Editorial: Diversifying your leadership pipeline
Since May, none of the 15 Central Massachusetts public companies listed on either on the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ have been led by a female CEO, the longest stretch of time this has happened since at least 2007, when Carol Meyrowitz began her reign atop Framingham’s TJX Cos.
The gender imbalance isn’t as acute looking at a broader base of Central Massachusetts businesses, but it's far from parity. From 2018 to 2022, WBJ’s The Boardroom Gap investigation found the percentage of women in executive positions and board seats at prominent private companies, as well as a number of large nonprofits, hovered between 33%-37%, which is slightly below the national average.
In the past three years, a significant amount of attention has been paid to addressing this disparity, although a willingness to change can be a far cry from actual change, and the pace of measurable progress has been slow. Diversifying leadership ranks requires both a commitment to talent development and a rethinking of what makes for a talented and skilled leader. Having not just more women, but also people of color, rise to the most senior ranks requires a robust pipeline of talent from those groups in the executive positions immediately below the top slot: the C-suite, division heads, and board members. In order to diversify that level of management and governance, more women and people of color need to be developed in the skills of executive leadership.
Beyond education, mentoring, and encouragement, though, is the need to recognize people who have different experiences, backgrounds, and work styles than those who have traditionally risen to the top of the business ladder. If you’re always looking to check the same boxes on what makes for an effective employee, an effective manager, and an effective senior executive, you’re more likely to miss out on those who can bring fresh and innovative approaches to your organization.
Understanding where these unique talents lie takes time and attention. Listen intently to the women and people of color in your organization, to better understand how they approach their jobs and the ways that can help your business culture evolve in a positive direction. Talk to other companies inside and outside of your circle who have had success in building a diverse roster of talent, to see what their secrets to success are. Be open to ideas you may have dismissed five years ago. Signs of that new thinking are in the air. In our Flash Poll at the end of January, we asked business leaders if they would hire someone who had served time in prison and was looking for a fresh start. A decade ago, the answer would have been a resounding no. Now, in 2023, only 12% answered with an outright no. Times are changing, and leaders are recognizing the change.
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