This guest blog post comes from our friend and Leading Women alumna Victoria Waterman at Girls Inc. of Worcester. Be sure to watch her TEDxNatick talk and share it.
Read ON!
It started when I reached out to Susan Coluntuono to learn more about her research on confidence and how it fit into “The Missing 33%®”. As we knew from our work with leaders at every level, the lack of confidence was a significant contributor to holding women back in the workforce. As the former president of Leading Women Massachusetts, I have seen how this impacts women spanning all ages, socio-economic backgrounds, and industries. Paying it forward and preparing girls to get ahead of potential barriers when they enter the workforce has become my personal mission.
And Susan replied, “Sounds like a TED Talk to me.”
...Experience tells us is that the companies participating in this 2030 (and other similar) initiatives will likely face backlash from women and men who believe that the playing field is already level, that their companies are meritocracies and that everything is just fine, thank you (and if for some strange reason it isn't, the problems of women's advancement lie with women). These people inevitably raise "concerns" about or objections to these initiatives that sound something like this:
- "Why not just appoint the best person for the job?"
- It should always be about getting “the best person for the job.”
- "Aren’t you worried about people being promoted just because of who they are, not what they can do? Isn’t it that discrimination? Isn’t it unfair? "
- “This means that women whose hard work earns them professional success find their achievements downplayed due to the shadow of enforced quotas.”
...
Male Allies in STEM: How to Recognize Them & How to Become One
"This blog is a departure in this way. Because it is a capstone for one of our Reverse Mentoring programs, it is a compilation of articles written by women and men on what it takes to be a great male ally for women in STEM. And rather than focus on who male allies are, the positions they hold or an academic definition of the term "male ally," here we focus on what male allies (and others) do to support the creation of level playing fields for women (especially those in STEM)....
Is your organization ready to support women and build management allies? Leading Women has an arsenal of interventions that addresses Gender Dynamics, including Reverse Mentoring programs designed to develop Management Allies. Contact us for more information about Reverse Mentoring and other initiatives Leading Women offer.
...What words of wisdom would I be able to share with our colleagues, our clients and our followers?
Two words. Double Down.
Double Down is originally a term used in the card game blackjack, where a player doubles their original bet in exchange for exactly one additional card.
What I mean by it is: Renew your commitment to Gender Balance in your company’s leadership! I’m speaking directly to all of the executives out there who have signed one of the many “pledges” over the last few years stating they are committed to doing something to remove the barriers to women’s advancement in their organization. And then, generally, leaving it up to someone else to figure it out...
"Feedback is a gift." You've undoubtedly heard this many times over.
Feedback is so valuable that many organizations develop and use 180º and 360º assessments as part of their talent development activities. Often based on their own leadership models and/or performance systems, we have found many of them to be less than helpful to women's advancement. The most worrisome problem is that these assessments often overemphasize the importance of engagement skills. This is also true of many assessments developed by leadership development firms.
To counter these problems, Leading Women developed our own assessments that provide women the feedback they need to hear in proportions that are relevant to the level at which they are leading and to which they aspire.
We use these proprietary 180° and 360° assessments with the women participating in our programs. One of the most common questions they ask is how to discuss the feedback with their managers. Here are 6 tips we share with them: ...
Leading Women today announced that Susan Colantuono, the company’s founder and CEO, will retire effective December 31, 2019. Kelly Lockwood Primus, currently President & COO, will become CEO & President as the company embarks on a new decade of shaping the future of workplace dynamics by advocating women’s advancement, and engaging male allies to bring gender balance to leadership.
Here is a Key to Closing the Gender Gap at the Top... Gender Dynamics
Here's a fact about closing the leadership gender gap that might surprise you.
Back in the 1970s, progressive companies addressed the challenge of women's advancement issues with many tools including multi-day workshops that directly surfaced and addressed gender-based stereotypes.
This is surprising because until just recently, companies have tended to avoid this topic like the plague. This in spite of the fact that studies continue to point to barriers created by gender-based expectations and assumptions.
January is National Mentoring Month (#NaMeMo) in the United States, and while the month originally focused on mentoring youth, it has now grown to include all forms of mentoring. For us at Leading Women, our research has found that mentoring women is not only good for the women being mentored, but other women in the pipeline and their company's bottom line
Leading Women's unique approach to educating mentors and proteges will strengthen your mentoring program and help your organization move more women to the top. To see our Recipe for Mentoring Success, go here or read Susan Colantuono's book: Make the Most of Mentoring.
Leading Women Announces Launch of Conference Services Division and Introduces #ConferenceInABox
Leading Women, a distinguished global consulting firm noted for championing workplace culture transformation and promoting Gender Balance in corporate leadership, announces today the launch of its Conference Services Division, and its first ever #ConferenceInABox content offering for large and small scale events. Leading Women's innovative research-based solutions, which revolutionized Women's Leadership Development programs by identifying The Missing 33%® —and until now, were only accessible to select companies—are now available for delivery at leadership conferences globally through a packaged offering of learning modules designed to inspire and engage...
