How To Really Listen | Is Jane Fraser On A Glass Cliff? | Why This Recession Could Lead To A Boom In Female-Founded Businesses | And More

Plus: Meghan Markle punches back at Buckingham Palace allegations

The move has been months in the making, but with the turn of the calendar to March came Jane Fraser’s official installment as Citigroup CEO—which means that, for the first time in history, one of Wall Street’s four biggest banks has a woman at the helm.

There’s much we could say (and have said) about what this means for the proverbial glass ceiling in corporate America, but I’d like to turn your attention to an equally important problem: the glass cliff. As Forbes contributor Michael Peregrine reminds us here, it’s “the phenomenon by which women are more likely to be appointed to senior executive positions during times of organizational crisis, making them less likely to succeed.”

Fraser has denied that this is what is at play within her organization, but Peregrine correctly notes that her appointment offers a timely reminder to all corporate boards that glass cliff concerns should be on their radars. “The succession planning that is such a critical fiduciary obligation must be gender-blind,” he writes. “Appropriate reorientation about the role of women in the workplace can’t wait for an open spot on the board or committee agenda.”

Cheers to that!
Maggie

P.S.: Because a recent (Zoom) yoga session began with many of us in the class joking about the voices inside our heads, my favorite advice on the site this week looks at how rituals can quell the stressful chatter in our minds, especially as we hit the one-year mark of this trying pandemic life.

ICYMI: Stories From The Week

In the continued fallout over the now-former Tokyo Olympics chief’s sexist remarks, the Japanese Olympic Committee announced a new team to promote gender equality, led by Kotani Mikakto, two-time Olympic medallist in artistic swimming. The new committee president, Seiko Hashimoto, also says that she intends for at least 40% of the Organizing Committee to be women.

Netflix announced the creation of a $100 million creative equity fund and released the results of its diversity and inclusion report, which found that 48% of its films and 54% of its series have girls or women as leads or co-leads.

NASA’s Washington D.C. headquarters is now named after Mary Jackson, NASA’s first Black female engineer and an early advocate for equality on multiple fronts.

This month’s One Free Press Coalition report on the ten most urgent cases of press freedom focuses on female journalists who’ve been unfairly jailed or charged with crimes, including Tal al-Mallohi in Syria and Solafa Magdy in Egypt.

The female labor force participation rate stands at a 33-year low, but history offers us one reason to be optimistic: after the Great Recession in 2008, rates of female entrepreneurship shot up, and the same could happen as we emerge from this period of economic hardship.

Last month, former Match Group CEO Mandy Ginsberg joined the board of online consignment market ThredUp, and she recently spoke to ForbesWomen about not acting too much like a CEO in board meetings and why “It’s not enough to just have women in the workforce.”

Check List

#1: Wait to try a new technological trick. The Golden Globes, which took place Sunday night, unintentionally offered myriad tips about virtual event best practices. Among the “don’ts:” using an app to play canned laughter while your significant other is speaking.

#2: Find your ‘why.’ Ask yourself the question: Apart from money, why does what I am doing at work matter to me? This will help you narrow your focus, particularly if you’re in the middle of a job search.

#3: Listen differently. To truly absorb what your coworkers (or family, or friends) tell you, start with these three rules: If you're thinking about what you're going to say next, you're not listening. If you're waiting for your turn to speak, you're not listening. If you're thinking "how do I show that I'm listening,” you're not listening.

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