No Women Executives on the Hot Seat During Economic Crisis

I'm so pleased to download the benchmarking research and see this conversation building and continuing in the national press. During the hundreds of hours of Congressional hearings on the economic crisis, and what caused it, we did not see any women business leaders answering for the transgressions of their companies. That's because we are significantly absent from Fortune 500 C-suites. Maybe now we can do something about it.

I don't want to see women--or any business person, for that matter--on the hot seat trying to explain away fiscal mismanagement and poor corporate governance. But with gender-diverse and culturally integrated leadership teams emerging, perhaps we will see a lot less crooked or negligent behavior because of the innate checks and balances that seem to apply in motley groups. In any case, the spirit of our nation promises every person the right to prosper or perish. Let's get on with it!

I'm glad companies are getting this and beginning to actively cultivate all people, women included, for every level of leadership. My concern now, however, is women entrepreneurs. A company with workforce development objectives has a clear, distinct, vested interest in investing in its female employees.

I hope there will be as much interest and emphasis on investing in and partnering with women owned businesses. Women entrepreneurs won't be a future part of your workforce but we can be high-quality, resourceful, creative vendors or joint venture partners.

I feel the winds of change. Let them blow.