New Year, New Job? Not so fast

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People waiting for an interviewSo, bonuses are paid and you are ready to make a move to your next job. You have your reasons for leaving and they are one or more of the following:

  • You think you can do better financially for the same work
  • You see less of a career track where you are and you think you can get further in another firm (title and responsibilities)
  • You are leaving your manager, not your company
  • You are changing industry or function and can only do that by leaving
  • You are not aligned with how things get done in your current job

Over the next five weeks we will look at each of these factors to give you a sanity check on whether you truly are leaving for the right reasons.

By Nicki Gilmour, Executive Coach and Organizational Psychologist
Contact nicki@glasshammer2.wpengine.com if you would like to hire an executive coach to help you navigate the path to optimal personal success at work

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Why Storytelling Is a Leadership Asset That Takes Many Forms

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women working mentoringYou can call storytelling a fine art, a talent, a method, a skill, the mark of a leader or all of the above. But what proves effective storytelling is a powerful leadership asset? Well to get technical about it, neuroscience does.

Research into the neurobiological impact of storytelling by Paul Zak shows that stories change the activity in people’s brains. Powerful character-driven stories produce neurochemicals that enhance our sense of empathy (thinking, feeling, and responding the same way as the character) and motivate us toward cooperative behavior – “stories bring brains together” and people with them.

Paul Zak recommends professionals to begin every presentation with a “compelling human-scale story.” His experiments in business settings show that emotive character-driven stories equate to better understanding and greater retention of your key speaking points weeks later. “In terms of making impact,” he writes, “this blows the standard PowerPoint presentation to bits.”

A Core Leadership Skill That Leads?

David Hutchens, author of Circle of the 9 Muses: A Storytelling Field Guide for Innovators & Meaning Makers says that leaders are “rediscovering that story is the most efficient path to creating connection, engagement, and shared meaning.”

According to Hutchens, leaders are connecting the power of stories with the ability to address pressing issues facing organizations such as capturing decisions, knowledge and wisdom after the event; engaging Millennial talent through organizational purpose; creating value; and defining individual and organizational identity.

Certainly top female executives such as Meg Whitman and Indra Nooyi leverage the power of stories in public speaking. We also recognize stories for their potential and power to make diversity personal, inspire women on pathways to leadership, and to advance gender equality.

We know stories are integral to leadership. According to researchers and consultants Stort and Nordstrom in Forbes, “Proper storytelling just might be the most impactful leadership method yet.”

And leadership communications expert Dianna Booher writes, “Storytelling makes leadership possible. A leader without the ability to tell a great story has lost the platform and power to persuade.”

Going even further, perhaps stories are leadership. Research by Parry and Hansen transcends “the notion that leaders tell stories”, and instead proposes “that stories themselves operate like leaders” or “the story becomes the leader.”

Ways Stories are Used in Everyday Leadership Situations

Stories clearly play a starring role in pivotal and powerful leadership moments. We tend to think of the big impact presentations, heroic personal tales, and big organizational stories. But storytelling is also integrated into everyday leadership situations in various ways.

Finnish researchers Auvinen, Aaltio, and Blomqvist sought out “storytelling managers” (managers who often integrate stories into leadership situations and conversations), identified by those reporting to them, to understand why they brought narration into leadership situations and how it related to trust-building.

They examined managers’ use of story or narratives and the intention behind using stories. They identified seven categories of influence that stories were used for, of which there are likely multiples more. The first two are:

Motivation – Motivating co-workers to carry out tasks, adopt behavior, or achieve goals. These stories often brought in comparison or competition and/or revealed values and attitudes as encouragement to elevate the game.

Inspiration – Inspiring a shared vision and energizing towards higher order goals. These stories often brought in faith and supremacy over competitors through a focused collective effort.

We often equate leadership storytelling with motivating and inspiring – epic stories that lay out a great quest or heroic stories that portray triumph over adversity to reach an ultimate goal.

In Forbes, Stort and Nordstrom identified four great stories leaders tell to engage people, which seem to fall mostly in these categories:

  • Organizational stories which fosters connection and unite in purpose – such as the founding story or the strategic story
  • Pivotal stories that illustrate big thinking or mindset shifts to overcome big challenges
  • Teamwork stories which illustrate hard work, challenges to the status quo and dramatic breakthroughs
  • Great work stories recognizing individual achievement and performance

They note that stories play a huge part in showing appreciation, as research has shown that among people who report the highest morale at work, 94% agreed their managers are effective at recognizing them, or telling stories about their work.

The storytelling managers also used stories for other more subtle purposes:

Prevent/defuse conflict – Making co-workers feel involved and defusing a negative atmosphere. These stories used humor or personal experiences to break the energy.

Influencing boss’s thinking – Managing up. Opening a manager’s perspective by promoting creative or new thinking. For example, conveying a changing market by telling a personal story that leads to discovery of a new insight or new reality.

Discovering a focus – Empowering co-workers to freely explore new ways of doing things, to shake up what’s not working. These stories might focus on examples of big unexpected changes or setbacks that ultimately catalyzed success or new advancements by wiping or changing the slate, blessings in disguise.

Direct trust-building – Showing empathy, identification and concern, or role-modelling. For example, cheering up a co-worker through an empathetic story of shared experience; revealing a story of personal vulnerability/failure to encourage self-trust or persistence; or sharing a personal story in which the manager has role-modelled or championed behavior they seek to identify and encourage in the team.

Dianna Booher notes in her top storytelling tips that while stories need an identifiable hero, leaders also have to be careful not to always position themselves as hero. She shares, “Audiences relate more often and learn more from ‘failure’ stories.”

Mutual trust-building – Sparking iterative trust-building storytelling. For example, first sharing a personal anecdote that demonstrates a value, or illustrates trust in and alignment with the organization, in order to encourage mutual discussion and trust.

Author and consultant Terrence L. Gargiulo writes, “The shortest distance between two people is a story.” Leaders bring in stories to close that gap and inspire greater bonding and cohesion.

While no storyteller can ever control the impact of their story, congruency between various stories a leader shares and walking the walk behind the words are both important factors for trust and credibility.

Not Just For the Big Meetings

There are countless ways to use story as a leader, countless ways to get better at storytelling, and countless resources for doing so. But above all, storytelling is accessible to all managers. Stories aren’t just what top executives pull out at the annual review meeting or when introducing the next new initiative.

Storytelling can be naturally weaved into many leadership situations. Tomorrow you might tell a story about the exceptional contribution of one team member, the strategic insight that dawned on you in the most unlikely of contexts, or that devastating failure that was a huge gift only in retrospect.

Sometimes, the shortest distance between you and a moment of defining leadership might just be a story.

By Aimee Hansen

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Bonus season is just around the corner and the big question becomes should I stay or should I go?

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money money moneyChances are, if you work in banking, you are thinking about bonus season. If you are keen to move companies, do your research before you get your bonus and start conversations with the right firms ahead of time. Why? Well, it is sometimes like being in a bad relationship, a small gesture can make you stay for a little while longer when you know you need something different. Money is always a factor, but look at culture, growth opportunities and ultimately the job you want after the next one as you make your decisions to move. Good luck!

By Nicki Gilmour, Executive Coach and Organizational Psychologist

Contact nicki@glasshammer2.wpengine.com if you would like to hire an executive coach to help you navigate the path to optimal personal success at work in technology

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Building Executive Presence with Your Professional Bio

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People around a laptopYour professional bio is often the first impression you make when it comes to your executive presence. So how do you get the words right, before you even speak a word?

“Your bio is a strategic play and should be treated as such. A bio can help you get hired, gain visibility, and win you serious respect,” writes Meredith Fineman in the Harvard Business Review, advising from her work on personal branding.

Here’s insight into how you can overcome mistakes that undermine the impact of professional bios and achieve executive presence with yours.

AVOIDING COMMON MISTAKES

Be Consistent Across Platforms

Look at every place your bio appears as a potential touchpoint for elevating your profile and career, and make it the same message. Fineman finds that a big mistake is lack of consistency across platforms. She writes, “If a journalist or recruiter cannot figure out who you are in under 30 seconds (because you have six different bios in six different places), you’ve lost your chance.”

Fineman recommends that everyone have a consistent two-line bio, short bio, and long bio. When it comes to the short versions, she advises to find the 15-second version of yourself professionally, “Think of it as trying to give your bio as an elevator pitch.”

Keep It Fresh

If you’re not updating your bio every six months, then you’re at risk of letting it go stale. Even if your position stays the same, you can reflect new achievements or experiences you’ve collected. Fineman recommends to set a calender reminder.

Use Your Last Name

It sounds more professional and carries more gravitas than your first name when linked to accomplishments.

Use Active Voice & Verbs

Research has identified significant differences between how men and women talk about their career accomplishments (women tend to understate them), and suggests that women can enhance their executive presence by ensuring confident expression about their accomplishments. The bio is an opportunity to do this in writing.

Fineman writes, “When someone has used the passive voice in their bio, it always feels to me like they’re trying to downplay their achievements. The point of your bio is to emphasize your achievements.”

She recommends to eliminate soft language like “trying to” or “attempting to” when speaking about current efforts. “That makes it sound like you’ve already failed. Remove it. You are not attempting to do it, you are doing it.”

Include Selective Achievements & Expand on Them

Your bio is an opportunity to choose your strongest achievements, purposefully include them, and convey what’s so compelling about them. Fineman argues you can’t do that with a list.

Being selective about achievements you include and put meat on them, while drawing in passions. Fineman advises, “This is a professional bio, so while you can include your hobbies, choose carefully and be straightforward rather than coy.”

Include Links To Outcomes & Actions

Treat your bio as a showcase for your work, and make it easily accessible – press releases about awards, pieces you’ve written, published results of your work, visible outcomes. Equally if there’s a call-to-action possibility, such as booking you to speak at an event, link it.

GOING FURTHER – CREATING EXECUTIVE PRESENCE

Beyond getting basics right, your bio is an opportunity to convey your executive presence. This may be especially important for women because executive presence is in the eye of the beholder and it’s more likely to be conferred upon men.

In an article entitled Executive and Board Candidate Bios: Executive Presence on Display, Paula Aisnof, Principal & Founder of Yellow Brick Path, shares perspective on how you can.

Try asking these questions.

Could I change the name & mistake it for somebody else?

Aisnof comments that most corporate bios are highly undifferentiated, providing little insight into the person behind the words, “Change the names and locations and those bios could be about 80% of executives.”

A good way to avoid this is to immerse yourself into creating your bio, whether you’re writing it. When leaders hands-off delegate their bio, they delegate their personal brand. Aisnof writes,“One reason for the overwhelmingly blandness is that bios are frequently written by third parties who do not necessarily understand the executive’s story or the targeted audience.”

If you want your bio to be involving, get involved with it.

Does it tell a story that builds my executive presence?

“Whether used for business purposes, for advancing an executive’s visibility through professional or community activities, or for job search,” writes Aisnof, “executives these days must reach beyond being a commodity in an overcrowded market of similarly accomplished peers.”

Her advice is that bios need to have a story that “entices the reader to want to get to know the executive personally and understand his or her unique talents and value.”

Harness the persuasive power of storytelling for your personal brand. This doesn’t mean turning your bio into a mini-novel or downgrading its professionalism. It means ensuring your bio reflects an engaging narrative of how your achievements, experience, and journey reflect your unique talents and value. Does it tell a story about how you’re a thought leader? Strategic foresight and execution has been identified as one of the seven skills you need to thrive in the C-suite.

Does the first paragraph bring me to life as an executive?

Aisnof advices, “The bio should immediately and accurately create a picture of the person being described, portray a person with distinguishing capabilities and qualities, and communicate the subject’s level of authority, responsibility, and expertise.”

Do you know what motivates you, what makes you excellent at what you do, why people like to work with you, and what others say about you? Aisnof has previously found that an executive brand comes down to “essense factor – who they are”, “guru factor – what they know”, and “star factor – what they do and how they do it.”

Have I given compelling and differentiating specifics?

Emphasize specifics, not generics. Don’t highlight “leadership skills”. Instead, demonstrate what makes you a remarkable leader.

“It is the specifics that set the executive apart from other great leaders and outstanding communicators,” writes Aisnof. In the best bios, the reader will come to the conclusion that the executive is exceptional based on the information presented rather than being told by the executive that he or she is great.”

The same goes for accomplishments. Aisnof urges, “These should be earthshaking, company-saving, award winning events supported by quantitative results where possible and be related to the interests of the targeted audience,” without disclosing sensitive corporate or client information.

Is this a board candidate bio?

If so, then Aisnof recommends including: any boards – including non-profit on which you already have served; reflecting any corporate, civic, or charitable-focused leadership roles that demonstrate ability to guide an organization; any awards especially outside your company that have recognized your accomplishments; and any media coverage, publications, or speaking appearances. Ask from the selection committee perspective: “What is the most important and differentiating contribution the executive would be making to the group?”

When embraced, managing your bio can be part of strategically managing your career advancement.

By Aimee Hansen

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Leading an ERG or a network? How do you get recognized for your work?

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Business meetingDo you lead a women’s network or other Employee Resource Group ( ERG) at work? If so, you probably know that there is real work and time needed for this endeavour to be successful. So, how do you use this opportunity to develop leadership skills and then get recognized for this work?

My first piece of advice is to communicate what you are doing so that senior people can see your leadership skills. This is a good time to ask yourself, is this group institutionally supported? One way to check if it is, is to look at whether it is mandated from the top and has actual participation from leaders and managers in a meaningful way. If it is pure grassroots from the “bottom up” chances are you are not on senior people’s radar for the work that you are doing. Also worth considering is the question – is this network connected to the talent strategy? if not, wine and cupcakes are fine, but don’t expect to be the next CEO because of it.

By Nicki Gilmour, Executive Coach and Organizational Psychologist

Contact nicki@theglasshammer.com if you would like to hire an executive coach to help you navigate the path to optimal personal success at work

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Why Talk is Expensive When it Comes to Boardroom Diversity

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Business meetingIf you’re tired of seeing headlines about the financial advantages and growth opportunities that women executives in the boardroom could deliver to businesses, maybe it’s time we flip that conversation on its head.

As much as highlighting the potential that companies could realize if only women were in the decision room, recent findings quantify the tremendous losses that companies are bleeding right now by their absence. The lack of women in boardrooms and executive positions is, plain and simple, being identified as self-sabotage for organizations.

Male-Only Executive Boards Create an Opportunity Cost

Recent research by Grant-Thorton has revealed that the opportunity cost for companies with male-only executive committees in the S&P 500, FTSE 350, and CNX 200 across the US, UK, and India was a whopping US$655 billion in 2014, and US $567 billion in the US alone, or 3% of GDP. The loss results from lower return on assets.

It turns out that talk is not cheap. When it comes to gender diversity at the executive level, talk alone is very expensive. (As is “action” that is PR-strong but falls short of robust follow through on outcomes.)

Only 35 of US S&P 500 companies have at least one woman executive in the boardroom (a far lower ratio than UK or India), but those companies with female executive presence on the board outperformed the all-male executive majority by 1.91%.

Francesca Lagerbeg, global leader for tax services at Grant Thornton said that corporate culture “kick(s) the can down the road” when it comes to board diversity not because they don’t know it’s necessary, but out of short-term fears of what it takes to implement real change.

“These companies are suffering now,” Lagerbeg says. “A lack of action now will make it all the more difficult to respond in the future when both problems are likely to be more acute.”

Executive Women in the Boardroom Equal Better Decisions

What’s noteworthy about this study is it hones in specifically on the presence of at least one female executive within the boardroom, holding female non-executives aside, as plumping up boardroom statistics mostly with female non-execs (UK) still leads to power imbalances on decisions.

“The research clearly shows what we have been talking about for a while: that diversity leads to better decision-making,” said Lagerbeg. “We only looked at listed companies in three markets and the figures are compelling. Now imagine extrapolating the results for all companies globally.”

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently asserted that more women on the boards of financial institutions leads to stability. Iterating opportunity cost, the IMF report states, “Women’s financial exclusion limits the growth-promoting potential of finance and it may also prove costly in terms of lower financial stability.” The authors wrote “…on average, stability is significantly higher in banks with a higher fraction of women in the board of directors.”

Research has also demonstrated that companies with a compelling track record of promoting female executives consistently perform better across 18 measures of profitability.

Despite This, Gender Parity Is A Long Way Off

It’s contrary to the nature of businesses not to evolve when compromised operational strategies lead to loss, but that’s happening on a macro level.

It will take 28 years to achieve gender parity in the boardroom at the present rate of change and that’s not even specific to executive seats.

Forbes contributor Sabina Nawaz asserts that real change will take more than current low levels of consistent jogging towards an abstract goal. Nawaz argues it takes real intensity, including: honest assessments of the presence of women in leadership roles, programs to meet quantifiable metrics by a determined date, and transparently published results. But too many companies are still talking and denying instead of committing.

What If You Don’t Want to Wait?

What about women who want a board seat and don’t want to wait until 2042 before it might be fair game? What about women who don’t want to wait for their company to catch up to the business impact of her voice?

Slow progress is not the same as no progress. This year, there are 11 women executives that are new to Fortune’s 2015 list of Most Powerful Women. Women are gaining ground on leadership positions within boards as well as representation on the committees that select new members.

Just because many companies are self-sabotaging their growth does not mean you have to do the same. If you want a board seat, beginning to make your bid is far better than biding your time until it’s easier to do so.

Forge Your Connections

Develop your connections to existing board members and seek sponsors. The recommendation of board members is the strongest factor in new member selection. If you don’t know the board, it’s unlikely they know you. Take the risk of going beyond your comfort zone with connections.

Be Visible

Janice Ellig, chair of the Corporate Board Initiative of the Women’s Forum of New York, recommends to “pat yourself on the back in a very visible and confident way.” Ellig advises women to “value their ambition” and “stand up and make it known” that you want a CEO or board position.

Actively Seek

Jan Babiak suggests that since 70% of board roles are attained through existing board/management networks, it’s important to cast wide. Connect with high-level professionals outside of your immediate field of work because opportunities may be found where you’re not looking.

All in all, it’s a wake up call to companies: Waiting for gender executive diversity to get easier? It’s a strategy that is costing you.

By Aimee Hansen

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Professional Women in France: The Chutes and Ladders

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diverse women in the boardroomHow easy is it for French woman to climb the corporate ladder in modern day France? France is currently a regional leader when it comes to wage parity and the participation of women in top corporate positions. However there is still much that needs to be done to reach true gender equality in the French business world. Much of the recent work done by France to reach equality was started in 2011 when France officially set quotas regulating the amount of women present in directorial and supervisory boards on large French companies. The quota aimed for 20% female participation by 2012 and 40% by 2017. And while some companies and political bodies are still struggling to achieve the 2012 goal, several other large companies have hit the mark and are well on their way to the 40% female occupancy mandated by 2017.

Najat Vallaud-Belgakem, the French Minister of Women’s Rights said that quotas at top tier positions are only part of the solution. She cites training and increased opportunity at the bottom rungs of French companies are what’s truly needed to change French society. Currently, French women are over-represented in part-time jobs which have little chance for career advancement.

And of those women who are well represented, they seem to be concentrated in a few key areas such as the retail and service industries. Vallaud-Belgakem recently said that only 12% of France’s working population is employed within a mixed gender profession. This is evidence of a strong culture of professional segregation alive in France today. Most French industries are either overwhelmingly male or female dominated.

French politics today remains, like certain industries a definite old boys club. The Assemblée Nationale, the Lower House of France’s congress, remains resolutely male, with only 18 per cent of seats held by women. And with the introduction of the quotas in 2011 some big parties have shown they prefer to pay fines rather than introduce the mandatory numbers of women to their ranks.

A Socialist woman politician, who asked not to be named, recently told the Independent that macho attitudes remained dominant in French politics, even on the supposedly progressive Left. “If a man makes a mistake, he’s a poor politician or a poor manager. If a woman makes a mistake, then she is the mistake. She should never have been appointed in the first place.” This attitude is characterized by an incident where Cecile Duflot, the former Housing Minister, appeared in the National Assembly wearing a white and blue summer dress, she immediately received catcalls from other members of the national assembly. The anonymous Socialist politician said: “It is difficult for some French men. But the world is changing, whether they like it or not.”

This seems to characterize a prevalent belief in French society that women are not suitable for leadership. Florence Montreynaud, a leading feminist activist in France stated,“It is still very difficult for a woman to be accepted in a position of power in this country. It may not always be easy for women elsewhere but it is very, very difficult in France. Here, if a man has a strong personality, people say: ‘Isn’t he a powerful character?’ If a woman has a strong personality, they say: ‘isn’t she a difficult person? Isn’t she impossible to work with?’” Montreynaud says this feeling is sometimes characterized in the way French media refer to prominent French women. “Have you noticed, that prominent women in France are called by their first names? It is always Segolene, not Madame Royal. It is Atomic Annie, not Madame Lauvergeon. In a whole page of articles in Le Monde about Madame Nougayrède’s departure, she was constantly referred to as Natalie. That disgusts me. It is way of diminishing people, infantilizing them.” When it comes to high power business roles this attitude can make it hard for women to be taken seriously. “What is very difficult in France is for a woman to be both powerful and feminine. They have to dress like men, with severe suits and short hair, if they want to be half-way accepted,” said Montreynaud.

The present reality and the future progress

But attitudes in government and business seem to be changing. Initially many high profile businesswomen opposed the encroachment of quotas. Some believed that the tight deadlines would result in a wave of unqualified women into high level positions and result in even more discrimination. But after years of trying to change what is seen as the old guard, many now see the quotas a something of a necessary evil. Anne Lauvergeon, the chief of the nuclear power giant Areva said, “The situation in France is abnormal. If we cannot manage otherwise then let’s make things move with quotas.”

Since the introduction of the quotas back in 2011, the rate of women serving on boards of directors or supervisory boards of prominent CAC 40 companies rose by 7.4 points. In just 5 years this rise has tripled the amount of women in these key advisory roles. According to the Ethics and Boards Cabinet, on the 1st of June 2014, 30.3% of boards of directors and supervisory boards within CAC 40 companies were women. France as a whole has had the largest increase in its share of women in governance roles out of all countries within the European Union with an increase of 17.4%.

But despite the progress in general governance bodies within large French companies there is still a long way to go when it comes to the feminization of French executive boards. Between September 2013 and June 2014 the rate of women in CAC 40 companies and SBF 120 companies increased only 0.3 and 0.1 points respectively. This puts these executive boards as of June 2014 at a low 10.3% and 12.1%.

By Ben Rozon

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Virtual networking, does it work?

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woman on the phone featuredLinkedIn and other online networks are really good ways to maintain your contacts and yes some people do accept connections from people they don’t really know but the fact remains that humans still prefer actual relationships over virtual ones when it comes to getting business done. It is necessary to have a digital presence, think of it as an online resume and personal branding plays a role, but it is what you do with those connections that matter. Ask people to lunch, coffee and in-person networking events so that you can explore mutual interests because fruitful relationships that have a quid pro quo is the way to truly succeed, advance and make lasting contacts.

By Nicki Gilmour, Executive Coach and Organizational Psychologist

Contact nicki@theglasshammer.com if you would like to hire an executive coach to help you navigate the path to optimal personal success at work

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2015 Year in Review: Professional Women, The Gender Discussion And Why Leaders Need To Be Involved

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By Nicki Gilmour

Nicki Gilmour - Founder of The Glasshammer.comIt is December already so time for the annual Year in Review 2015 piece that looks at the progress, of the professional woman at work in the macro and micro sense. On a general level and where we can measure stats for boardrooms and management numbers, I have to report very little progress. However, on a company-specific level, some firms get it and are doing a great job at a comprehensive plan to tackle the issue of having a representation of women at all levels. Citi have just announced the addition of two more women to their Board for 2016- congrats to Ellen Costello and Renee James on those appointments.

I have outlined three crucial points in this article for any firm to take notice of when embarking on this journey. The other continuous notable effort that I think is worth mentioning is the increase in male gender champions and my favorite open letter of the year comes from John Ryan as he writes to Michael Moritz showing us that men also care about the endless stereotypes that make a mockery out of talented people of both sexes.

What do leaders who “get it” look like?

People, and specifically leaders of companies who get how to really create culture change around this very unresolved gender dilemma, all share a common ability. Smart leaders understand that they personally have to get involved as well as re-engineer processes to support behaviors beyond the evangelizing part. Leaders comprehend the strategic nature of what needs to happen, that companies are eco-systems and so every action has a reaction downstream and are prepared to address multiple areas at once. Since the culture of any team, company or even country is simply a culmination of ‘how we do things around here’, what and who gets tolerated, as well as what and who gets rewarded for their work means that any firm who can hold behavioral boundaries can improve their culture for all working there. It can be a win win and not a zero sum game.

Pierre Nanterme, CEO and Chairman of Accenture is the latest leader who is putting his money where his mouth is. He has aggressive hiring targets, revealing his goal as 40% of new hires being female by 2017 as well as initiatives to ensure pay parity at entry level and throughout a woman’s career to ensure women don’t get left behind. This disparity has been documented by Catalyst and others over the years to be almost $500,000 in the span of their career earnings.

Nanterme states,  “We believe strongly that gender equality is essential for a high-performing, talent-led organization. This commitment extends to pay, and we strive to ensure that all our people – women and men – are compensated fairly and equitably from the moment we hire them through the milestones of their careers here.”

Why do I believe Nanterme? Or least believe he has a shot at it? Well, other than the fact that he actually believes there are equally talented women as men to hire, unlike Mike Moritz of Sequoia Capital who just last week stated that there are no qualified women for him to hire (in Silicon Valley venture funding), Nanterme has addressed his blind spots whereas Mike has just showed his cognitive bias when he unwittingly revealed his closely held paradigm that hiring women would probably be a reflection of him lowering his standards.

That is the differentiator for me and as an organizational psychologist who is nine years into this topic with several live projects under my belt and the publisher of 4000 articles on theglasshammer.com, I find that the barriers to progress are definitely systemic but correctable, such as accurate succession planning processes and equal pay for the same job done. More interestingly, is that the maintainers of these barriers are actual people and it is entirely feasible to address issues just like any other area of operational efficiency and resource optimization but their refusal to acknowledge there is a problem beyond some sort of Noah’s Ark approach of ticking off lists is where the work gets weird.

We all have bias in the sense of preference but it is how preference is built in us that needs closer examination-let’s face it, when you have all the cards and have bias towards hiring one type of person and the rest of the system is aligned to support the stereotype, the stakes to change aren’t so high to address your own paradigms in life. Hence the word ‘diversity’ is a misnomer because what we are talking about in actuality is about who we choose and authorise to lead us, manage projects and generally get heard. It is all a meritocracy project and meritocracy exists in very few places if at all.

What three things can companies do better in 2016 to ensure progress?

Action #1 Leaders can lead on equality.

Status quo doesn’t change organically ever. There are levers and deliberate actions to take. How managers act will enhance or minimize the effects and impact of any program or policy that even the best HR team or women’s network could produce. So ensure they act well. Why leave that to chance?

By being a sponsor to ensure the right people get promoted or get allocated onto a project, men and the senior women that can “lift as they climb”, this can change the world one person at a time

Action #2 Stop expecting the women in your firm to fix the gender issue

Attracting, hiring or promoting women shouldn’t be a “woman’s” thing. Too many times, I see women’s networks trying to address these issues whilst everyone else gets on with their day jobs. Exclusively outsourcing this work to ERGs, networks and committees is really erroneous. Why would you put the onus on the group that is asking for their fair share of promotions and access to sit at the power table to be the people to fix the inequities in the system?

Not all companies leave all the work to the women and the women’s networks to deal with the issue. Simply put, it is everyone’s problem to fix inequities but some people can fix it faster than others due to their official influence on talent processes and workplace culture.

Action #3 Women and Men all need to address their biases

One of the most surprising elements that I have personally discovered over the years is that some women revere men as stereotypical leaders more than men do, or on a equal par, even if they themselves are arguably the smartest person in the room. Fascinating to say the least and it happens in small and big ways, from deferring to the male counterpart in meetings to unconsciously believing that men make better leaders. I have talked about this at length in other articles in other years.

My advice? Admit you are part of the problem (if you are) because everything you need to know about how ridiculous we all are, based on the binary of gender identity and how being a woman is still somehow a trait that effects a woman’s ability to lead, manage, do deals and generally do well at work can be seen most compellingly here.

While we are on the subject, can we dispel the myth that brain science has anything to do with performance at work (and men are from next door not Mars as it turns out).Social conditioning has a lot to answer for and you can do something about that as the impact is real with the latest research from Accenture showing that Gen Y women despite everything we have told them are still less likely to ask for a pay rise than their male counterparts and 47% of this particular survey respondents cannot see a path to the top.

Finally, can you get everyone on board? Of course not! But those who don’t will be in the minority both in numbers and effectual influence and power, so let’s get started! Smokers still want to smoke on airplanes, right? The difference is culturally a shift took place only because a law and a process facilitated that shift. Think about it.

We wish you a peaceful, prosperous and Happy New Year to all theglasshammer.com readers and supporters.

By Nicki Gilmour

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Overcoming stereotype threat as a woman in technology

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Women-on-computerWe recently had our 6th annual women in technology career event and several audience questions touched upon the issue of what it means to be a women in technology and even what to do when you fall into the “Imposter Syndrome”. There are stereotypes around how technologists are supposed to look for sure, and research shows that unconscious bias is still an issue from messaging women into the industry to promoting them all the way to the top. However, you are here, you are doing it and you can do two things. Firstly find good sponsors to give you the best of the projects and shepard you so that don’t just have have outstanding experiences but you get to fully appreciate the wins and failures without being judged for your every move. Secondly advocate for yourself fearlessly and believe in yourself because you belong here. Lastly, always know that there are good teams and companies out there so if you are not valued, go somewhere that supports your talent and growth.

By Nicki Gilmour, Executive Coach and Organizational Psychologist

Contact nicki@theglasshammer.com if you would like to hire an executive coach to help you navigate the path to optimal personal success at work

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