A new report, Women and the Paradox of Power, based on research by Anne Perschel of Germane Consulting and Jane Perdue of Braithwaite Innovation Group finds that corporations are leaving money on the table and forgoing future success by failing to place more women in senior leadership roles. Perschel and Perdue also claim that businesswomen must prepare themselves to take on these executive roles by understanding and using power more effectively.

In their study, which involved hundreds of senior-level businesswomen, Perdue and Perschel find that many women relate to power in ways that prevent them from attaining senior-level positions, be it lack of confidence; cultural conditioning; or simply not understanding what power is. In comparison, interviews with women in senor leadership roles at the highest levels of corporations reveal that they have a different understanding of power and use different approaches to gain more of it. They then use their power and influence to make important changes to the culture and to leadership practices.

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