Advances in global leadership: The women's global leadership forum

Abstract

How prepared are CEOs to recognize that their global competitiveness depends on including the most talented people in the world on their executive team, women as well as men? As global competition intensifies, the opportunity cost of traditional male-dominated leadership patterns has escalated. The question is no longer, “Will the pattern of male-dominated leadership change?” but rather, “Which companies are taking advantage of new trends and which are falling behind? Which strategies are proving most effective in moving the best people - women and men - into senior leadership positions?” This chapter describes one major multinational's experience in creating an organizational change process, led by the CEO, designed to move the most talented women from around the world into the company's previously all-male senior executive positions. The overall goals for the organizational change process were to increase the company's global competitiveness; develop the global leadership skills of the company's most highly talented and senior women; create an internal network among the company's women leaders; and develop both global and local recommendations for enhancing the company's ability to support the career advancement and success of an increasing number of highly talented and senior women. The chapter describes the organizational change process leading up to the Women's Global Leadership Forum (including the results of a company-wide survey), the design for the Women's Global Leadership Forum itself, the recommendations implemented by the company following the Forum, and the cross-cultural lessons learned in working with senior and highly talent women from around the world.