Among the highlights of The Catalyst Canada Honours are the remarks by the champions themselves. And, in the ensuing days and weeks, these words of inspiration, and the glimpses they provide of personal struggle and achievement, are what I remember and ponder.

The Human Resources/Diversity Leader Champion, Michael Bach, shared his personal passion and belief that privilege brings the responsibility to make a difference. His challenge to the audience was to take bold, possibly unpopular actions and positions to impact the status quo. Michael asked us to consider why change is taking so long, and then left each of us with a personal challenge.

Watch Michael Bach at The Catalyst Canada Honours:

Among the highlights of The Catalyst Canada Honours are the remarks by the champions themselves. And, in the ensuing days and weeks, these words of inspiration, and the glimpses they provide of personal struggle and achievement, are what I remember and ponder.

The 2011 Business Leader Champion, Jennifer Tory, has devoted much of her career to developing people, both directly and through her advocacy for sponsorship and the advancement of women. She has brought the same commitment to acting as a catalyst for change and diversity to her work with community organizations. Her remarks challenged the audience to find talent in their organizations by looking broadly, deeply, and often.

Watch Jennifer Tory at The Catalyst Canada Honours dinner:

One of the highlights of The Catalyst Canada Honours is the remarks by the champions themselves. And, in the ensuing days and weeks, it is the words of inspiration, and the glimpses of personal struggle and achievement, that I remember and ponder.

The 2011 Company/Firm Leader Champion, Monique F. Leroux, has experienced plenty of challenges and successes in her career. She has made a difference in the careers of individual women, and influenced the creation of opportunities for many women. She has “sent the elevator back down” for others as she has advanced in her own career. Monique shared with us some of the ways her parents encouraged her success and helped establish her commitment to action…. and then she issued a challenge.

Watch Monique at The Catalyst Canada Honours dinner:

The Catalyst Canada Honours celebrates champions who have made diversity and advancement of women a hallmark of their careers. In this week’s CanCon, Emily Pomeroy, chair of the 2012 nominating committee, shares some reasons that you should consider nominating a champion you know, or applying yourself to be a 2012 Catalyst Canada Honours champion!

There seems to be a lot of frustration around inequality in the world today.

- Occupy movement protesters are frustrated with social and economic inequality.
- Food banks are frustrated with decreased donations and increased demand.
- Individuals are frustrated by unemployment challenges.
- Here at Catalyst, we’re pretty frustrated with the low representation of women in senior leadership.

I don’t know about you, but I end up feeling overwhelmed by these issues and don’t know how I could possibly do anything to make a dent in such large and systemic problems.

The answer, I think, is to do something. Take one step to improve one person’s life.

What if, tomorrow, you woke up and changed a woman’s career trajectory by championing her at work. What if you:

- Recommended her work to colleagues and clients?
- Invited her to present at your next senior leadership meeting?
- Connected her to your network?
- Advocated for her promotion during succession planning?

Catalyst knows that many people are doing great things to champion women. We speak with them every day. It’s probably you, or maybe one of your colleagues. If that’s the case, Catalyst wants to recognize and celebrate those efforts. Apply for The Catalyst Canada Honours 2012.

Last month, Catalyst honoured three more individuals who are exceptional champions of women’s advancement at a gala dinner with over 600 guests. Next year, we want to honour you.

So there is something you can do. It’s manageable, attainable, and you can start now.

The Catalyst Canada Honours Make News

We were delighted with the coverage of The Catalyst Canada Honours last month, especially since much of it focussed on the challenges facing women and their champions in the workplace. And it was great to see The Catalyst Canada Honours champions recognized and celebrated in the media! Here are some of our favourite pieces.

WATCH: “Scotiabank and Catalyst: Supporting Women”, Business News Network, October 18, 2011.

READ: “Félicitations aux Lauréats des Prix Honorifiques de Catalyst Canada”, Premières en Affaires, October 20, 2011.

READ: “Catalysts of Change” by Jacqueline Nelson, Canadian Business, October 20, 2011.

READ: “We Can Do Better Than 18 Per Cent” by Todd Humber, Canadian HR Reporter, October 24, 2011.

Sponsorship Works… But it Needs Work

Ernst & Young’s Fiona MacFarlane is proof that sponsorship is a vital ingredient in corporate success, just as Catalyst research indicates. The challenge now for companies is figuring out how to leverage sponsorship—which has largely occurred informally—to support their efforts to build a diverse pipeline of talent.

READ: “Beyond Mentoring Women at Work: Sponsoring” by Leah Eichler, The Globe and Mail, November 4, 2011.

All Over the World…The Gender Gap is Shifting…

The World Economic Forum has released the 2011 Global Gender Gap Report, noting that, while women are achieving greater equality in health and education, they continue to be underrepresented in economic and political participation. And Canada? We made a small step in the right direction with a move from #20 on the list in 2010 to #18 in 2011. Could we try to leap into the top 10 in 2012?

READ: “Canadian Women Politically Stifled, Report Suggests”, CBC News, November 2, 2011.

READ: “Progress for Women, but a Long Way to Go” by Luisita Lopez Torregrosa, The New York Times, November 1, 2011.

READ: “The Global Gender Gap Report, 2011”, World Economic Forum, November, 2011.

And These Shifts Can Have a Big Impact!

A recent study at Chicago’s DePaul University confirms what our intuition has told us all along—individual sexism correlates with gender inequality in society. Hence Catalyst’s vision: Changing workplaces. Changing lives.

READ: “Sexism and Gender Inequality”, Science Daily, October 30, 2011.

Revisiting Quotas

Senator Céline Herivieux-Payette deserves credit for persistence. She’s reintroducing legislation that would see a requirement for Canadian businesses to have 40% female representation on their boards. Whether you support quotas or some other means of achieving increased numbers of women at senior levels, the public conversation is an important one.

READ: “Senator to Renew Push for More Women on Boards” by Janet McFarland, The Globe and Mail, October 26, 2011.

Some Progress!

With her appointment as CEO of IBM, Ginni Rometty joins Hewlett-Packard’s Meg Whitman at the top of the tech world. Ms. Rometty built her career at IBM—does that help women reach the top? And will these two talented and successful women be able to lead a shift to greater equality at high levels in high tech?

READ: “New IBM CEO Means Two Top Tech Chiefs are Women” by Patricia Sellers, CNN Money, October 25, 2011.

READ: “Ginni Rometty: Benefits of Staying Put” by Rachel Emma Silverman, Wall Street Journal Blogs, November 1, 2011

Women Take the Long View

Women are achieving financial success in greater numbers than ever, and they’re looking for different services from their financial advisors. They want a plan that addresses their long term individual and family goals, and an advisor who is familiar with wills, trusts, and estate planning in addition to other investments. Big investment firms are listening and adapting.

READ: “The Differing Female View of Financial Services” by Noreen Rasbach, The Globe and Mail, November 4, 2011.

Less than a week until The Catalyst Canada Honours dinner, and we’re into those hectic last minute details as we prepare to welcome so many sponsors, supporters, and friends to the event! There’s a terrific buzz around the office as we make space for colleagues from other Catalyst offices, including President & CEO Ilene Lang (who discusses Catalyst’s latest research release, The Myth of the Ideal Worker, on her blog).

The Catalyst Canada Honours is about the champions and their commitment to the advancement of women. But I relish the opportunity to share and celebrate all of our stories, and to renew my own resolve to make a difference.

Hope to see you at the dinner!

As we move into the final weeks before The Catalyst Canada Honours dinner on October 18, we seem to be generating enough positive energy in our office to power the entire block! And no wonder.

First, we’re celebrating amazing achievements by the champions: Company/Firm Leader Champion Monique F. Leroux, Chair of the Board, President and CEO of Desjardins Group; Business Leader Champion Jennifer Tory, Regional President, Greater Toronto Region, RBC; and Human Resources/Diversity Leader Champion Michael Bach, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, KPMG LLP.

Each of them has made a difference in the lives of individual women, and their efforts have changed the culture in both their own organizations and the greater Canadian business community.

Second, we’ll hear interesting and provocative thoughts from the distinguished speakers: business leaders who have unique insights on the role of senior executives in making equal opportunity a reality, not a slogan.

Third, we’re celebrating in the company of great friends and supporters, who just happen to lead some of Canada’s biggest companies.

And fourth? Well, I’m pretty excited about our new tradition of ringing the bell to start business at the TSX on the morning of the dinner!

If you want to join the celebration, a few places are still available, but we’re nearly sold out! I look forward to seeing all of you on October 18th!

The recent Catalyst report on sponsorship was based on interviews with sponsors and protégés, and yielded some eye-popping revelations of the powerful impact of sponsorship. For those of you who think sponsorship is only important to the protégé, read on….

Sponsorship impacts the broader organization.

Sponsors begin to develop a different perspective on the organization and what it needs to grow and thrive:

[Sponsorship] keeps me thinking about my own development, and it keeps me thinking about what I’m trying to achieve at [my company] from an employee perspective—like what kind of people do I believe [we] need to have to continue to grow, the right cultures, differences of opinion, different styles—it’s all healthy at any organization. Not everybody needs to be cookie-cutter. It’s made me more conscious of that and how important that is.

—Woman Sponsor

Sponsorship makes employees more loyal.

Organizations benefit from the loyalty and commitment that sponsors and protégés bring to the team.

I would argue that our most successful partners or the people with the best potential are the people who are sponsors. And the reason it’s so is because it’s a reciprocal relationship. My sponsor, I would run through a brick wall for him because of what he does for me. That’s how you build a team.

—Woman Sponsor

Not your father’s (or mother’s) sponsorship.

The days when sponsors tended to choose protégés who looked like them (and everyone else in the senior group) are disappearing. And that’s leading to a culture shift.

“Who are the ones that you’re sponsoring?” I don’t think anyone’s ever asked me that question. Just the fact that I’m going to get asked the question, I better be thinking about [it so no one] says, “Yeah, but these three guys look just like you. How are you helping to change the culture and the structure of the organization if you’re only creating opportunities for people who look just like you?…Show me where you’re not just mentoring, you’re coaching. You’re actually sponsoring somebody that is out of the mold.”

–Man Sponsor

Sponsorship is particularly impactful for women.

Catalyst research demonstrates that women start their careers at lower pay than their male colleagues, and they don’t catch up…unless they have a sponsor at the senior ranks of the organization.

I do think that women need more sponsorship…because there’s a tendency for people to be less risk-taking with women or diverse candidates than they are with non-diverse. And so if the risk appears to be higher, then there needs to be more tipping of the scale. That tipping of the scale comes from sponsorship.

—Woman Sponsor

Sponsorship opens doors for protégés.

While sponsorship can open doors for high-performing individuals, simply providing someone with an opportunity does not guarantee success. It’s up to the person being sponsored to deliver once given the opportunity.

[Sponsors] just open the doors, right? It’s up to you then to walk through the door and show that you are capable of finding the path.

—Man Protégé

Sponsorship is a core leadership competency for senior leaders.

Many organizations expect their senior executives to be sponsors. Some are committed to formal sponsorship programs to ensure the relationships work and provide benefits to the organization.

Sponsorship of high-performance [individuals] in order for the company to do better—because that performance can have a greater impact on the next level—is my job as a leader….I get paid to develop, nurture, and grow a leader. That’s my job.

—Man Sponsor

Looking for real-life examples of sponsors? You need look no further than The Catalyst Canada Honours Champions. These three outstanding individuals understand the power of sponsorship to change lives and influence corporate culture.

Read their bios, then look around your own organization. Who are your sponsorship champions?

Champions make a difference. They challenge their colleagues to stretch for greater achievements. They encourage their communities to become better than they thought they could be. Their example motivates people they have never met to change their lives for the better.  They sponsor advancement for talented women and men.

The Catalyst Canada Honours 2011 Champions have done all of that and more. Company/Firm Leader Champion Monique F. Leroux would have set an example of achievement for young Canadian women if she had done nothing more than become the first woman to lead a Top 10 financial institution in Canada as Chair of the Board, President and CEO of Desjardins Group. But she chose to mark her career with a commitment to the advancement of other women. Perhaps most important, she has “walked the talk” as a mentor and sponsor of other women and as a speaker who generously shares her experience and knowledge with other women.

The Business Leader Champion is Jennifer Tory, Regional President, Greater Toronto Region, RBC. Her career and her community activities reflect her commitment to identifying and advancing talented people. Her business strategy of cultivating talent includes such
initiatives as increased development opportunities to allow high-potential women and visible minorities a greater chance to demonstrate their ability. As a community volunteer, she has promoted opportunities for participation by women, visible minorities and new Canadians.

Human Resources/Diversity Leader Champion Michael Bach, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, KPMG LLP, has a long history of advancing diversity through his work with Pride at Work Canada; Women’s Executive Network; the Canadian Board Diversity Council and the Rotman School of Management’s Back to Work Program. In his current position, Mr. Bach has been able to influence change at the organizational level and gain support for diversity initiatives from senior leaders within the firm.

These three champions share many traits: vision, the courage of their convictions, and the power of persuasion. They have personal stories that motivated them to become champions.  Together, they represent the many Canadian business people who recognize that advancing women in business is advancing women and business.  It is sound business practice, ensuring that our economy has the benefit of the broadest spectrum of talent and perspective.

Since the establishment of The Catalyst Canada Honours last year, we’ve seen encouraging signs of a growing recognition that what’s good for women is good for business. Our membership has grown as organizations in all parts of Canada recognize the need for active strategies to include and advance women and visible minorities. The conversation is expanding, and becoming more positive.

With all this positive energy, why are champions so important? One compelling reason is that more than 30% of all Canadian FP500 companies lack even one woman senior officer—with no significant shift in the past two years.

Champions can make the difference, as role models and as sponsors who are at decision-making tables advocating for talented women to advance and contribute value that will benefit their organizations.

This year’s honourees set a high bar! Thank you, Monique, Jennifer, and Michael, for leading change and offering inspiration to the emerging champions in corporate Canada!