I was writing a piece today on our generation and how we stack up to the "Greatest Generation". A tune kept running thru my head, tho I couldn't remember all the words. Finally, with the help of Google, I found "Talking 'bout My Generation" by The Who.
And I began to reflect on how our (boomers) generation differs from the Greatest and how our children's generation will reflect on ours. I was struck by how our generation rebelled against authority and how we championed individuality -- though we seem to have less latitude for these values when it comes to women. More on that later!
In the last couple of weeks there have been some very interesting piece in the traditional media on women, one was from NPR http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111673448 about my Motherland's (Norway) new law that 40 percent of boards must be represented women. In trying to find it, I see that many other media outlets I like have done pieces on this topic. I've listed them below:
ABC -- Norway's big stick for getting women on boards: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/06/11/2270878.htm?site=news
FAST CO Blog -- 2 years later -- What difference do women make?: http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/kate-sweetman/decoding-leadership/norway-s-boards-two-years-later-what-difference-do-women-make
NYT -- Women take their place on boards: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/21/business/worldbusiness/21iht-wbwomen.2.11315428.html
My take is if we wait for getting women on boards in significant numbers to occur organically (estimated time required is 100 years says NYT), we'll be waiting a long time -- if not forever. Men tend to like to share power with their buddies.
Women have enormous influence in most purchasing decisions (as Tom Peters has been telling us for over a decade http://www.witi.com/center/conferences/tompeters/ ). And women know how other women tick. Let's do Norway one better and set a 50/50 rule for the U.S.
