Why Women Make a Difference in the Boardroom

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In the past many board members were active or recently retired CEOs, mostly white males. Since the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, demand for financial experts skyrocketed. Women with financial expertise had board opportunities they didn't have before. I already served on the boards of Wawa, Accenture, and Pepsi Bottling Group (PBG) before passage of this law and have seen the great leap forward for women since then. Yet women with the potential to serve on boards need the same mentoring and teaching as high-potential men.

The best way to groom a future woman board member is to have the CEO work closely with her on strategic projects and financial priorities. In this process, she will have the opportunities to distinguish herself and build a network of various constituencies with whom the CEO works. This is a good practice whether the aim is to groom the female executive as a board member of the company for which she works or as an outside director.

Seeking Out Mentors

A company may well want to allow a few high-potential executives to work closely with members of its board of directors. Women need to seek experience with other board members if they want to be qualified to serve on boards in the future. When I was a chief financial officer for five years of Hannaford Bros. (acquired by Del Haize in 1999), I had monthly phone calls with one of our board members regarding economic conditions in our new market. She was certainly very interested in our business, but she also used these calls to prepare for her role on the Federal Reserve Board of Richmond. I viewed each call as a mini-exam and wanted to make sure that I provided accurate and insightful information and analysis to her.

She also had a regular call with the head of internal audit as part of her preparation as chair of the audit committee. I owe a considerable debt to this board member as I learned from one of the most intelligent, best-trained, and gracious woman I have ever met. Not every board member is willing to spend time with management. If you are looking to prepare yourself for a board position, choose as mentors those board members who care about development and learning. Such people groom future leaders.

Today, women no longer have to wait until men die to join many private clubs. Let's open the boardrooms to women directors who can keep your companies financially sound, be role models for talented young women, and make U.S. business even better.

Blythe J. McGarvie is CEO of LIF Group and serves on the boards of Accenture, Pepsi Bottling Group, The Travelers Cos., Viacom, and Wawa. In 1995, she was one of only 10 female CFOs in the Fortune 500. A professional speaker, she specializes in such topics as consumer markets, worldwide economic trends, and leadership strategy.

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