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Effective Executive Journal

Building Future Boards: Women and Diversity in Leadership Roles

Article Details

Pub. Date	: Dec' 2023
Product Name	: Effective Executive
Product Type	: Coaching and Mentoring
Product Code	: EECM031223
Author Name	: Colin Coulson-Thomas
Availability	: YES
Subject/Domain	: Management
Download Format	: PDF Format
No. of Pages	: 22

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Abstract

While the dangers of excessively homogenous boards and the advantages of diversity have long been recognized, in recent years, the priority of legislators, other interests, and various campaigns has been to increase the number and proportion of women in senior and leadership roles. As a result of the focus upon greater gender diversity, have other forms of diversity been overlooked? Is a different perspective on diversity required when building future boards? This paper considers some questions that directors and boards and those who advise them might wish to consider when building boards that are future-ready in relation to greater fluidity, uncertainty, instability and volatility, and the need for more dramatic and radical corporate and collective action in response to common challenges and shared and interrelated existential threats such as global warming and climate change. Rather than address discrete problems, future leaders will be required to handle a succession of evolving and interrelated issues and maintain commitment and collaborative relationships during transition and transformation journeys.

Introduction:

In certain jurisdictions, institutional interests and prevailing practices have created a relative homogeneity across public company boards (Lund and Pollman, 2021). Many of them are composed of similar people with shared interests and priorities. They may also exhibit a degree of groupthink (Janis, 1972). Increasingly, boards and