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In spite of the success of female CEOs like Pepsi’s Indra Nooyi and GM’s Mary Barra, the nation’s largest businesses are still slow to identify, mentor and promote women. The proof is in the numbers. Just 21 S&P 500 firms (4 percent) have female CEOs, according to Catalyst, a nonprofit that works to narrow these gender gaps. Furthermore, women fill only 14 percent of the top five corporate leadership posts at S&P firms, according to CNN Money.
It’s not that there aren’t talented women. They just aren’t in the leadership pipeline at major corporations, Columbia University Professor Rita McGrath told CNN. More than anything, these statistics show that there is more work to be done when it comes to empowering women to be in leading roles. Here are just a few ways women are already learning to succeed:
Female Business Leaders are Proving Their Value at Private Firms
Today’s ambitious businesswomen are making their marks at privately held companies. Take Amway as an example. It’s ranked 30th on Forbes’ list of large private companies. In early 2015, its chief marketing officer, Candace Matthews, was named as the company’s regional president for North and South America. How good is Matthews? In 2009, she was named Black Enterprise’s Corporate Executive of the Year for “fine-tuning Amway’s global image,” and has been featured in AdvertisingAge, Forbes and Working Mother.
Oregon’s Climate Helps Business Run by Women Thrive
A progressive environment can help women move up. American Express ranks Portland, Oregon, as second in the nation among major cities where women have the highest combined economic clout. Oregon’s largest women-led business is the Collins Company, according to The Portland Business Journal. Collins, which produces FSC(R)-certified wood products, has been helmed by women since 1964. Almost two-thirds of the company is owned by women, who also hold top positions at the Collins Foundation.
Lile Moving & Storage, the state’s third-largest woman-owned company, is led by two sisters, Diane DeAutremont and Barbara Lile.
Both companies are family legacies: Collins was started by an ancestor in 1855, while Lile was founded by the sisters’ father. Both have flourished under female leadership since the mid-20th century to become regional industry leaders.
Female Executives Succeed Through Management
Advice from successful female executives isn’t much different than from their male peers: Get a good team together, communicate a vision and so on. But what helps women vie for top executive positions? A history of entrepreneurship and self-reliance helps as well as thoughtful management. Forbes garnered these insights:
• Stacey Ferreira, who co-founded the New York ad agency AdMoar, relied on leadership skills she developed as an entrepreneur to break into this male-dominated field. Hire and onboard people “who will contribute to expanding the company vision,” she says, and trust them. “Give them the responsibility and freedom to create and execute, with regular check-ins.”
• Don’t hire someone like yourself, but someone who fills your skill gaps, says Sian Morson, founder and CEO of a Bay-area mobile marketing firm.
• Nikkole Denson-Randolph, a vice-president with AMC, says to “be welcoming” and communicate with staff to avoid confusion. Don’t hesitate to address problems, but do so constructively and consistently. Lead by example.
Above all, don’t doubt your abilities. Campbell’s CEO Denise Morrison says she never doubted she would get the top job. True, she got some brushback for publicly saying this before the position was open, but she explained on CNN Money that “I told them the thought never crossed my mind that I wouldn’t get it, but at least I’ll die trying.”
