Pay It Forward Movement News

According to The Boston Club’s “2005 Census of Women Directors and Executive Officers,” as of June 30, 2005, women filled only 9.9 percent of the board seats of the 100 largest public companies in Massachusetts — a very slight increase over comparable data collected in 2004 and 2003.             

Similarly, women comprised only 10.1 percent of all executive officers in those companies as of last June 30. While this figure is higher than in prior years, change measured in increments of less than 1 percent per year can hardly be called progress.             

Massachusetts is not unique in this regard. The other seven members of ION, a network of women’s advocacy organizations based in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Miami, Milwaukee, Philadelphia and California’s Bay Area, have produced reports that paint a similar picture nationwide.             

Of the eight regions for which data was collected in 2005, the highest figures for women directors and executive officers of public companies were those from Chicago: 14.4 percent and 15.4 percent, respectively.             

This is not surprising, given that 36 of the 50 companies in the Chicago sample are listed in the Fortune 1000 and that all regions show a positive correlation between company size and the number and percentage of women directors. Even Chicago’s figures, however, are much too low.             

So, what can be done about this situation? Pay it forward. This concept is at the heart of Catherine Ryan Hyde’s 2000 novel, “Pay It Forward”:by asking those whom we help in some way to repay us by doing the same for several others, we can change the world for the better.             

The appeal of this simple idea is reflected in the growth of a worldwide social movement and the success of initiatives such as the Pay It Forward Foundation (www.payitforwardfoundation.org).             

The Pay It Forward strategy can play out in practice to change the face of corporate leadership. Here’s an example.             

There are close to 100 women in this area who currently sit on the boards of public companies (based outside as well as within Massachusetts), and many more who are directors of privately held companies.             

These women obtained their board seats through a combination of talent, experience, hard work, proven business success and connections of one sort or another.             

In addition to their standout qualities, however, these women also benefited from the assistance and support of others, many of them women — family members, teachers, mentors, business colleagues, staff, friends — who afforded them financial help, advice, encouragement, support and opportunities both to develop and demonstrate their leadership skills.             

And some of these women can also thank women’s corporate board resource groups for the advocacy and introductions that resulted in their board appointments.              

All of these women directors are in a position to pay it forward by opening the doors to the board room and executive suite to other talented women and making sure that more women get a fair chance to demonstrate their competence and value to the enterprise.

The following are a few of the ways in which they can do so.

� Those who sit on governance and nominating committees can make sure that women are included in the pool of candidates considered for nomination to fill every board vacancy.         

� All directors should make it a point to question any nominating process or retained search firm that does not reach beyond the networks that traditionally have produced new directors.         

� Women directors can take steps to increase the number of women in the pipeline for future board openings by reaching out and getting to know women who are likely to meet the strategic needs of the company going forward and then introducing them to board colleagues.         

� Rather than simply declining invitations to consider additional board positions, current directors should suggest other women and women’s advocacy organizations to the nominating committees, search firms or CEOs that approach them. They also should refer to other women or to women’s corporate board resource groups any other corporate board opportunities that come to their attention.         

� They can participate in educational programs and otherwise assist other women to become “board ready” and aware of the connections they should make in their quest for board positions.         

� They can meet with and mentor senior women in the companies of which they are directors and help women executive officers in those companies to obtain board positions in appropriate situations.         

� In every situation that comes before the board, they should ensure that a single standard is applied to women and men, whether board candidates, executive officers or other employees.         

Actions such as these are not difficult. Indeed, they are almost second nature to some of the most highly respected women directors. As these women can attest, this way of paying it forward significantly advances the interests of all corporate stakeholders by strengthening the pool of talented directors and executive officers available to their companies.         

Women who serve as executives also can do their part, especially in companies that currently lack any women on their boards of directors. A word to a member of the board’s nominating committee or to the CEO can result in the expansion of a board search to include diverse candidates.         

In fact, in two recent instances, an administrative assistant’s comments to her boss initiated a search for a woman director. Another trigger might be a request to a CEO by an executive officer for assistance in finding a board position for herself as a way of enhancing her service to the company. Undoubtedly, there are many other ways to work from the inside.              

Finally, anyone engaged in efforts to help other women obtain board and executive officer positions should make it clear to the women whom they assist that they expect these women to “repay” them by paying it forward to other women.

If more women directors and executives were to take ownership of this notion and build it into their approach to doing business, change in the face of corporate leadership would be measured in years, rather than in decades or generations.

Toni G. Wolfman is Executive in Residence at Bentley’s Women’s Leadership Institute. She is past chair of The Boston Club’s Corporate Board Resource Committee and is currently the president of ION.