Companies Perform Better with More Women in Top Management
Studies show that “companies with the highest representation of women on their top management teams perform better financially than companies with the lowest women’s representation.”3
Organizations also benefit from the talents of women executives and managers including increased productivity, higher morale, less turnover and more engaged and committed employees. The business case is clear across industries as to why we need more talented women in executive positions. It makes good business sense to develop and retain high performing female talent.
Like their male counterparts do, women contribute a valuable and unique mix of strengths and perspectives. But the real power comes from women and men working together. They learn from each other how to become more effective leaders while solving complex problems and accelerating innovation.
High Potential Women Need the Same Type of Sponsorship Male Colleagues Receive
Sponsorship accelerates women’s careers and lack of it will hold women back. In a recent Harvard Business Review report “Why Men Still Get More Promotions than Women,” a 2010 World Economic Forum report on corporate practices for gender diversity in 20 countries, cited 59% of surveyed companies offer internal mentoring and networking programs.4
And 28% of these companies report they have women-specific programs. Yet, women are still not advancing in their organizations.
The ‘old boys’ network’ is still alive and kicking in these male dominated environments, and it is time to let this go. High potential women need more than mentoring. They need the real advocates and sponsorship that men receive. And you can’t leave sponsorship to chance. Without this, women will continue to have an even steeper climb to earn top leadership positions compared to men.
One area where I coach high potential women is how to get the sponsorship and powerful backing necessary to accelerate and propel a woman’s career forward. I had one exceptionally talented client who aspired to become a VP. We worked on some effective sponsor building strategies to move her towards this promotion and gain greater visibility with the right people.
Critical key areas needed to build sponsorship:
Other factors like having children and shouldering the majority of family life, care giving and managing the household often puts more demands on women; demands that men usually do not shoulder while climbing the corporate ladder. But these star performing women do not lose their ambition and many talented women will move on to a different company or start their own business to find the path to get them to where they want to go and optimize their talents.
And let’s not forget old-fashioned stereotypes about the differences in gender communication, ability and leadership styles. These stereotypes may not be overt as in the past, instead they are held covertly, possibly without awareness. Nonetheless, these ancient old stereotypes are still firmly held in place making it extremely challenging for women.
Transcending Stereotypes on How Genders Are Expected to Behave
Another study raises the issue that there are widely shared social expectations for how each gender is expected to behave, for instance, men should not cry and women should not show anger.5
Or when a man is bold about expressing he is the best fit for a position and capable of solving complex problems, he is labeled assertive and confident. A woman who acts the same way is labeled aggressive, pushy and controlling. Or a woman can be an excellent active listener, which is critical to understanding employee needs or root issues; however, this listening is labeled as passive. It would be good if women started speaking more and men started to listen more.
These stereotypes place women at a big disadvantage since they are not being allowed to display and rely on behaviors that their male counterparts can use or not use for power in key contexts such as negotiations. We are long overdue for men and women to embrace each other’s strengths and talents.
Using our strengths helps us each be the best we can be individually, and collectively it raises the overall success of the organization.