sphinxx blog

Isn’t Gail Kelly great?  She just seems to go from strength to strength, leaving a trail of success behind her.  I’ve only met Gail once – briefly – at a Chief Executive Women’s dinner, however my perception of her is the same as I’ve heard her described by many others: warm, generous, organised, a clear thinker and communicator and above all, a wonderful leader.  In short, Gail is a superb sphinxx.

So congratulations Gail Kelly, on behalf of the sphinxx community, on your appointment as Westpac’s new CEO.

When the news broke on Friday, a banking colleague of mine said: “You should be happy now, that a woman got the top job at Westpac”.  True, it is good news that a Big 4 bank will be led by a woman for the first time, and how fitting that it be Westpac given the work it has done in building a profile as the bank of choice for women in business.  “Yes, it is great, isn’t it”, I said.  “Gail is great, but where are the other women following in her footsteps?”

It seems unlikely that a female will be considered as her replacement at St George, with Cameron, Clare and Fegan considered hot internal contenders and a number of blokes in the list of outside shots.  And with the changing of the guards now almost complete in all of the major banks, Gail Kelly remains the Queen of Banking with few ladies in waiting. 

Not that the other industries fare much better – as I have previously blogged, the EOWA 2006 survey showed only 6 female CEOs in Australia’s top 200 companies.  We need to support each other in the journey to the top, and promote the successes and presence of other female executives.  Not only would this be a great boost to the few women working their way to the top, but it would raise the profile of these important role models.  If seeing is believing, then we need to see more female success stories through every level of our corporate ranks if we are to see more gender diversity at the top of the tree.

Blog on ladies and lets promote the lionesses of business out there!

The 2006 EOWA Australian Census of Women in Leadership highlighted the stark gender imbalance in senior roles in leading Australian companies.  In Australia’s top 200 publicly listed companies, women held only 6 CEO roles and 12% of executive management positions.  Yet we know that women enter most organisations - with the exception perhaps of traditionally skewed industries, like engineering and construction for example - in equal if not greater proportions than men.  They make it to first management roles in about equal proportion, and continue to be well represented in middle management roles.  But what happens after that?

Perhaps it’s the glass ceiling (I heard one woman comment recently that it was only after she smashed through the glass ceiling that she realised there was another concrete one beyond that!), but the women I know and work with are resourceful enough to find a solution through that obstacle.  And likewise parental leave - sure, it is the major off ramp, but I’ve seen too many examples of female leaders successfully balancing parenting with careers to count it as a definitive career breaker.  

 So what are the other factors that cause this great divide?  Male dominated workplace politics?  Lack of female role models to build the belief it is possible?  Lack of flexibility?  Or a lack of drive or ambition to do what it takes to get the top job?

All these factors are probable contributors.  But one thing is for sure - women make great leaders, and - for many reasons - we need more of them.  So lets use our collective brainpower and passion to collectively come up with solutions that will make a real difference - to employers, employees and women in general.