Developing Women Leaders

A couple of months ago, I attended a webinar sponsored by Management Research Group (MRG) (http://www.mrg.com/) titled the Transformational Power of Women Leaders. MRG studied 2584 North American Executives (an equal number of men and women) between 2001 and 2011. Using the study researchers measured others’ (bosses, peers, and direct reports) perceptions of the executives’ leadership behaviors using MRG’s Leadership Effectiveness Analysis (LEA).

MRG reported a few interesting findings. First, they found that while women do in fact lead differently than men, the differences were at most moderate, but not significantly large. Second, the bigger and more significant difference between men and women leaders was not the variance in leadership styles or abilities but how others perceived one’s leadership competencies. And these discrepancies in perceptions might, in fact, be one of the barriers that limits more women from attaining senior leadership roles.

While MRG reports that the most effective leadership behaviors, for men or women, are elements such as thinking and acting strategically, effectively communicating, and successfully using persuasion, for women to overcome the barrier of perception, they need to focus their development not only on being strategic and persuasive, but also on maintaining a low key demeanor (restraint), soliciting others’ skills and empowering them to make decisions (delegating) and being agile in rapidly-changing environments, willing to take risks and chart new territories (innovative).

Not only will developing these behaviors help, to some degree, alter others’ perceptions of female leaders, but employing these behaviors will also impact one’s business knowledge and skill as well as one’s credibility and confidence with others.

What the above study highlights, from my perspective as an executive coach and organizational development practitioner is that there is an opportunity for individual leaders and organizations alike to identify occasions to develop these capabilities in their female workforce as well as be aware of prevailing perceptions that might prevent women from advancing to more senior levels.

 

 

Source: Management Resource Group. (PowerPoint Presentation). (2012). Transformational Power of Women Leaders. Live webinar.

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To Thine Own Self be True

When William Shakespeare wrote these words in the 17^th century, I doubt he understood the impact they would have on future generations – or perhaps he did. As one develops and aspires into a leadership role, she must be mindful of first, the power of her words and second, to remain as true to herself with the spoken word as possible.

 

In my study of successful African American women, one commonality the women of my study shared was they were very conscious of the impact they were making in the lives of others as well as themselves. They fully understood that their success was based more on an internal rather than external sense of success. In other words, they did not base their view of their success solely on external attainments such as titles, salaries and accolades. They also based it on how they felt about the work they were doing, whether they had helped or harmed others in the process and whether, at the end of the day, they felt that they had operated in their purpose. While external attainments were only one indicator of success, it was the internal validation the women experienced that enabled them to feel accomplished.

Being true to oneself not only includes an intrinsic sense of accomplishment, but it also includes staying true to one’s own convictions, not compromising one’s beliefs or values in the process of achieving one’s professional goals and having the ability to express oneself as an individual in ways that allow one to still progress in one’s career. It means voicing one’s opinion without apology and being confident in expressing one’s position – even sometimes in the face of opposition.

While executive presence is extremely important to develop as one advances professionally, it is equally important to have an internal sense of success as well as an understanding of who one is portraying herself to be.

Have you asked yourself lately, outside of my professional role,” how would I describe myself?” And also, outside of your professional role, “how do I define success?” Two very key questions to ask as you develop in your career.

Until next time...

 

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Living On Purpose!

We all experience fits and starts as we make efforts to achieve our goals. Sometimes the jerkiness of our movements are imperceptible and other times, they seem so noticeable that we wonder how we’re ever going to get from point A to point b.  How does one stay focused when she is pulled in so many different directions – her children need her, her husband requests her time, her community wants a piece of her and her career is often so demanding? It helps if the professional woman is clear about her purpose.

While studying successful African American women’s career barriers and success strategies, I found that the women in my study shared nine strategies that enabled their success. The criteria for them to participate in the study were 1) they had to be in a decision-making role within their organization – typically director level and above, and 2) they had to make over $75,000 a year or more in salary. I chose those two criteria because according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, very few African American women are in decision making roles in their organizations and even fewer (roughly about 3%) make over $75,000 per year.  

Over time I will detail each of the participants’ success strategies but in this article, I’ll briefly discuss the principle of Living on Purpose!

The 10 women of my study all understood they had a purpose – something that was bigger than any position they could ever fill.  The roles they played in their careers did not define who they were – their purpose did. It was through that purpose that they were able to reach the heights that they did in their careers and it was because of their understanding of their purpose that they were able to endure some of the experiences of racism and sexism – often being able to discern between the two. Further, it was because of their understanding of their greater purpose why they participated in the study – in hopes that other women could be helped and inspired by their stories.

The implication of this strategy is that our stories – your story, no matter where you are in your career development – is significant. We are each an inspiration to someone. As women, it is important to tell our stories because through the collective sharing of our life experiences we are able to motivate, encourage and inspire others to achieve success as well.

Until next time…

j

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But What If I Don't Want To?

Catalyst, a leading research and consulting group focused on the working lives of women, compiles tons of data and information on women in the workplace. I, as well as countless others, have turned to their research when writing about or presenting ideas on women in the workforce. 

One of Catalyst’s most commonly known figures is the catalyst pyramid which shows their findings pictorially. One pyramid in particular highlights the number of women in the US Labor Force (currently 46.6%) who are at the bottom of the pyramid and compares it with the number of women who are Fortune 500 CEO’s (currently 4%) who at the top. The visual is clear: of the total women in the US workforce (nearly half of the workforce) only a small and fortunate few make it to the top.

Researchers, practitioners and proponents of women in leadership often question why this disparity still exists when women have made such great social and political strides over the past few decades. Surely we should be further along – seeing many more women in these roles than we did even 10 years ago. Is it the glass ceiling or our multiple roles as mothers, wives, community leaders and professionals that keep us from advancing in the corporate ranks?

Or could it be something less obvious or dramatic?

As I have conversations with friends and colleagues and as I coach women in their professional careers, the conversation continues to be “But what if I don’t want to advance that far in my career?” Is a CEO position in a Fortune 500 company the only indicator of career success? What if I’m content either in my current mid- or even line manager role or I’m content want to “only” aspire to that level? What are the career strategies to get me or keep in in that level and who are my role models? These questions and more often go unspoken and even less-so, unanswered.

So I’m left thinking that there’s more to the story than trying to help women rule our biggest companies—although doing the work to see more women in top corporate roles is still a worthy effort;  but there’s also an opportunity to support those who are at other levels in their careers or who are working within different environments such as academia, non-profits or in smaller companies, and that’s the opportunity researchers, practitioners and other proponents of women in leadership have: to engage in worthwhile projects supporting those who are not aspiring to the upper echelons of the organization.

In the coming weeks and months, I’m committing and dedicating my energies to focusing on the research and support of the “others” who might not ever have their stories printed in Fortune Magazine or that we’ll read about her career trajectory in the Harvard Business Review but they are still in positions of power and influence, even if on a smaller scale and their stories are still an inspiration to others.

Until next time!

j

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New Year, New Journey

New year? It’s mid July! What are you talking about Julianna?

Often, we set goals at the beginning of the year but what happens when we get distracted? Do we just throw our hands up and say forget it? Sometimes, we do.

At the end of every year, I try to sit down and reflect on the year past and the year ahead. I identify what goals I want to work on for the coming year and I make a plan to achieve them. But also each year, life finds a way of happening the midst of my planning and my well-planned goals. One year, it was the death of my mother, another, the birth of my daughter, yet another, burnout. Last year, it was a change in focus due to my family’s financial position, and this year? Well, my body decided not to cooperate. I had to stop and have knee surgery in May. I’m not sure what happened during the surgery but during my recovery time, a time that I would have otherwise taken full advantage of to catch up on my to do’s, my ambition seemed to take a break of her own. I didn’t feel driven to do anything more than I was already doing (which is always a lot anyway). I knew what my goals were but really didn’t feel like accomplishing any of them.

So what do you do on your journey when you don’t feel like moving? I accepted the fact that I was on autopilot! Instead of pushing, I gave myself permission to do nothing. I prayed and asked God to guide me. And, I (eventually) stopped beating myself up for not being driven and on overdrive 100% of the time.

This lull in activity lasted for over two months and then guess what happened, after praying, resting and not sweating it, my ambition came back with a renewed energy and passion for doing the work I am called to do. And you know what? I’m happy!

So, after a year hiatus from this blog, overcoming life distractions, I am excited to resume my journey writing and sharing about leadership, success strategies and of course, living on purpose!

Until next time…

j

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Strategies to Success - Education

What do you think of when you hear the word “education”? Do you get excited the thought of big brick buildings, a room full of smart, intellectual people, lots of reading, studying, writing and tests? Or do you shiver at the thought of staying up late at night studying, getting a grade you didn’t expect, having to balance education and work and…? Is education always formal in your mind or can it be more organic and natural? When you think of education do you think of degrees you someday dream (or dreamed) of obtaining or do you think of missed possibilities and opportunities? Regardless of your thoughts, positive or negative, excitement, horror or regret, education is paramount—be it in the classroom, on the computer, in the workplace or within the pages of a book or magazine.

From my research of successful women, education ranks high on the list of strategies—particularly for women and even more importantly, for women of color. Most women that I talked to for my research, had a minimum of a bachelor’s degree and a number had master’s degrees. Why? Because they didn’t want something so small as a “piece of paper” come between them and their next job.

While a formal education isn’t always at our fingertips when we factor in money, time, work, relationships, children, and so on, it is important to figure out how you are going to stay one step ahead of your competition. Your competition might be the class of 2012 just coming out of college, it could be a man (or woman) who has equally as much experience as you, it could even be yourself if you’ve plateaued in the position you’re in. Regardless of the source, if you plan to get to or stay at the top of your field, marketable and promotable, you must educate yourself. If your next degree isn’t attainable right now, for whatever reason, map out a plan to educate yourself in the meantime. Take a class, read a book, take a webinar, go to a conference. Whatever you do, plan to learn something new often.

I schedule time (and budget) to attend at least one conference annually, go to workshops and seminars and I keep a book of some sort with me. If you’re not a reader, order a series of books on tapes or listen to podcasts.

And what do you educate yourself about? Topics that interest you like your projected career, field or industry, your current job or organization, or world events that might affect you or your interests in the coming years. Then, talk to others who are interested in the same things you are. Get their ideas on your topic of choice and share your thoughts. Write an article, blog about your ideas. Do something with the information you obtained.

It is often said “knowledge is power”. While this might be true, applied knowledge and the continual acquisition of it is even more powerful! So continue to learn, continue to grow and continue to live a purposeful life.

Until next time…

j

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Always be Prepared

Today is my daughter's last day of 1st grade and she's attending an all school BBQ. All week, her teacher has been admonishing the children to be prepared - bring everything they need (swimsuit, towel, sunscreen, water shoes, etc.) and wear the proper attire for the events of the day. My daughter has been marching around the house collecting her miscellaneous items saying, "Mommy, I need to be prepared!"

Well, my daughter's words rang very true for me on Wednesday when I attended a training sponsored by the Small Business Development Center. I learned (or maybe re-learned), not so much from the content of the training (although they provided great information), the importance of always being prepared.

The day of the training was dreary and rainy. I laid in bed thinking "I could easily stay at home today and work! I wouldn't have to get dressed, apply any makeup or fix my hair - especially since the training is about 30 miles away and I will have to rush to get the kids up and out early and then jump in commute traffic to get there." But, as a leader, I am committed to continuous learning and development; so I made up my mind to go - in spite of the weather or how I felt. I got up and put on a suit, applied my makeup, did my hair and rushed the children out of the house so that I could get to the training center on time.

Lesson #1: Always dress for success. I could have easily thrown on some jeans to go to this training however, I have learned that you never know who you will run in to when you least expect it. Always present yourself how you want others to perceive you if you want to be taken seriously.

I didn't have any expectations of who would be at the training or whether any opportunities would present themselves; I was just going with the intent to learn. But by putting on my suit, I was ready for the unexpected.

I arrived on time and found a seat where I would be most focused and attentive. The training started and the instructor introduced herself - a common practice. It's always good to know the background of the facilitator. But then, she did something that isn't always common in a large group (which this was) - she asked everyone in the room - about 50 or more business owners - to stand and introduce themselves and their businesses. This part, I didn't expect. However, I was prepared and shared that I provided leadership development training and coaching services for women in business.

Lesson #2: Always be prepared with your elevator speech. An elevator speech is a 30 second (or so) introduction of yourself and/or, your business. Your elevator speech should include: a) your name, b) your title, c) the name of your business (if applicable), d) the services or products you offer and e) what makes you unique or stand apart from all other businesses or professionals that offer the same service or product.

After introducing myself, I sat back down and settled in to enjoy the training and glean as much information as possible. I was prepared for this part! I had a notepad and pen handy and turned my cell phone to silent.

Lesson #3: If you are going to spend your time and money to attend an event, you do yourself a disservice by allowing distractions (like your phone) or lack of the necessary tools keep you from collecting vital information.

At the break I decided to stand up and stretch, check my voicemails and talk to the person sitting next to me. Because I had not expected to network, I did not even think about going to meet other business owners in the room. A huge missed opportunity! Half the room was my potential market. But the blessing was that others, after hearing my elevator speech, did see the opportunity to network and approached me about my services and I in turn got to hear about their services. Those I met, I exchanged business cards with and committed to meeting again, one on one. 

Lesson #4: Whether you are an entrepreneur or corporate professional, always carry your business cards with you. You never know when an opportunity will present itself for you to make a connection. Once that connection is made, make it a point to build a relationship with that person.  The best strategy for selling yourself or your product or service is by building a trusting relationship with your network. 

Fortunately, I always carry my business cards so even though I wasn't expecting to network, I was prepared.

As a professional, preparation is key. I've heard it said that success is found at the juncture of preparation and opportunity. I don't know where the connections I made yesterday will lead however, what I do know is that had I not been prepared by dressing for success, knowing my elevator speech, minimizing distractions, bringing the proper tools and carrying my business cards, I might not have met the dynamic people I met yesterday.  Always be prepared.

Until next time.

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