Next Level: An Interview with Rebecca Shambaugh, Founder of Women in Leadership and Learning

by Heather Cassell (San Francisco)

Women hold the key to their own success, according to Rebecca Shambaugh, president and CEO of Shambaugh Leadership and founder of Women in Leadership and Learning, an organization dedicated to the advancement and retention of women leaders. Getting to the next level in the workplace, she says, requires more than mere professionalism; it requires leadership.

Shambaugh should know – her company of corporate consultants have assisted senior executives manage crisis and changes, build communication strategies, clarify and define corporate cultures, develop human capital and corporate governance since 1989. Shambaugh Leadership is headquartered in McLean, VA with additional offices in Boston, Dallas, San Francisco, Washington DC, and Europe.

Early on, Shambaugh recognized how her own misconceptions about how to get ahead could negatively impact her career. “The biggest obstacle is what’s in front of us and that’s our own saying [something is] not possible or [something is] not of value,” says Shambaugh. During her more than 20 years of coaching, she has observed time and time again women displaying the seven destructive behaviors that hold them back in their careers –“sticky floors” as she calls them in her book, It’s Not a Glass Ceiling, It’s a Sticky Floor. We discussed the work/life balance “sticky floor” on The Glass Hammer on August 5th, the others are ceaseless perfectionism; staying in a position too long and being too loyal; failing to create strategic relationships; failing to capitalize on political and social savvy; failing to make one’s words count; and failing to ask for what one wants.

However, once women are aware of limiting behaviors, “the sky can be the limit,” says Shambaugh. Tools of change in hand, women navigate their careers in new and better directions. Shambaugh says more than 60 percent of the women who complete the Women in Leadership and Learning workshops are promoted within less than a year.

“Sometimes women have lower expectations and set lower expectations of themselves,” says Shambaugh, recalling an experience during her first year at a company. She says that while she was out socializing with co-workers one evening she overheard that a male co-worker who started in the same position at the same time she did earned 25 to 30 percent more than she did.

“I was working just as many hours—probably longer hours—and had done some innovative things that were getting some good results,” says Shambaugh. “Quite frankly, I thought I was doing probably a little better job than he was.”

She approached a male mentor who told her that he never went into a job interview without knowing what his base salary was and room to negotiate. Shambaugh says she immediately realized she hadn’t gone into the interview prepared to negotiate her salary.

Asking, says Shambaugh, isn’t limited to negotiating an appropriate salary, but in many situations during the course of a career. Women tend to be highly self-critical and talk themselves out of opportunities or even merely asking a question of someone (co-worker, supervisor, company executive, professional contact or otherwise) that can help them advance.

Also, women often forget they are the drivers of their careers. They don’t realize that they do have the choice to turn down promotions offered to them and suggest alternatives that would allow them to continue to grow within the company. Failing to recognize that option, women often leave the otherwise satisfying positions and companies.

“Organizations today are looking for those conversations,” says Shambaugh, “so they can avoid those regrettable losses and maintain top talent.”

She stresses that women must realize they have a choice, but they need to be clear about what they want and be prepared with a “win-win” plan when they make their proposal.

“If you don’t ask, you don’t get,” says Shambaugh, “If you don’t know what you want and you don’t think that you are deserving you are not starting from a good foundation or footing for yourself. Take stock in yourself, research, know what you really want, and don’t expect people to say no.”

Getting to the top takes a lot of faith in oneself. For women, that may mean hanging on to particular feminine leadership skills and style. “Research studies show that successful women who ‘flex’ their natural muscle, which are their feminine attributes, around leadership are highly more productive [in their] organization and [the companies are] more profitable,” says Shambaugh, “It doesn’t mean that you have to join the “guy’s club.” Successful women strategically network and plan their careers within business hours.

The secret, according to Shambaugh, is that successful women have a “belief system” built on a solid foundation of knowing their strengths, honing those specific skills, and leveraging them across their organization. She stresses that women shouldn’t get too comfortable professionally and should always look for opportunities to develop new skills as well as make time to invest in themselves. Women should look inward, asking themselves, “What do they really want…from life and career? Are they heading in the right direction? What are they doing that may be self-limiting?”

Shambaugh is optimistic about the future of women in business, expecting to see more and more women in influential positions. “This glass ceiling, these external obstacles,” adds Shambaugh, “just might be an illusion and you know they may not be an obstacle…anymore.”

Shambaugh Leadership is hosting a leadership program called “The Sticky Floors: Breaking Barriers for Leadership Excellence”, October 6-7, 2008, at the Ritz Carlton, Central Park in New York City.