There has been a lot of consideration given recently to the issues and concerns regarding diversity, inclusion, and systemic racism. We have become more sophisticated in our appreciation that diversity includes much more than race, nationality, gender, sexual preference, or expression. It includes such differences as thinking styles, communication, interaction styles, and much more.

In 2002, a Stanford University professor made audiotapes of physicians and their patients in session. Half of the doctors had been previously brought to court for malpractice. She then played the tapes for her students, who were able to determine which physicians had been sued.

Welcome to the Remote Work Revolution. Forces out of our control – the pandemic – moved us powerfully into this new world of work. Unless you are in a service business, like food, dining, leisure activity, retail, children’s education, etc. that require being live and in living color to do your job, you most likely do most of your work at home or remotely, wherever you happen to be during your typical work hours. Even doctors, therapists and exercise instructors are working at least partially remote. And it’s never going back to the 95% in-person that it was in 2019.

Leslie Grossman, women's leadership advocate and founder of Circle Leadership, and Christine Merser, CEO of Blue Shoe Content,  show up at the Circle Leadership podcast table with three picks for the strongest Women Leaders of 2021. You may be surprised at their picks with some controversy, too.  Among the women leaders discussed are Sharon Bowen, new Chair of the Board of NYSE; Amanda Gorman, poet and activist;  and Liz Cheney, Congresswoman and member of the House Select Committee.

The number of women managers ditching the workplace in 2020-2021 has been dismal. America’s greatest migration is the number of women who have left managerial roles.  According to the analysis of the Women’s Law Center, 2.1 million women left their jobs in 2020, primarily due to the childcare crisis. As we move into 2021, the likelihood of women returning at the same rate to equal or higher positions is low. 

While gender diversity is a hallmark of the most successful organizations, gender bias -  particularly in the C-suite and at senior leadership levels - continues to persist.