Op-Ed: To Win the Game, You Have to Play

Contributed by Lynne Morton, President, Performance Improvement Solutions

You want to get ahead – you’re working hard – your clients like you – you get good performance reviews. But you’re still not getting where you want to go professionally, or not fast enough. Sound familiar? That wouldn’t be surprising. It’s the situation in which many High Potential professional women find themselves. And it doesn’t seem “fair,” does it?

Well, “fair” is not a word that is part of the organizationally-savvy professional’s vocabulary. Yet it is often in a woman’s vocabulary. Women are more likely than men to slip into the posture of being victimized. We don’t always harness our full potential to achieve our professional goals. Reaching full potential, by which you generate FUSION energy, requires knowing how to “play” the organizational game.

Catalyst’s 2010 report of MBA professionals, The Pipeline’s Broken Promise, shows that men are more satisfied than women with their career advancement. As the study shows, despite the fact that aspirations are equal, a man’s first post-MBA job is more likely to be at a higher level than that of a woman. Furthermore, men outpaced women most when they started at the bottom of companies or firms. Additionally, more women left their jobs because of a difficult manager.

This data is very interesting since it may shed light on areas of improvement for women, as well as for organizations. It addition to driving for organizational change, we/ women can improve our abilities to understand organizational politics, see where the “land mines” are and, as is colloquially said, “play the game”. There is ample evidence to show that organizational systems do not support the advancement of women and that bias exists in many respects (compensation, flex-time, etc). However, observational and anecdotal evidence also shows that women are not as adept in finding out which organizational networks are most important, in knowing which connections they must make and nurture, nor in seeking out career advancement opportunities.

Men think more about how to get what they want, how to win the game. They set their sights on what will get them where they want to be. Knowledge of organizational politics, the rules of the game, is critical. Many management theorists believe that their earlier experiences of playing sports make men more inclined to think that way. But there is a hugely popular WNBA now. There are women sports announcers and women covering news stories on the front lines of war zones. Women know how to be team players broadly speaking. Now we have to do that within the business arena. There aren’t enough women in senior leadership to change the rules yet, so what we need to do is play by the rules that currently exist. And we can.

Women need to: Learn the (Unwritten) Rules. Make Connections. Have Sponsors.

1. Learn the (Unwritten) Rules. Women often take the less direct, or scenic, route to career advancement. They may do so because they feel less urgency, or they may do so because they have not considered the consequences. Consequences include not being taken seriously as a future leader. Colleagues notice if you decline a promotion or the chance to participate on a special team. And always managers take note. Do you know how many times you can say “no” before your manager stop thinking of you? Do you know the cultural reaction to saying “no” or going slowly? In your organization, is it expected that employees take some degree of responsibility for their careers? Simply put: to what extent do the unwritten rules in your organization require that you directly ask for career opportunities or manage your own career?

Also, remember there is a societal perception (or prejudice) that women do not seek authority roles. To counter that, you must be clear about your goals and know when and with whom to communicate them. Striking the right balance between being “too aggressive” vs. “not serious enough” is tough. The leadership style that a woman develops must balance not only personal values with gender perceptions; it must also take into account the organizational culture. That’s true business savvy.

2. Make Connections. Men tend to be better connected within their organizations. That may simply be because there are more other men with whom they can connect. But men also have the drive to make those connections. This runs counter to what we know about women, though… that we are instinctively better connectors than men. The critical difference here is that men connect consciously, for distinct reasons, while women connect unconsciously, on the basis of what is natural. It’s time for women to utilize their natural abilities for focused reasons. Know the social networks or the power networks in your organization. Know how things really get done and who makes decisions. Be at the center or hub of a social network: the “go to” person. The business-savvy pro knows that who you know is just as, if not more, important than what you know. That’s one key way that you understand the organization, its politics, or its land mines.

3. Have Sponsors. Many women still feel that promotions are made on the basis of considerations other than ability. For example, 30% of minority women professionals believe that promotions in their organizations are based on appearance rather than ability (Leadership in Your Midst [PDF], HBR, Nov. 2005).

Women need their colleagues to learn about their talents, if they can’t see them. A sponsor will do that. A sponsor will be your advocate, will look for ways for you to get ahead, and will speak up for you. Mentors are helpful, but a mentor will speak with you, while a sponsor will speak up for you. A sponsor may well make the difference in proving that you are worthy of a new assignment. A sponsor will make sure that the people who matter matter for you. Remember though, that you have to work with that sponsor. It is not surprising men are 46% more likely than women to have a sponsor. However, it is surprising that whether women have or don’t have a sponsor they are always significantly less likely to ask their manager for a stretch assignment than a man is (The Sponsor Effect, HBR, Oct. 2010).

Sadly, the recent Financial News’ 4th Annual Women in Finance survey showed that 67% of the women surveyed believed their gender made it harder for them to succeed. Let’s work toward changing that belief and the real numbers that go with it. Let’s work toward using women’s savvy to get ahead. Let’s not only play by the rules but also play harder. We can win the game.

Lynne Morton is a globally recognized leadership coach and management consultant based in NY. A widely published author and frequent public speaker, she heads the firm Performance Improvement Solutions, which specializes in the FUSIONCoaching™ for High Potential Women Process.

Ideas expressed by contributing writers do not necessarily reflect the views of The Glass Hammer team.