Announcing the Outsell Women’s Conference
Join us June 7 in New York, Hotel Sofitel. The program’s in motion, and you’re invited.
Over the past year I’ve been writing about women in leadership positions in our industry. I’ve taken note of the very public positions Jim Smith and Tim Armstrong, of Thomson Reuters and Oath respectively, have taken by announcing their explicit goals for women in leadership in their organizations. Hooray for Tim and Jim. They are leading from the front on an issue that has gone on for way too long: While we lament a dearth of talent and look everywhere for great leaders, women — half of the population — do not have equal standing in our industry’s leadership ranks.
This came home to roost two years ago when we programmed Outsell’s 10th Anniversary Signature Event and decided to have 15 keynotes make up the format for the event. Our goal: have the CEO from the top first, second, or third market share leader of every industry sector speak.
That was great until we ended up with all male speakers except one, Clare Hart, CEO of Sterling Talent. Yes, Wilma, the head of JEGI our conference co-producer, and I were on the podium as we are each year, but afterward attendees asked where were the women on the podium? I had to say that I didn’t make the hiring decisions for our industry. Instead of letting the topic die on the vine, I decided to do something about it, and, no surprise, it starts with data.
Last summer, we measured the top 350 information industry companies and their leadership in the c-suite. Only 6% of the companies were led by female CEOs. Only 22% of the c-suite (the companies self-reported executive team) were women — and most of those, 22%, were in marketing and HR/Talent. I love those roles, and I’m not going to call them pink-collar. But how is it possible that half the world’s population constitute only one-quarter of our industry’s c-suite roles and roles often restricted to two functions. Now for the good news on data …
Our preliminary Outsell data shows that companies performed better on the topline where their teams were more equally balanced, specifically, a 40–60% men-to-women or women-to-men ratio. We’re digging deeper into the details to prove of dispel this
We’ll measure again in 2018, and we’ll share the results at our conference. We’re going to keep measuring to serve as a reminder to our industry’s stakeholders to get the message, internalize it, and then implement the necessary changes in diversity in their c-suite. I’m a believer in diversity overall, but I’m starting with women and men. Here’s why: It’s easier to measure. And quite frankly, if we can’t get this basic 50/50 mix down, we have no hope of managing diversity for race, religion, LBGTQ, or anything else. We have to start and build from there.
So, we decided to launch this conference to celebrate women in leadership roles and to, quite literally, “promote women in the industry” — pun intended. It’s good for business and our industry, and we have to do better at making sure women are an equal part of our leadership ranks.
You’ll want to attend if you:
- Are a female executive who has reached the destination called the corner office, or you’re in the c-suite and happy there and want to share your experience.
- Are a female on the fast track who wants to know the way and make it your way — start your own company, make it to the c-suite of a larger one, or are looking for success factors.
- Are a male executive wanting to be part of the solution.
We’ll also be making it easy for information industry leaders to bring with them those women rising stars they are mentoring. We’ll celebrate success, focus on the alchemy of gender diversity, and do so through story. You’ll hear inspiring case studies, cautionary tales, methods for overcoming adversity, employing better negotiating strategies, and what it was like to break ground or go first. Join us on the Journey to the Corner Office.
If you want to propose a speaker, attend, or have an idea for topics please be in touch. And I can’t wait to see you there. You’re invited. Register today!
To learn more about Outsell and its solutions, visit us here, or contact us.