Gender Asbestos

As Kellye Whitney points out in her post in Diversity Executive , there has been far too much focus on the problems of developing women leaders and not nearly enough on the opportunities, the potential upside. Kellye is picking up on the big debate started by Avivah Cox in her recent response to the Harvard Business Review’s negative stream of articles on the subject. Avivah has really gotten things going here!

Filed under: Featured, Management, Workplace and Business Trends, Add new tag, Business, Education, Harvard Business Review, Harvard University

Cassandra Was a Woman

Adam Cohen writes in today’s New York Times that ours is becoming an age of Cassandras—voices raised to warn of impending disasters that are doomed to be ignored. Clearly there’s a strong element of this in the unfolding financial crisis, but Cohen neglects to note s key fact: that the Cassandra role has traditionally been played by women.

As Julie Johnson and I note in our forthcoming book, “The Female Vision”, Cassandra was known in the Classical world as the “cursed prophetess”. She foresaw the destruction of her home country Troy, but was unable to get anyone (including her father, the King) to pay attention.

In the world of myth, Cassandra set a template for women’s best observations being overlooked and undervalued. We’ve seen that play out over several millennia since. And certainly in the present crisis, women played a particularly impressive role in articulating how a system was about to collapse!

I like that Cohen put the analogy out there into the world, but do also wish he’d mentioned the very important point, that Cassandra was most definitely a woman!

Filed under: Featured, Julie Johnson, Sally Helgesen, Workplace and Business Trends, Adam Cohen, Cassandra, early warning, Female Vision, financial crisis, Julie Johnson, New York Times, Women

I’m Sorry ‘Shumpeter’

Last week, the Economist’s featured a cover story: We Did It! What Happens When Women Are Over Half the Workforce.  It provided a good summary picture of where women stand in 2010 and suggested that we celebrate women’s progress—to which I can only say, good idea!

The magazine’s “Schumpeter” column, which is supposed to focus on entrepreneurship and innovation, took a rather contrary approach. The column is anonymously written, but named in honor of the great Austrian  economist who coined the phrase “creative destruction.”

“Schumpeter” used the occasion to pen a retrograde rant against anyone who suggests that one half of the human race might bring a slightly different set of skills, values and insights with them into the world of business or government.

Identifying the first generation of female leaders as a tough bunch who bore a sneering disdain for “the sisters,” he lamented twenty years of pioneering research on the qualities women bring to leadership. He singled out the wonderful work Avivah Wittenberg-Cox and Judy Rosener, and even took a swipe at McKinsey for its ground-breaking work on leadership behaviors.

Perhaps most bizarrely, he advocated that women follow the lead of one Dong Mingzhu, the boss of an air-conditioning company. She wins his heart by proudly proclaiming, “I never admit mistakes and I am always correct.”

The column seemed particularly out of whack because “Schumpeter” allegedly celebrates the entrepreneurial spirit. I suggest whoever writes it read Margaret Heffernan’s magnificent How She Does It, the best thing ever written about what female entrepreneurs bring to the game, in terms of values, skills and profitability.

Filed under: Featured, Management, Women Entrepreneurs, Women in the Workplace, Womens Leadership, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, Margaret Heffernan, The Economost, Womens Leadership

Are Women Bad at Supporting Other Women?

Last year I had a blast addressing 900 members of the Junior League, mostly officers and incoming or outgoing presidents. It was a great group, and I am convinced of the truth of the League’s self-description––that it is indeed a leadership training organization for women.

In addition to giving a keynote, I met with the board one afternoon for one of those pick-your-brain session at which I learn as much as the people I’m there to help. One of the questions that most often kept coming up was one that I’m frequently asked in many contexts: Why aren’t women better at supporting one another?

This led to a lively discussion that allowed me to articulate my views on this subject better than I have been able to in the past. What I have to say goes against the grain for many, but I want to share it with you.

First, I think women are often terrific at supporting one another. Not always, and not all women, but in general this seems to be one of our great strengths. Much (though not all) of the real help I’ve had in my work has come from women, who tend to be very responsible about following through on their promises and generous in sharing their resources. And almost all of the real help I’ve had in my personal life has come from women, who listen, ask questions, think seriously, and are openhearted with their wisdom.

Yes, I’ve been burned a few times, put my trust in a few women who did not earn it. And I’ve certainly heard horror stories from women in the workplace who have been undermined or blindsided by other women. But is it really only women who have undermined them or failed to give them support? Or is it that they notice it more when women don’t come through? Perhaps we expect women to support us in ways that we don’t expect men to do, and then feel betrayed when these hopes are disappointed.

I believe this is what happens in many cases. And I’m starting to think that this whole women-don’t-support-other-women conversation is just another way for women to bash themselves. I’ve seen men who are terrible at supporting other men, who stab supposed friends in the back and gossip cruelly about co-workers, but I have never gone to a conference or other gathering and listened to men agonizing about why men aren’t better at supporting other men! The notion is almost ludicrous.

I don’t think this is because men are better at being supportive, but rather because it’s not an issue for them–– they don’t expect it, and so don’t focus their concern on other men they don’t find supportive. They just think, “he’s a jerk,” and move on. They certainly don’t use it as an occasion to question the goodness of men in general.

But then, men aren’t usually that interested in talking about what is wrong with men, whereas women often have a strong appetite for this kind of negative self evaluation. As I often mention in my keynotes, there’s a big market for books on what is wrong with women–– women who love too much, love the wrong people at the wrong time–– whatever. You can find a whole wall of such books in most bookstores because women provide a market for them. By contrast, you won’t find even a shelf of books about what is wrong with men­­ because men have no interest in the topic.

I’ve spent most of my career trying to help women focus on what they have to contribute rather than how they need to change. I think this is the answer to the conversation now taking place about women and support. Women need to stop accepting the cliché that they are uniquely bad about supporting one another. It might be more helpful if we instead recognized that the underlying problem may be expecting too much from other women, requiring them to be perfect human beings and then feeling disappointed when they don’t prove to be so.

What do you think?

Filed under: Featured, Keynote, Chats and Forums, Junior League, Leadership, New Orleans, Women

Women and the Claim of Visibility

Women and the Claim of Visibility

This fall I spent time in San Francisco with one of my favorite clients, Leadership California.Every year, LCA brings together 50 high potential women in business, government, the non-profit sector and academia for four sessions intensive three day sessions. The goal is to help them build and strengthen their networks, expand their understanding of the opportunities in their glorious state, and fast-forward their leadership skills. It’s a high powered and high energy group, and the sessions are superb.

This year, the group really resonated with my research about the challenge many women face in claiming visibility and getting acknowledgement for their contributions. So I thought I would share some of what we talked about in my blog.

In my years of studying women leaders, I have come to recognize that women with extraordinary skills are sometimes uncomfortable articulating their strengths. I first got a picture of how much this was true when I worked on a study of women partners in professional service firms, such as law, accounting, investment banking and consulting.

When I asked the women partners about the strengths of younger women in their firms, most of them said that the younger women did outstanding work. “Meticulous.” “Totally dependable.” “A-plus quality.” These were the comments that I frequently heard.

When I asked the women partners what the younger women were worst at, their response was almost universal. “They are worst at letting people know about the quality of the work they do.” That was clearly the consensus view.

So I asked the younger women if they thought they were good about letting people know about the quality of the work they did. Almost every one of them said she was not. So I asked why not.

What do you think they said?

They had mostly two responses. The first was some variation on “I don’t want to be an obnoxious blowhard.” This was sometimes expressed more strongly, as in: “If I have to act like that jerk down the hall to get attention, no thanks.”

The second response was, “My work should speak for itself.” That is, they felt that if they did superior work, people should notice without their having to point it out.”

How effective a strategy do you think that is? Any thoughts you’d like to share with me?

In my next posting, I’ll share with you some of the strategies we worked out in San Francisco– ways that women can claim attention in a way that is comfortable for them. What we concluded at our session is that it is not either/ or– that is, you don’t need to make a choice between being obnoxious and simply hoping that people notice your great work!

Filed under: Featured, Business, San Francisco, Women