Promoting more women to the top jobs in business would help make the planet a better place, according to leadership expert Niamh O’Keeffe (right).

O’Keeffe, whose company CEOassist.com provides advice to chief executives in the UK and US on leadership legacy projects, says that the world would benefit from having more senior women running corporations and countries.

O’Keeffe echoed the views of the Dalai Lama, who on a recent visit to the US to meet President Obama, supported calls for more women to occupy the top leadership positions, declaring his belief that women are “more sensitive to suffering”.

O’Keeffe also believes in the theory that women are biologically programmed to care more about the implications of their actions on others, they can see the bigger picture and are more aware of the greater good they can do while in power.

She explains: “If we believe that our leaders — whether in business or government — should be thinking about their leadership legacy to the world and not just their own more self-centred agenda, then it is undoubtedly the case that the world would benefit from a greater number of female leaders.

“Truly great leadership should be about far more than the short-term financial bottom line.”

O’Keeffe says CEOs are so obsessed with narrow organisational interests and quarterly performance targets that most, if not all, are failing to spot opportunities for even bigger commercial and reputational wins in which everyone in their industry and the world can benefit.

“There is a lot of noise about the urgent need to tackle the gender disparity in the boardroom, but the real change needs to be at CEO level and the faster the better. Once more women are given the opportunity at the highest level, it is not just the boardroom that will benefit, but the planet as a whole.”

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