The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday, Oct. 4, edition that the most senior and best-known women in Canadian banking is out of a job, with next to no explanation. The Globe's Tim Kiladze writes that on the weekend, Laurentian Bank of Canada abruptly parted ways with chief executive officer Rania Llewellyn, one of the few women to ever lead a Canadian financial institution. While CEOs are usually given the opportunity to "retire," providing a grace period that softens the blow publicly, Ms. Llewellyn left without even the semblance of an orderly transition. Her replacement, Eric Provost, is on the record as saying he was only told about his new job on Sunday evening, leaving scant time to digest it before the news became public. Ms. Llewellyn's experience is not unique. History shows that women who rise to the top often have to walk what is dubbed a glass cliff. Translation: They are more likely to get hired when organizations are in trouble or at risk, and are therefore thrust into a risky and precarious position. The brutal, but not unfair, way of saying the same thing: Women might only be given the chance to be CEO when the situation is so bad that a man may not want it.