This is the third of the 2019 Green Templeton Lectures on Leadership.

Dr Andromachi Athanasopoulou is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Organisational Behaviour, School of Business and Management, Queen Mary University of London.

In recent decades, socioeconomic changes, demographic trends, and a growing need for diversity in the workplace have prompted more and more organisations to recruit, retain and promote women into senior executive ranks. However, according to a recent Grant Thornton (2016) study, female representation in senior management positions remains relatively low, at just 9% of the global CEOs or managing directors. The findings from a large Saïd Business School study (with T. Morris, M. Smets and A. Moss Cowan) will be presented, looking into what enables some women to become CEOs. The study draws on evidence from a unique dataset of in-depth qualitative interviews with 12 female CEOs and 139 male CEOs of global corporations and provides an insight into the ways by which women can prepare themselves for the corner office as well as what organisational and institutional changes could further support female leadership talent development.