"My research found that CEOs who did push for diversity on their boards were very focused on the benefits it would bring, while CEOs who did not tended to focus on the things they would lose (like the current group dynamic) or the risks they would encounter (like that people might think the candidate is a token hire). Psychologists have a theory differentiating between these two perspectives: They have found that a focus on playing to win (what’s called a promotion focus) can result in growth and improvement in business outcomes, but a focus on trying to avoid losing (prevention focus) tends to result in stagnation."

Board appointments are highly influenced by CEOs, and they can do a better job of advocating for getting more women on the board. Fortunately, some are leading the way.