Women of Influence Preview #19: Heather Brilliant (plus a few thoughts on the 'broken rung')

For the first 15 or so years of her career as a financial analyst, Heather Brilliant didn't think to much about her status as a rare woman in a male-dominated industry. "I was more keep your head down and just do your best and I could be successful anybody else could too," said Brilliant, who became CEO of Columbus-based Diamond Hill Capital Management earlier this year. But about seven or eight years ago, Brilliant changed her mind. "I thought, ‘Well, if women had the equal opportunity to be successful in this industry, there would be more of us," Brilliant recalled during a recent taping of our Women of Influence podcast. Since then, Brilliant's researched the disparity between men and women in her industry, and thought extensively about proactive steps business leaders can take to correct pipeline challenges and identify talented people in other industries whose skills might translate to finance. We'll share my full conversation with Brilliant next week, but this preview includes some of her recommendations for how to increase gender parity and cognitive diversity, recommendations that can apply in any workplace. Also during this preview episode, I talk a bit about the "broken rung," an issue identified by a recent report from McKinsey & Co. and LeanIn.Org as one of the biggest challenges hurting women's pursuit of leadership positions in corporate America.