The Boardroom Gap

by Sara Mahmood

Imagine it’s the ‘80s. You’re in a management training meeting and are the only woman out of about 40 people in the class. At the break, the instructor asks to speak to you and tells you that you’re making him uncomfortable because he can’t tell his usual jokes and use his usual examples. He asks if you can leave.

What would you do?

Kathy Kolbe, who founded the Kolbe Corp in 1975, told him she wasn’t going anywhere.

It may be 30 years later, but women in Canada haven’t gained much ground. Women are still significantly less likely to serve on corporate boards than men. Last year, the Canada Board Diversity Council surveyed 450 corporate directors and found that women held only 15 per cent of board seats.

Kolbe’s work with her company has found that there are four modes of action people use when they’re making a decision: a way we gather and share information, a way we arrange and design, a way we deal with risk and uncertainty, and a way we handle spaces and tangibles. Kolbe says there are just as many men as there are women who are strategic and good at planning, organizing, and structuring. Men and woman are equally capable of different types of leadership and yet, women are still put in organizing jobs and men in strategic.

Although there are no brain differences, there are physical differences playing a part in the boardroom gender gap. By nature women’s voices are softer, so a woman has to speak up and interrupt others, but they’re not socialized to do so. It’s important to find the balance of being tough and louder without becoming shrill. Kolbe likes to wait for a lull in the conversation and then bring it back to a point that everyone thought they were done with. Sometimes she gets called out on it, but she’s realized if she wants to be heard, she has to do these kinds of things.

Even though women aren’t as easily given the chance to shine in the workplace, Kolbe says women are just as responsible for the gender gap as men. “If all you do is complain, then you’re part of the problem,” she says.

A big part of moving up involves networking and forming alliances. Men put in a whole lot of time over lunches, after work at the bar, or even on the golf course developing relationships and cutting deals. There are a lot of women who don’t want to put forth as much energy, usually because they have to take care of their families.

If you have other things to take care of after work, Kolbe suggests having breakfast meetings. Of course you have to get up early, but if you want an executive position, you have to make a lot of sacrifices.

“If women are serious about moving up, they can’t complain about doing the same amount of work that men do,” Kolbe says.

It’s not going to be easy, but many women are capable of earning a seat in the boardroom. They just have to speak up and make sure they’re heard and realize that working in a top position requires a lot of hard work, time and sacrifices.