McKinsey Global Institute has removed Chris Bradley, a senior partner, from his director position over LinkedIn comments that diminished women’s concerns about crisis-triggered promotions or leadership appointments.
Mr Bradley questioned the “glass cliff” phenomenon, which posits that women are more likely to be appointed to leadership roles in the middle of a crisis, ultimately setting them up for public humiliation should the struggling company eventually collapse.
Mr Bradley opined that the glass cliff was “a very convenient way” for women “to always be a victim” in an exchange with Julia Carreon, a former Wall Street executive who co-authored a book on the “glass cliff”.
“I am not going to start researching glass cliffs as I don’t think it ranks in the top 1,000 problems of the world,” he wrote on LinkedIn.
In another post, Mr Bradley said: “We once had a problem of female advancement to CEO (chief executive officer), but now we have a new problem that the jobs they get are too hard? Is this actually a thing?”
McKinsey removed Mr Bradley from his director position at the business and economic research unit, but he remains a senior partner at the organisation.
Taylor Burns, a spokesperson for McKinsey, distanced the company from Mr Bradley’s remarks.
“Following our conduct review process, we have removed the partner from his leadership roles, including at the McKinsey Global Institute,” Burns said. “His public comments fell well short of the standards we expect at our firm.”
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