Thunderbirds are go! – Women in Investment Banking
“Women Matter,” a study published in 2007 by McKinsey & Co., the management consultants, asserts that companies employing at least 30% female executives–not just a token woman here or there–perform better than all-male outfits.
Female managers are more likely than men to make collaborative decisions, to behave as role models and to consider the ethical consequences of their acts, McKinsey’s study found.
Men, on the other hand, are more likely to make decisions on their own and then order the troops to carry them out.
This is a most interesting study on a topic that features regularly on the front pages of our media, namely that organisations want to recruit more women into Senior leadership roles and this is very much on the agenda of the Top Team/Boards within organisations who want to balance the leadership team between males and females for this very reason.
However if this is the case and then how come the reality is so different?
Why is it that those women who do want to succeed are not encouraged, supported, promoted and mentored to achieve this objective?
Five, Four, Three, Two…
In my experience, many women, through sheer desperation of not finding the success they seek have curbed their aspirations, with many resorting to exit from the industry or sector. In my experience, this is where Mentoring and Executive Coaching can play a massive part to help the women that want promotion, success and status.
Financial Services, specifically the Investment Banks are currently on a mission to shift their culture to rebuild:
- their professional reputation,
- morale in their employees and;
- the broken trust in Global Banking
Following the many ethical violations which have been exposed recently, the industry regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), wants all Banks to focus on Market Conduct. Ensuring that the culture of the organisation is one which translates into the behaviour of all individuals to ensure that all decisions are ethical and in line with a firm’s values.
…One! Thunderbirds are go!
Is this then not an ideal opportunity for these Banks to promote more women into the top leadership roles to create the much-needed balance which is currently missing?
We could then revisit this in time and see if the McKinsey Study findings are correct and that it does translate into the balanced collaborative ethical decision making by Female managers!
So anyone who is up for a challenge and would like some coaching, mentoring Pipaltree can help you to step up and rise to this.
Also, if this resonates, please comment below or get in touch by email – I would love to hear from you and find out if you have personal experience or a view on this topic.