Reflections and frustrations

I recently participated in a forum of C-suite women and board directors where we spoke about the topic of transformative change in organizations. We spent a wonderful afternoon hearing from experts, sharing our own journeys in breakouts, and finding opportunities for continued collaboration and connections as we open doors and provide mentorship and advocacy.

A rather interesting segment of the program was a panel that included two former CEOs (both men) of large energy companies who spoke about their company transformations through M&A, activism, and leadership changes. The stories were familiar and emphasized the importance of assembling strong leadership teams, taking calculated risk, and relying on expert third-party analysis for objective perspective. There was no doubt many bits of learning that attendees took away as we all focus on sustainable growth and success for our organizations.

In the closing comments of the panel, the two gentlemen were asked to give their thoughts about the continued challenges facing women in the industry – recognizing the improvements over their multi-decade careers – and what reflections and advice they had for the attendees.

Two of the comments they made stunned me. They said:

(1)     Women have to be better than men to succeed, and

(2)     We need to continue to take risks to provide opportunities.

Sitting in a room with C-suite leaders and board directors, I have to say I was dismayed and disappointed in these two comments, and I know others felt similarly. I initially thought, well maybe they weren’t prepared for the question and could have thought of better answers if they had prepared. But that’s no excuse. Any leaders planning to speak to a room of women holding C-suite positions as well as board directors should have expected a question about women in business. Hearing a former CEO (who undoubtedly mentored current senior leaders) say that he believes that women have to be better than men in order to succeed was truly disappointing. And to use the phrase “we need to continue to take risks” reinforces my belief that the only time the phrase “take a risk” is used regarding a personnel decision is when someone is referring to a woman or person of color.

It’s 2026, folks. Let’s stop saying that promoting a woman is “taking a risk”. Let’s stop believing that women must prove themselves to be more capable than men to be successful. We’ve never asked for guaranteed success. We’ve only ever asked for an equal opportunity to succeed or fail.