A Woman's Place is in the Boardroom was the first step on a journey. This book is the second. In the three years since the first book was published, the authors have become even more convinced that the general problem, the absence of women from top strategic decision-making bodies, is among the most important problems of our time. They suggested, in the Preface to the earlier book, that 'the problems that face our world are so complex and difficult that we will need all the talent available to solve them'. There can be no doubt that some progress has been made, in terms of women gaining access to strategic decision-making bodies, but nor can there be much doubt that the complexity and difficulty of the global issues and problems that they and their fellow board members face have also increased.
Thanks to their continued involvement in the FTSE 100 Cross-Company Mentoring Programme, the authors have learned a great deal since the first publication and developed some new ideas, including a useful matrix of the essential elements involved in women becoming successful candidates for board level positions. Contained in this book is the extended 'how to' derived from what they've learned – the 'Roadmap'. It sets out the route that women executives who want to improve their chances of being appointed to boards should follow, and identifies the signs to note along the way. The book will also be useful to companies wishing to appoint more female directors.
More women on the boards of our large companies isn't going to solve global problems at a stroke, but it will contribute to their solution, by increasing the reservoirs of human ingenuity, imagination, insight and will available to address them. In the final analysis, the authors think, it's what you do with power and influence that matters.
'The FTSE 100 Cross-Company Mentoring Programme is beginning to have an impact upon the rate of appointment of women to senior executive and non-executive roles in the UK. There is more to do, of course, but this innovative, business-to-business initiative is delivering results. This book is a fine distillation of what has been learned from the Programme.' Sir John Parker, Chairman, National Grid plc.
'Ignoring the benefits of having more talented women in the boardroom is bad business. Having more women means extending the portfolio of skills at the top, providing female role models for younger high potential women and guaranteeing that all levels of management are filled with the best executives, and A Woman's Place is in the Boardroom: The Roadmap has some good ideas in all these areas.' Meg Munn, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
'Increasingly European countries are encouraging their businesses to have more women board members. The UK is ahead of much of Europe but still has more to do. The Cross-Company Mentoring Programme is making real progress and this book gives practical help to companies in improving this pan-European business issue.' Peter Erskine, former Chief Executive of O2, non-executive Director of Telefónica
'In business management we are taught that good planning makes for good decisions and that it's the planning, not the plan, that makes the difference. The 'Roadmap' is exactly the kind of tool women executives can use to plan well and make good decisions.' Teresa A. 'Terri' Dial, CEO of Consumer Banking, North America and Global Head of Consumer Strategy, Citigroup Inc.
'If you read only one book this year, make it this one. Whatever your role and gender I guarantee the ideas explored in only 120 pages of pragmatic text will bring rich rewards.' - Anna Allan, People Management
'Wow. This is the book I've been waiting most of my business life for. For my entire career I've had to be taught by individuals. There has been nothing to read that has understood what women feel and challenge how they deal with life at the top. A Woman's Place is in the Boardroom doesn't just pave the way to solving this, it sorts everything out for you. I really felt stirred reading it.' - Elsa Celab, Human Resources
Introduction
The state of play
Deciding to engage
The written rules of engagement
The unwritten rules
A sense of direction
Cultivating board qualities
Setting out your stall
Mind the gap
Board games
Over the horizon
Afterword
The point is to do something
PENINAH THOMSON is a partner of Praesta Partners LLP, the UK's leading executive coaching firm and sponsor of the FTSE 100 Cross-Company Mentoring Programme. Formerly a director of The Change Partnership, before that she was a director in the London office of Pricewaterhouse Coopers. Thomson began her career in the UK Foreign Office, working for the Board of National Delegates of NATO in Paris. She has worked extensively with chief executives and boards in the public and the private sectors in the UK and overseas, on strategy, organizational change and culture, and leadership.
JACEY GRAHAM is a Partner of Brook Graham LLP, which specialises in the strategic management of Diversity and Inclusion in global companies. She was formerly head of Diversity Strategy and Planning at Shell International. Her early career was in the banking sector where she held various corporate roles in talent and career management, leadership development and executive resourcing. Before joining Shell she was head of Executive Succession for the Lloyds TSB Group. Graham is a Visiting Fellow at Cranfield School of Management's International Centre for Women Leaders.
TOM LLOYD is a management writer and author. He is a former editor of Financial Weekly and Management Today, was founder editor of Gemini Consulting's quarterly management journal Transformation and wrote the 'Working Brief' column in The Sunday Telegraph for several years. He has written five books, including Managing Knowhow, with Karl-Erik Sveiby, (Bloomsbury, 1987) and The 'nice' company (Bloomsbury, 1990).
Description
A Woman's Place is in the Boardroom was the first step on a journey. This book is the second. In the three years since the first book was published, the authors have become even more convinced that the general problem, the absence of women from top strategic decision-making bodies, is among the most important problems of our time. They suggested, in the Preface to the earlier book, that 'the problems that face our world are so complex and difficult that we will need all the talent available to solve them'. There can be no doubt that some progress has been made, in terms of women gaining access to strategic decision-making bodies, but nor can there be much doubt that the complexity and difficulty of the global issues and problems that they and their fellow board members face have also increased.
Thanks to their continued involvement in the FTSE 100 Cross-Company Mentoring Programme, the authors have learned a great deal since the first publication and developed some new ideas, including a useful matrix of the essential elements involved in women becoming successful candidates for board level positions. Contained in this book is the extended 'how to' derived from what they've learned – the 'Roadmap'. It sets out the route that women executives who want to improve their chances of being appointed to boards should follow, and identifies the signs to note along the way. The book will also be useful to companies wishing to appoint more female directors.
More women on the boards of our large companies isn't going to solve global problems at a stroke, but it will contribute to their solution, by increasing the reservoirs of human ingenuity, imagination, insight and will available to address them. In the final analysis, the authors think, it's what you do with power and influence that matters.
Reviews
'The FTSE 100 Cross-Company Mentoring Programme is beginning to have an impact upon the rate of appointment of women to senior executive and non-executive roles in the UK. There is more to do, of course, but this innovative, business-to-business initiative is delivering results. This book is a fine distillation of what has been learned from the Programme.' Sir John Parker, Chairman, National Grid plc.
'Ignoring the benefits of having more talented women in the boardroom is bad business. Having more women means extending the portfolio of skills at the top, providing female role models for younger high potential women and guaranteeing that all levels of management are filled with the best executives, and A Woman's Place is in the Boardroom: The Roadmap has some good ideas in all these areas.' Meg Munn, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
'Increasingly European countries are encouraging their businesses to have more women board members. The UK is ahead of much of Europe but still has more to do. The Cross-Company Mentoring Programme is making real progress and this book gives practical help to companies in improving this pan-European business issue.' Peter Erskine, former Chief Executive of O2, non-executive Director of Telefónica
'In business management we are taught that good planning makes for good decisions and that it's the planning, not the plan, that makes the difference. The 'Roadmap' is exactly the kind of tool women executives can use to plan well and make good decisions.' Teresa A. 'Terri' Dial, CEO of Consumer Banking, North America and Global Head of Consumer Strategy, Citigroup Inc.
'If you read only one book this year, make it this one. Whatever your role and gender I guarantee the ideas explored in only 120 pages of pragmatic text will bring rich rewards.' - Anna Allan, People Management
'Wow. This is the book I've been waiting most of my business life for. For my entire career I've had to be taught by individuals. There has been nothing to read that has understood what women feel and challenge how they deal with life at the top. A Woman's Place is in the Boardroom doesn't just pave the way to solving this, it sorts everything out for you. I really felt stirred reading it.' - Elsa Celab, Human Resources
Contents
Introduction
The state of play
Deciding to engage
The written rules of engagement
The unwritten rules
A sense of direction
Cultivating board qualities
Setting out your stall
Mind the gap
Board games
Over the horizon
Afterword
The point is to do something
Authors
PENINAH THOMSON is a partner of Praesta Partners LLP, the UK's leading executive coaching firm and sponsor of the FTSE 100 Cross-Company Mentoring Programme. Formerly a director of The Change Partnership, before that she was a director in the London office of Pricewaterhouse Coopers. Thomson began her career in the UK Foreign Office, working for the Board of National Delegates of NATO in Paris. She has worked extensively with chief executives and boards in the public and the private sectors in the UK and overseas, on strategy, organizational change and culture, and leadership.
JACEY GRAHAM is a Partner of Brook Graham LLP, which specialises in the strategic management of Diversity and Inclusion in global companies. She was formerly head of Diversity Strategy and Planning at Shell International. Her early career was in the banking sector where she held various corporate roles in talent and career management, leadership development and executive resourcing. Before joining Shell she was head of Executive Succession for the Lloyds TSB Group. Graham is a Visiting Fellow at Cranfield School of Management's International Centre for Women Leaders.
TOM LLOYD is a management writer and author. He is a former editor of Financial Weekly and Management Today, was founder editor of Gemini Consulting's quarterly management journal Transformation and wrote the 'Working Brief' column in The Sunday Telegraph for several years. He has written five books, including Managing Knowhow, with Karl-Erik Sveiby, (Bloomsbury, 1987) and The 'nice' company (Bloomsbury, 1990).
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