Coulson-Thomas, Colin (2023) Building future boards: women and diversity in leadership roles. Effective Executive, 26 (4). pp. 25-45. ISSN 0972-5172

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Abstract

While the dangers of excessively homogenous boards and the advantages of diversity have long been recognised, in recent years the priority of legislators, other interests, and various campaigns has been to increase the number and proportion of women directors and women in other senior and leadership roles. As a result of the focus upon greater gender diversity, have other forms of diversity been overlooked? Is insufficient attention given to age, cultural, disability, educational, ethnic, nationality, perspective, political, religious, social, thinking and other diversity considerations, criteria and factors? The challenges, opportunities and existential and other risks in the contexts in which many companies operate are evolving, and in some cases unfamiliar and becoming more pressing. Past experiences and practices may or may not relate to future developments, crises and geo-political events and/or equip directors to handle or respond to them. Is a different perspective on diversity required when building future boards? Might they need to be more inclusive on a wider range of characteristics, more resilient and better able to cope? This article 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 inter-related 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 inter-related issues and maintain commitment and collaborative relationships during transition and transformation journeys.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	women directors; diversity and inclusion; women on corporate boards; transition and transformation journeys; Groupthink; governance and risk management
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Business
Related URLs:	Publisher
Last Modified:	08 Jan 2024 11:13
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/45215

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