The failure of women to advance to the highest levels of an organisation is usually explained in terms of their individual attributes, characteristics and behaviour. 

For example, she is:

• “too aggressive, too shy, too abrasive.” 
• “not serious about her career.” 
• “too detail oriented.”
• “not a good fit.”
• “too unreliable, slow, too loud, too cautious.”
• “doesn’t have good interpersonal skills.”

Assessments about women’s commitment, abilities and performance are more often tied to demonstrated observance of cultural rituals than other more objective tests.

That is, women are judged against criteria that are grounded in individual and cultural bias. So when women exhibit what in a man would be judged as leadership behaviour, they are judged as something less than, or other than, leaders.

The fact is that women are typically more qualified, more experienced and work harder than their male colleagues.

They are there, they have the capability and can do the job. They just need to be appointed!

And is this likely to happen? Not according to unsettling research that shows that a lack of a diverse representation at senior management levels is not only an indicator of existing levels of discrimination in an organisation but also a guarantor of further discrimination.

So what can we do? Let’s use the principles of strategic planning to inform our approach…

1. We need a vision. Let’s be bold. What about equal representation of women and men in the top 80 ASX companies in 5 years?  40:60:80 by 2020 has a nice ring about it.
2. We need a plan. Here’s one:  in order to increase the number of women at the top, CEOs and Boards must appoint them. Seems pretty clear and easy.
3. (This is the clincher) We need a compelling reason to change OR too much pain associated with not changing.   The business case has consistently demonstrated improved performance is an outcome of more gender balanced executive teams. Clearly that’s not compelling enough. Time to change tack: we need to make it too uncomfortable for decision makers to maintain the status quo.

It’s time we spoke loudly to those that have influence. It’s time we caused some embarrassment, disquiet, shame and publicly, vocally amplified our voices, made more noise and made it too uncomfortable for decision makers to ignore.

It’s time for women and men to publicly speak up about the blatant and continuing failure of senior leaders in our organisations to appoint women to senior executive roles.

Who’s up for it?

It’s hardly surprising that women fail to recognise or value their leadership ability, role or power when there are so few in leadership positions.

A stark example of this is the male champions of change group. This is an influential group of guys who have publicly committed to drive the change required to improve gender balance at the top.

This is great, but where are the women?

Redressing the gender balance is an issue of strategic importance – for businesses, and indeed all of us. Where are the senior women? Why aren’t they included in this group of champions, contributing ideas and holding their male colleagues to account?

I work with many women who are on executive management boards and have senior leadership roles. Too many habitually, instinctively defer to men to make decisions, take action and responsibility for matters which fall within their own leadership domain.

It’s frustrating that despite their position and authority, so many undervalue their power, or give it away to their male colleagues who readily (and have been conditioned) to take it.

I watch as very senior women

• Seek permission to act
• Rationalise or justify their decisions to legitimise them
• Provide more detail than required as they provide greater explanation than required for their decisions or ideas.

It doesn’t help that men implicitly require women to constantly prove their credibility, or hold women to higher standards than their male colleagues, but we should not collude!

Organisations are run by leadership teams that include women.

Women may not be at the top of corporate Australia, but there are enough with critical leadership roles to make a difference. These women have the authority, credibility and indeed the responsibility to contribute equally. It’s time they noticed.

Do you feel overwhelmed, exhausted or frustrated with your job?

Maybe you can’t seem to get the support and buy in you need?

No one listening or caring?

Do the boundaries or priorities keep changing?

In times of scarcity, cost cutting, efficiency dividends, uncertain markets and anxious shareholders, irrationality and fear provoking chaos prevails.

Many people feel out of control and in their desire to make something happen, there’s a lot of spin and thrashing.

Everyone wants to keep their options open in case they have to suddenly change direction. All bases are covered badly, rather than one, well.  

It’s difficult to get agreement to new initiatives, additional funding, or even a decision.

It means what you’ve worked on for the last few months may no longer be required or that your work could be discarded or dismissed with little or no explanation.

If your boss changes his mind about what he wants, or doesn’t appreciate the report or project you’ve delivered, his priorities may have changed or he faces new challenges you don’t know about. If you don’t get the decision you need, it’s likely your boss is preoccupied or uncertain.

Yes, it’s frustrating, but understandable and you are employed to do a job. That job is not to hold on tight and defend what you’re doing just because you’ve spent a long time on it or you’ve become very attached to a particular outcome or result.

The nature of your work is dependent on your organisation’s needs and/or stakeholder and client demands.

Personal attachment to a particular outcome gets in the way of objectivity, exacerbates stress and causes unnecessary doubt or anxiety.

Whether you are paid by shareholders, taxpayers, or anyone else, there is an expectation that you do the work you’re employed to do, well, and deliver what is required by the organisation right now.

If you find yourself particularly anxious about a work situation, it’s likely you’re too personally attached. It’s time to step back, detach and ask yourself ‘what have I been employed to do and what is my professional responsibility here?’

I have always resisted labels: vehemently, violently rejected them.

Labels that get flung my way include those about my social standing, marital and parental status, religion, cultural heritage and nationality, sexuality, education levels, intellect, professional role, political affiliation and even gender (am I a Ms, Miss, Mrs? A woman, lady or female?).

Labels help others, and ourselves, determine whether we’re part of an ‘in group’ or the ‘out group.’ They come with stereotypes, assumptions, expectations and categorisations that invite lazy thinking – or none at all.

Labels inherently provoke pre-judgement, preconceptions and bias.

Consider an introduction to

• an Indian Muslim;
• a professional coach;
• a New Zealand academic;
• a radical feminist;
• a right wing economist;
• a single mother;
• a woman executive;
• a female leader.

What comes to mind as you consider each of these labels? What assumptions do you make? How might those assumptions prevent you from paying attention to the individual characteristics of the person, or filter what you hear or say?

Labels distance us from others, which can be helpful as we manage a myriad of personal interactions every day. However, when we cloak ourselves with a label, we also unconsciously collude in the perpetuation of a stereotype.

How many times have you seen a colleague adopt a persona in line with their role, audience or position? Once they’ve stepped into their persona, their behaviour, voice and communication style can change in line with expectations.

For women in particular, this is a problem.

Women leaders have learned that to be regarded as credible, they must adopt the behaviours, norms and rituals of their male colleagues. This distances them from other women, and limits their ability to be effective role models. Other women watch women leaders and make decisions about their ability or willingness to ‘be like that’.

Additionally, the label ‘woman leader/politician/executive etc’ prompts women to unconsciously constrain their views, input or style as they seek to act like the label or persona. This effectively dilutes their personal power and limits their contribution.

Assumptions and stereotypes of women in the workplace do not serve women well. However, men and women collude in perpetuating them.

 So next time you label yourself, or conform to expectations of others or the role, ask yourself whether it serves you or others.

Tomorrow, 8^th March is International Women’s Day. This month we have permission to speak up for and about women: Their progress, challenges, contribution and value.

CEOs hastily prepare supportive and encouraging speeches.

Women role models are gathered to share their stories with other women.

Speakers and presenters are engaged to lead panels and seminars to inspire, motivate and harness the momentum that’s created this month.

So let’s not waste it!

What are the key messages that need to be shared?

How might we capitalise on the permission we have this month to talk honestly, frankly and usefully about what women need to succeed?

Last week, the Secretary of Treasury, Martin Parkinson led the way. He spoke honestly about the challenges women in his Department face, why it was so important that they were addressed and how he was going to hold himself and the Department to account.

As policy makers entrusted to maintain Australia’s strong and competitive economy, the Department of Treasury is accountable to the Australian population. He told the audience that meeting the volatile social, economic, environmental and political challenges we face requires the full participation of everyone at all levels.

Dr Parkinson shared the findings of the review I was engaged to lead, and said that ‘while some aspects of our culture were the source of our strength, other aspects of the same culture were presenting barriers to women’s progress.’ These included:

• ‘Institutionalised biases toward a homogenous leadership style
• Biases toward conceptual and analytical skills over coordination and people skills,
• Unconscious assumptions about the capacity and credibility of people with commitments outside of work and some issues with the way the Performance Management System was implemented.’

He said that while these ‘issues are not gender-specific, they do tend to affect women disproportionately.’

It is truly refreshing to hear a leader be so open and frank about the cultural barriers faced by women within his organisation, commit to action and be willing to be held accountable.

If you think your CEO could do more than talk, encourage him to take the next steps:

• Undertake a review of the organisation to determine what the cultural issues really are within the context of that organisation;
• Commit to action and be willing to be held accountable for results.

If he needs more encouragement, give him Dr Parkinson’s speech. Download it now.

I met with a client last week who was frustrated and angry about how she was being marginalised by two senior men in her organisation.

This client is very senior herself, has accomplished many great things on behalf of her organisation and is held in esteem in her industry for her contribution.

During our coaching session we explored the nature of her organisation’s culture, identified the male rituals, norms and behaviours she was being affected by and discussed how she might change her communication style and her own responses in order to be better accepted and heard rather than dismissed, by her colleagues.

I don’t think we’ll be meeting again. At the end of the session she broke down and said with despair, ‘why do I have to change how I do things? Why can’t they just accept me for who I am? I have great ideas, but they’re never picked up, or if they are, my boss doesn’t give me credit for them! Why can’t they just support me, acknowledge my contribution and recognise that I’ve got something to add?’

INDEED.

The work I do is twofold:

Typically, I teach women how to get ahead in male defined workplace cultures. I teach women:

• How to speak up without being criticised as ‘too feminine’ ‘too masculine’ ‘too soft’ ‘too direct’… (this list goes on and on and on)
• How to negotiate without getting in their own way
• How to manage hierarchies so they’re seen, noticed and valued for their contribution
• How to advance their careers in workplaces that are created by men, for men.

My goal is to help women recognise the nature of the workplace culture they’re in, so they can adapt their behaviour, modify their style and demeanour in different contexts. The more information they have about how things are done within their workplace, the more power they have to adapt their style, influence change or make different choices.

Basically, I teach women how to act like a bloke without being seen as one.

When they begin to pay attention to their choices, their response could be:

1. ‘It’s too hard. Why should I have to change so they feel better? If my organisation can’t see the value of my contribution because of who I am that’s their problem.’

They then consciously choose to:

• stay at the level they’re at because they don’t want to play the game,
• leave their organisation for another they think will provide greater support or opportunities, or
• leave to work for themselves where they can do what they like how they like and generally be successful, feel more fulfilled and make a bigger difference (which is what I did when I left IBM)

2.  Increased motivation and determination to succeed. They use what they’ve learned and with greater awareness of their own behaviour and impact, are less likely to take things personally, will adapt their style, constrain their enthusiasm, limit their emotional responses to ideas and present only those opinions they think will be accepted by their male colleagues. When this happens:

• Some women make it to the top, but they’ve adapted their ideas, communication and ultimately how they think to accommodate the masculine norms and models of their colleagues.  This limits their organisation’s ability to reap the value from their difference and we find ourselves led by women who model themselves on the way men do things and their companies lose the value of their different perspectives. Or
• They rise rapidly until they begin a family, or recognise how much energy it takes to play the game, wonder what on earth they’ve done and why, then leave, or
• Despite the strategies they’ve learned, they still find themselves frequently placed second in promotion rounds, lose confidence and esteem, feel less able and worthy to be in their roles and their productivity inspiration and motivation suffers.

The Alternative:

The alternative is to: make a decision to increase the numbers of women at the top, change the culture so that women are NOT penalised for how they do things, hold senior managers accountable and create an environment that recognises, values and harnesses different perspectives, ideas and practices.

The alternative is harder because it changes the status quo. It requires commitment and leadership from the CEO.

It is NOT about empowering women (code for making them more like us!) It IS about FIXING the organisation.

It must be led by the CEO who makes it an imperative, recognises the value of more women and wants to harness the value of their ideas, perspectives and opinions so the organisation can

• make better decisions,
• become more competitive,
• access more market share,
• create more innovative products,
• demonstrate publicly that they’re a company that is an attractive place to work.

It must be led by a CEO who is invested in harnessing the potential of everyone rather than unintentionally limiting it.

It sounds hard, but some CEOs are up for it. Last year I was engaged by the Department of Treasury to identify the barriers to women’s advancement, develop strategies to overcome them and it resulted in the Secretary of the Department declaring his target of increasing the numbers of women in the Senior Executive to 35% by 2015. Read more.

Madeleine Albright reckons ‘there’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other.’

I reckon the potential for overcrowding is huge.

What is it about us that we find it so hard to celebrate the successes of other women?

How come senior women don’t feel able to confidently lead initiatives that are geared to increase opportunities for other women?

Why do so many women prefer to work for blokes than other women?

The reasons are complex, but typically stem from the personal: our insecurities, vulnerabilities and fears.  ‘Will she show me up?’ ‘I’ve done as much as she has and I’m not getting an award,’ ‘ I’m disappointed that I missed out, and can’t bring myself to … ‘if I support a women’s event, I’m accepting that I am different and need special favours…’

Despite their feelings and personal reservations, senior women have a professional responsibility to step up and actively help other women.

They need to

* lead initiatives that are geared to address inequitable practices.

* publicly articulate their support for other women.

* visibly engage with male champions, rather than offer quiet counsel in the background.

When women tell me that the issues for women have long been addressed, I say they have not been paying attention.

When they say they can’t relate to the issues and have never experienced discrimination in their careers, I wonder what they may have sacrificed along the way to get to where they are or what support they may have had that others missed out on.

When women say they shouldn’t be singled out in need of special favours, I say the reason we need to develop programs and initiatives for women is not because we are inadequate but because the systems, structures and culture we live and work in are.

The numbers speak for themselves. There are insufficient women in senior positions of power and leadership. So how can we possibly be confident about the decisions made from the top? How can we rely on organisations to accommodate the needs and interests of women if decisions are made about them by men? How can we expect true economic and political power and a safe and secure society when women’s voices are so frequently talked over or ignored?

Women leaders have a professional, ethical, and moral responsibility to step up and lead the changes we need to address the dearth of women at the top.

It’s not about women. It’s about everyone. And by taking the lead, we might all find ourselves in heaven.

Watch the TED video clip of Madeleine Albright

Just because we’re good at doing it, doesn’t mean we have to do it!

Women are overworked enough without taking responsibility for things others should be doing.

Think about it: how often do you step in to make someone else’s life easier or more comfortable?

How often do you

• fill the silences when no one else is talking?
• initiate and organise social events for friends and family?
• make the kids’ lunch or do their chores even when they’re old enough to do so themselves?
• attempt to create harmony and smooth over harsh words between family members and friends?

Are you a woman who:

• Does the work of others because your good or faster at it  – until you resent doing so?
• Agrees to work overtime, join working committees, or do more than your fair share just because ‘we need someone to do it’?
• Assumes that if a colleague or a boss identifies a problem, it must be yours to fix: ‘I can’t get the photo copier to work!’ groans a colleague. ‘Let me take a look,’ or ‘wait a minute, let me find the number for the maintenance guy…’

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s important that we offer friendship and support to others. It’s vital that we work towards creating harmonious relationships and contribute to more productive, effective workplaces. But it’s a shared responsibility.

Every time we step in to do the work, fill the space, fix the problem or create the peace we prevent others from stepping up to the plate.

Every time we do something because we’re better at it, or it will be faster or more convenient, we deny others the opportunity to learn, grow and develop. When people don’t learn, they don’t grow, have fewer opportunities available to them and are less able to contribute fully.

Every time we take charge we not only collude in perpetuating the perception that women are on the planet to make the lives of others’ comfortable, we also risk our own work, expend valuable energy and time and we prevent others from learning, contributing and taking responsibility for themselves.

We need everyone to contribute to creating a better world. This means we need to create the space and opportunity for everyone to participate.

So next time you have the inclination to step in and do something for someone, stop.  Give them the respect they deserve and the encouragement they need to do it themselves.

I frequently advise clients to regularly write in a journal as a means to reflect and deepen their insight and self-awareness.

I started a new journal a couple of months ago and as this year commences, find myself drawn to it as a daily discipline.

On the first page, I wrote:

This year I turn 50. This year I start a new journal to:

• Help me reconnect with what is most important
• Slow me down and keep my head from racing to places I can’t foresee or wish to avoid
• Soothe and comfort me as I notice the inevitable absences of growing up kids, family and friends
• Assist me to clarify my priorities for the hour, day and week
• Keep my feet on the ground as my head loiters in the clouds
• Provide distance between my urgent impulses and what’s most useful
• Soak up my tears and anxiety
• Provoke laughter, insight and wisdom
• Nurture my creativity
• Improve my writing
• Connect me with my deepest, truest feelings and allow me to ponder their significance
• Focus my mind so I achieve what’s best and most useful each week
• Enable me to differentiate doing from being
• Slow. Me. Down.

If you find life confusing, too fast or veering in a direction you’d rather not head, perhaps it’s time for you, too, to start a journal.

This week I attended the Diversity Council of Australia’s launch of its report on the cultural identity of senior executives and learned that it’s true: Australian companies (at least the top 4 accounting firms, the ANZ bank, which probably are representative of most) are led by white, Anglo, mostly men.

The stats look good:  41% of these senior executives were either born overseas or had parents born overseas. But their countries of heritage were the UK, US, Canada, New Zealand or South Africa; countries much like ours.

Less than 2% of executives come from non-English speaking backgrounds: 1.8% are Anglo-Italian, 1.5% are Anglo-Chinese and 1.2% are of Anglo-Indian heritage.

And yet, we’re told, this is the ‘Asian century’. Economic growth is built on our migration program. We rely on the skills, professional expertise and vocational knowledge of immigrants to prop up our economy.  Yet clearly we only trust those that look and sound like our British forebears to wield influence and power.

At the DCA launch Senator Kate Lundy, Parliamentary Secretary of Immigration and Multi-cultural Affairs, told us that the federal government is cultivating social inclusion by funding community radio, fairs and festivals. ‘This’ she said, proudly, ‘is a first.’ Typically it’s been left to state and local governments to bear the costs of events that celebrate multiculturalism and make us feel good.

I have a lot of respect for Senator Lundy, but frankly if this is the best the federal government can do, she should probably keep it quiet.

Our streets are filled with visual evidence of our migration programs.

Why are the people on the streets so under-represented at the top of our organisations?

Diversity improves the quality of decisions, provides a competitive edge and increases the bottom line, but managing diversity is difficult. It means we must be willing to listen to different perspectives, be challenged by people with different views and experiences and have lived a life we know little about. It means we have to open our minds to the possibility that we don’t have all the answers or that the way we see the world is not the only possibility. And that’s hard.

Why do something that’s difficult when we’ve already got enough going on and life is basically pretty good?  We work too hard, fret too much and have the occasional whinge. But basically we like our lives. There is no compelling reason for us to change how we do things or consider there may be other ways of doing things. There is no compelling reason for the government (or our senior leaders) to push too hard on this and gee, haven’t they enough on their plate trying to make room for women?

I’d love to be wrong, but I don’t think it’s going to change any time soon.