“No country can get ahead if it leaves what amounts to half the population behind.”

This quote from the McKinsey report, Economic Benefit of Gender Equality, provided a soft opening to a session focused on the data and facts pointing to the benefits of gender diversity in business.

Alison Pyott from Veris Wealth Partnership added that for the first time, we have research that links gender equality in society with gender equality in work, pointing to the holistic benefits of gender diversity. In fact, the McKinsey study cites “$28 trillion of additional annual GDP in 2025 in the full-potential scenario of bridging the gender gap,” begging the question of why aren’t we getting there faster?
Saundra Gibson from Credit Suisse offered that although “we conceptually agree having women in the workplace and a diverse workforce makes sense, now, we have statistics to prove that it is financially beneficial for companies to have a diverse workforce,” which starts to remove obstacles for progress.

In fact, according to “The CS Gender 3000: Women in Senior Management”: “Companies with more that one woman on the board have returned a compound 3.7 percent a year over those that have none since 2005.” Adding to this, “We find also that companies with higher female representation at the board level or in top management exhibit higher returns on equity, higher valuations and also higher payout ratios.”

Yet looking further, the data shows that its not just about women on Boards, but rather diversity across multiple levels of management that brings about the most positive returns. Homogeneity is the real enemy, hence funds and investment groups are demanding management-level — not just Board-level — diversity reporting.

Julie Gorte from PAX World Investments added that a “10 percent increase of women in top management positions improves the bank’s future return on equity by more than 4 percent p.a. and this positive relationship is almost twice as large during the global financial crisis than in stale market conditions” — showing that even in stale market conditions, diversity in management brings positive returns.

While the panel agreed that the increase in research and data points is crucial to progress the diversity argument, they were even more aware that the question of whether these statistics are correlation or causation remains unanswered. Susanne Katus from eRevalue also pointed out the importance of using statistics to tell a story so that the information stays with us, rather than being blinded by numbers.

This post first appeared on Sustainable Brands on October 8, 2015

It’s been quite a decade for Clara Shih.

In that time, the CEO and founder of Hearsay Social, a startup that uses predictive analytics to help salespeople reach clients at the right time with the right message, has worked at Microsoft, Google and Salesforce. She created an app that went viral. She wrote a best-seller, “The Facebook Era.” She made friends with Sheryl Sandberg, who then helped her get a seat on the board of Starbucks. And then Shih launched her own company, which has raised $51 million to date.

Given all that, the organizers of the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, which has drawn some 12,000 female technologists to Houston this week, asked her to speak about how she has learned to navigate and, more importantly, work toward changing the largely white- and male-dominated world of technology.

Shih offered a lesson that has been key to her personal development and to the growth of her company.

Understand the power of listening.

“All those classic stories of males talking over me, of cutting me off, of repeating my ideas their own, have happened to me,” Shih said. “But I’ve learned I can most confidently speak up when I listen first.”

That doesn’t mean it’s easy to do. Shih told the crowd at Grace Hopper about her first 360 performance review and how hard it was to hear that her team, the people she cared about, thought she was a micromanager.

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“The research clearly shows what we have been talking about for a while: that diversity leads to better decision-making. We only looked at listed companies in three markets and the figures are compelling. Now imagine extrapolating the results for all companies globally.”

The numbers are revealed in Women in business: the value of diversity, a new report from Grant Thornton scrutinising the financial performance of companies listed on the S&P 500, CNX 200 and FTSE 350. Although acknowledging the progress made by women at a non-executive level, the report focused on whether diverse executive teams – the people involved in day-to-day business operations – outperform male-only peers. Analysis of the return on assets ratio (also known as return on investment) showed that, on average, companies with at least one female executive board member outperformed those with male-only boards in each of the three markets analysed.

Francesca Lagerberg, global leader for tax services at Grant Thornton, commented:

“I liken the debate around board diversity to that of renewable energy. We know it’s the right thing to do – both in terms of fairness and for sustainable future growth – but collectively society is dragging its heels. The response to both issues seems to be ‘Yes, we need to take action, but it will be expensive to implement in the short-term,’ so we kick the can down the road.

“But the message from our research is clear: there is a large opportunity cost for companies associated with male-only executive boards. Those businesses stuck in the past are not fully unlocking their growth potential. Like a world still addicted to fossil fuels, these companies are suffering now. A lack of action now will make it all the more difficult to respond in the future when both problems are likely to be more acute.”

In the US, S&P 500 companies with diverse boards outperformed rivals by 1.91%. In the UK FTSE 350 the gap was 0.53% and for the Indian CNX 200, 0.85%. This translates into an opportunity cost of US$567bn, US$74bn and US$14bn in each of the three markets respectively – or around 3% of GDP in the UK and US.

Francesca Lagerberg added: “The research clearly shows what we have been talking about for a while: that diversity leads to better decision-making. We only looked at listed companies in three markets and the figures are compelling. Now imagine extrapolating the results for all companies globally.

“However, just one in ten of the companies we analysed have women board executives. I believe that organisations have not seen a clear business case for change but the work we have done articulates the advantages of diverse boards in a language that businesses will understand.

“If companies don’t instigate change then their investors will quickly become concerned they are missing out on potentially huge performance benefits. These investors need to put pressure on their portfolio companies and work with non-executive teams to progress conversations to ensure they’re taking a diligent approach to board composition.

“And finally, these findings are a prompt to governments. Business run by diverse boards are generating greater returns on the assets they employ. In an era when productivity puzzles persist and economies trade within globalised markets, facilitating female participation at a decision making level within companies might just give them a competitive advantage.”

The report is available at www.grantthornton.global

Gender inequality remains pervasive in the workplace. It’s in every industry and on every level, and the uncomfortable conversation it requires to improve it is too often ignored. But there’s a new movement to do something tangible to address the shift that society needs to make on this issue.

What if, before interacting with a company — whether that’s as a consumer or employee — you could find out what they stand for, including gender parity in the workplace? It’s not a novel idea. Fair-trade certification has been giving a stamp of approval to companies who utilize equitable trade practices for years. Benefit corporations have created a new standard and mark for socially conscious business practices. LEED certifications show companies have exceptional environmental standards.

There may be a new addition to that list: The Economic Dividends for Gender Equality (EDGE) Certification, a global business certification for gender equality, which was announced officially at the World Economic Forum in 2011.

EDGE recently announced a partnership with IFC (part of the World Bank Group), the International Labor Organization, and the UN Global Compact to launch the “She Works” initiative to advance women’s employment in the private sector. EDGE, which is already in 60 companies in 29 countries and across 14 industries, is expecting much more adoption now that it is a global standard. Deloitte and Ikea in Switzerland were among the first companies, and L’Oreal recently announced it was the first US company to achieve certification.

“Gender equality is the right and the smart thing to do,” said Iris Bohnet, director of Harvard’s Women and Public Policy Program. “Often, gender gaps, for example, in hiring or promotion, are the result of unintentional biases that lead employers to base their decisions on stereotypes rather than individual performance, thus hurting productivity and creating inequity. EDGE enables companies to identify and weed out such mistakes.”

In the larger conversation about gender equality in the workplace, women — and men — are demanding that:

• We examine the fact that men make up the vast majority of founders and executives
• We refuse to turn our backs on sexual harassment
• We leave behind the stereotypes of traditional male and female roles
• We make sure women and men are paid the same amount for the exact same work

Why you should care

Women earned, on average, 78 cents on the dollar that men earned in 2013, according to the US Census Bureau. That wide disparity has essentially remained the same since 2001. The Institute for Women’s Policy Researchestimates it could take until 2056 to reach parity, based on the current trajectory.

One study from Harvard found that as women have more children, their pay suffers more. For men, it’s the opposite. Research over the years (including this recent survey by Fortune) have found that women, when portraying the same characteristics as males, are often called “abrasive,” “bossy,” or given more negative feedback about their personalities, whereas men are seen as confident and motivated.

Nevertheless, the Paycheck Fairness Act — which would make it more difficult for employers to pay women less and make it easier for people to sue on account of that — was blocked in the US Senate earlier this month. Despite the fact that a majority of Senators (52) voted for the measure, it was blocked again because the Senate’s minority Republican leadership used a filibuster, which would have required 60 votes to overcome. It was the fourth time since 2011 that Senate Republicans have organized to block the legislation.

A certification like the type that EDGE has implemented is used in areas where business meets social issues. It’s been successful in cases such as the butterfly logo for GMO-free food and the little bunny for makeup that hasn’t been tested on animals.

With EDGE, Oldin said, this new standard sends a clear signal to top talent in the organization and potential employees.

EDGE is the first and only certification of its kind, and it took a long time to develop. Through tests over a period of several years, the team came to a final assessment that assesses such things as company practices and policies, company culture, and retention and hiring rates.

An EDGE consultant guides companies through the platform, and then the company is audited by a third party. It measures what the company thinks they do, what their records indicate they actually do (by assessing those policies and frameworks within the organization), and comparable statistics for their business type. They receive results compared to a global standard, and then the company can start to build an action plan with short term and long term goals.

Measuring real change — hiring numbers, retention rates, company testimonials and ratings — takes a while, so EDGE makes sure companies know this is a process, and everyone is starting on a different level. Short term goals may include gender bias and stereotype training, Oldin said. Every two years, the company must get recertified.

“The certification can be the signal the company needs to show that they are authentic in their commitments to gender equality,” said Maria Oldin, managing director of EDGE Foundation. “This is regardless if [it] is a corporation that is already performing very well or if the company is struggling and know they need to do something about it. At least then they are seriously starting the journey to change.”

Five years ago, Oldin added, this was just a thought. Many people questioned the value of it. Now, though, she’s hearing positive feedback from shareholders, consumers, and employees.

About 60 new companies around the world are in talks to start moving forward with the certification process. As for tech giants with the big gender problems? Oldin said EDGE is in discussion with big players in Silicon Valley.

“They know they have to do something. Shareholders and talent and consumers are getting tired of fancy words,” she said.

Moving forward

Progress starts with transparency. More tech companies (and businesses in other industries) are releasing their data about their own gender gaps, some even committing to changing the statistics in years to come.

Yes, some industries have less of a pay gap than others. Well-known Harvard University scholar Claudia Goldin looked at research and broke the wage gap down by industry for the New York Times earlier this year. She wrote in a paper on the subject that occupations that reward employees for long hours, face-to-face communication, and on-call hours such as law, medicine, and business, often have the widest pay gaps.

And research from various sources provides several different statistics — Pew Research, for instance, said that in 2012 women actually made 84% of what men made.

Whatever the percentages, anything less than 100% parity should be unacceptable. In tech (where the pay gap is less than other fields) this presents an opportunity — perhaps the gender gap could be narrowed more quickly as we try to get more women interested in pursuing careers in STEM fields.

Women are making progress, particularly in fields like pharmaceuticals, according to Goldin’s research. But pay gap is not the only issue. Gender equality in the workplace involves better benefits, maternity leave policies, and open conversations about all these issues to make certain that stereotypes, harassment, and biases don’t continue to flourish.

Anti-discrimination laws are important, but they don’t change cultural stereotypes. “Leaning in” is great, but the phrase is now so overused it has lost some of its meaning. Telling women to ask for more money upfront in interviews is worth doing, but it won’t change the bias on the other side of the desk.

It’s heartening to witness women standing up for their rights on social media and in the news — and even more so to see men commit to helping make change happen faster. Because let’s be honest: real change isn’t going to happen unless men take part in the discussion. Since so many companies are run by males, they must participate in the movement for gender equality.

A stamp of approval is no silver bullet, either. But it is another step in the right direction.

This story first appeared in TechRepublic

He kicked off 50/50 by 2020, a grass roots, web-based movement which sprung out of a recent TEDx talk he delivered. It has evolved into an international conscious leadership in expanded areas, including Maggiacomo’s own company, Sperry Van Ness.

Q: What inspired you to create the 5050 By 2020 movement?
A: The movement came about after going from the unconscious to a more conscious way of thinking about leadership and its positive effects on business. Within our own organization, Sperry Van Ness (SVN), there existed a disproportionate number of women who were high performers, yet we weren’t bringing any intentionality to recruiting and developing women. There was a pool of talent not being fully tapped into.

How did you incorporate gender balance at your company?
My wake-up call came during one of our SVN executive meetings in 2013. Looking around the conference table I saw that nearly all of our execs were white, male baby boomers. In that meeting we were creating our second wave growth plan, which demanded not only high innovation and creativity, but also healthy debate. I saw the polar opposite. Individual concerns were being set aside for fear of upsetting the group’s balance … sort of a “don’t criticize my ideas and I won’t challenge yours” dynamic. We weren’t getting the job done. This was groupthink at its worst.

It was caused by imbalanced perspective born of a gender-imbalanced executive team. The price was high and obvious. In that moment I recognized that bigger results would follow once I put in place a program which caused our leadership balance to shift.

In the 18 months that followed, we restructured our executive team which is actually now imbalanced at 60 percent women but hitting on all cylinders. We operate as a think tank for new ideas, we aren’t striving for harmony in our meetings, our profitability has increased by more than 100 percent and we’re trending positive across all key performance indicators.

To take things a step further, we restructured our statutory board this past April and it, too, is now gender balanced. Diversity and gender balance are the engines of innovation, and we’re doing everything in our power to ensure that this structure remains in place.

In doing this, we realized that this isn’t just good for our company, but for the world. We wanted to open up the thinking to everyone in order achieve a wider ripple effect, and 5050×2020 was born.

Why do you think it’s important?
First, this isn’t solely about giving back or doing the right thing. The business case for gender balance is rock solid. Our company’s category results aside, in the United States, women hold about 14 percent of executive officer positions and 17 percent of board seats. However, research by Catalyst found Fortune 500 companies with the highest percentage of female corporate officers reported, on average, a 35.1 percent higher return on equity and a 34 percent higher return to shareholders than companies with the lowest percentages of female corporate officers. So this is about generating better results as much as anything.

Second, striving for gender balance — and diversity for that matter — is the right thing to do. In 1970, American women were paid 59 cents for every dollar their male counterparts made. In 2010, compensation for women rose to a mere 77 cents for every dollar men made. And if change continues at the same slow pace as it has for the past 40 plus years, it will take almost another 50 (until 2056) for women to finally reach pay parity. It’s important that we work to change that.

What role do men play in gender diversity?
Men remain an often untapped resource for affecting gender balance. Men simply haveto play a role if we’re to affect meaningful change. There exists a preponderance of men in leadership positions who have the power to make these changes and position their businesses for better financial results. Yet, there aren’t enough male ambassadors for this change.

The gender balance issue, as I see it, has historically been framed as a women’s problem or burden, but it’s not. It’s a problem which affects all stakeholders. It represents an opportunity which, if properly harnessed, will create better leaders, better products and better results for all involved.

Men have to become gender-balance champions for change, and much of their work has to be pointed towards other men who aren’t yet fully on board with the opportunity.

Lastly, men cannot sit idly on the sidelines waiting for change. The change is coming, and those companies that don’t bring a level of intentionality towards affecting gender balance in their own organizations will be relegated to mediocrity at best or obsolescence at worst.

What are the barriers? How realistic is 50/50 by 2020?
It’s naive to think that people will change in six years. However, if you look at past movements in history, meaningful change occurred because there was a vision, an appetite for disruption and a plan to set the course for long-term change. We’ve reached the tipping point where people recognize the need and value.

Not all men will support or even give the movement attention, but I hope those who see the value in having a diverse leadership team will embrace it. The benefits are obvious: It raises value and draws IQ from 100 percent of the population versus 50 percent (of just men). It’s just good for business.

What do you think of some countries’ quotas for women leadership on boards?
Legislated gender quotas are controversial and punitive by design. That route is more of a “checkbox effort” where people are assigned positions because of their anatomical differences. Gender quotas in Scandinavian countries have yielded marked growth in the percentage of women on boards. That said, I’m not certain that these companies are better built given their mandated path to gender balance.

I’m a proponent of the free market affecting change through awareness and a better understanding of the powerful business case for gender balance. Show CEOs the money, and action will follow. I’m a firm believer in that.

What can people — male and female — do?
Evangelize. Talk about the opportunities which gender balance will create. Discuss the movement inside and outside of your organizations, and help people — through all ranks of employment — see that the change will yield a competitive advantage. Focus the conversation more on the benefits as opposed to it being a noble cause. Call it conscious capitalism or growing business at a faster rate while simultaneously elevating humanity … but focus on the fact that gender balance is simply good for business.

“Diligent brings unparalleled expertise in many of the hot-button issues that directors care about today,” said Susan Stautberg, CEO, global co-chair, and co-founder of WCD. “Boards need an intuitive platform that not only facilitates global collaboration and decision-making but also supports corporate compliance and security concerns – something that Diligent understands and makes possible. Diligent’s commitment to boards and directors makes them a perfect match for WCD.”

Diligent provides a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)-based platform for the secure electronic production, distribution, and collaboration of confidential information to boards, committees, and leadership teams. Used by more than 3,300 companies across more than 60 countries, Diligent works with more than a third of the Fortune 1000.

“WCD possesses deep knowledge of the vanguard issues that today’s board members face and is raising the standard for board service with programs for directors that highlight smart governance with global vision,” said Brian Stafford, CEO of Diligent. “Sponsoring WCD and its programs allows Diligent to collaborate with the world’s most influential leaders and explore solutions to evolving corporate governance challenges. In addition, we look forward to contributing to the expanding body of knowledge that recognizes diversity of gender, ethnicity, age, and experience as vital drivers of internal innovation, creativity, and business growth.”

In this collaboration, WCD and Diligent will work to advance best practices in corporate governance with thought leadership programs and initiatives, including conducting surveys among Diligent’s more than 100,000 users to shed light on how directors think about issues such as board diversity and the gender gap among leading executives. WCD and Diligent will also team up on projects that underscore the challenges and successes faced by individual women in top corporate positions.

In addition, Diligent will provide consultation, research, and other content for the WCD “Institutes,” a series of conventions in which top executives and policy experts gather to discuss solutions to problems ranging from contemporary cybersecurity to guiding companies during an era when technology is driving corporate, political, and cultural transformation.

“So many of our members use the Diligent Boards solution every day for their board meetings,” said Stautberg. “It’s a strong, valued brand that simplifies our lives and makes us more effective directors.”

Stone sat on stage discussing her views on diversity, how a brain hemorrhage in 2001 had left her a stuttering wreck and unable to walk, and her work with the American Foundation for AIDS Research. Better known as the sultry sex symbol of Hollywood blockbuster “Basic Instinct,” it was refreshing to hear firsthand another side of her that cared deeply about the wellbeing of others and was unafraid to tackle large social issues. She has already helped raise hundreds of millions of dollars to find a cure for AIDS and was  honored for this in 2013 when she was awarded a Peace Summit Award by Nobel Peace Laureates in Poland.

Then came the surprising moment. Stone shared with the audience that earlier that evening a businessman had approached her backstage and said he would build two schools in Africa in return for having his photograph taken with her. Stone agreed and asked his name. “When he told me his name was Joe, it affected me deeply,” she said. “That was the name of my deceased father, and I knew that he wanted me to come out here tonight and tell you that Joe built two schools.”

After a smattering of applause from the assembled construction executives, Stone suddenly got to her feet and said, “Who else will build a school with me!” And knowing her power as a celebrity she added, “Anyone who pledges to build a school gets to have  dinner with me later tonight.” It was one of those moments that took everyone by surprise, and was recognized as something that would not happen again any time soon.

Within five minutes 28 schools had been pledged by those in the audience. Stone’s spontaneous action had resulted in countless children in Africa getting the chance at a decent education. Would they ever believe (or even know) one day that their education was the result of a Hollywood actress seizing the moment in Milan?

As the shuttle bus pulled off after the event, crammed with excited executives and their glamorous dinner host, you couldn’t help thinking about the power of influence, and what might happen in the world if all celebrities influenced those around them in this way.

Sharon Stone, and her dad Joe, had done well that night.

Earlier this summer I co-hosted DreamChange, Inc.’s inaugural Love Summit – an unconventional business conference created to show how using love in the workplace can improve operations, increase sales, and ultimately help solve the underlying cause of the wide range of problems we face in the world today.

The Love Summit debuted at Wieden+Kennedy headquarters; the largest independently owned advertising agency in the world. They’re the guys that came up with Nike’s “Just Do It” campaign, and the creative work for many other world-changing brands such as Dodge, Chrysler, Verizon, Procter & Gamble, and Coca Cola.

It was a big deal for a small nonprofit like DreamChange to have the support of Dan Wieden, co-founder of Wieden+Kennedy. Despite Dan’s initial reservations about calling a business conference “The Love Summit”, he courageously hopped on board with his friend John Perkins, NY Times bestselling author and founder of DreamChange.

I recognized that The Love Summit was not business as usual or business as most of us knew it, and was fully prepared to use concrete reasoning to neutralize the preconceived notions that come with using the word “love” in business. In fact, it was rewarding to find the hard-evidence and objective reasoning (that especially men craved) to back up my case. This helped a lot of people, who initially resisted the concept of love in business, to begin to understand why The Love Summit was so important.

But at the end of the day, it wasn’t my portfolio of research that changed Dan’s mind; it was a personal experience he had with his own employees. In the weeks leading up to The Love Summit, Dan began to prepare for his talk and decided to interview some of his staff. The interview question he chose to ask was whether his employees felt love played a role in the workplace at Wieden+Kennedy. Their unvarnished answers were then turned into a (hilarious), mind-bending short video, which Dan presented during his Love Summit speech.

To Dan’s surprise, each one of his employees answered that love was not just a prominent force at Wieden+Kennedy, but that it was what made their work so enjoyable. Despite the fact that Dan already prided himself on the fact that Wieden+Kennedy was totally unique to other advertising agencies, he never realized that what set it apart from the others and made them so successful was love.

You can watch Dan Wieden’s talk here (if you only have a few minutes, fast forward to 16:38 for the video of his employees). And be sure to check out the 7-minute Love Summit highlight video for some serious inspiration. As you’ll see, some incredibly influential men, from Dan Wieden to Dan Price to the Mayor of Portland, have already begun to embrace love in business. Won’t you hop on board?

*DreamChange is scouting corporate venues in Europe and the United States as plans are being developed for Love Summit business conferences in 2016. If you would like to join the DreamChange millennial fundraising team and/or the movement of individual and corporate sponsors who help make The Love Summit a reality, please contact [email protected].