In the first quarter of the year, 32% of all new CEOs were women, an all-time high. These women leaders often are stepping into fraught situations, marked by economic headwinds and higher costs, notes outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, which tracks CEO turnover and replacements, including leadership at nonprofits and private companies.

RISE AND SHINE

The rise of female CEOs is no fluke, says Janice Ellig, CEO of executive search firm Ellig Group. During the past few years, corporate boards have sharpened their focus on gender and racial diversity when considering CEO candidates, Ellig says. Boards often push for women leaders within the company to get experiences and roles that prime them for the top job.

Indeed, many of the women who ascended to CEO roles this year are insiders who’d previously served in key positions. American Electric Power’s Julie Sloat held several leadership roles in her two decades at the company, including chief financial officer and president of AEP Ohio. Parker Hannifin’s Jennifer Parmentier, who joined the motion and controls company in 2008, was chief operating officer before becoming CEO on January 1.

GRAY RHINOS, NOT GLASS CLIFFS

Preparation may not be the only reason women are finally gaining ground. Ellig believes women are getting the nod specifically because companies are facing challenging times. “I think the demonstrated rise of women to lead companies during the pandemic shows they did well as leaders without a playbook, which is often how women lead their personal lives, juggling the unforeseen but having contingency plans in place to cover those ‘gray rhino’ situations,” she says, referring to author Michele Wucker’s term for obvious risks leaders often ignore.

I asked Ellig if we’re seeing a classic example of the “glass cliff,” wherein women or other members of underrepresented groups gain leadership roles during a time of great risk. (The implication is that they’re being set up to fail.) “I’m not overly concerned about women prevailing in difficult times,” she says. “When a woman doesn’t succeed, it gets a lot of attention because there’s only 53 of them [running Fortune 500 companies].”

It certainly will take many more years before we approach gender parity in the C-suite, but for today’s CEOs, the path to accelerating equity is clear: Giving your high-performing women more opportunities to grow and hone their skills is good for retention, and you actually may be grooming your successor.