Movers and Shakers: Charlotte Laurent-Ottomane, President, The InterOrganization Network

charlottelaurentottomaneBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

“It’s been the driving mission of ION since our founding in 2006 to increase the number of women on public company boards and in the executive suite. One of the criteria for member organizations to join is that this must be part of their mission,” said Charlotte Laurent-Ottomane, President of the InterOrganization Network (ION).

ION is a consortium of 14 regional organizations in the United States, dedicated to the advancement of women to positions of power in the business world.

Laurent-Ottomane explained, “There has been a growing body of research showing the high correlation between gender diversity in the boardroom and the financial performance of the company.” She continued, “Women make up a huge portion of the workforce and the consumer market means it’s only natural that you have women on the board representing that audience.”

“And simply put, it just has to be that way. It’s the natural balance,” she added. “In this country, we’ve gone through many variations of equality. Now its women’s time to be equal, and that means equality in the economy and in the board room. That’s where the power lies.”

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Happy Summer!

iStock_000003543959XSmallDear Readers, we’re taking today off in honor of Memorial Day in the US and the Spring Bank Holiday in the UK. And, we have something exciting planned for the summer… We want to hear more from you! We’re looking for contributors to our Intrepid Woman article series. The series chronicles the stories of professional women stepping out of their comfort zones passionately and courageously. Recent Intrepid Women include:

Previous Intrepid Women have also included a lawyer / volunteer fire fighter, a marketing executive who scaled the Great Wall, and our former editor Pamela Weinsaft – who wrote about her expedition to Antarctica. We’ve also visited trapeze school, sky diving class, and even the Russian Bath House here in New York.

How have you challenged yourself physically or emotionally lately? What was the outcome? What has your adventuresome, limit-pushing experience taught you about yourself, and how has it helped you professionally? Tell us your story! Get in touch with me at melissa@theglasshammer.com to learn more.

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Boldly Go: How to Take Risks and Overcome Fear

iStock_000013882253XSmallContributed by Kristin Kaufman, Alignment, Inc.

“Boldly going where no man (or woman) has gone before” has become a modern day cliché, representing adventure, bravery, and futuristic thinking. Though, if we’re completely honest with ourselves, many women will admit they simply follow suit as leaders. We may up the current game in our company and in our personal lives by being competitive in how we play the game; yet, how often do we really change the game?

Shareholder pressure, personal and professional fear, recessionary conditions, and myriad factors contribute to more conservative approaches to work and life. Yet, as leaders and even aspiring leaders in today’s world, it is our job and our responsibility to chart new paths. If we don’t encourage playing dangerously and coloring outside the lines, who will? We must continue to innovate, push, explore, and make it safe for others to do so – otherwise, we will stagnate, avoid risks, become complacent, and ultimately not progress in our roles and contribution to our organizations.

So, let’s break it down. If we truly want to lead, what are a few things we can consider to improve our success ratio or at least minimize our risk of totally flaming out?

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Voice of Experience: Kay Kapoor, U.S. Federal Practice Lead, Accenture

KayKapoorBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Having spent over 25 years delivering IT solutions for the federal government, Kay Kapoor shifted careers, becoming Accenture‘s new U.S. Federal Practice leader. Kapoor is enthusiastic about the importance of self confidence – and why it’s important for career success. She said, “Sometimes, as women, we don’t give credit to our own capabilities. Once I recognized early in my career that I needed to voice what I wanted, I was better able to move forward in my career.”

Kapoor added, “My advice to women is to just take the leap of faith and be courageous. Most of the time it does work out. As the saying goes, ‘if there’s a fork in the road, then take it.’”

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German Companies Encouraged to Recruit Women to Boards

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iStock_000003858560XSmallBy Elizabeth Harrin (London)

Germany, Europe’s largest economy, is managed by men. While Chancellor Angela Merkel has packed her cabinet with a good gender balance, that isn’t reflected in German businesses. And many people think it should be.

Recently German politicians have been debating targets for the number of women on supervisory and executive boards. They are aiming for 30% representation by 2018. That’s 10% below the target that Norway set in 2003, but a lot higher than the current board representation figures.

“Germany is recognized as a laggard in terms of public policy focused on helping women in the workplace,” says Véronique Bourez, in the report Women on Boards: Moving Beyond Tokenism [PDF]. “The number of women in senior levels in business is certainly one of the lowest in Europe.”

According to FIDAR, a German women’s association which aims to promote a sustainable increase in the proportion of women on the supervisory boards of German companies, only about 12% of the directorships of large German companies are women. However, most of those are labour union representatives. If you look at the female shareholder representatives on boards the number drops to a measly 4.5%.

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Men Must be Recruited to Help Close the Gender Leadership Gap

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iStock_000006954519XSmallBy Melanie Axman (Boston)

Early last spring, a study was designed by several faculty members at the Center for Gender in Organizations (CGO) at Simmons College in Boston. Through the study, CGO’s scholars set out to delve into the leadership gap that persists despite ongoing efforts throughout corporate America to affect positive change in the workplace.

Critical obstacles deemed to widen this gap are “second generation gender bias,” a term that defines more subtle gender dynamics, deeply embedded in an organization’s culture and work norms. Most surprising was the study’s finding that senior male bosses, when involved in organizational change efforts regarding these biases, were perceived as the most effective change agents for women seeking leadership roles.

To collect the data, a survey (sponsored by HP) was conducted to further understand the role of second generation gender bias in the workplace. Approximately 300 women attending the 2010 Women’s Leadership Conference were asked to answer questions in relation to these dynamics within their organizations.

In discussing whether or not the sampling was representative of the female workforce as a whole, Dr. Spela Trefalt, co-author of the study says, “These women were already leaders or looking to become leaders. The degree to which women are recognizing these issues would certainly be higher when they are looking to become leaders, because that is when these issues start to bother them. Virtually every single woman [surveyed] reported having encountered these issues. As women start vying for leadership positions at work, second generation gender biases start affecting their paths.”

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Next Generation of Female Leaders Needs Strong Mentors

iStock_000007716967XSmallBy Laura Ratcliff

It’s been widely reported that women are attending college at the highest numbers in history. In fact, for the first time, the work force has more college-educated women than men, according to the Census Bureau – 37% of employed women held at least a bachelor’s degree, compared to 35% of men. The same trend holds true for graduate programs at the master’s level. Only 7.1% of men over 25 have completed a master’s program, compared to 8.1% of women. High achieving women are flooding into the professional workplace, and these numbers are only expected to rise.

Yet, a disturbing report from Harvard University highlights a serious gap in academic honors accorded to women in the class of 2009 at the Harvard Business School – which suggests a troubling trend in the nature of women’s participation in the workplace as well.

The study points out that these extremely smart, high performing women are self-censoring, even in business school. A lack of mentors may be to blame.

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Honoring Role Models and Sponsors at the 2011 FWA Women of the Year Awards

FWABy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Last Thursday, the Financial Women’s Association of New York honored two outstanding women for the impact they have had on our perception of mentoring, sponsoring, and role models: Irene Dorner, President & CEO, HSBC Bank USA and Sylvia Ann Hewlett, Founding President of the Center for Work-Life Policy.

Both women emphasized the importance of changing the game so that more women can reach levels of success in the financial services. The evening was dedicated to the fact that no one gets to the top without other people helping them along the way.

Susan Ganz, President of the Financial Women’s Association said, “Irene Dorner has really embraced and exemplified the concept of women helping women.” And Sylvia Ann Hewlett, she said, was honored for her years of advocacy on changing the structure of workplaces so that they are can be more inclusive of diverse leaders, as well as for spearheading the CWLP’s recent study on sponsorship.

The event, which took place at the Grand Hyatt in New York City, also celebrated the organization’s 35 years of educational programming and mentoring. Dorner said, “We must pay it forward. We must mentor and coach other women the way we have been coached.”

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Movers and Shakers: Mary Chung, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications and Marketing, ELX Futures

marychungBy Jessica Titlebaum (Chicago)

We were having lunch somewhere in the 50’s in Midtown Manhattan. I had just gotten off the plane from Chicago and hailed a cab. I was meeting Mary Chung, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications and Marketing at ELX Futures, an electronic futures exchange launched in July 2009 and backed by a consortium of investment banks including Bank of America, JP Morgan, and Goldman Sachs; among others. She had recommended we meet at a Thai place down the street from her office.

The first thing one would notice about Chung is her size. She is petite and svelte at 40 years old and in shape. At the Futures Industry Association’s annual conference in Boca Raton in March this year, she placed first in the women’s 5K run and won an iPad.

“I’ve always enjoyed pushing my body to the limit,” she said. “You are never too old to be in shape,” she said.

However because of her petite frame and youthful appearance, Chung said she felt she had to prove that she was tough enough to handle the derivatives industry.

“I probably overcompensated in the beginning because of my appearance,” she said. “I dressed in Brooks Brothers suits, rarely wore make up and tried to bury my femininity because I thought I needed to do that to be taken more seriously. I’m confident in myself now and in my experience and ability that I don’t feel the need to wear boxy pants- suits and sensible shoes to prove my professional presence,” she said with a chuckle glancing down at her Jimmy Choos.

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Stepping Up and Into Power

anneperscheljane perdueContributed by Dr. Anne Perschel and Jane Perdue

A cocktail of cultural, systemic, organizational, as well as personal impediments hinder women’s progress in attaining executive positions and yield woeful statistics.

Women:

  • Make up 3% of Fortune 500 CEOs
  • Occupy 8% of corporate clout positions
  • Comprise 15.7% of Fortune 500 corporate officers, and
  • 1 in 18 earns a six-figure salary versus 1 in 7 for men.

But some women do make it through this course of cocktails and do so while remaining true to who they are and standing on their feet. Therein lies the hope that by discovering an spreading knowledge about how to run the course and break through previously unbroken records, or ceilings in this case, more women will step up and into power. When they do so, they will transform their organizations and culture of business, which is a key lever for societal change.

To this end, we seek, find, and pay forward breakthrough wisdom and are currently conducting research to discover:

  • What professional women believe, think, and feel about power.
  • Whether they want more.
  • How they try to attain it and what works.

In Phase 1 of our study, 214 businesswomen shared their candid views on power. In phase 2, women in executive clout positions reveal and pay forward the beliefs, strategies, and behaviors they employed to earn those roles.

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