ND0929113

Title: Gender Equity ?A Business Imperative?: Walmart Executive Says

Description: Walmart?s Cathy Smith tells NEW Leadership Summit audience to move beyond the traditional mentoring process and instead begin sponsoring one another.

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ORLANDO, FL ? Women seeking to support gender diversity at executive levels should begin sponsoring one another, moving beyond the traditional mentoring process, said Walmart International CFO Cathy Smith at the recent Network of Executive Women Leadership Summit.

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Smith said men are promoted based on potential because they do a better job of sponsoring one another, as opposed to women, who act as mentors or ?advice givers? and are thus promoted based on their performance.

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?We have a great pipeline of women leaders up to a point, but then women tend to check out," Smith said in reference to the consumer products and retail industry. "But women now in senior leadership positions are doing a better job of paying it forward.?

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Smith said she has been frustrated at the slow progress women have made in the industry, noting that they occupy only 11 percent of the top leadership positions in business.

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?We've made no progress in a decade and that is just stunning to me," Smith said, before sounding an optimistic tone.

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"Gender equity is a business imperative and because there is such a war for talent it will happen."

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Content Subject: Management/Leadership/CEO

Formatted Article Date: September 29, 2011

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