The Latest Insights from Leading NOW

February is Black History Month in the United States and what's historic this year is that while all around us change is endemic, when it comes to the advancement of Black women in major corporations, little is new. With a few exceptions - most notably: Ursula Burns, former CEO of Xerox, Rosalind Brewer of Walgreens, and Thasunda Brown Duckett of TIAA - the percentages of African American women at the top of and in director positions at Fortune 500 companies is appallingly small. The reasons are many, and we're grateful to share this insight gleaned from our work with multicultural women. For more African American women to make history in major corporations, women's leadership programs must address the fact that conventional advice to women can create problems for women of color.

Here's a fact about closing the leadership gender gap that might surprise you. Back in the 1970s, progressive companies addressed the challenge of women's advancement issues with many tools including multi-day workshops that directly surfaced and addressed gender-based stereotypes. This is surprising because until just recently, companies have tended to avoid this topic like the plague. This in spite of the fact that studies continue to point to barriers created by gender-based expectations and assumptions.

Career advice received by women covers only 2/3 of the success equation in business. This Missing 33%® has serious implications for a woman’s chances of being seen as high potential, receiving promotions to senior positions, receiving optimal benefits from mentoring relationships and nurturing the next generation of women leaders.

There's a not-so-little hidden secret that women aren't being told about career success. It's a rarely discussed element that holds women back... or propels them ahead. It's one element on which they are consistently rated as under-performing their male counterparts. It is one element missing from (or under-taught in) most organizations' leadership development programs - and frequently totally absent from the activities of women's networks, affinity groups or leadership forums. This one element is the vital missing piece of the success equation for women. I call it The Missing 33%®. It is business savvy with all its related skills and knowledge.