Women at the top

It started, as most discussions of this kind do, with a common lament: "How do we keep highly skilled, talented women executives from opting out of the workforce?" It ended with the four women charged with commenting on this nagging dilemma talking about the need for more flexible schedules. Yes, we hear that a lot, not only in the executive ranks, but in all walks of the work life. We hear it constantly. We hear it from women and we hear it from men.

But yesterday, we heard about it in terms of the executive suite, where some women manage to break through the glass ceiling that continues to exist in our business culture. Co-sponsored by The Week and The Conference Board, "Women in Power: Views From the Top," featured Catherine Kinney, president and COO of the New York Stock Exchange; Dr. Caroline Kovac, general manager, Healthcare and Life Sciences, IBM Corp.; Shelly Lazarus, chairman and CEO, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide; and Suzy Welch, co-author, along with husband Jack Welch of Winning, and former editor of the Harvard Business Review. The discussion was moderated by none other than CNBC's "Money Honey" Maria Bartiromo, who expertly navigated the conversation.

The panelists, guided by Bartiromo, discussed a wide range of topics from corporate scandals and governance issues to balancing work and family, to China, the productivity of the U.S. workforce, and biotech. It was as topical a discussion as you could ever wish for from four women who, while they are in very different businesses, can relate to one another's climb to the top. But what the Minute found most interesting was the work/life balance discussion.

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