Tap this pool: boards--not societal pressure--should drive needed change.

• Author: Ide, R. William 'Bill'
• Position: BOARD DIVERSITY

Boards are responsible for maximizing shareholder value and assuring that its stewardship duties to the public in areas such as health, safety, and financial reporting are fulfilled. Yet, they fail to do the best by too often leaving the large talent pool of women out of their ranks. To fully understand and maximize the company's performance within its marketplace, work force, and other critical arenas, boards need the best talent and perspectives available, but most settle for less--with few, if any, women on the board.

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Women understand women's needs and thoughts as customers and employees better than men. Women have important emotional intelligent skills that men cannot match, and they provide a relatively untapped pool of experiences and intelligences that would also greatly enhance boards. Europe is considering quotas to...