By Mai Browne
If you’re doing business in China and an associate asks you how much money you earn, don’t be offended; he or she is probably just seeking a way to find common ground. Marie Seton O’Brien, a forensic due diligence consultant, learned this lesson while working in Beijing a few years ago for New York Global Group, a global strategic advisory, venture capital and private equity firm.
“In addition to salary, lots of people asked about my age and marital status,” said O’Brien. “At first I was taken aback, but then I realized that these questions were just a jumping-off point for building a relationship.”
When working in a foreign country, gaining an understanding of cross-cultural differences – and how they impact communication, teamwork, management and business development – is critical to your success.
Here are 5 things to think about when you travel to Asia for business:
1) Don’t expect everyone to brainstorm in the meeting.
When conducting meetings between Westerners and the Chinese (or other cultures concerned with “losing face”), make sure to invite those who are quiet to speak, and let them know in advance what topics on which you will ask for their input.
One example came to light this year in a HBR Blog Network article written by cross cultural change expert Erin Meyer, Professor at INSEAD Business School in France. Meyer describes a big lesson she learned around expecting people from other cultures to automatically follow her modus operandi. Meyer conducted the session with a colleague named Bo Chen, a journalist and the Chinese country expert in attendance at a French car manufacturers meeting.
Chen’s role was to present two concrete business examples to illustrate each cultural issue Meyer would be covering, but he stayed silent throughout until finally invited to speak. Chen explained his reluctance to jump in,
“We Chinese often feel Americans are not good listeners because they are always jumping in on top of one another to make their points. I would have liked to make one of my points if an appropriate length of pause had arisen. But Erin was always talking, so I just kept waiting patiently. My mother left it deeply engrained in me: You have two eyes, two ears, but only one mouth. You should use them accordingly.”
In the US, speaking up when you have an idea is culturally expected and extroverts are often promoted into leadership positions in part because of that trait. Furthermore, it is traditionally believed that the loudest person with the most executive presence is the authority on the topic at hand. Laura Liswood’s book, The Loudest Duck, is a fabulous resource to take along with you on these trips as she explains cultural nuances around how we are programmed to believe such expressions as “the squeaky wheel gets the grease” in the West. Liswood refers to these idioms as what our Grandma taught us and, as demonstrated in the example above, Mr. Chen’s Grandma and Ms. Meyer’s Grandma weren’t on the same page.
2) Understand the hierarchy and power and authority dynamics at play.
In the above example, when Meyer asked Chen why he hadn’t spoken earlier, he turned to their clients and said:
“In this room, Erin is the chairman of the meeting. As she is the senior person in the room, I wait for her to call on me. And, while I am waiting, I should show I am a good listener by keeping both my voice and my body quiet.”
In the Asian business culture, there are expectations around who is supposed to talk and who is supposed to listen that Westerners tend not to share.
3) Get cross-cultural training.
Meyer’s example is a powerful illustration of the critical need to develop multicultural competency in our increasingly global economy. Many large global companies provide some training, but if your company doesn’t, see if it will reimburse you if you take an outside course on the subject.
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Asian-American Women and the Bamboo Ceiling
FeaturedIn celebration of Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, we took a look at how we can increase the number of Asian-American women in top jobs in the Fortune 500 and financial services firms.
You probably already know Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo, and Andrea Jung (former CEO of Avon), President, CEO and a director of Grameen America.
Perhaps you may even know some of the prominent Asian women working in Asian markets who rank highly in global business, but where is the next generation of Asian-American female leaders and what does their path to the top look like?
Status Update: where are we in middle, senior and board seats?
According to Catalyst, Asian women represented 4,037,000 people in the US labor force in 2012. This is an increase of over 1 million women in just two years. Moreover, of these over-4 million Asian women in 2012’s US labor force, approximately 46 percent held management and other professional positions (making up 3.4 percent of all management and business professionals).
However, of all Executive director positions available within Fortune 500 companies, Asian-American women only comprised of 3.3% as of 2013. Board representation are harder numbers to distill since reporting is sparse and grouped in a binary way- women white and women of color, which Catalyst reports as 3.2% of Board seats in the Fortune 500.
What are the obstacles?
According to Jane Hyun, Fortune 500 coach and author of Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling, Asian-American women can experience a “double-bind” that results from being both Asian and a woman.
Hyun believes, however, that Asian-American female professionals can effectively leverage their identities to create a win-win situation for them and the organizations they work for.
Hyun commented, “Asian women have cultural capabilities that organizations cannot afford to ignore, such as language, cultural know-how, and relationship building skills that must be leveraged effectively.”
Interestingly, according to the key findings from the Center for Talent Innovation’s 2011 study, “Asians in America: Unleashing the Potential of the ‘Model Minority’,” Asians are more ambitious than other groups and they struggled more than any other cultural group with the idea of “being themselves” at work.
Western Society vs. Eastern Values: Worlds Collide
“If you grow up in a traditional Asian home, you may get messages about how a ‘good daughter’ needs to behave that may be at odds with the corporate workplace,” explained Hyun. She continued, “Asian values include deference to authority, humility, hard work, harmony, and sacrificing for the future.”
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Movers and Shakers: May Tong, Vice President, Portfolio Management, Multi-Asset Strategies and Solutions, Voya Investment Management (formerly known as ING U.S. Investment Management)
Voices of Experience“Seek broad experiences,” advised May Tong. “Use these experiences to establish what your passions are and which path you want to take in your career. Then, go for it full steam ahead,” added Tong.
Capitalizing on Career Opportunities
Tong graduated from Boston College where she studied Accounting and Finance. Upon graduating, she accepted a position in the Quantitative Advisors group at Merrill Lynch Investment Management, where she would be responsible for managing index funds and enhanced index funds. “This was such a valuable experience for me, both professionally and personally,” said Tong, “because I learned every detail about how to manage a fund and I was fortunate enough to work with really great managers who ultimately became mentors to me in my career.”
Three months prior to the Merrill Lynch and BlackRock merger, one of Tong’s most influential managers at Merrill had moved on to Voya Investment Management to start up the Quant Portfolio Management team and brought her aboard to join his team shortly after. “He took me under his wing, guided me, and gave me the autonomy to help him build out the quantitative portfolio management group,” said Tong.
The financial crisis of 2008 resulted in some internal restructuring at Voya Investment Management, which ultimately opened more doors for Tong and led to career-changing opportunities. “I was forced to think about my future career path and the direction I wanted to take,” Tong noted. “This made me realize that while having skill and expertise in one particular area is a good thing, I wanted to gain a broader perspective of the industry.”
At this juncture, Tong decided to earn her Executive MBA from Columbia and was sponsored by Voya Investment Management. “It helped me grow and increased my value to my company,” remarked Tong.
In 2010, an opportunity presented itself within the Multi Asset Strategies & Solutions (MASS) group and Tong took advantage of the chance to expand her depth and breadth by managing asset classes as opposed to funds. “It was a steep learning curve, but also an incredible learning opportunity, “said Tong, “and now I have been working with the MASS team for almost three years.”
According to Tong, her ability to make this career move, and thrive in a different environment, was made possible by the strong leadership and support she experienced from her managers. “I cannot express enough how valuable it is to have good managers who give you the space and support to grow professionally,” stated Tong.
She also credits her success to the fact that she stepped outside her comfort zone and took her career in a different direction. “There are days I miss the black and white aspect of fund management, but I love the fast-paced and dynamic environment of the multi asset strategy team,” explained Tong.
Maintaining Equilibrium
According to Tong, maintaining a healthy balance between personal and professional endeavors throughout her career is something that she is proud of. “Finding that happy medium is certainly different for everyone,” said Tong, “but I have found what works for me and in turn I find that I am extremely satisfied in both my work and home life.”
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Study Finds Pay Gap For Millennial Women Narrower Than Ever — What That Means For You
Guest ContributionA new Pew Research report released some interesting findings regarding gender and the workplace. After surveying 2,002 adults (including 810 millennials) and examining census data from 2012, researchers found that women are more educated, more active in the work force, and more likely to hold high-paying positions than ever. This applies especially young women: Women ages 18 to 32 are a few slim percentage points away from wage parity. In 2012, hourly wages for millennial women were 93% of what their male peers made. This is 9% more than the average 84% for women of all ages.
For comparison, women earned 64% of what men did in 1980. The reason for this progress is women’s education. The research reveals, “Among older millennials today (those ages 25 to 32), 38% of women have a bachelor’s degree, compared with 31% of men. And among younger millennials (those ages 18 to 24), women are more likely than men to be enrolled in college (45% vs. 38% in 2012).” However, these numbers come with a caveat: The gap is also narrowing as male wages decline. “Overall, the median hourly wage for men decreased 4% from 1980-2012,” the study says, with wages for younger men dropping by a whopping 20 percent.
However, the researchers also discovered that these advances haven’t really been registered psychologically among millennial women. “In spite of the dramatic gains women have made in educational attainment and labor force participation in recent decades, young women view this as a man’s world,” the Pew team stated. They reported that 51% of millennial women and 55% of female boomers believe that it’s easier to be a man than a woman. While this perspective on gender inequality certainly holds true for boomers, young women seem to adapt this impression via projection, assuming a future for themselves that has yet to happen: Their role models — the women in the cohorts directly ahead of them – are still experiencing these obstacles.
“There is no guarantee that today’s young women will sustain their near parity with men in earnings in the years to come,” the Pew team points out. According to the report, recent cohorts of young women have fallen further behind their same-aged male counterparts as they have aged and dealt with the responsibilities of parenthood and family. More than half of mothers believe their off-the-clock responsibilities have compromised their careers, compared to only 16 percent of fathers. It should come as no surprise that 63 percent of millennial women likewise expect to lose some job opportunities when they have children. For women, marriage and motherhood are associated with less time spent on paid work-related activities. What’s more, the onset of family responsibilities has a reverse effect on men’s career.
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Encouraging Women’s Empowerment in the US & Japan: A Japan Society Forum
Featured, PipelineAlthough Japan and the U.S. occupy somewhat different rankings in The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, both Yoriko Kawaguchi, Japan’s former Minister for Foreign Affairs (’02-‘04) and Environment (’00-’02), and Ruth Porat, Executive Vice President and CFO of Morgan Stanley, are confident that a call to empower women was essential to any country’s “core growth strategy”—as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe refers to his 2012 initiative.
Government Policy as an Agent of Empowerment
“There are three critical components driving Abe’s proposal,” Kawaguchi explained at the Japan Society’s forum on policy, culture, and business practice as a means for providing greater opportunities. “The first is a declining birth rate and the resulting reductions in our future labor force; the second is the need for greater diversity in skills, background, and expertise—which is where women, both foreign and Japanese, can serve as a catalyst for growth.”
Though traditionally Japan has held to a promise of promotion, described by Kawaguchi as “seniority assistance” or “lifetime employment”, women who leave the workforce to raise and tend to their families often find it difficult to return to the same company or at the same level as their peers who remained employed.
To counter this, the Japanese government is funding a series of public day care and educational facilities near transportation hubs, investing in training programs for women and the companies who employ them, and providing assistance for those who seek to develop their own businesses.
“The last component,” as Kawaguchi noted, “is the evolving notion, in Japan, of gender equality as a means of ensuring our human rights; that we can no longer afford to do without the contributions of women in our effort to create a more just society.”
Changing Culture through the Practices We Employ
According to Porat, though, such a change or shift in culture is often subject to gradual progress and unusual proponents. “When the U.S. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” she explained, “there were, allegedly, certain Congress members who supported the inclusion of women’s rights under the belief that the modified bill would be seen as too outrageous to pass.”
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Voice of Experience: Eu-Lin Fang, Partner, PwC Singapore
Voices of ExperienceAccording to Eu-Lin Fang, a Partner at PwC Singapore, the professional world can be demanding, and in order to persevere, you cannot lose sight of you who are at the core. “It is important to continue to ask yourself, ‘Who am I, how do I live my life purposefully?’” Fang said.
“A rewarding career can consume your time, but it is good to devote some time for yourself to regroup and spend time on areas that bring balance to your life,” noted Fang.
Career Path
With a degree in accounting and finance, Fang naturally decided to pursue a career in accounting. Fang was drawn to the firm because of its reputation for being one of the best and biggest global accounting firms. “I came to PwC because I wanted to qualify as an accountant,” recalled Fang, “like others, I was fortunate to be given opportunities by the Firm to develop myself professionally”
An auditor by training, Fang was able to work on several bank audits and regional audits, as well as audits in the oil and gas, property and retail amongst others. “In my earlier years as an auditor, one was able to cover a few industries, but now given the complexities within each industry including increased regulation in those industries, there is inevitably more specialization”
Before she made manager, Fang had the opportunity to be seconded to the PwC London office in 2005 until 2007. “It was a different business environment,” said Fang, “and I had a very steep learning curve which I overcame quickly.” When she returned to Singapore, Fang observed many positive changes as a result of the demand for more specialization occurring in the profession. Soon after returned from London she joined PwC’s Financial Services Industry Practice (“FSIP”) to specialize in financial services and made partner in FSIP.
“Making partner was a surreal experience and something that I am proud of,” remarked Fang. “It drives me and motivates me to keep going forward in my career.”
Currently, Fang continues to serve as a financial services auditor specializing in banking, and she also is part of the Risk Assurance department which offers risk advisory services for clients. “Our team is very solutions based,” said Fang, “which results in a very collaborative work environment. We work on so many different engagements, and yet I observe that there is rarely conflict or disagreement. This aspect of teamwork is something I greatly appreciate about working for PwC.”
“It’s been quite a journey,” said Fang, who has been with PwC for her entire career.
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Six Things to Know When Going on an International Business Trip to China and Southeast Asia
Pipeline, What's OnIf you’re doing business in China and an associate asks you how much money you earn, don’t be offended; he or she is probably just seeking a way to find common ground. Marie Seton O’Brien, a forensic due diligence consultant, learned this lesson while working in Beijing a few years ago for New York Global Group, a global strategic advisory, venture capital and private equity firm.
“In addition to salary, lots of people asked about my age and marital status,” said O’Brien. “At first I was taken aback, but then I realized that these questions were just a jumping-off point for building a relationship.”
When working in a foreign country, gaining an understanding of cross-cultural differences – and how they impact communication, teamwork, management and business development – is critical to your success.
Here are 5 things to think about when you travel to Asia for business:
1) Don’t expect everyone to brainstorm in the meeting.
When conducting meetings between Westerners and the Chinese (or other cultures concerned with “losing face”), make sure to invite those who are quiet to speak, and let them know in advance what topics on which you will ask for their input.
One example came to light this year in a HBR Blog Network article written by cross cultural change expert Erin Meyer, Professor at INSEAD Business School in France. Meyer describes a big lesson she learned around expecting people from other cultures to automatically follow her modus operandi. Meyer conducted the session with a colleague named Bo Chen, a journalist and the Chinese country expert in attendance at a French car manufacturers meeting.
Chen’s role was to present two concrete business examples to illustrate each cultural issue Meyer would be covering, but he stayed silent throughout until finally invited to speak. Chen explained his reluctance to jump in,
In the US, speaking up when you have an idea is culturally expected and extroverts are often promoted into leadership positions in part because of that trait. Furthermore, it is traditionally believed that the loudest person with the most executive presence is the authority on the topic at hand. Laura Liswood’s book, The Loudest Duck, is a fabulous resource to take along with you on these trips as she explains cultural nuances around how we are programmed to believe such expressions as “the squeaky wheel gets the grease” in the West. Liswood refers to these idioms as what our Grandma taught us and, as demonstrated in the example above, Mr. Chen’s Grandma and Ms. Meyer’s Grandma weren’t on the same page.
2) Understand the hierarchy and power and authority dynamics at play.
In the above example, when Meyer asked Chen why he hadn’t spoken earlier, he turned to their clients and said:
“In this room, Erin is the chairman of the meeting. As she is the senior person in the room, I wait for her to call on me. And, while I am waiting, I should show I am a good listener by keeping both my voice and my body quiet.”
In the Asian business culture, there are expectations around who is supposed to talk and who is supposed to listen that Westerners tend not to share.
3) Get cross-cultural training.
Meyer’s example is a powerful illustration of the critical need to develop multicultural competency in our increasingly global economy. Many large global companies provide some training, but if your company doesn’t, see if it will reimburse you if you take an outside course on the subject.
Read more
Breaking Down the Gender Paradox on Wall Street
Office PoliticsAmericans are ready for a new style of leadership according to the latest report from Pershing, which was released in conjunction with International Women’s Day in March. 78 percent of the general public prefer leaders who “listen, consult and ask questions” compared to only 22 percent who enjoy the more traditional “command and control” type of leader. What’s even more telling is that the majority of those surveyed associated the preferred collaborative leadership style to women.
For the third year in a row, Pershing has delivered important research around women in financial services beginning with “Women Are Not a Niche Market,” which was followed by “The 30% Solution: Growing Your Business by Winning and Keeping Women Advisors.” These previous reports uncovered a significant imbalance between the female consumer market and the percentage of female financial advisors represented in the industry.
Now, in their latest report, “Americans Crave a New Kind of Leader – And Women Are Ready to Deliver,” Pershing is drawing attention to the implicit bias that is still driving leadership in financial services said Kim Dellarocca, Global Head of Segment Marketing and Practice Management for Pershing.
Catalyzing the Wall Street Effect
“As a society, we have done a pretty good job of eliminating explicit bias, but now we have to focus on the unconscious bias that could be affecting women’s career advancement,” said Dellarocca, “And one of the best ways to overcome this type of bias is through models.”
She indicated that one example of how models impact women in traditionally male work environments is seen through the “CSI Effect,” which creates a counter stereotype. For example, women now comprise 78 percent of forensic science students. This is largely attributed to the fact that television shows often depict women being successful in that particular career. “What we lack in our industry is a Wall Street Effect, where the pop culture depiction of Wall Street and the reality do not support a counter stereotype suggesting that women will thrive,” noted Dellarocca.
“Can we start a Wall Street Effect?” asked Dellarocca, by helping companies restate the value of diversity and inclusion and encouraging them to establish the models necessary to inspire women to pursue careers on Wall Street.
“We have done all of the right things to increase diversity on Wall Street, but we haven’t see the movement in the numbers that we would have hoped for by now,” acknowledged Dellarocca. “There is a lot of talk, and subsequently a lot of action, but we are not seeing a tick in the right direction.”
To that end, Dellarocca identified three ways in which we can catalyze the
Wall Street Effect.
Open Doors for Women
According to Dellarocca, one of the best ways to kick start the Wall Street Effect is to put women in the roles and give them the support to succeed. “Managers and leaders need to help high potential women bridge the gap between what they believe is possible for them and the opportunities available to them,” she remarked.
Women bring diversity to the table, and not just because of their gender, said Dellarocca. They provide a whole different perspective and can present an entirely new way to approach situations and develop solutions that goes way beyond gender. In essence, creating more diversity within the highest levels of an organization can contribute to breaking down groupthink and increasing investor trust going forward.
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Voice of Experience: Marissa Thomas, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Voices of ExperienceThomas has spent the entirety of her career with PwC. She started in the regional corporate tax business, moved into the M&A tax business and even spending a three-year stint in Switzerland, where she was second in command with a team from all over the globe. Ten years after joining the firm, she was named partner – a great achievement given that the average time it takes to make partner is seventeen years.
“My role has changed a lot, shifting from client services to focus more on private equity,” Thomas said. “Two years ago I took over private equity, which is 10 percent of our revenue in the UK and I’m very proud to lead that business. When I started leading the business the industry dynamics were changing, and with that came a challenge to encourage our private equity teams to be more innovative about how they add value to clients. It was hard work but rewarding when people in the business and more importantly our clients responded positively to our approach.”
Plenty To Be Proud Of
Thomas can add being the first women to head private equity in the UK firm, a division notoriously run by men, to her long list of noteworthy achievements.
“It’s a big achievement and recognition of your hard work. I’m equally proud when clients ask me to take on big roles outside of my specialty, as it that they’re willing to put their faith in me and they trust I’ll do a good job,” Marissa said.
Thomas says she doesn’t wish to change anything about her career or the way she’s approached it. Part of the reason, she says, is that hers is an industry that changes rapidly.
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Stretch Roles: Why They Benefit Your Career and Why Women Aren’t Taking Them.
Managing ChangeResearch from Catalyst suggests that on-the-job experiences account for 70 percent of the most valuable career development tools for employees, compared to networking and mentoring (20 percent) and formal programs (10 percent. These on-the-job experiences include stretch assignments, or challenging projects in which an employee must develop new skills and improve their capabilities in order to be successful. Stretch assignments not only prepare employees for future managerial roles, they highlight high potentials and put them on the map for leadership consideration. According to the Catalyst report “Good Intentions, Imperfect Execution?”, of the high potentials they questioned, 62 percent claimed that obtaining stretch assignments was most favoring to their careers above any other factor.
However, the most interesting finding of the report is that men were more likely to land high-profile assignments than women, were staffed with three times as many employees as women, on projects with budgets twice the size of women’s project budgets.
Sponsorship is a key factor in securing stretch assignments
Lack of sponsorship is a crucial factor that could be preventing women from attaining high-profile assignments, and ultimately advancing to executive board positions, which stems from a societal fear of rumor and scandal. According to Sylvia Ann Hewett in an article published on the HBR Blog Network, “Women suffer a disproportionate amount of damage in the fallout from illicit relationships between a male boss and a female subordinate.” The fear of even be suspected of an improper relationship prevents 64 percent of executive men and 50 percent of junior females from seeking out private encounters, let alone a sponsorship relationship.
Unwillingness to ask for help could also be a culprit here. “Women fear rejection more than men in this area. They often feel it’s ‘pushy’ to ask [for help] as though they are saying I can’t do it myself,” said Judith Glaser, CEO of Benchmark Communications, Inc. and Chairman of The Creating WE Institute. Understanding that gaining sponsorship attributes to 70 percent of your overall career advancement (by opening up opportunities for on-the-job experiences) may help alleviate some uneasiness of coming off vulnerable or incompetent. “Climbing alone is not an option anymore,” reminded Glaser.
Choosing the Right Sponsor to Elevate Your Potential
When seeking out a sponsor, research is important. Identify leaders with credibility and influence, and don’t shy away from male sponsors. Present yourself as a talented, capable employee, and look for a sponsor who values the contributions you have made in your career thus far.
The best sponsor is a member of leadership who not only provides you with valuable information to increase your skills, but works as an advocate for your advancement in meetings and other situations where you are not present. According to the HBR Blog Network article “The Real Benefit of Finding a Sponsor,” a sponsor should do two or more of the following:
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Dare to Compete: Leadership Lessons From Hillary Clinton
LeadershipPhoto by Carla Osberg
By CEO and Founder Nicki Gilmour
The 35th Annual Simmons Leadership Conference held in Boston last week had an amazing roster of speakers, as always, including opening speaker, Denise Morrison CEO of Campbell. However, it was the anticipation of Hillary Clinton’s closing keynote that had over 3,000 women and men securing their seats, waiting to hear this accomplished leader speak. She didn’t disappoint and the themes she chose –intelligently as always – aligned well with the topics we discuss on a daily basis here on The Glass Hammer.
Women’s Participation in the Global Economy
In her role as US Secretary of State, Clinton got to see first hand how women are not being treated equally, and she commented on how almost twenty years has passed since she spoke of women’s rights as human rights at the UN 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. Clinton endorsed the usefulness of the annual Simmon’s Leadership conference, stating it was important to be part of conferences like this one.
“I believe that advancing the rights, opportunities and full participation of women and girls, here at home and around the world, is the great unfinished business of the Twenty-first century. I saw that very personally, as Senator of NY, as First Lady and most recently as Secretary of State.”
Clinton discussed the participation of women in the global economic workforce and reminded us that progress has been stagnant over the last three decades.
She stated, “We have made important progress since that conference. We have seen progress. More women do serve in public office, but it’s a glass half full at best, because in too many places there are too many women who are still facing ceilings.”
“You might think that this is only a problem in faraway places,” Clinton said as she referred to some of the cognitive dissonance around diversity issues being exclusively outside the US that we have written about, and have heard –from women and men alike – in companies that describe a fantastical post-bias world.
“Here in the US, we still have our own barriers,” said Clinton. “For every success story of a woman making it, whether it is Mary Barra or Denise Morrison, who you heard from this morning, there are so many stories of dreams deferred.”
Clinton went on to reference the fact only 17 percent of US board seats are filled by women, and that we are “far behind many other developed economies.” When discussing under-representation of women directors on boards –specifically women comprising only 11 percent of technology company boards – she said, “It is a real problem when America’s most cutting edge companies are so far behind the curve.”
Hillary clearly gets it, and she shared her story of how she got into politics and became a leader in her own right. She recounted when people approached her to run for the Senate for NY when she was First Lady. At first she refused, not wanting to be the sacrificial lamb to run against Rudy Giuliani, but then one day when she was in NY at the launch of a documentary film called “Dare to Compete”, she found herself receiving advice that she had spent a lifetime giving.
At the event, she was introduced by the captain of the school’s women’s basketball team, and as the young lady was about to leave the stage, she bent down a little while shaking Hillary’s hand and whispered in her ear, “Dare to compete, Mrs. Clinton, dare to compete.” This really got her thinking and she did end up running for the Senate.
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