by Dana Theus | Oct 18, 2012 | Commentary
Body? Mind? Spirit? Chocolate?
These questions have wrestled with me my whole life, through a successful escape from a dysfunctional family; a personal exodus out of Los Angeles; a successful corporate, internet startup, consulting and coaching career; and (not last) the birthing, nurturing and now-sending-off-to-colleging of a lovely family… Until the wrestling stopped and things got interesting.
You see, with 40/40 hindsight I can see that my entire life has been a progression into my personal purpose in life, and the health, peace and well-being that comes with it – except that it doesn’t always feel healthy, peaceful and well in each and every moment. As soon as I accepted this – that life doesn’t simply stop so you can get off and “wake up shoves” from the Universe are part of the fun – that’s when the wrestling began to abate. Among other things, I’ve learned that life will take a breather when I ask it to, and if I don’t, I get a wake up Shove from the Universe into whatever wall is handy.
Purpose? Health? Work?
Back to that silly triangle…
My journey into my purpose didn’t come to me in the proper order. Mine arrived – as is my way – backwards: Mind, Spirit, Body. Actually, it’s still arriving and when I lose and keep off that last 30 pounds while still managing a bite of chocolate now and then, I will say I’ve hit a major milestone. Until then, I simply watch in amazement as my purpose slowly but surely reels in and organizes all three aspects of my health and expresses it – to my total surprise – through my business.
This isn’t how it’s supposed to be, is the story I was told (and I bet you were, too). Work is supposed to be toil and drudgery, but my purpose never let me truly believe that. It kept knocking on my brain in short breaks between meetings or overseas trips. It kept telling me there was more. It kept telling me that I was more. And as I began to follow its guidance it showed me more. It showed me the joy and true fulfillment that could be had through work, if we just asked work to give us such opportunities.
What’s my purpose? Well, it’s not a thing (though I have lots of things). It’s not a statement (thought I have many). It’s not a manifesto (though I have several). It’s not even a business (though I have several of those, too). My purpose is a drive. It’s a power living within me that evolves and expresses itself more obviously over time. It’s not always abstract and can be very concrete at times. It’s definitely outspoken. The more I listen for it the more clearly it steers me to some things and not to others. It’s more powerful to me than my intuition, which nudges instead of pushing me like my purpose does. Right now my purpose is running my businesses, and I’m happy to let it. It’s also asking me make green smoothies for breakfast more often and avoid gluten wherever possible. The more I let it run things, the happier, more successful and more energetic I am!
Magic! Creation! Exploration!
Earlier this year when the triangle of health for me began to coalesce more noticeably, it was spurred by an experience I had – believe it or not – rebranding my companies. At the end of last year I had a Shove from the Universe and knew I was to create a web site for business women. As I was wrestling with the issues around launching new web sites and integrating the Universal Shove into my existing consulting practice (which had nothing to do with women, wha?), I did some personal branding work with my friend and colleague, Cindy Atlee of The Storybranding Group. Cindy teaches a wonderful workshop in personal and professional branding archetypes, as psychologized by Carl Jung, and as typified into a personality test by Dr. Carol Pearson. My personality type turned out to be a blend of the Magician, the Creator and the Explorer.
With the identification of these archetypes, my “purpose” became more concrete. As a Magician, I am driven to create the opportunity for others to tap into their internal power to drive them towards success (which feels like magic in the tapping moment) and this became InPower Coaching. As a Creator, I am driven to express and create new meaning in the world (did I mention that I blog on more blogs than I can count, am writing a book and burp up online courses out of sheer joy?) and this became InPower Women. As an Explorer, I’m driven to go into territory just being discovered and challenge “how we do it!” with “what can be done?” (not all clients like this, I’ve learned), and this became InPower Consulting.
Price? What Price?
I can’t say that any of this has been easy, but I can say it’s gotten continually easier. And yes, I’ve had to let go of a ton of “stuff” – physically, mentally, spiritually. But I trust it now. Everything I get rid of comes back to me in more joyful ways, ways that support my purpose more fully. This summer I lost my biggest client but in the same week, I was approached by two prospects eager to do business with me. The energy signature of the big one was tiring. The energy of the two new ones is exciting. My Magician was thrilled to lose the biggie and my Explorer is loving prospecting the new ones. Now all I have to do is let go of chocolate cream puffs and let my Creator spend some quality time in the kitchen (tomorrow night – avocado chocolate mousse!)
What about you?
What does your purpose do for you? What are your archetypes? How do they guide you and bring you ever closer to health and success?
This article originally appeared on Chronic Wellness Coaching.
by Guest Author | Oct 17, 2012 | Career Development, Coaching Advice
By: Kristi Hedges
Executive coaches are sometimes called corporate shrinks. And while most of us would argue vehemently that what we do doesn’t approach psychological therapy — and we’re careful to steer clear of it — we will admit that we hear lots of private thoughts. Our entire job is predicated on intimacy, trust, and shared confidences.
We also see, in real time, how career strategies play out. We collect feedback on all sides about how commonly held wisdoms work — or crash and burn.
The reality is that a whole lot of this career stuff is situational. What works for one person, or in one company, doesn’t do so well elsewhere. That said, there are a few, consistent pieces of advice I’ve heard through my work that hold up anywhere, for any level of professional. Follow these, and you’ll fast-track your own career.
1. If you see a fire, run into it.
This was shared recently by a client (told to her by her Dad), and it echoes a sentiment I’ve held for years: in chaos, there is opportunity. Most major career accelerations happen when someone steps into a mess and makes a difference. In the technology sector, people will remark that one year in a start-up is like five years in an established company. There’s ample opportunity to stretch your wings, wear many hats, and create a name for yourself when there’s not a set plan to follow. You can find the same opportunity in any organization, if you seek it.
2. Follow up.
If, as Woody Allen made famous, 80% of life is showing up — then 90% of career success is following up. Our organizations are rife with lack of accountability, whether by intention or incompetence. Be the person who meets deadlines, holds others accountable, and heck, even remembers to say thanks when it’s due. Following through on your commitments is trust-building, and the opposite erodes it quickly and indelibly.
3. Tell the truth.
Truthfulness seems a bit obvious to be on this list. However, companies are rife with damaging lies of omission. In an effort to look good, and not cause waves, we don’t express our truthful opinion. Being brave enough to respectfully state the truth in a politically astute way sets you apart. Most CEOs I know want to hear dissenting opinion; they crave more information not “yes” people. As Joann Lublin discussed in the Wall Street Journal, expressing a difference of opinion actually helps your career.
4. Treat everyone as an equal.
Respect has a place at work, but not deference. Being relaxed and confident in front of authority elevates your own brand. People see you the way you see yourself. The same goes for those down the chain. Introduce your directs as colleagues, not staff. They’ll see you, and themselves, more favorably.
5. Pull yourself up with one hand, and reach back to others with the opposite one.
It is extremely common feedback that an executive manages up well, but not down. This works for awhile, but turns out you have to be seen favorably by all levels to succeed. A recent global study showed that an inability to build and maintain a team is the top reason executives fail.
6. Make valuable offers to others.
Every day in our organizations, we see areas that could be helped, or processes that should be fixed. We let them slip by because of time, political boundaries, or not wanting to speak up. When you see something that you can affect — don’t wait to be asked — make a proactive offer to help. (Or, if appropriate, just do it.) Even if you aren’t taken up on the offer, the fact that you cared enough to make it speaks volumes about your character and your initiative.
7. Show gratitude.
No one succeeds on their own. Even if things don’t entirely go your way, there are still reasons to be grateful for the opportunities you’ve been given. Gratitude is a dying emotion in corporate America, where we can easily make a spirited case for our own entitlement vis-a-vis the faceless giant. We too often forget to say thanks for the opportunities and rewards we’ve been given — both large and small. Yes, you earned them. But you can still say thanks.
Kristi Hedges is a leadership coach, speaker and author of Power of Presence: Unlock Your Potential to Influence and Engage Others. Find her at kristihedges.com and@kristihedges.
This post originally appeared on KristiHedges.com.
Take charge of your career development to get the job that supports your work and your life. Check out the tools and resources in the InPower Coaching Career Center.
by Dana Theus | Oct 16, 2012 | Career Development, Leadership
So you’ve just gotten that great opportunity you’ve wanted for so long. You got the promotion! Woo hoo! You settle into your new office, put the higher pay in your monthly budget, meet your colleagues, receive the key to the bathroom and put that first board meeting on your calendar. Then the hard, cold reality settles in that you’re going to have to prove yourself. Gulp.
This was the situation my client, Carol, found herself in when we chatted last week. She’s been a few weeks on the job and is realizing that all the strategies she used in her old job – which was in a different organization at a different level in the pecking order – won’t really work here. She’s got to establish her credibility and role in her new, more senior, role very quickly.
Mistake: Falling Into Your Comfort Zone
Carol dove into her new executive job with excitement and fervor. She quickly started developing allies, strategizing to engage the board and positioning her fledgling division for success. She started getting to know the operational side of the business and began working closely with the CEO. All good.
As she explained all this, however, I heard one thing that set alarm bells off for me because it can be the downfall of too many women in leadership. She related her experience catching some typos in a board presentation that she called out to her CEO. She was proud of this fact and the way that her advanced education helped her see things the CEO could not. I invited her to view this exchange in a different light. I asked her, “What value do you bring to the CEO when you lead with this strength?” In discussing this question she soon realized that she was leading with the strength of a $30/hour proofreader instead of a much more highly paid executive. Was this the initial impression she wanted to make with her new management team? No. Could she identify her boss’ proofreading weakness and suggest someone else on the team who could play that role effectively? Sure. Could she let a few typos go in exchange for weighing in on more strategic concepts? Absolutely!
Carol reflected on how when she wanted so badly to demonstrate her value, she had slipped into her comfort zone, demonstrating a value out of alignment with both her new role and how she wanted to be perceived – which was as a strategic partner to the CEO. This week, she will begin to look for the strategic gaps in the management team and identify opportunities to fill them so the CEO starts to come to her for substantive advice instead of formatting support.
Strategy: Demonstrate You Can Operate At The Next Level
It’s natural to want to leverage what you know you do well to get ahead, but when you’re going for leadership positions this may be exactly the wrong way to advance your career. Beyond the middle management point in your career, when you’re going for senior and executive positions, you’ll be hired and valued for your ability to think at the next level. To know what’s on the CEO’s and board’s minds – what keeps them up at night – and contribute to solving the problems they are wrestling with. Sure you have to do a good job running your own operation and reduce the number of typos in your documents, but a big idea that works can make people overlook a gazillion typos.
Sometimes this is challenging because you’re not really there yet. Running your own business can be challenging enough, but the glass ceiling isn’t just about discrimination, it also functions to weed out the people who just can’t operate at the strategic level. The people who negotiate past that point – regardless of gender – usually manage to perform on both operational and strategic levels. You want the brass ring? You’re going to have to stretch for it.
To Carol’s credit she quickly saw past her mistaken positioning and will quickly gain the CEO’s trust on substantive issues. What skills are you emphasizing that tell others you’re more comfortable where you are than where you want to be? What stretch opportunities are you missing because you’re focused on providing the wrong kind of value? Push yourself to be who you want to become and you will be sure to get there.
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by Dana Theus | Oct 16, 2012 | Career Development, Coaching Advice, Leadership, Personal Mastery
So you’ve just gotten that great opportunity you’ve wanted for so long. You got the promotion! Woo hoo! You settle into your new office, put the higher pay in your monthly budget, meet your colleagues, receive the key to the bathroom and put that first board meeting on your calendar. Then the hard, cold reality settles in that you’re going to have to prove yourself. Gulp.
This was the situation my client, Carol, found herself in when we chatted last week. She’s been a few weeks on the job and is realizing that all the strategies she used in her old job – which was in a different organization at a different level in the pecking order – won’t really work here. She’s got to establish her credibility and role in her new, more senior, role very quickly.
Mistake: Falling Into Your Comfort Zone (more…)
by Dana Theus | Oct 10, 2012 | Career Development
When women talk about their own accomplishments, we get ahead more than when we don’t. But we don’t do it enough! Often it just doesn’t feel right to talk about ourselves so positively because we feel like it’s bragging. But there are so many ways to promote ourselves that aren’t bragging – and fill us with genuine self-confidence – including ways that actually help other people! Watch the video below to learn how you can promote yourself and help others at the same time. If this issue is something you know is holding you back in your career journey, then please consider joining us to dive deeper into this subject for our upcoming Free Webinar!
If this is a subject that makes you uncomfortable, lean into it! Research says that authentic self-promotion is the most important thing a woman can do to boost her own career! I hope you’ll consider attending our webinar to learn more! Women only!
Take charge of your career development to get the job that supports your work and your life. Check out the tools and resources in the InPower Coaching Career Center.
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Guide to Women in Leadership
Executive Coach Dana Theus shares her tried and true strategies to help women excel in higher levels of leadership and achieve their executive potential.
by Dana Theus | Oct 9, 2012 | Career Development
Women walk a fine line when it comes to talking up their accomplishments. It’s far too easy for us to be too modest, so no one knows how awesome we are – or too aggressive, so we get labeled the B-word (Braggart!). Research last year showed how most of the career advancement techniques we’re all taught tend to benefit men more than women – except for two! And ONE is the key – the ability to self-confidently, openly and authentically talk up your own accomplishments.
Watch this first of three part video to get a strategy you can use to learn to walk the middle, and talk with self-confidence about yourself and your accomplishments!
If this is a subject that makes you uncomfortable, lean into it! Research says that authentic self-promotion is the most important thing a woman can do to boost her own career! I hope you’ll consider attending our webinar to learn more! Women only!
(PS-Here is the link to the Catalyst Research mentioned in the video.)
Take charge of your career development to get the job that supports your work and your life. Check out the tools and resources in the InPower Coaching Career Center.
FREE PDF
Guide to Women in Leadership
Executive Coach Dana Theus shares her tried and true strategies to help women excel in higher levels of leadership and achieve their executive potential.
by Téa Blake | Oct 5, 2012 | Gender Research
Study: When Performance Trumps Gender Bias: Joint versus Separate Evaluation (Harvard Business School, Bohnet, Van Green, Bazerman, 2012)
Finding: Joint evaluations for senior level positions might be the ticket to overcoming gender bias and stereotypical notions in hiring managers.
InPower Insight: We can’t get rid of the human propensity to be biased and apply stereotypes to others, but we can mitigate it’s impact. Using panel interview styles curbs gender bias.
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by Guest Author | Oct 4, 2012 | Career Development
By Maria Gamb
There are a number of solid business tools I could share with you which shifted not just my business but those of my clients. These lessons and tools have brought a multitude of income into companies, startups and big corporations. Would you like to know what they are?
Okay, here’s the truth.
Without this next piece of information a majority of what you may think will bring you to the Promised Land won’t. Here’s why. Any change that will stick for the long haul usually starts from within. It’s introspective and it usually will take you more than a moment to consider these elements. But once you do it’s a game changer.
What do you value?
Without knowing you’re highest value you may find yourself out of alignment with the work you’re doing, the business you’re building or the relationships you may have. It often feels like an utter disconnect that leaves you standing alone in a room wondering “is this all it’s really about?” or “why does this just feel so wrong to me?”
Often times we take on the values of our parents. They may be good strong values but they may be as archaic as the time they were crafted. You’ll hear words like honest, trustworthy, family etc. Which are all wonderful. But are they right for you. This may sound like a throw down challenge to you, and in fact it is. There are more than 72 different “values” you can utilize to create the foundation of your life and business upon. So which ones are really important to you?
Meet Meg. A happy-go-lucky, manifest like wild fire woman, who spent most of her career in the financial industry analyzing numbers. Meg was never truly happy and at the first chance her bravery would allow her, she left her career. When she analyzed what she was doing in comparison to what she, not her family, valued, she realized why she was so out of sync with her life. Her family value was one of security. You never walk away from it and you do whatever there is in your power to get it. But Meg’s highest value is “balance”. Balance can be interpreted many ways but for Meg, it was about the physical and financial balance of people, organizations and teams. It also meant social justice.
Remember this is very personal, so “balance” may mean something else to you. But for Meg, after years of searching for what she wanted to do in the world, she realized that her gift was to be part of helping organizations which are also trying to create balance and social justice in the world. She’s gone on to be part of 3 major high-level organizations to do just that. Oh and, to be paid quite handsomely for it as well. Because part of the importance of values, is to know your value and to be compensated accordingly.
What do others value?
This is a listening skill that once mastered can bring you unlimited opportunities and earning potential. When you know what another person values, it will help you to connect more deeply with them. This is important because in order to move your great vision to fruition you need others to help you. Not everyone is motivated by what you may find motivating. Which is to say, they may be motivated by a different value than you. This could be an endless enquiry but one can easily break people down into 3 categories. The good news is that you don’t need a Phd to learn this simple technique. People are motivated by Power, Affiliation and Achievement. That’s it. When you know which one, then you can communicate your big vision to them in a way that makes sense to them and helps connect you to their heart. The job gets done. People bend over backwards to help you.
Meet Kelly. Kelly is a high-powered entrepreneur who runs her own sales team on a national level. There are more than 120 people on this team! Kelly had a big challenge in getting her team motivated to hit a significant sales goal this year. It meant a lot for her personally, to her family and community. But these values, which would sit in the category of affiliation, only resonated with roughly 30% of her total team. Once she realized this Kelly was able to readjust her communication skills to reach the other 70% and engage them in a way that was meaningful to them. You can never underestimate the importance of speaking to others where they are. By doing so, Kelly increased her business by 23% from the prior year. And it was done within a 6-month period. Now wouldn’t that be nice in YOUR life too!? Subtle changes make a massive difference!
Ask for what you want
One of the biggest issues women face in business is that they do not ask for what they want. This has been proven by a number of studies over the years. We are socially conditioned not to want to appear too aggressive or overly assertive. This is a social value that many women have embraced subconsciously. Many women believe that if they just work hard others will notice and they in turn will be compensated accordingly or raised to new levels. The truth is, that’s not going to happen.
Meet Lorna. Lorna is an attorney with a small practice outside of the United States. She’d always wanted to make a bigger impact in her community and on the lives of others but often times felt powerless to do so despite the impact of the development projects she worked on. What she wanted was to be part of her countries political cabinet where the decisions were being made. For years she pined for the opportunity to be engaged at this level. But it wasn’t until she learned the importance of her values and the absolute added value she could bring to the world that she stepped up, put her hand up and said, “I want this”. Once she did, Lorna was tapped to sit on several different high-level commissions and even to hold a cabinet committee seat that will improve the safety and lives of others on a national level.
Know what you value
Be aware of what others value too and meet them where they are.
And for goodness sake, know that what you have to offer in the world is extremely valuable. Put YOUR hand up, be counted and ask for what you want.
These skills and tools are taught by Maria Gamb, CEO of NMS Communications and Mentor to many top level entrepreneurs and executives. Maria is the 20+ year veteran of corporate American and entrepreneur who teaches people how to regain their power, influence and leadership and rebuild their profits with integrity. She is an Amazon best-selling author of “Healing the Corporate World”, a monthly contributor to Forbes magazine, and has been featured in Time Business and Inc. magazine. You can find out more about Maria on her website: www.MariaGamb.com
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by Dana Theus | Sep 27, 2012 | Leadership, Mentoring
Every young professional hears it: “Get a mentor!” Many companies invest in mentoring programs, especially for women aspiring to advance. But do mentor programs pay off –– for the mentors and the mentees? My clients and I have had positive experiences, but, who knows? Maybe we’re not typical?
Nope. (Whew!) The data is pretty clear that getting a mentor helps both women and men climb the corporate ladder, and anecdotal evidence (including mastermind groups) points to its effectiveness for entrepreneurs as well. However, when you dig into the data, it’s also clear that mentoring helps some folks more than others.
“My mentor helped me learn to listen for the real meaning behind what people are saying and I learned with his support to ask probing questions. He has given me the room to try things, make mistakes and discover my own style,” says Katherine Pasco Larsen. Many mentees report this kind of benefit from mentoring relationships in their companies, and anyone who’s worked to understand their corporate culture and how to succeed in it will recognize the benefit of such support. Ismenia Seize gained insights as well as confidence in her London job, learning to speak up and stand out in company meetings through a virtual mentoring relationship with Marion Chapsal, based in Lyon, France.
Women in particular report finding mentoring helpful to learn to understand their own value and gain confidence in how they present themselves.
But the data says even though women are mentored earlier and more often in their careers, men appear to benefit more from mentoring relationships, often by securing mentors in more senior positions. Data from Catalyst suggest that the mentor’s seniority, more than gender or talent, determines the degree to which the mentoring relationship actually helps the mentee advance.
In fact, a special form of mentorship — sponsorship — really seems to the primary factor in how such relationships can help you get promoted and considered. Sponsors not only mentor their youthful partners, they “promote you and your accomplishments to others in your workplace and/or industry,” says Joanne Kamens. “This is a mutual relationship because if you’re performing well in roles you obtained with the support of your sponsor, you make the sponsor look good, too.”
Mentoring programs also help to the extent they are proactive in matching pairs who can help each other. Deb Evans reports that when she matched entrepreneurial mentors well, the mentees often saw their sales improve and that the mentors reported receiving new and fresh ideas from their younger counterparts. Intra-company programs and independent groups like 3PlusInt, which matched Ismenia and Marion, can all be helpful in bringing mentors and mentees together, but most women I know who’ve had good mentors were also proactive in finding their own mentors and developing relationships over time.
Valarie Sparks reports that her best mentoring relationship began over 11 years ago and continues to support her today. Several years ago, her mentor encouraged her to switch from hotel operations to sales. “He had faith in me and told me I’d be great at it. I’ve been in sales ever since and now train and consult others on how to be successful,” Sparks says.
Even though mentoring is an effective career development strategy, it does not replace the need to learn to advocate for yourself, particularly for women. The Catalyst report cited above noted that even after accounting for experience, industry and region, high-potential men were promoted more often and received a 21% increase in their promotions, compared with 2% for women. Another Catalyst report suggested that one of the major strategies women can deploy in closing this gap is to learn to promote themselves more effectively. For most women, that means learning to do so in ways that feel authentic to them as opposed to “bragging.”
The bottom line is that mentoring is particularly good for mentees and mentors when the following occurs:
- The pair maintains the relationship (Sparks suggest that the mentee take on the burden of logistics).
- The mentor is highly placed and on the lookout for opportunities to proactively help their mentee shine (benefiting them both).
- The menteee does not cede personal responsibility for advancing his or her career to the mentor/sponsor.
What’s your experience? Any other lessons to pass on? Leave your comments below, or tweet @DanaTheus.
This post originally appeared on SmartBlog on Leadership. For more insights on business leadership, sign up for SmartBrief on Leadership.
candid insights and soulful partnership
by Guest Author | Sep 26, 2012 | InPower Women Blog, Leadership
By: James daSilva
I recently asked Mary Davis Holt about the book she co-authored, “Break Your Own Rules: How to Change the Patterns of Thinking That Block Women’s Paths to Power,” and some of the general themes regarding women and workplace advancement. Holt is a partner at Flynn Heath Holt Leadership, whose goal is to move women and organizations forward faster. She is an executive coach and keynote speaker on business, women, and leadership.
How has the landscape changed in the past 10-20 years? Is it more difficult for women in some ways? Are women advocating for themselves and others more now or then?
It’s interesting. Some elements of the landscape have changed dramatically over the last few decades. For instance, women outnumber men today as a percentage of the total workforce. More importantly, women have surpassed men in earning advanced degrees. That’s great to see and it bodes well for women in leadership. Yet, there is a lot that has not changed. The percentage of women CEOs in the Fortune 500 continues to hover around 4 percent, for example. Even with Ginni Rometty running IBM, Meg Whitman at Hewlett-Packard, and Marissa Mayer leading Yahoo, the ratio of women at the top is just 20 in 500.
I don’t know if career success is any more or less difficult for women today compared to decades past, but I do know that many women still feel constrained by a double bind. Research has found that women need to meet higher standards than men in order to lead — and yet they are paid 23% less on average [editor’s note: This is based on 2008 data]. This persists despite the fact that companies with more women leaders have a higher return on equity and stronger return on sales.
The book chronicles six key behaviors that negatively affect women professionally, particularly in reaching executive positions. Which of these was most surprising for you to discover as you researched and wrote this book?
What we’ve found in coaching women executives around the world is that career momentum is not about adding job skills but about changing everyday thinking and behaviors. One of the things that surprised us most as we researched the book was that so many women are unwilling to truly own their ambition. They are motivated to move into leadership positions, yet they are somewhat ambivalent about projecting power. Modesty and self-deprecation come more naturally. In fact, some women act apologetic in the face of success—almost as if they don’t deserve it. Women need to take credit for their ideas and accomplishments. Even in companies that strive to pull women up, women still have to push — by asking for what they want. Being more assertive and projecting confidence will help women move into the jobs they want more quickly.
The need for sponsorship — the going beyond mentorship to being an advocate — is noted for its important role in women becoming known to executives, taking on risks and having an advocate. Why might sponsorship be more important for women than for men?
We have found that women are far more likely to make their way into senior management jobs if they have been actively sponsored by a member of the organization’s executive committee. Yet, most women who are qualified to lead miss out on top positions because they don’t have the backing they need. In fact, only 20% of women have sponsors. In order to land more jobs at the highest levels of leadership, women must work to develop sponsors and advocates for their career. Women look around the boardroom and they see fewer female role models, and they see a path to power that is either blocked or poorly defined. Sponsorship can help pave the way.
Women do consistently help each other—through moral support and friendship. They network with each other extensively, and they offer career advice and mentorship. What they are somewhat less inclined to provide is formal sponsorship. Our research indicates that, even in the ranks of senior management, women align more often because they like each other personally, rather than with the specific intention of promoting the careers or interests of other highly qualified women.
In short, there’s more that women and men can do to actively ensure that their companies benefit by retaining and promoting their best, most talented women.
There’s ultimately an optimistic tone to this book — the idea of what women can and should do to help themselves and each other, rather than lamenting the situation. How important is it that readers also feel that optimism?
We are very optimistic, and we encourage women to have a high level of confidence in the future. There’s no one right way to succeed, but remaining positive can only help women sustain their momentum. The women we coach who are able to fuel their ambition remain upbeat and flexible. When we ask women what success looks like to them it runs the gamut, from becoming a CEO at a large organization to starting their own smaller business. If ambition leads one woman to Wall Street it may lead another to Silicon Valley.
To me, as well as my colleagues at Flynn Heath Holt Leadership, the future is full of opportunities for women to lead. In fact, the optimistic goal we are working toward is to see at least 30% women leaders at the top levels of corporate America within the next ten years. We believe that 30% will be a tipping point. With 30% women leaders, the goals and direction of corporate America will change. The old rules will be shattered. America’s corporations will be better lead and everyone will benefit.
This post originally appeared on SmartBlog on Leadership. For more insights on business leadership, sign up for SmartBrief on Leadership.
James daSilva is a senior editor at SmartBrief and manages SmartBlog on Leadership. He edits SmartBrief newsletters on leadership, sustainability and the chemical industry, among others. Before joining SmartBrief, he was copy desk chief at a daily newspaper in New York. You can find him on Twitter discussing all business matters sustainable and green @SB_GreenBiz, as well as leadership and management issues @SBLeaders
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Guide to Women in Leadership
Executive Coach Dana Theus shares her tried and true strategies to help women excel in higher levels of leadership and achieve their executive potential.
