Collaboration For Good Leadership
 
 
I’ve been receiving requests for more information on leadership styles for women. Of course, the same leadership style will work no matter if you’re a man or a woman, but the questions have been phrased to indicate many women are not comfortable with the autocratic style of leadership, where the leader dominates the team with a one-sided approach to reach an objective.
 
If you’re not comfortable with that style, there are other choices. Collaboration is one that many women tend toward—what I mean is they can be really, really good at it!
 
There’s an academic argument that managing and leading are two separate realms, but I’m not going to get into that. I have a good reason: I’m committed to helping more women make it into the top 2 tiers of major corporations (only 15% of those lofty seats are women-occupied). Women are doing well with management tasks, as research shows (see below), and occupy half of those positions—up to the mid-management level.
 
What I propose is that each woman adds leadership to her management job—she might as well get ready for that top job.
 
A leader has to be committed to what the company is attempting to do—nah, you can’t fake it. If you’re committed, make sure others get that message. It will help you motivate the people you’re leading—not merely managing. Talk to your people openly about your vision for the future and their part in it. Let them know they’ll be recognized for their work. Also, be honest about risks. You want them to try, and if they fail, you understand that this happens in business, and they won’t be penalized.
 
Now, my tip for the week deals with how a woman should use collaboration.
 
 
Tip:
 
When you collaborate you ask for ideas from your team members, letting them know that more creativity and a better direction can arise this way. Let them know you’re all in this together sharing responsibility and recognition. When team members feel their ideas are being listened to, they are more motivated to making the project a success.
 
Now, the problem for a woman has to be headed off at the beginning of the collaboration . . . because, unfortunately, many people still believe in the stereotype of a weak, helpless woman—perhaps a woman who doesn’t have any ideas of her own. A woman who needs help.
 
At the beginning of the session, let everyone know that you can see at least one possible direction, and if you did not care about their ideas, you would proceed immediately. Tell them a better direction, a better product, and better communication will result if everyone contributes their ideas and talks about how to proceed. But let them know it’s up to you to make the final decision.
 
As you solicit comments from team members, be mindful to directly ask for suggestions from people who are quiet. Sometimes strong comments silence others. Tell people you expect that not everyone will agree. Also, let people know they don’t have to stick to their first thoughts—mind changing is allowed and even encouraged, especially when novel approaches are brought up.
 
At the end of a collaboration session, you as the leader should round up the meeting with a statement such as the following script.
 
“I appreciate all of your comments and I appreciate how easily you allowed different viewpoints to be heard. This is how business can successfully move forward. Now, the final decision is up to me. I will let everyone know by X date. At that time I expect that each of you will support the decision, no matter if your idea was not picked up. Does each of you feel you can fully support the decision at that time—no grumbling allowed? Do you? Thank you. I anticipate moving forward as a true working team.”
 
 
Further Reading:
 
Blog, Women’s Lunch Talk, by Nancy Clark, Proof That Women Make Great Managers —Studies Show Areas Where Women Excel
 
Podcast (always less than 10 minutes), Working in Heels, by Nancy Clark, Episode 1 - Listen To This First —See Why The Time Is Right For Women In Business
 
 
Website, WomensMedia, by Hilary M. Lips, Women and Leadership: The Delicate Balancing Act
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Tags: leadership, management, collaboration, working, women, business, career

Are Mars-Venus Stereotypes Barriers To Women’s Advancement?
 
 
“Men and women aren’t planets apart, but their stereotypes sure are!”
                                                                        —Nancy Clark
 
 
In the recent past you could attract a lot of attention by saying women are different, very different, from men. It was a quick jump to assume that women are nurturing, and that maybe men are not—or that women show empathy, and men do not. It has become a sad state of affairs. As with all trends, this one went too far and now it’s time to reconsider.
 
It’s a known fact that there’s a wide range of traits and talents in the female population, just as there is in the male population. And these gender ranges overlap—don’t tell me you haven’t noticed that.
 
In general, there are slight, not huge, differences between the genders. And, as I said in Nature vs. Nurture, many of these are from conditioning, not from nature.
 
The huge differences are not “real” differences but are the differences in stereotypes for each gender. I can’t bear to list them or even say them out loud for fear it’ll give them more weight than they have now. They do add up to what Catalyst research shows is the current viewpoint:  Women take care, and men take charge. What does that give us? It gives us: Men are the executives, and women assist them. It gives us the statistics that I pointed out in How Bad Is The Gender Gap At Work?. The stats show us 85 % male executives in the top 2 tiers of the Fortune 500 companies.
 
Catalyst research shows that by creating false perceptions that women and men are “planets apart,” gender stereotyping often creates an environment where women are overlooked for top positions—regardless of the strength of their credentials. The statistics bear this out.
 
Does this mean a woman should mimic a man? No, a woman should stick with the leadership style she’s comfortable with—acting doesn’t do it. My tip of the week gives you a strategy for awakening your company to the benefits of removing stereotypes and other gender biases. It’s much better if your company realizes it wants to capitalize on female talent (and stop losing money when frustrated women leave). This is an opportunity whose time has come!
 
Here’s my tip of the week.
 
Tip:
Let your company know about the money-saving lesson a Fortune 500 company, Deloitte and Touche, learned. Mike Cook was worried about the number of women who left his company at the mid-management level. He asked his senior managers why this was happening. All of them said it was for “family reasons.” Fortunately, he looked into it further by tracking down the women who had left. The women were still working—some with competitors—some in other fields. The ones with families had started them before leaving Deloitte.
 
The real reason for leaving was that they saw no advancement for them and no role models in upper management. They were frustrated with the gender bias. This gender bias had a price—it was costing the company millions of dollars a year. Recruitment, training, and loss of productivity add up in dollars. The company is making strides to pinpoint and remove those gender biases. The benefit to the company is in the bottom line—and the women like it too! 
 
Refer your bosses to an article about this success story in the Harvard Business Review. A success for your company will be a success for women as well!
 
 
Further Reading:
 
Blog, Women’s Lunch Talk, by Nancy Clark, Stereotyping Hurts Women In Business —Those Little Put-Downs Add Up 

Blog, Women’s Lunch Talk, by Nancy Clark, Want To Cover Your Self-Doubt? —Use Words That Say, “I Can Do It!”
 
Podcast (always less than 10 minutes), Working in Heels, by Nancy Clark, Episode 1 - Listen To This First —See Why The Time Is Right For Women In Business
 
 
Website, WomensMedia, by Natalie R. Manor, Leadership & Confidence
—Many Women Are Competent, but Lack Confidence
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Tags: stereotypes, working, women, business, career, Mars, Venus

—Should We Thank Cashmere Mafia & Lipstick Jungle? 
 
 
Something happened in Mexico City that surprised me. TV producer Miguel Sabido created a popular soap opera called Ven Conmigo (“Come with Me”). At one point, the audience saw the problems one of the main characters was having because he couldn’t read or write. Then it showed him picking up a free literacy booklet from the county adult education center. Illiteracy has been a big problem for a long time in Mexico City and these booklets have been available, and largely unrequested. The morning after the show aired, over a quarter of a million people poured into the streets of Mexico City to get their own literacy booklets. This was just a television show—not even a “reality” show. What happened?
 
The authors of the book Influence call it entertainment education. They claim, “Told well, these vicariously created events approximate the gold standard of change—real experience.”
 
In the US there are two weekly shows competing for the popular television audience: Cashmere Mafia and Lipstick Jungle. They have a bit of something for everyone—which is what’s needed to catch people’s attention in the television market. They also have something in common—they both show executives who are women—women who can take charge.
 
This is what’s needed to chip away at the prevalent stereotypes that Catalyst research indicates:  Women take care, and men take charge. These old stereotypes (Can a woman take charge?) all too frequently pop up when women are reviewed, and put off, for promotions.
 
Back to Cashmere Mafia and Lipstick Jungle, where the difficult work-life balancing acts are also shown in excruciating detail. Men, I believe, will empathize with women’s plight and jump in to help more often (in real life).
 
So, how do I feel about Cashmere Mafia and Lipstick Jungle? I’m all for this vicarious entertainment education.
 
 
Tip:
If the climate is right for shows like these to catch on, then it’s probably right to overturn the stereotypes we’ve been saddled with. The more people talk and think about stereotypes, the quicker the change. Do your part by chatting with others about how themes have changed since Working Girl and 9 to 5. Now get out there and chat up the new stereotypes!
 
 
 
Further Reading:
 
Blog, Women’s Lunch Talk, by Nancy Clark, Stereotpying Hurts Women In Business —Those Little Put-Downs Add Up
 
 
Podcast (always less than 10 minutes), Working in Heels, by Nancy Clark, Episode 1 - Listen To This First —See Why The Time Is Right For Women In Business
 
 
Website, WomensMedia, by Judy B. Rosener, Ph.D., Women on Corporate Boards Make Good Business Sense
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