What Does “Board Ready” Really Mean?

By Tina Vasquez (Los Angeles)

Based on the latest Catalyst figures, women constitute only 11 percent of U.S. Fortune 1000 company board seats and 25 percent of Fortune 1000 companies still have no women on their boards. Numbers are similar in Europe, where women account for just 9.7 percent of board members in the top 300 European companies. When discussing why it is that women are still so underrepresented on boards in the U.S. and abroad, there are differing opinions. Some strongly believe there is a glass ceiling in place that hinders women from moving up the ranks, while others believe it’s a matter of too few qualified women being in the pipeline. According to new research released by the three-year-old London-based company Bird & Co Board & Executive Mentoring, the glass ceiling is a distraction and the real problem is clearly a lack of “board ready” women in the pipeline.

In 2008, the company undertook a research project to identify what will help get more women into board positions – and what resulted was their Glass Ladder Report [PDF]. According to Kathleen O’Donovan, founding partner of the company, their aim with the report was not just to identify barriers, but to seek opportunities for positive change and to find out what would help more women get to the top.

“Our research confirmed there is widespread recognition that a board’s performance can be enhanced by the addition of one or more women and indeed, there’s much enthusiasm for programs to increase the number of women in senior management positions,” O’Donovan said. “Our research also made clear that this is a supply-side issue. Increasing female representation on boards is simply not going to be feasible without a significant increase in the pool of women who have the experience and preparation to be classed as genuinely board ready.”

By being board ready, O’Donovan means having a real sense of what is expected of board directors and how to deliver; understanding that a non-executive directorship is not merely an extension of the executive role – it is another job with its own requirements and responsibilities; being clear about what they bring to the board and what experiences they have that will be of value to that board; and understanding the process of board search and nomination committees and being prepared for interviews and board panels.

To remedy what they believe to be a pipeline problem, the Bird & Co Group created their 10-month Glass Ladder Program, aimed at increasing the pool of women who are ready for board appointments by preparing them for the demands they will face when they get there.

What does Board Ready Mean?

There’s no denying the current crop of research that confirms companies will be more profitable and successful with the addition of more women in senior roles, but many women are split on the underlying issue. Those who believe that it’s a matter of a glass ceiling being present are point out that there’s no lack of qualified women in the executive pipeline. After all, if the proper education, loads of experience, and an impressive resume doesn’t constitute “board ready,” then what does?

Dr. Marcia Reynolds, a Master Certified Coach who works with many major companies assisting them with making decisions about changes in their workplace, has a doctoral degree in organizational psychology with a research emphasis in high-achieving women in the workplace.

“Companies who attempt to train women to be more ‘board ready’ are basing their models on successful men and they’re judging a woman’s skill set based on what has been successful in the past, as opposed to what will be successful in the future,” Reynolds said. “This is our biggest problem: Companies are using outdated models of leadership and this is especially true for companies today who – after financial ruin – are going back to the old way of doing things. This is a whole new world and what women bring to the table is what boards need.”

According to Reynolds, new models of leadership are going to focus more heavily on collaboration, inclusiveness, and team development, which makes this the perfect time to promote more women through the ranks and on to boards.

After speaking to Reynolds it becomes clear that many of the problems women face in corporate America are the result of old fashioned thinking. For example, many mentoring programs aimed at women focus heavily on work/life balance issues, which Reynolds believes unfairly makes the assumption that a majority of women place more emphasis on their family than the career they’ve worked so hard to attain.

“Women’s programs need to help women understand who they are today and the challenges they face today, not the work/life balance issues they faced 20 years ago. Similarly, women don’t need assertiveness training; all of the business women I’ve encountered all over the world are perfectly assertive. These types of programs need to stop assuming who women are and instead, open their eyes and ask women who they are and what they need by giving them the opportunity to have a broader business perspective and knowledge,” Reynolds said.

These assumptions being made on their behalf are not only robbing women of opportunities, but they’re also hindering companies from performing at their best – by failing to include their brightest. Countless times over the course of her coaching career, Reynolds has encountered women who were essentially looked over once they had a child. It was assumed that they wouldn’t want to take on a big project – and so they weren’t offered it; it was assumed that they wouldn’t want to travel for business – and so the opportunity was passed on to a male colleague, who was usually a parent as well.

Paradigm Shifts – Women on the Top

What’s happening now is that women are leaving companies in droves, unwilling to mold themselves according to outdated models of success and unwilling to continue being disrespected and looked over. In other words, they no longer want to climb their way up the corporate ladder and it’s not because of a lack of knowledge or experience, but rather a lack of tolerance for old paradigms on their part. Why continue putting in the work if nothing ever changes? Women are sticking around long enough to develop their skills and then they’re leaving to start their own businesses, which is exactly what Reynolds and countless other women have done, as illustrated by the fact that the number of businesses run by women has increased twice as fast as those run by men.

Women still in the corporate world and working towards board seats and other senior positions shouldn’t give up. Things are changing and in their favor.

“In a couple of generations this will all be passé because men will be totally outnumbered,” Reynolds said. “Before any great change, there is great resistance and what we’re seeing now is the great resistance before the paradigm shift. The companies that are holding on to that old hierarchical system that make it hard for women to come up will see their model torn down and women will come out on top.”