I think you hit the nail right on the head, talking about the partners seeing themselves in you and thus giving you that special treatment; we call it sponsorship. That person put specific time into sponsoring you to the position of partner; they invested extra time and effort. Until we have fifty-fifty women at that partner level, so the women see themselves in other women, I think it really comes down to those leaders to recognize what we've heard plenty about: the business case for having a diverse team, diverse leadership, and how it benefits your business. I think clients could also put a bit of pressure on organizations like this to step up their diversity. But it takes that individual decision to value this and make that intentional effort. I cited diverse succession planning being an intentional effort. If you say we're going to make sure to groom fifty-fifty, then you're going to have more people ready to step up into those positions.
On May 16th, 2017. See this statement in context.