by Jane Perdue | Women
One of the joys of my second act of life is watching my ten-year-old granddaughter, Zoe, grow into young womanhood and explore all the richness of life, full of love and hope.
Another joy of my second act is helping leaders and women succeed in business. What I call it helping people get their big on: think big rather than small, be the big person and do what’s right whether or not it’s popular, trade in the tiny dreams for big ones, forego the personal glory, and pay it forward for the greater good.
All those things we want to see our young leaders, whether male or female, do.
Today, International Women’s Day, both of my joys intersect.
This year’s International Women’s Day theme is connecting girls, inspiring futures. Hence my letter of love and hope to Zoe, a confident young girl on her journey to becoming a confident young woman, a powerful leader, and anything else she chooses to be and do.
Dear Zoe,
Today is International Women’s Day. While there won’t be pizza, okra and apple pie to celebrate (perhaps there should be…), it’s a big day for you and other young girls across the globe. Why? Because you’re our future.
You frequently ask us to tell you a story. Today, I’m doing something different. I’m asking you to start living out a story, your story.
Twenty years from now I want to sit down with you and listen to your stories. I want to know where you’ve taken your life and how you found success, fulfillment and love.
I want to hear how:
– You never lost your belief in yourself and how it propelled you into new adventures because you were never afraid to take the leap
– The courage you displayed in fiercely pursuing your brown belt at age 9 never left you, and that you shared it with others to help them find their way because girls can do and be whatever they want to do and be
– Your compassion for saving stray animals and befriending the underdog has made you a beacon of light for family, friends, co-workers and colleagues and maybe even a broader stage
– Your boundless creativity and gift for storytelling have served you well, allowing you to chase innovation, not letting misguided beliefs and stereotypes limit your opportunities and experiences
– Your belief in inclusion never wavered and kept you from falling victim to short-sighted ideologies that shut out people with different viewpoints, and
– You kept being the boss and the ringleader, never doubting for a moment that you would always be liked and be powerful, too.
I know some of these concepts probably don’t make much sense to you today, but they will as you experience more of life. Trust your Mum-mum on this one.
There are days when I wonder if the gender gap will ever be closed. Then an image of your purpose-filled little face appears, and I know your generation of women is in good hands.
With love and hope for the future,
Mum-mum
Image source before quote: morgueFile.com
by Jane Perdue | Women
Women in Business and The Paradox of Power
NEW REPORT REVEALS STEPS WOMEN MUST TAKE TO ATTAIN POWER AND MORE SENIOR LEVEL POSITIONS
Researchers Also Detail What Corporations Must Do To Be Part of The Solution
A new paper, Women in Business & The Paradox of Power, based on research by Jane Perdue of The Jane Group and Dr. Anne Perschel of Germane Consulting, reports that corporations are leaving money on the table and forgoing future success by failing to move more women into senior leadership roles. Perschel and Perdue also claim that businesswomen must prepare themselves to take on these executive roles by understanding and using power more effectively.
In their study, which involved hundreds of senior level businesswomen, Perdue and Perschel find that many women relate to power in ways that prevent them from attaining senior level positions, be it lack of confidence; cultural conditioning; or simply not understanding what power is. In-depth interviews with women who have attained the highest-level positions of influence reveal that they understood and used different approaches to gain power and make important changes to business culture and leadership practices.
Reshaping a male-dominated business culture, changing the ratio of women to men, and thereby improving bottom line results, requires a very specific set of actions by those currently in leadership positions as well as by women themselves.
Women in Business & The Paradox of Power: What Women Must Do
• Know power and be powerful
Perdue and Perschel define power as the capacity to get things done and bring about change. Not so for many of the research participants who think of power as “being in control at all times,” or “deciding and announcing,” among other misconceptions. Sixty-one percent of survey participants hold mistaken views about how to advance their power (and themselves). The authors emphasize that women must study power, understand power, and use their power to change the culture of business.
• Ditch Cinderella
Over sixty percent of the participants preferred passive approaches to gaining power, opting to be granted access, rather than actively taking it. Unlike Cinderella, women cannot passively wait on the business sidelines, hoping business culture will change and hand them the most powerful decision making positions. Instead, they must seek power, advancing both the change agenda and their careers. As one executive vice-president who heads a $300 million dollar business advised, “The success police will not come and find you.”
• Show up. Stand Up. Voice Up
Fifty-two percent of the barriers to power that participants identified are personal and internal, e.g., “what I need is a constant drip-feed of confidence.” With women comprising nearly forty-seven percent of the entire workforce, holding forty percent of all management jobs, and earning sixty-one percent of all master’s degrees, they are uniquely positioned to work towards dismantling legacy organizational barriers and stereotypes.
• Forge strategic connections
Relationships are the currency of the workplace, yet sixty-seven percent of the women in Braithwaite & Germane’s study are not taking charge of building their networks. To fill more than the three percent of the Fortune 500 CEO positions they currently hold, women must become masters of strategic networking as well as building alliances and coalitions.
• Unstick their thinking
Thirty-eight percent of participants opted for being well-liked rather than powerful. Perschel and Perdue contend this need not be a choice. Based on research conducted at Stanford University, women are uniquely capable of moving beyond such an either/or mindset. Leaders, both male and female, too often limit solutions by framing problems as a choice between two mutually exclusive options.
Women in Business & The Paradox of Power: What Corporations Must Do
• Make gender balance real
Having more women in senior leadership roles is correlated with a substantial increase in total return to shareholders, which is a performance metric for most CEOs. Why, then, do so many heads of companies fail to hire, develop, and promote women for clout positions on senior leadership teams? Executives at the highest levels must move beyond positioning gender balance as politically correct and giving it perfunctory lip service on the corporate agenda. If they are serious about gender balance, they must position it as a business imperative.
• Remake leadership
Despite decades of efforts to increase the number of women in senior leadership roles, the needle on this corporate metric has barely moved. Gender bias is prevalent in the very way leadership is defined – a take charge, have all the answers, aggressive style. Corporate leaders must change both the definitions and practices of leadership. Women will help them do so.
• Walk the talk. Develop women leaders
Seventy-one percent of firms responding to a survey conducted by Mercer, the world’s largest human resource consultancy, do not have a clearly defined strategy or philosophy to develop women for leadership roles. As some of the approaches that work for men do not work as well for women, corporate leaders must invest in modifying these programs to develop women and then follow up with promotional opportunities.
Women in Business & The Paradox of Power: About the authors.
Jane Perdue is the Principal of The Jane Group, a female-owned professional development organization, and the creator of the new Women’s Leadership Institute for the Charleston, S.C. Center for Women.
Dr. Perschel is known as “an unstoppable force advancing women leaders.” She is president of Germane Consulting, an executive coaching and organization development consultancy.
Both have been featured as leadership and women’s issues experts in newspapers and magazines, as well as on television and radio.
Utilizing their research and relative corporate experience, Perschel and Perdue lead and advance aspiring professional women through mentoring, sponsorships, coaching, and development programs. By identifying key obstacles such as those uncovered in WOMEN IN BUSINESS & THE PARADOX OF POWER, they help women and organization leaders identify the issues they must resolve to ensure cultural change and enable women to reach the highest pinnacles of success.
by Jane Perdue | Women
As a woman in business, have you ever heard yourself saying these things?
“I just hate it when an interviewer asks me to tell them about what I’ve done. It makes me so uncomfortable to talk about myself.”
“I couldn’t possibly put that on my resume. It’s bragging.”
“I know my work is better than several of my colleagues, but ask for a raise – no way!”
A University of Arizona study showed that both men and women speak an average of 16,000 words a day. Yet getting most women to use some of those daily words to talk about their accomplishments and abilities can be hard to do. Linda Babcock, professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon, observes “I saw women accept the status quo, take what they were offered and wait for someone else to decide what they deserved because…as a society, we teach little girls that it’s not nice or feminine or appropriate for them to focus on what they want and pursue self-interest.”
Learned behaviors can be unlearned, relearned and applied in positive ways. As part of their Centennial Women in Leadership Series, Ashley Hall (an all-female educational institution in Charleston, SC) presented a panel discussion on women’s compensation in which I participated.
Emily Hollings, a 2005 Ashley Hall graduate, was in the audience. Moved by the messages shared that evening, she took a hard look at her professional situation, prepared her case, asked for a raise–and received it!
Emily offers this advice to women in similar circumstances, “I can relate to those polite, modest girls, especially when it comes to money, but it’s important to realize and to keep telling yourself it’s not rude to ask for more and to play up your strengths. Be relentless about your strengths because that’s the ultimate factor in getting your raise.”
Making your voice heard is learning how to be your own tactful and professional PR firm. Clay Shirky, an associate professor at New York University, observes,
“Self-promotion is a skill that produces disproportionate rewards, and if skill at self-promotion remains disproportionately male, those rewards will as well.”
We’re talking assertiveness–clear, direct, calm, truthful and thoughtful discourse–not aggressiveness or arrogance.
3 ways for women to master the art of speaking up
Say you’re sorry when you truly need to apologize.
Avoid making statements like “I’m so sorry to take up your valuable time with this” or “please forgive me for having to bother you with this.” Instead be direct and say “Let’s schedule some time to talk” or “There’s an issue we must discuss.”
Lose the wimpy words.
Wimpy language weakens your message and diminishes your authority, “I think I have a question” or “hopefully I’ll be able to get the job done.” Demonstrate your confidence in your abilities by simply declaring “I have a question” or “I can get this job completed, and completed well!”
List of your accomplishments.
Write down every successful project you’ve handled at work, praise you’ve gotten from your boss, awards and recognition, processes you’ve improved, money that you’ve made for the company, promotions, etc. This list isn’t bragging. It is simply facts – facts about your performance that you must be comfortable discussing in job interviews, at work and while networking. A key element of many jobs is promoting the organization. If you can’t promote yourself, a prospective employer is right to doubt your abilities to promote them.
Jill Muti, Head of School at Ashley Hall, sums it up best, “When a woman enters the workforce today, it’s imperative that she be confident and capable of advocating for herself.”
What other advice would you offer?
by Doretha Walker | Women
Are you in the same place that you were a few months ago while others seem to be advancing? Are you taking responsibility for that?
Are you patiently or impatiently waiting for your blessings from God to drop down into your lap? Why aren’t things going the way you want them to?
The other day I was ecstatic when a friend asked me to be on her team of trainers.
Honestly, when she told me about the project months ago I sat there waiting for her to ask me to be a part of it.
She didn’t and I sat in front of her disappointed, yet said nothing. I waited for her to approach me and eventually she did, but what stopped me from asking her?
I did not ask because she was supposed to know that I was one of the best people she could have on her team.
She was supposed to want me.
Crazy, huh?
Yes, it was. (more…)
by Allard de Jong | Women
What do we mean by being strategic? I believe there are three different kinds of women leaders when it comes to managing their career progression and their life at the office in general:
1) the expressives
2) the conventionals, and
3) the strategic.
The expressive type
If you are of the “expressive” kind, you’ll be spontaneous, natural, and living the emotion of the moment with little or no filtering of your communication. Your thoughts come like gum balls out of machine. Your “career management” is authentic and honest. You spend little time on office politics. The moment you think it, they’ve got it.
The conventional type
The “conventional” type is driven by the question: What’s the right thing to do? We learn that we are supposed to behave in certain ways in certain situations, worry about the “appropriate,” about conventions, etc. What are the conventions in your organization, and how are they different from other places you’ve worked? Convention is a safe place to go – no one will hate you but it may not get you to the top. Another possible downside is that you’re seen as boring, or at least dry.
The strategic type
Now if you are “strategic,” you are aware of conventions but don’t always follow them. “Strategic” means asking: What outcomes do I want to produce and what “ABCs” (appearance, behavior and communication) will get me there? What are the consequences of x, y or z? How do I want to be seen? Some people do this more intuitively, others explicitly. A word of caution: it’s easy to get “strategic” wrong – by being deliberate in a manipulative way, or too intentional at the expense of integrity, or being “real.” The trick is to be strategic and real at the same time – smart, aware of the consequences…and authentic.
Inner and outer game
So what are some of the more “strategic” things to do when it comes to getting ahead and building your power to influence? I’m going to differentiate here between “the inner game of career success” and the “outer game.”
“Inner” refers to the invisible thoughts, feelings, values, beliefs, ideas etc. that lead to the “outer” elements such as visible behaviors and the tangible environment in which we operate. The “inner” creates the “outer” so we can’t talk about one without examining the other.
Lastly, the word “game” reminds us that there are certain rules involved, but that the process shouldn’t be taken too seriously and that the whole thing consists of learnable skills (good news!). So are you ready?
TOP 10 STRATEGIC ACTIONS
(A guide to “survival in the wacky new world of work”)
Inner
1) Examine your beliefs about your potential
Whether you believe you can or you can’t, you’re right (Henry Ford). We act in accordance with our predominant beliefs, and those actions create our results. If your beliefs about yourself, about your abilities or about others do not empower you, ask yourself why you are holding on to them. Beliefs are built on the past: on things we have heard, seen or experienced. They are not right or wrong, they are only opinions. Become aware of your beliefs, understand where they come from and disassociate from them if they no longer serve you.
2) Build self-confidence
Handle your inner critic. We all have it, that little voice inside our heads that tells us that “we can’t”. You need to understand that you are not that voice, in the same way that you are not your foot or your hand. You are more than that. The little voice, your mind, has good intentions: it wants to protect you, to keep you safe. In order to keep you safe it will tell you to stay where you are, to not step out of your comfort zone. Self-confidence comes from “feeling the fear but doing it anyway” (Susan Jeffers), in spite of the little voice, seeing it for what it is: an over protective mother smothering you with advice (add vice?).
3) Choose your thoughts carefully
What we focus on expands. You may have heard the saying “energy flows where attention goes.” Truer words were never spoken. What words do you use to describe your experiences? Your life at the office will reflect those words! Want more positivity? Think more positive thoughts. If you think your thoughts express your truth, you’re wrong. They only express one truth about you and the world you live in. You affect your world with your thoughts. Don’t like what you see? Change what you think!
4) Be open to change
Everything flows, nothing stands still (Heraclitus). It’s been said that our mind is like a parachute: it simply works better when it’s open! How open to change are you? Many of us will resist change; we will even negate it if given the chance. The trick is to explore the new opportunities that come with change until we eventually come to accept it (which doesn’t mean you have to like it). Roles, responsibilities, challenges etc. will continue to change as more and more women take center stage in our corporations. If you find yourself resisting those changes, ask yourself if you want to be right, or if you want to be happy.
5) Know what you want
Clarity leads to power. The number one reason most people don’t get what they want is because they don’t know what they want. Make sure you have a clear picture in your mind as to where you’re heading. Is your career vision clear? Is it compelling? Can you feel, smell, hear, see and almost taste what lies ahead in your desired future? If so, great, you’re on track! If not, spend some time formulating a clear picture of what it is you want to achieve. Set yourself some deadlines. Invent a slogan, a mantra if you’re so inclined, that will keep you connected to your desired outcome and you’ll be beating the odds.
Outer
6) Fake it ‘til you make it
Our attitudes follow our behavior. What skills do you want to develop? What would you like to change about yourself? Start acting as if you were already the person you want to be around the office. It has been proven countless times that in our desire for internal consistency (the psychologists call it cognitive dissonance) our being will align with our doing. Want to be more influential? Start acting influential. Soon you’ll feel more influential. Others will see it. They’ll start treating you as an influential person. Soon you won’t have to “fake it” anymore, you will have become more influential.
7) Self-promote
“Brag” is not a 4-letter word. Most of us were taught not to toot our own horn, so self-promotion make not come easily, and yes, it’s easy to get it wrong by overdoing it. Yet when it comes to life in the office, it’s not just what you do but also who sees you doing it, i.e. who knows about how great you are, that will determine how far you’ll make it in your field. In the increasingly transparent and flat world economy, your reputation will come to matter as much as your skills and achievements – no matter how junior or senior you are. Are you strategic about the kind of reputation you are building? What is your reputation and how do you know? Do take care of your reputation – and it will take care of you.
8) Know your ABC’s – master your appearance, behaviors and communication
It’s not who you are, it’s how you’re seen to be. Advertisers know that today’s perception is tomorrow’s reality. Make sure that the way you look, behave and speak reflect the part you’re aiming to play at work. If you’re not sure, ask someone you trust for some honest feedback. Your appearance, behaviors and communication will be either your allies or your biggest stumbling block, no matter how good you are at your job. Not fair? Who said life at the office was fair!
9) Stay in your circle of control
Be happy, don’t worry. Certain aspects of life at the office fall directly under our control. What to wear, how to behave, whom to treat well, when to speak, when to shut up etc. Other elements of work lie beyond our circle of control, in our circle of concern. Focus on the things you can do. There’s always something you can do. When you do get concerned about something and worry about it, ask yourself what you can do about it. Then do it, and stop worrying. Your worrying serves no one. And here’s a secret: the more time you spend in your circle of control, the bigger it gets. And similarly, the more time you wander around in worry land, the more disempowered you become.
10) Network
It’s not what you know, but who you know (and who knows you!). I already said life at the office isn’t fair so I won’t say it again. We live in a hyper-connected world that has been called a “relationship economy” (2008, Scott Allen et al.). You have to become a relationship manager. Evaluate the strength of your professional network. Are you happy with the people in it? How can they help you? What have you done for them lately? Being strategic also means developing the right relationships, where others become a stepping stone for you and vice versa. And make sure your network is not “limited” to people exactly like you. New ideas and learning often come from those we see as very different from ourselves.
As you will have noticed, this list does not include “doing a good job” and there are two reasons for this. First of all, the fact that you need to be good at what you do is implied, your performance is a given. Secondly, and more importantly, being (very) good at what you do is no longer enough. In the evolving world of work you’ll be required to leverage your performance, to publicize and fully own it.
The pervasiveness of the “just world” syndrome (described by Melvin Lerner in the 80’s) would have us believe that the good get rewarded and the bad get struck down. Well, you and I know that doesn’t always happen, far from it. So who does get rewarded? More often than not, it’s the strategic ones! I hope the above helps you become more strategic, more purposeful and more in resolute about your career and what it is you want to achieve.
Today’s guest author is Allard de Jong, a Fortune 500 coach, motivational speaker and rebel rouser who works with women business and management leaders in an effort to speed up their journeys to positions of more power and influence.
Image source before quote: Dreamstime
by Doretha Walker | Women
Today’s guest post is from Doretha Walker. Doretha is past president of the Charleston, SC Center for Women and blogs at Wecanflyhigher.blogspot.com. She provides inspiration and information to support women so they can fly to success.
There are times we, as leaders, need to sit back and be led by allowing others to lead.
The other day I had a meeting with a placement agency.
Both the young men seemed professional and knowledgeable, yet the first thing I thought of was that I probably had more skills, experiences, and knowledge than both of them put together.
However, in this situation I was not in control and needed to be led.
Needing to be led is new
Needing to be led is a new thing for me.
It has probably happened to me many times, but in my new role as not having a full-time job, I am noticing it more. And it feels a bit strange and yet comforting. It is nice to be able to run my dominant nature off for time to time so I can recharge it for later.
I will admit that it is also uncomfortable because I am not at the head of the line leading myself to greater employment. I (as wonderfully highly skilled and educated as those young men told me I was) am in need of help navigating the employment jungle.
I will admit that I have not turned my future employment possibilities completely over to them. I am still networking, following my own leads, and sending out resumes. I have to. It is nice having an ally, but the leader in me wants to lead me. And I think that is healthy and productive.
After all, it is my life we are talking about.
Rely on your own strength of body and soul. Take for your star self-reliance, faith, honesty and industry. Don’t take too much advice — keep at the helm and steer your own ship, and remember that the great art of commanding is to take a fair share of the work. Fire above the mark you intend to hit. Energy, invincible determination with the right motive, are the levers that move the world. ~Noah Porter
Being led is not a bad thing. In fact it humbled me by reminding me that there is no way I can know everything or everyone and protocols often change without warning.
A true leader adapts and relinquishes command for the betterment of the cause.
The cause at the placement agency was me.
He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander. ~Aristotle
Image source before quote: morgueFile.com
