Women are now recognized as being equally or even more competent than men in leadership roles. getty. If you’re a woman in a male-dominated field, you already know the challenges we face, everything from discrimination to isolation. Yet, women have proven that we are outstanding leaders. The 2020 Catalyst study, The Bottom Line: Corporate Performance and Women’s Representation on Boards, reported that Fortune 500 companies with boards comprised of a significant percentage of women directors achieved greater financial performance than men across three key indicators: Return on equity was 53 percent higher. Return on sales was 42 percent higher

The biggest disservice companies could do to their teams—and to their success as an organization—is to overlook the importance of having women in leadership roles. Organizations must not only focus on hiring and promoting women into leadership positions, they must also create the right environment to keep them there. In short, companies must become better at addressing the challenges and priorities of working women.The statistics confirm this urgent need: Organizations with at least 30% women in leadership roles are 12 times more likely to be in the top 20% of financial performance. In another large study by Leadership Circle (comprising 84,000 leaders and 1.5 million raters), women leaders were shown to be more effective than their male counterparts across every management and age level. To put it frankly, women are great leaders—and there is evidence to support that they’re better at it than men.Keep in mind that employee engagement and productivity are overwhelmingly determined by managers. If we want our companies to have a more engaged workforce and perform better financially—two key indicators of any business’s long-term success—we need women in positions of leadership

Leaders are expected to be experts at change – but it is difficult work. When things get tough, most people fall back on old habits and familiar impulses. This is why top-down leadership still thrives in industries and organizations across the globe. The saying is “Old habits die hard,” but it should be changed to “Bad habits die hard.”. If you’re a senior executive, you should be preparing for the seismic impact that culture change will have on your organization and your industry. Inclusive leadership skills can make the necessary adjustments easier, so you and your team can continue to excel during times of uncertainty.The Inclusive Leadership Handbook