Women in Leadership

Do women not want it enough?

Challenge: Not enough women apply for the leadership positions we have. How do we get more of them to step up?

Solution: Talk to them. Consider their reasons for not applying. And consider changing your processes!

Now this is a topic, that is widely debated. Is it a woman’s fault for not stepping up to the challenge? Is it their choice? Are there simply not enough capable women, who want the responsibility of leadership? If you ask me, of course I disagree. While there are women, who chose not to and with very valid reasons, there are enough capable and ambitious women, who want the C-Suite or the position on the board.

One reason for women not to apply is the way job profiles are phrased and, yes indeed, our own tendency to only apply, if we fulfil almost all requirements, contrary to men. The solution for this is very simple. Ask, invite or nudge the potential female candidates to apply. Another solution is to carefully rethink the wording of the job profile and in particular to add the soft skills needed for the role. This could give women a boost and will certainly make the final choice better, than if you only look for technical competencies.

Another reason is, that some women – and quite some men – chose very deliberately to not get involved in the politics, that increase the higher you get. The solution for this is easy, but not quickly overcome: Consider actively working against politics (they are detrimental to your organization anyway) and hire more people, who don’t do politics, instead of rewarding those, who play the game to perfection.

And the difficulties apply just as much to women entrepreneurs. They face other, but as significant issues, especially, when they ask investors for funding.

Bias of course plays a part in many career situations, like when asking for a raise. “Stereotypes are that women are supposed to be modest and self-effacing,” she said — and asking for a raise flies in the face of those.

To conclude: women want the funding, the promotion and the raise, but face much higher hurdles to get them.

Change only works, when critical mass is achieved.

Challenge: Women do not have the same networks. Should there be leadership programs aimed at women?

Solution: Yes! Create a safe space to learn, grow and develop a support group!

There is an argument, that for women to rise to the top, they need to network with men – and this is certainly true. But as with any minority, if you want them to have a voice in your own right, you need about 30% critical mass otherwise they will be silenced.

Considering, that most leaders today still are men, for a woman to attend a development program alone or as one of the few, can be hard. To truly develop you need to open up about, what you cannot yet do. To share doubts to truly learn and to try and practice, a safe environment is very important.

Quite some years back, I have attended a one year long leadership program for senior business women. Before this program, I had attended other excellent leadership programs. And while the programs were very, very good, the one distinct difference I felt in the women’s only program, was how fast we opened up to each other. How easy it was to discuss doubts and need for learning. This openness, created a major boost for the effectiveness of learning. And the safe, trusted environment really helped us discover and build our strength.