by Lester Coupland

Women’s Leadership and Gender Diversity; not just ‘’nice to haves’’ but differentiators

Here at LSC, we observe many leadership teams operating frantically in the fast-lane. Although sometimes their hand is forced in this way, such teams may struggle to step back from the action to reflect, learn and try something different.

For example, let’s consider Women’s Leadership. We know how clear the evidence is around gender diversity. As long ago as 2019, Training Journal reported the following:

‘’A business with both men and women on its leadership team will perform better than one without. The weight of evidence in support of this is now too great to dispute.

The Pipeline, a leading gender diversity business, published a report this year (2019) that found firms whose executive committees are more than 25% women have profit margins almost three times higher than those with male-only executives.

In its 2018 report, Delivering Through Diversity, McKinsey found that companies with the most diverse executive teams are 33% more likely to outperform on profitability.

And survey after survey shows that mixed-gender management teams give far better results than single gender teams of either sex.’’

So, why are organisations slow to react? Many surveys continue to show that women are underrepresented at senior leadership levels and are paid less. For example, a report by Deloitte Global concluded that the percentage of women on corporate boards was only 20% in 2022. In 2024, in the US, women earned an average of 85% of what men earned, according to a Pew Research Centre analysis.

The case for change is even stronger when we consider that our business context is increasingly characterised by digital transformation and advances in AI. Research has shown that the future top skills most needed in this context are data-informed decision-making, customer focus, cross-functional collaboration, and continual learning (Professor Linda Hill, Ann Le Cam, Sun, and Menon, as well as Emily Tedards, in HBS Working Knowledge and HBS Education). What is interesting is that all of these skills require skilful human interaction and dialogue.

So, where does this leave us?

In light of the above, we can conclude that:

1. A business with both men and women on its leadership team will perform better than one without
2. The top skills required in an increasingly AI context depend upon human interaction and dialogue, and we know mixed gender and diverse teams are better placed to do this
3. The case for gender diversity and more women in leadership roles thus appears to be beyond question.

Is your leadership team running so fast that you just don’t stop to reflect on these realities and act accordingly?

Here at LSC, we are passionate about engaging with our clients to encourage them to assimilate that women’s leadership and gender diversity are not just ‘’nice to haves; they are potential differentiators.

If your organisation is reflecting on how to create a more inclusive and effective leadership culture, there are programmes designed to support that transformation.

Discover how one such initiative can make a difference.