The banks leading the Alloy Labs Alliance are special in a lot of ways. They’re innovative; they know how to collaborate; and they’re led by women CEOs at twice the rate of companies in the Fortune 500.
The first two characteristics are self-selected among the Alliance. But the high incidence of women leaders comes as more of a surprise when people first hear that statistic.
As it turns out, there is a significant body of research that confirms the correlation between women leaders and innovation. When women rise into leadership ranks, banks become more innovative — and they perform better financially as a result.
While this correlation is helpful, it doesn’t answer the question of why that connection exists. And it doesn’t offer much in terms of actionable insights beyond “promote more women.” So we decided to dig deeper.
We interviewed women leading some of the most innovative banks in the nation to learn about their paths to leadership, identify their shared experiences, and explore how banks might mirror or address those experiences to increase diversity at all levels.
In Why Women Innovate, we explore candid insights from women leaders about the career paths, life experiences, and professional challenges that culminated in their innovative approach to leadership. We use this information to identify opportunities for progress, broken down into four phases. And we discuss policies and tactics — some that can be taken onboard immediately — for improving diversity, inclusion, and the subsequent performance of your bank.
Download the full report HERE, and reach out to Amber Buker at amber@alloylabs.com for more information about participating in the Alliance’s Women in Leadership Benchmarking Initiative launching this spring.
