When it comes to Canada’s boardrooms, few have had as much experience as Gail Cook-Bennett, past Chair of the Board of Manulife Financial (2008–2013) and before that first Chair of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (1998–2008). With 35 years experience serving on boards, Cook-Bennett is also one of Canada’s most influential women business leaders. In this interview, she shares her insights into the challenges that face women, corporate directors, and corporations operating in an increasingly globalized business space.

Why do you think it’s good for business to have more women on boards? What is the best way, in your view, to ensure that the number of women on boards increases? Are there issues with a quota system, for example?

When searching for outstanding contributors to a board of directors, it only makes sense to start with the largest pool of relevant potential candidates, and that pool obviously includes women.

Although I do not support quotas, I fervently believe that we can do a far better job of identifying excellent women for corporate boards. Manulife and Emera are two success stories that I know well, both having increased the number of women directors significantly over the past few years, and both having had, or about to have, a woman as board chair.

At Manulife, while I was chair of the board, we named ten new directors over a period of fewer than five years. As it happened, five of those directors were women. Our objective was not simply to put more women on the board. We required specific skills and experience, and we were prepared to invest the time to think strategically about how and where to find the talent and, in partnership with a search consultant, to look continuously for it.

My experience has been that a true commitment to the search process leads to first-class results. Overall, the financial services sector appears to have performed relatively well in identifying qualified women.

Can you share your insights on mentorship? Is it important, and what is your advice to talented professionals, both men and women, who are seeking a mentor?

I began my career in an era when there was little informal mentorship of women and virtually no formal mentorship. A mentor who really knows a candidate and her potential can provide more relevant recommendations on her behalf to a broader network of people. That can be very helpful both to employees and to potential directors. A mentor to a potential director can also provide insights into how to be effective in the boardroom, not an inconsequential task for some very capable people. While a director can learn on the job, a little assistance can help speed up the learning process and facilitate helpful contributions more quickly.

In the high-performance culture at financial institutions, which areas should leadership development programs focus on in order to help executives develop into business leaders?

Corporations understand that success depends not only on attracting top-notch talent but also on retaining it. Top performers tend to respond well when new opportunities and challenges are offered regularly. Ideally, when employees walk in the door, they should start off in a development program that broadens their experience. The ultimate payoff comes in the form of leaders throughout the organization, right up to the CEO level, who have a broader understanding of the organization.

An area of development that I rank highly is strategic and effective communication. The ability to place issues in context and analyze them with clarity is an important advantage both in the boardroom and in management.

At Manulife, while I was chair of the board, we named ten new directors over a period of fewer than five years. As it happened, five of those directors were women.

What challenges does globalization pose for Canadian financial services companies?

Globalization brings with it increased interconnections among financial institutions, a fact that became so evident during the financial crisis of 2007–2008. As a result, policies affecting capital requirements along with the general regulatory environment have both been the subjects of intense international study, comments, and recommendations. The desire to have company financial statements that are readily comparable has led to debate over appropriate international standards, with the potential for these decisions to have profound effects on some financial institutions.

Globalization brings with it the necessity for increased international policy-making and the requirement for Canadian financial institutions to invest in the ability to be effective in that arena.

We hear a lot about income inequality. What are your thoughts on the growing chasm between rich and poor, and what do you think corporations can do to help bridge the gap?

Rapid increases in CEO compensation lie at the heart of the increased difference in pay between the highest- and lowest-paid employees in a corporation. CEO compensation in general has attracted legitimate criticism, and signing bonuses, pensions, and pre-arranged departure compensation (usually triggered when corporate performance is poor) have attracted particular criticism.

Many directors believe that even if you could wave the proverbial magic wand and reduce the compensation of all CEOs simultaneously, very talented people would still aspire to those positions. Since that wand does not exist and few directors are prepared to endorse unilateral relative reductions in compensation that have the potential for very negative implications for their organizations, where do we go from here?

What can be done about it?

While appropriate income distribution in the country is the responsibility of governments, compensation within the corporation (particularly CEO compensation) is the responsibility of the directors on behalf of shareholders. Institutional shareholders have fought some high-profile cases of egregious compensation decisions, and they continue to follow major decisions closely. Shareholder groups have also increased effective communication between directors and shareholders. At the same time, compensation matters are more knowledgeably debated within the boardrooms of well-governed corporations. Directors, institutional shareholders, and shareholder groups each have an important role in ensuring wise decisions going forward.

Is it possible to achieve work/life balance, particularly for women in the workplace?

Women executives with children will always face work/life balance issues, and many will have the flexibility to make different choices at various points in their careers. Women earning the minimum wage will find the concept of work/life balance somewhat remote.

Women in the corporate world do point to work/life balance as an impediment to their advancing to more senior executive roles. Some corporations have been more successful than others in providing flexibility as to how and where women work in order to retain talented people.

I have concluded that the definition of work/life balance is what works for individual women, and the corporation can, through flexible arrangements, tilt the balance towards work with less stress for some women.

Have things changed for women in the years you’ve been in business?

In 1976, I edited a book of academic essays entitled Opportunity for Choice: A Goal for Women in Canada. That title does not resonate as clearly in 2014 because the menu of opportunities for many women has increased significantly. Well-educated women who hold the CFA designation have opportunities and can make real choices, but they will always face trade-offs between family time and work outside the home. While there are many examples of women who excel both in their career and at home, they still live in a world of necessary trade-offs. The concept of “having it all” is a myth for both women and men.

Any career advice for CFA charterholders?

CFA charterholders have obviously done very well on the education front and face a labour market that recognizes the value of their education. One of the pieces of advice I tend to give to well-educated people with transferable skills is to explore alternatives within or outside a corporation so that they are always comfortable with what they are learning and contributing.