Women in leadership goes hand in hand with superior financial performance. Numerous studies (PDF) show a correlation between the presence of women in corporate leadership and higher shareholder returns, company profitability, revenues and profits, firm value, returns on assets and investment, return on equity and total return to shareholders, on the one hand, and lower volatility on the other.

Women in leadership enhances the quality of corporate governance. Diversity of experience and perspective enriches boardroom discussion, produces constructive debate, ensures the identification of the full range of strategic risks facing the company, and ultimately results in clearer direction and better decisions. Researchers have found (PDF) that companies with women directors are better managed and function in a manner consistent with the best of good governance practices. Furthermore, it is only when a board includes at least three women directors (PDF) that the full benefits of enhanced governance are realized.

Women directors increase the likelihood that companies will correctly "read" their actual and potential markets. Diverse boards also send powerful affirming messages to the women who make the buying decisions that drive sales and profits.

• Women dominate the marketplace as consumers of goods and services, including housing, electronics, automobiles, travel and healthcare. Women make over 85% of consumer purchases and influence 95% of all purchases of goods and services.
• Women-owned and controlled businesses constitute a growing segment of the economy. Women own over 46% of privately held companies in the U.S. In 2004, women-owned businesses employed more than 19 million people and generated $2.46 trillion in sales.

Diversity at the leadership level says a lot about a company's culture and commitment to building a workforce of the best and brightest. This message is not lost on investors. Nor is it lost on talented and ambitious women seeking to advance their careers.

• Women control substantial assets and investments. Women constitute 47% of all investors. They comprise 41% of those reporting incomes of $500,000 or more, and they control $14 trillion of assets. In addition to handling 75% of all household finances, women make more than 53% of all investment decisions.
• Women will make up nearly half of the U.S. labor force. Women constitute 52% of the adult U.S. population. In 2005, women comprised 46.4% of all full-time wage and salaried workers. In 2003, they earned nearly 60% of all bachelor's and master's degrees and more than 47% of all doctorates.

From both a business and a governance perspective, it makes good sense to include women on corporate boards. The days of homogeneous boards are - or certainly should be - over.

The pool of talented women is large, and organizations such as ION are ready and willing to help identify and recruit qualified board candidates. The women who serve as directors and executive officers of the public companies researched by ION's members are representative of the talent pool that is largely untapped by U.S. companies.

The opportunities are there as well - board turnover is relatively high, resulting in open seats that can be filled by women directors. See the 2008 ION Report which analyzes board turnover in the ION regions and the rates at which vacancies were filled by women.

The pipeline of women who are qualified to take their places in the boardrooms and executive suites of American companies is strong and expanding. Women today are CEOs, COOs, Division Presidents, and hold other senior executive positions with significant profit and loss responsibility. Women are CFOs, CIOs, Chief Marketing Officers, Chief Medical or Scientific Officers, Chief Human Resource Officers and hold other senior executive positions calling for expertise in critical functional areas. Women are Presidents of colleges and universities, Deans of medical schools and executive directors of large non-profit organizations. Women hold key positions in government, are partners in accounting and law firms, play important roles in business consulting firms and in the financial services sector; upon retirement, they, too, are excellent board candidates.

For additional information, please see the annual reports of the individual ION members and the articles cited in News and Resources.