We know that HR needs Seats at Executive Tables. Also key to better business performance is leadership diversity. 2009 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Women Board Directors and 2009 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Women Executive Officers and Top Earners present disconcerting conclusions:

• Women held 15.2 percent of board seats.
• Women of color held 3.1 percent of all board director positions.
• Women’s share of board chair positions remained flat at 2.0 percent.

As Women Missing From Key Leadership Positions notes: Nearly 30 percent of companies surveyed had no women executive officers at all, and less than one-fifth of companies had three or more women executive officers.

And yet:

“…companies with more women in leadership, on average, outperform those with fewer women, and those with three or more women board directors do even better.”

These results show what we already know:

“It’s not enough to recognize the need to advance women into leadership positions. It’s time to execute on it.”