Sunday is International Women's Day, an annual celebration of women's achievements and a call for greater gender equality in the business world.
Women hold over 30% of leadership positions worldwide, and that is mostly stagnant growth since 2022.
In the US, representation and senior leadership dropped from 35% to 31%, but Fortune.
500 women CEOs climbing by 11% last year, which is a record.
Now nearly 2/3 of female leaders report bias, and that promotion stall early, prompting action from organizations such as the United Nations and Women in Leadership Global to make capital markets more equitable.
Well joining me to weigh in on this discussion is Georgie Dickens, founder and CEO.
Women in Leadership Global.
Good morning, Georgie.
Thank you so much for joining us.
Thank you for having me, Rey.
Well, Sunday is International Women's Day, and I do want to get your take on what Women in Leadership Global is doing to support women.
It would probably be useful to explain the genesis of Women in Leadership Global.
Why do we exist?
Why did we create this community?
And um I think the, the role of leadership could be a really lonely place and uh when I was in the industry for 20 years, I was part of many networks, but we met as the role that we sat in to discuss Brexit, MiFID, the electronification of markets.
But I was like what about that human side of leadership?
Where do we get to have the conversations that we don't get to elsewhere?
Um, and so the really the, the, um, the genesis of Women in Leadership Global was to bring together extraordinary women from across financial services and through transformational programs we help equip.
These females with the behaviors, the mindsets to really accelerate their growth, accelerate their learning, to elevate their impact and influence, um, which ultimately benefits them, but also it benefits their organizations because that equity that you talked about, we want to advance the face of leadership, we wanna see more women in positions of authority, we want to see women really owning their voice.
Yeah, and speaking of which, uh, give us an overview of what the demographics actually look like in financial services for women.
It's, I'd say it's organization by organization.
There are some organizations that I work with where it's very equitable, it's fifty-fifty.
Um, there are others where they, um, words are not followed through by action and they typically wouldn't be the organizations I work with.
So the ones I gravitate to are the ones that, that, that, you know, they walk the walk, and, uh, they follow through.
With action because they recognize um how additive it is to have a diverse table from you know the thoughts, the ideation and um so yeah the needle's moving in some organizations significantly, but more broadly across the the industry we've still got a lot of a lot of work to do.
Yeah, and we are here on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange and as we count down to March 8th, this year's International Women's Day theme is Gift to gain.
So what does that mean to you?
I love the theme.
I think it's a really powerful theme, and I don't think it's a theme that's just isolated to International Women's Day, but it should be a universal one that we all practice because when we think of gift to gain, it's it or gift to gain, it's a gift, so I, yeah, it, it's a gift and it's often those small actions.
Those small gifts that really can compound, it might be giving someone a piece of advice, it might be as a leader giving someone some visibility and exposure that changes the trajectory of their career.
It might be some challenging someone's assumptions, uh, because they're not thinking big enough.
So gifts can come in so many shapes and sizes, um, and I think it's all for all of us it's about being intentional.
How can we be in service, how can we bring those gifts, because you never know where a small act like that can really change someone's, you know, trajectory.
And Georgie, off the top, you mentioned the volatility that we are seeing across the globe, and we know that when we're looking at industries across the board, given all this volatility, whether we're talking about the economy or geopolitics, we know it hits all industries and hence all organizations.
So what are you hearing from female leaders out there?
Yeah, I, look, the world is moving faster than ever before.
It's, it's, it's unrelenting, and I, I recently said to a leader, what do you think are the biggest challenges in leadership today?
And one of the, you know, one of the things that they shared was it's constant, like it's constant.
As a leader, your stakeholders are, are available 24/7.
Everyone has a view of you, and I think one of the challenges as well is there is so much change that's happening at rapid speed.
Trying to keep on top of new entrants, private versus public markets, AI, which is where this trusted tribe, you know, the Women in Leadership Global where it comes in because it's lean into that tribe for advice, for perspective, for insight, for information.
We can't possibly keep on top of everything and be an expert on everyone, but have your go to people who can give you the soundbites and, and the insights that that are that are worth knowing about, um.
But yeah, it's the world for leadership today it's, it's a tough place to be and I think a, a client recently said to me, do you think leaders are, you know, especially female leaders, do you think they're more resilient than than the average person?
I said, I think you have to be, I think you physiologically have to be able to deal with the demands of your time, of your energy, um, in a way that again it, it's.
I think there's a certain DNA there.
Yeah, absolutely.
So I do want to ask you for constructive purposes, what are some practical strategies that leaders can actually lean on to remain effective during such volatile times?
Create time to think, that is one thing I would encourage all the leaders that I I coach.
There is so much noise, there is so much coming at us.
And we, we don't often have that time to think and that time to think that space, that's where creativity happens, that's where ideas can emerge, that's where the dots can connect.
And I think you have to be really purposeful about blocking time out in your diary, strategic thinking time, because there are so many demands of your time, attention and focus, no one's going to gift you time.
If you create time to think, that is really a springboard um for success.
And finally, before I let you go, what are some of the biggest concerns that executives are bringing to you right now and how have things changed compared to previous years?
It's, it's the sheer pace of change, um, I think change isn't new, but we're seeing a change over the last year that you'd normally see over decades.
And, and I think, you know, for leaders that it's like who do you surround yourself with?
Um, really making sure as leaders you've got an extraordinary leadership team around you.
As I mentioned, you can't be an expert on everything, but you need to have the people in the seats, and you need to empower them, then you need to get out of the way because you can't be in the weeds of everything.
So having a trusted team around you is a real, you know, it, it, it, it is a critical factor to success.
Well, Georgie, I appreciate your time this morning.
Thank you so much for joining us and thank you for all of your insights.
Thank you, Remy.
