Closing the Leadership Gap
Add Women, Change Everything
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1.0 • 1 Rating
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
The defining examination of the new role of women in America—now fully revised
When first published in 2004, Marie Wilson's Closing the Leadership Gap finally drew attention to what everyone knew but no one talked about—the lack of women in America's leadership positions, even though compelling research shows that women enhance the top decision-making process dramatically. And yet, even as our nation sits on a world spinning with crises, we have barely begun to tap that most critical natural resource. With the possibility of America's first woman president looming large, now is the time to revisit this inspiring call to action.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Women comprise half of the U.S. population and workforce, yet they hold only 14% of seats in the U.S. Congress and 12.4% of Fortune 500 board positions. More embarrassingly, the United States ranks 60th in women's participation in government, behind India and tied with Andorra. Wilson, president of the Ms. Foundation for Women and founder of the"Take Our Daughters to Work" day, argues that the future could be a brighter place for all by "changing society from a system built on the labor of women to one led equally by their vision." To do this requires nothing short of a cultural revolution, according to the former beauty queen, mother of five and corporate culture pioneer. With so-called women's issues like health, education and senior care at the forefront of everyone's agenda, women more than ever have a substantial contribution to make in shaping government policy and leading in both the workplace and home. Infusing the workplace with women's values--"inclusion, communication across lines of authority, the work of caring, relationship building"--would integrate professional and personal life for everyone's benefit, Wilson argues. She points to progressive law firms that allow law partnerships for part-time lawyers, hold working-parent lunches and offer gender-neutral flex-time, as examples of creating win-win workplaces for both men and women. She also advocates unorthodox measures, like President Barbie, to set ambitious role models for girls. Although sometimes prone to over-generalize female values, this is a persuasive and logical text that is less about women running the world then allowing them to have a meaningful role in its custody.
