"Salon Talks" host Carrie Sheffield sat down with Jeffery Tobias Halter, president of YWomen, a strategic consulting company, to discuss his latest book "WHY WOMEN - The Leadership Imperative to Advancing Women and Engaging Men," the first business book written by a man on how companies can advance women to enhance the company.
"There is so much overwhelming data that every time you add women to the mix, you get incredible results," Halter said. "Advancing women today sadly is like diet and exercise: every company knows they need to do it; it's having the will and commitment to drive that change."
Asked about the government's role in advancing women, Halter, who formerly served as the director of diversity strategy at Coca-Cola, said, "It's like any government mandate. It's going to work in a few situations and it's not going to work in a few situations."
"We know that U.S. data shows that more women on [corporate] boards — three specifically or more — generates amazing economic return for the company," he continued. "The problem is we also know it takes 10 to 15 years to develop senior leaders. And so, believe it or not, there is a time for mandating, because it gets you a jump start, but then if you do not have the programs and processes to be supportive, to create development opportunities, what you are doing is setting up women for failure."
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