folklore when you hear that word what do
you picture fables heroes legends most
of us think of folklore as something
belonging to the past but it is present
and pervasive in our lives today simply
defined folklore is all the stories we
tell ourselves as a culture and you
might be surprised just how deeply these
stories live inside us imagine if you
will a company selecting its next CEO
the candidate they've identified is
experienced highly skilled confident
outspoken who did you see if you
pictured a man you're not alone this is
a result of gender folklore narratives
we've heard and shared for so long we've
accepted them as the truth and that has
consequences
although women hold almost 52% of all
professional level jobs when it comes to
leadership women are only 20% of
financial asset managers fourteen point
six percent of executive officers and
less than five percent of Fortune 500
CEOs and it's a self-perpetuating cycle
when they don't see themselves
represented in these positions less
young women major in business related
fields even fewer women get graduate
degrees in finance creating a huge
imbalance by the time you reach the
workforce and an even bigger imbalance
between the men who run the world's
biggest organizations and the women who
don't there's a real problem there and
it's a problem with real impact women
earn a fraction of every man's dollar
female entrepreneurs tend to be less
trusted female managers our stereotype
is less skilled meaning even the most
qualified women often lose out to men in
similar positions so what are we saying
that women would make better leaders
than men
no that would just be another kind of
folklore what we need are more diverse
points of view studies show that the
best business decisions are made by
integrated teams of men and women more
long-term investments more informed
decisions more profitable returns
what if leadership weren't just about
winning but about understanding trust
emotional intelligence decisions that
benefit the whole and not just the few
how different our world might be
experienced confident outspoken CEO this
time did you picture someone different
great but getting there starts all the
way back at folklore with those stories
we tell ourselves it's time we confront
gender folklore head-on so we can change
those stories and start changing the
world