Leading Women is an American consulting firm, designed to counteract
gender disparity in corporate business, founded by Susan Colantuono in 2003. Its primary aim is to reduce the gender gap in business leaders, and consulting with organisations to help them do this.
The organisation researched the careers of 2,000 women and found that when selecting candidates for career advancement, organisations prioritise business and strategic acumen by a factor of 2 to 1. This contradicts traditional career advice given to women, which stresses the importance of interpersonal skills instead of knowing the business well. This was publicised in a
TED conference
TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...
in 2014. Colantuono has expressed concerns about bias in existing
human resources
Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include m ...
and promotion systems, as well as a general perception that women are believed to lack business strategy and financial acumen.
In October 2019, the organisation expanded to include conference services and provide their services to everyone instead of just select high-profile organisations. At the same time, Colantuno announced she would step down from the organisation at the end of the year. She was replaced as CEO by Kelly Lockwood Primus. Primus has said diversity and inclusion help a company, as it fosters collaboration and innovation, helping a business' bottom line.
References
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External links
Leading Women WebsiteResearch on The Missing 33%TM in Women's AdvancementResearch on Minimizing the Impact of Gender Dynamics in Business
American consultants
Gender pay gap