The Huffington Post has reported that women are now less than one percent away from making up the majority of today’s workforce. With the recession seemingly hitting men the hardest, many educated women that opted to raise children in the 90s, are now making their way back to the workforce.
This year a record number of women are CEOs of Fortune 500 companies — but you still don’t need all of your fingers and toes to count them. (You don’t even need all of your fingers to count those running Fortune 100s.)
Few as they are, they’re doing fine at the top, thank you very much. During the economic storm of 2009, women leaders proved they can be as tough, decisive and competitive as men. USA Today reports that stocks of the 13 Fortune 500 companies run by women for all of 2009 were up an average of 50 percent. The biggest female winner was Mary Sammons, whose Rite Aid stock soared 387 percent!
Now that there are more women in the workplace, in positions of leadership and even as CEOs, we can feel hopeful. But it’s important to keep it real and manage our expectations. While some women leaders may be able to redefine their roles, usher in a more authentic and transparent leadership style and emphasize work-life balance, changing entrenched corporate culture is not easy. Even when you change the leader, the stubborn culture can remain exactly the same.
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