught her, “If you see a better world, you’re morally obligated to create it.”

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Trailblazers Discuss Business Diversity at Consortium 2013

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Strength in NumbersBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Yesterday, hundreds of institutional investors and small and diverse fund managers converged at Consortium 2013, for networking, career development, and discussion around the future of the industry.

Renae Griffin, Founder and Principal of RG & Associates and founder of the conference, opened the morning with what she called “a new Consortium tradition.” She encouraged attendees to stand up and shake hands and begin to network with one another. “That sets the stage for what’s going to be happening for the rest of the day,” she said.

The importance of building relationships was a common theme expressed by the morning’s speakers, a diverse set of leaders that included Jamal Simmons, Political Analyst and Principal at the Raben Group; Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to President Obama; Marx Cazanave, Co-Founder and Former CEO of Progress Investment Management Company; Sonia Gardner, Managing Partner at Avenue Capital; Reverend Dr. Al Sharpton, Founder and President of the National Action Network; Robert F. Smith, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners; and Sue Toigo, Founder of the Robert Toigo Foundation.

All of the speakers are trailblazers, having entered business or politics at a time when these fields were barely open to women and minorities. Jarrett commented, “Diversity is good for business. CEOs who don’t get that, globally, they are not going to do well.”

She added, “As companies try to be competitive in the global marketplace, diversity is a strength.”

Strengthening Diversity

Jarrett, who spent much of her session discussing her journey into politics and her work with President Obama, shared a few thoughts on why companies need to develop more inclusive workforces.

She said, “Studies say that when you have women on boards, companies tend to be more profitable. That’s no surprise to me and probably no surprise to the other women in this room.”

Strengthening relationships amongst women and minority professionals will help send a message about the importance of diverse groups, she continued. “We have to build networks, such as the network you have right here in this room, and you have to make it a priority.”

“The leaders who are going to be the leaders of tomorrow recognize the importance of diversity,” Jarrett added.

Learning from Trailblazers

Toigo began her career in politics and then moved to business. She explained, “At some point it occurred to me that it wasn’t necessarily politics or legislation driving our community, but money was driving the politics.”

She and her husband, Robert Toigo, began leading groups of investors on trips all over they world, but were dismayed to realize that all of the participants were white men. “America is the most diverse country in the world. Why are only white people running money? How is anything going to change like that, if the people controlling the money come from one small subsection?” she asked.

That was the impetus behind the Toigo Foundation, the notion that changing society would require changing the face of business. For over twenty years, the Toigo Foundation has provided MBA fellowships and internships for women and minority professionals, and has since added lifelong mentoring, career development programs, and networking.

“We are a family and we are going into year 25,” she said. The group now has 1,000 alums and 125 current students. “This is a tight-knit group and it’s one-on-one, and it’s helping one person at a time do what they do best.”

Sonia Gardner is another woman working to change the face of business. With her brother, she has built a thriving company, Avenue Capital Management. “My family is an example of the American dream. We came here when I was four and none of us spoke English,” she recalled. “My parents sacrificed everything so we could have an education.”

In 1990, she and her brother founded a small brokerage firm, starting out with no capital. “We had a lot of nerve – or naivete,” she said. Nevertheless, the business did well, and a few years later the pair founded Avenue. Eventually, they had to make a choice – they couldn’t do both – and they chose to close down the brokerage firm and continue on with Avenue. The brokerage firm would have been easy to keep – it was doing well, but Avenue had more potential. “When you come to a crossroads in your life and you have to make a decision, do not follow the easy road,” she advised.

Today Avenue has gone global and has about $12 billion under management. But, Gardner says, it’s important to measure success not only in dollars but in reputation.

“Always, I believe the most important asset you have as a leader is your integrity,” she said. “Your definition of success has to contain an ethical code.”

“The most important element of success is your ability to hold onto your values and not give them up for a short term vision of success.”

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More Women in Nonprofit Board Seats Than in Private Sector—But Still Much Room for Growth

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iStock_000002379502XSmallBy Robin Madell (San Francisco)

The Boston Club released a study in May that examines the gender diversity of women directors and chief executives in the Massachusetts nonprofit sector. The 2013 Census of Women Directors and Chief Executives of Massachusetts’ Largest Nonprofit Organizations: A Benchmark Report is the first of its kind to track the number and percentage of women in the boardrooms and in senior leadership positions of the largest nonprofits in the Commonwealth.

Beverly A. Brown, PhD, is director of development at the Center for Global Health and Development at Boston University’s School of Public Health and an author of the report. Brown credits this as the first report to “shine the bright light” on gender diversity in the education and health sectors.

The report found that:

  • 1,090 women serve on the boards of the 142 largest nonprofit organizations in Massachusetts, representing 35% of all board members in those organizations.
  • 20% of the chief executives of these organizations are women.
  • 124 organizations have 3 or more women on their boards.
  • Only 1 organization has no women on either its board or in the chief executive position.

The Boston Club has long conducted research on women’s leadership and the gender diversity of boards and executive suites of Massachusetts’ largest public companies. The report lays the groundwork to monitor the progress of gender diversity in the nonprofit space, one of the state’s largest employment sectors. Research partners for the project were Simmons College and Mercer.

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Women Leaders Discuss Investment Management in Uncertain Times

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Group-Of-Women-Meeting-In-Creative-OfficeLast week The Glass Hammer hosted its 6th annual Top Women on the Buy-Side Breakfast. The lively discussion gave way to even livelier networking, as senior women across the investment management industry mulled over the question, “Where do we go from here?”

Our panel included Jane Buchan, PhD, CAIA, Managing Director and CEO, PAAMCO; Michelle Meyer, Senior U.S. Economist, Bank of America Merrill Lynch; Leah Modigliani, Senior Vice President, Investment Strategy and Risk, Neuberger Berman; Ranji Nagaswami, CFA, previously Chief Investment Advisor to Mayor Bloomberg, City of New York; and Anjun Zhou, PhD, Managing Director and Head of Multi-Asset Research, Mellon Capital. Each shared her point of view on where the markets are going and how to deal with inflation and risk moving forward.

Our moderator, Heidi Moore, US Finance and Economics Editor at The Guardian, began, “Previously, we’ve always had a crisis to talk about.” But this time, the biggest factor facing women on the buy-side is uncertainty. “What is important to know about the markets,” she asked, “when so much is unknowable?”

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Making Diversity Personal – Storytelling and Leadership

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iStock_000016827030XSmallBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

A new McKinsey report suggests that while tracking and analyzing diversity metrics is important for success in gender parity, we should not downplay the importance of personal experience. Leaders should be encouraged to engage in storytelling, McKinsey suggests, making their connection to diversity personal.

Lareina Yee, a Principal in McKinsey’s San Francisco office, explained that while, in the past, she and her team had researched into problem areas that companies experience when it comes to diversity, for this research they decided to delve into the things that companies are doing right. “Instead of framing all of the things companies were not doing, we decided to ask ‘what are things that companies are doing that make them better?’ Who are the positive deviants?”

She continued, “That’s how we got to the storytelling piece. It’s about commitment, and we believe that intensity of commitment is critical for the success of the program.”

Yee, who wrote the report with Joanna Barsh and Sandra Nudelman, says that when leaders are genuinely committed to improving workforce diversity, they put their passion and their resources behind numbers-based corporate initiatives in a combination that yields success.

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Leadership: Gender Champions and Straight Allies Set Out to Change Wall Street

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Nicki HeadshotBy Nicki Gilmour, CEO of The Glass Hammer and Evolved Employer

Last week, I was lucky to attend the 3rd Annual Out on the Street conference, where 300 LGBT executives, along with some leaders who are straight allies, convened at Goldman Sachs. It was an excellent event that gave a platform to some amazing leaders to discuss their views on LGBT equality at work, workplace culture, and their role as allies to the LGBT constituents in their firms.

The work that has been going on in the gender space for women to advance is now almost 20 years old in some firms, and I believe could benefit and learn from the workplace LGBT movement, which is less than 5 years old and is gaining lots of support.

In fact, our research from last year shows that LGBT women are likely to be more active within their firm’s women’s network, rather than their LGBT group, relating most strongly to the challenges of being a woman in a male dominated workplace.

This also resonated at the event, with a heavy majority of attendees being LGBT men. The women’s panel, called “The XX Factor,” reinforced that sexism, overt or otherwise, can stall careers more than any other factor. Kathy Levinson, Managing Director of Golden Seeds who is openly gay, remarked, “The silence can be deafening when I am with gay men, as there is no obligation to be verbal and visible about being LGBT. The discrimination that women feel, by being visible, well, I relate to that more.”

It is evident that the firms that are gaining the most ground have leaders who understand talent and human capital and are striving to create workplaces where everyone can thrive.

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Ursula Burns Discusses Impatience and Leadership at Catalyst Awards Luncheon

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ursulaburnsBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

At last week’s Catalyst Awards Conference, lunch keynote Ursula Burns, CEO of Xerox, shared her experience and advice on leadership and more. “I lucked out,” she began. “Xerox is a company that fit me well. It allowed to relax into my own self.”

Having begun her career as an engineer, Burns climbed the corporate ranks all the way to the top, becoming the first Black woman CEO of a Fortune 500 company in 2009. “There was an unbelievable roar and uproar about that,” she recalled. “But the board expected that, and I expected it, and our PR people expected it and prepared me for it.”

But what surprised Burns and the rest of Xerox was the conversation about her transition – how she was appointed CEO by another woman, Anne Mulcahy. “The two together really took on an entire conversation. Anne and I refused to do an interview together at first. The only time we did it was at the Fortune Most Powerful Woman conference. We stayed away from that conversation.”

In fact, she continued, all the media hubbub was discomfiting for her initially. “I found out people liked me, respected me, thought I was smart – without ever knowing me. I became the most smart, most famous, most beautiful person… but at that point I hadn’t even done anything!”

Now, almost four years into her job, she’s easing into the public eye as she’s shown her skill as a CEO. “Now it’s more normal to [position] me as a leader,” she explained, “not having the spotlight on me as an oddity.”

Throughout her talk with Catalyst CEO Ilene Lang, Burns discussed her career path, joking about her reputation as a notoriously impatient person and sharing her advice on speaking up and leadership.

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