Unsure of How to Lead Your Business Through a Crisis?
IT PAYS TO HAVE WOMEN IN BUSINESS
‘The Agony of Decision’ Has Answers
When business coach and scholar Helio Fred Garcia published “The Agony of Decision: Mental Readiness and Leadership in a Crisis” back in 2017, he had no way of knowing that a pandemic would break out just three years later. Now, his book about how to make tough calls under pressure is more relevant than ever for entrepreneurs.
SoWhy Aren’t There More of Them?
Have you heard of the women’s leadership gap? In a 2018 article, the Center for American Progress described it with these statistics: Women make up more than half of the U.S. population, earn more bachelor’s and master’s degrees than men, and almost match men in the number of law (48.5%) and medical (47.5%) degrees they earn. And yet, they’re extremely underrepresented in company leadership. For example, while 45% of legal associates are women, they make up just 22.7% of partners and 19% of equity partners. This is concerning for ambitious women, of course, but according to a 2016 study from the University of California Davis, it should be a big worry for business owners, too! The study found that companies with at least some women in top leadership positions significantly outperformed companies with predominantly male leadership. As Forbes summarized, “According to experts, the longer we take to close employment gender gaps, the longer that trillions of dollars — and our country’s future workforce — will be left at stake, too.” UC Davis surveyed 400 of the biggest public companies headquartered in California. Surveyors tallied up the women on these companies’ leadership teams and compared their median returns on assets and equity. The results were eye-opening: The 25 companies with the most female executives and board members had overall returns at least 74% higher than the 400 companies overall. Specifically, their median return on assets was more than double that of the rest of the pool, and their median return on equity was over 75% higher. This study wasn’t an outlier. According to Forbes, the McKinsey Global Institute found that “if every country could narrow its gender gap at the same historical rate as the fastest-improving nation in its regional peer group, the world could add $12 trillion to its annual gross domestic product by 2025,” and the Credit Suisse Research Institute reported that the more women a company has on its leadership team, the greater its excess returns are for shareholders. So, what is the secret sauce that makes women in leadership so successful? No one knows for sure, but Inc. Magazine speculates that women have an edge when it comes to emotional intelligence, problem-solving, and trust- building. Whatever the root cause, the results speak for themselves: It pays to have women on your team.
“The Agony of Decision” teaches that when your
company is on the line, it’s quick thinking — more than smooth communication, effective execution, or even expertise
— that can save it. The book offers a framework to guide you through the decision-making process, helping you identify and weigh each outcome, then choose the right one. Answer that first big question, Garcia teaches, and the rest of the tumblers will click into place, allowing you to lead your company forward. To prove it, he weaves his personal experiences and decision-making scaffolding with notable stories of past business failures and successes. As one Amazon reviewer writes, “Helio Fred Garcia provides a thorough discussion of the do’s and don’ts of crisis response with both current and historical events (remember Exxon Valdez or Tylenol?) that clearly demonstrate the right way to respond … and the gateway to disaster.” With more than 30 years of experience mentoring massive international companies and nurturing business leaders at top American universities under his belt, Garcia is the perfect person to give voice to these tough lessons. His prose is self-assured, knowledgeable, and easy to read, which makes “The Agony of Decision” a surprisingly comforting book for an entrepreneur going through hardship. There’s a reason BookAuthority named it one of their best crisis management books of all time! In the last few months, the coronavirus has proven to be the ultimate test of crisis management. If you’re in the process of figuring out how to lead your business effectively through the turbulence and could use a decision-making toolkit to help you when the phone rings with bad news, “The Agony of Decision” might be your ideal summer read.
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