A McKinsey & Co. senior partner’s online comments questioning some challenges that women leaders face in the workplace have prompted a rebuke from his employer.
McKinsey said it was “disappointed” and doesn’t endorse the remarks made by Australia-based senior partner Chris Bradley on LinkedIn related to the so-call
ed workplace “glass cliff” for women. The term was coined by academics to describe the phenomenon where women leaders are more likely to be offered chief executive officer jobs at struggling companies.
In an online back-and-forth with one of the authors of a new book that discusses the glass cliff, Bradley called the concept “a very convenient way to always be a victim in the rain” and generally questioned whether the phenomenon exists.
“This exchange was inconsistent with our views and the standards we expect,” a McKinsey spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “The comments were made in a personal capacity and have since been deleted. We stand by our research and leadership on these topics.”
McKinsey has long sought to advance the conversation about challenges women face in the workplace. The company has published a “Women in
the Workplace” study, compiled with Sheryl Sandberg’s LeanIn advocacy group, for more than a decade. It surveys about 9,500 employees from 124 organizations; participants consistently report that women leaders face strong
er resistance than men and are more likely to have their judgement questioned. A 2020 report from McKinsey about women working in healthcare even references the term “glass cliff” when outlining hurdles cited by women of color.
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Bradley also wrote in the recent LinkedIn exchange that “we once had a problem of female advancement to CEO, but now we have a new problem that the jobs they get are too hard? Is this actually a thing?”
Julia Carreon, co-author of the book, titled “Walking on Broken Glass: Navigating the Aftermath of the Glass Ceiling,” responded to Bradley’s remarks in her own LinkedIn comments.
“Aren’t people from McKinsey & Company supposed to know these things?” said Carreon, a former Wall Street executive. “I understand you ARE the establishment but this is surprising.”
“I am not going to start researching glass cliffs as I don’t think it ranks in the top 1000 problems of the world,” Bradley said in response to Carreon.
Carreon accused Bradley of displaying “willful ignorance.”
