Today, I really felt sorry for the poor fellow who stated that women can’t succeed in business because they have babies! He really got lambasted, and accused of reiterating “the glass ceiling” limitation…further accusing that he asserted women are totally incapable of making effective business decisions because their thoughts are instead, with the child.

Someone slyly pointed out that his corporation sells infant formula and that he’d most likely prefer for women to all stay home and feed babies.

I’d like to take issue with all of his accusers! I’d like to point out that rather than a sexist and denigrating statement, this man has inadvertently championed one of the most significant attributes, even a most potential virtue of a woman.

The decisions that are demanded of a CEO to maximize the profits of any corporation are, to say the least,…troublesome. That person who does not do everything in their power to maximize profits, might even be fired by a Board of Directors, or be publicly accused by the Shareholders of failing in his/her duties, if their decision results in financial damage or a loss of value on the Stock Market.

This is the supreme value of the Capitalist economic system: to secure profit for the investor! This is the nature of the Beast! The monetary decisions made can often times be at odds with other values that consequently must be disregarded. A CEO is obligated to, and pressured to make decisions that may ultimately cause harm to his or her own descendents. Some cultures consider the long range benefit or danger to a seventh generation, which certainly heightens responsibility.

A CEO who is a Father, or a Grandfather, will no doubt wish to create the most financially secure future for his Family, and will naturally be focused on doing his best according to conventional wisdom and market values. A CEO who is a Mother, or a Grandmother, might have a different take on the whole situation! Consider this:

A Mother has already been in cahoots with nature. She has participated in the most amazing miracle of creating a human being from a single fertilized ovum, and from her own body has brought forth a living projection into the future. She even more than the Father has made a total commitment over those necessary months to the wonderment of this task, that we often take for granted. It is she, who has a greater stake in creating a world that will best protect her progeny. It is she who may recognize the ultimate dangers of risk-taking!

What kind of decisions might she make that involve the sustainability of our way of life and of the survival of our precious Planet Earth? Might she be more cognizant of the working conditions of all, but perhaps, especially of women, who are treated disrespectfully in the “sweatshops” of the world, where their life’s blood may be squeezed out of them to pour upon the almighty altar of profits!

I would even assert for all the world to consider that Mothers are the very kinds of CEOs that this weary old world needs. Perhaps she can bring to the Corporate Board a real discussion about the long neglected values of sustainability that are vital to our Human well-being:

HUMANIZING THE INHUMANE ECONOMIC CAPITALIST SYSTEM !