When I grow up: Nurturing girls to become leaders

Growing up, I was the class vice-president; the de facto leader of every group project ever assigned; elementary and high school valedictorian; and the captain of my sports teams. I met all the stereotypes of a typical, Type A student. Yet, it never crossed my mind that when I grew up, I could be a CEO.

I’m not alone. 

According to Harvard Business Review 5.3 percent of large U.S. companies have CEOs named John compared with 4.1 percent that have CEOs who are women. Firms with CEOs named David, at 4.5 percent, also outnumber women-led businesses. More than half of college graduates are women, yet, less than 8 percent of the fortune 500 CEOs are women. The stats speak for themselves. …Read More

Why is innovation so often synonymous with disappointment?

The Harvard Business Review reports: Because a pure idea is a beautiful thing, and seeing it get mauled as it struggles to become something real can be highly disappointing. It’s painful to see your “bridge to the moon” end up as a mere woodshed. Welcome to HBR’s new Insight Center: Beyond the Breakthrough: Executing on Innovation. This four-week series addresses the reality problem that always besets great ideas, and our thesis in curating it is that reality isn’t a problem — or at least it doesn’t have to be. We believe that reality too can be a beautiful thing, although, granted, it’s more of an acquired taste. We’ll take a close look at the execution aspects of innovation. In other words, you’ve birthed the breakthrough idea — now what? How do you nurture it, raise it, put it on its own two feet? How do you make sure it has an impact on the world? We’ll draw on a range of writers with a range of insights…

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