Beth Cobert was the speaker at the ‘Women in Business Lunch’ of March. Beth has been working for the management consulting firm, McKinsey&Company, for more than 21 years.

Beth’s speech was based on the two ‘Women Matter’ studies that McKinsey realized in conjunction with Women’s Forum for the Economy & Society.
The first edition of those reports showed the link between having women in corporate management teams and companies’ organizational and financial results. The second one focused on understanding how female senior executives contribute to improve corporate performance, and whether their specific contribution is a key factor in meeting tomorrow’s business challenges. McKinsey has understood the added value that women bring to the business. Indeed, 50 percent of their recently hired Asian consultants in some offices are women.

Women do bring value to companies and female leaders have a role to play by being an inspiring model through their leadership behavior and participation in decision making. Even if the US is a country in which there are opportunities for women, the question of ways to balance career and family stays prevalent. When Beth Cobert started her career, the business world did not offer the flexibility for children that it does today. Indeed, working part time is now a much more common practice for both men and women.

Written by Valérie Despontin, Marketing Associate