Women makeup almost half of the workforce in the U.S. and yet only 5 percent of Fortune 500 companies have female CEOs. We can wax eloquent about the reasons for this gap, some of which are valid and some of which are not. I want to focus instead on a few reasons companies are being short-sighted by not having more women in significant leadership roles.
In comparison to men, women typically display higher emotional intelligence and better communication skills. As we move into human-centric business culture, these skills are of tremendous value. And, these skills are of particular value when dealing with millennials who are clearly the future of the workforce.
Women drive up to 80% of all consumer purchasing through buying power and influence. As a result, women are much more in tune with the marketplace as a whole. #sheconomy
Women have been shown to have a higher number of synapses between the right (creative) and left (processing) brain. Whereas men tend to make heavy usage of the left brain, women are more conversant between the two hemispheres and can transfer data between them more rapidly than men. As computers increasingly take over typical logic-based activities (if this, then that…), strong right-brainers will have a greater impact on the value of a company. See Daniel Pink’s book, A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers will Rule the Future.
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