Climb The Corporate Ladder with Your Clubs

by Barbara J. Gutstadt (Palm Beach Gardens, FL)

On the way up the corporate ladder, women continue to struggle to compete with men for positions in leadership. We’ve made strides in some areas—closing the gap in holding middle-management positions, for one—but women still struggle to reach that elusive top rung. According to a 2013 report by the nonprofit research group Catalyst, only four percent of CEOs in Fortune 500 companies are women.

It begs the question of what factors are keeping women out of the highest leadership roles. Over the past 30 years of my career, I’ve experienced and witnessed the challenges of advancing my career in the corporate world dominated by men. I’ve served as the upper-level executive as a CEO and President of a national healthcare company that I founded and later sold. I have sat in the boardroom as one of two female executives along with thirteen male counterparts.

To say that we need to level the playing field is an understatement. I learned early on that in order rise to the top, I had to “seize the day.” I closely evaluated the habits and performance of my male counterparts. There became a very noticeable difference in how we developed our client relationships. My male associates spent time on the golf course nurturing relationships with prospective clients. I spent time attempting to do the same—but in an office setting or out to lunch. Their golf-to-client ratio topped my client-to-meeting ratio. They spent four to five hours with a client on the course and I spent about an hour with the client.

The realization that golf in the healthcare insurance industry was a game changer was my “ah ha” moment. I had uncovered the knowledge that I too should play golf to attract, capture and retain clients, but there was a
problem. I didn’t know how to play the game. I had to learn how to play the game—and quickly.

While women currently comprise one fifth of the 25.7 million U.S. golfers counted in a 2011 survey by the National Golf Foundation, I operate under the premise that if more women played corporate-golf we’d see a direct correlation of more women moving up the corporate ladder into leading roles. Here are the three steps I implemented to jump-start my corporate golf career:

Get Noticed From Within
I spread the word that I was now playing golf (even though I was definitely a beginner). When there are promotion opportunities, women are often overlooked due to one simple factor: access. Having the opportunity to spend time with high-level executives is paramount in them getting to know you and your values. However, that opportunity is not always readily available. You can be sure that your male counterparts are seizing that opportunity through the game of golf—by playing in the company’s tournament or being asked to take a large client or prospective client out to the county club.

Golf is a perfect way for your direct boss or higher-ups to get to know you better—whether playing in a charity tournament or playing in a foursome. That doesn’t mean you go out on the course to talk about your sales figures or boast about new business you’ve snagged. Simply getting out there enables decision makers to learn more about you—from your ability to remain calm and composed to something as telling as honesty in scorekeeping. These subtleties matter.

Join A Women’s Golf Association
It may sound cliché, but golf can help you network your way to the top. Successful women CEOs know the struggles you face every day. By joining a women’s association, you are connecting to a sisterhood. There are multitudes of opportunities for professional growth in a women’s club—from getting paired with a successful executive who inspires you, to finding potential clients.

As a financial advisor, I joined the Executive Women’s Golf Association,(EWGA), to network with other like-minded women. I quickly found many doors opened to me that I wasn’t even aware existed. I started utilizing golf to enhance my career by incorporating golf strategies within the golf association rather than actually playing the game. I signed on as a sponsor with the local chapter and one of the perks was that I was invited to speak to the golf members and chose the topic of women and retirement planning. I sponsored Hole In One contests and provided golf gifts imprinted with my company’s logo as giveaways at tournaments. I used these strategies throughout the year until I was comfortable enough to actually play a game of golf. Within that first year, I enjoyed numerous new client relationships and continual referrals. Golf grew my financial services practice hands down!

Take Lessons
Many successful executives live by the mantra “failing to plan is planning to fail” and for good reason. In business, releasing a product to market before the kinks have been worked out is a recipe for disaster. The same is true in golf. Before you set foot on the tee box, start by taking lessons from a local golf
professional.

It’s not about how well you can play the game. You need to learn proper golf etiquette, golf lingo, proper attire, and the rules of the game. Playing fair and showing proper etiquette will show clients that you are trustworthy and fair. That’s a key opportunity that many people overlook. It’s not just about playing the game of golf—it’s about building trust.

As I’ve learned throughout the last three decades, playing golf has proved beneficial in all aspects of my life by helping me stay physically fit, making new friends, adding a new dimension in my personal life and enjoying golf experiences while on a vacation. However, the one facet of my life that has been impacted the most with the game of golf has been the successes I’ve enjoyed in my career. I’m confident that as other businesswomen realize why
and how golf can help them climb the corporate ladder, we’ll see more women make it to the top rung of success.

For additional information, visit Barbara Gutstadt’s profile on LinkedIn.

/by

Lean In Circles: What Are They and Why Should You Join One?

Lean In CirclesSo you read Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In, and perhaps like our editor liked it more than you expected to. Now what?

The messages in the book are a powerful call to action to do more than just read and move on. The author’s expressed hope at the end of the book is that women will not only keep talking about the ideas that she raises, but will form “Lean In Circles” to facilitate the dialogue.

We interviewed Gabriela Franco Parcella, chairman and CEO of Mellon Capital, on her progress in championing a Lean In Circle at her firm. She explained, “My feeling is that if we can help accelerate the learning curve for women, why not? It took me 18 years of working to learn some of the lessons described in the book. I would like other women to benefit from our experiences so that they can avoid mistakes that we have made.”

Read more

/by

New Report Discusses Online Feminism, Collaboration, and How Business Can Get Involved

,

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Last month the Barnard Center for Research on Women published a report on the future of online feminism. The paper, “#FemFuture: Online Revolution,” is written by Courtney Martin and Vanessa Valenti, and discusses the opportunities that the internet is providing for people working toward gender equality. It also discusses the challenge that exists in building momentum for a movement driven by virtual relationships.

While the internet has provided a voice and a platform for people who advocate for equality, it has also created more decentralization within the movement. Martin and Valenti believe more strategic collaboration will help propel feminism forward, and strengthen the discussion. In her introduction, Martin writes:

“Forging partnerships between feminists – online and off, younger and older, poor and wealthy, organizing at the grassroots and strategizing at the treetops – will have far-reaching consequences. It will foster the formation of new connections between grassroots advocacy and service organizations, educational institutions, coalitions, unions, convenings, conferences, legacy media, policy makers, politicians, entrepreneurs, etc. Online feminism has the capacity to be like the nervous system of this modern day feminist body politic.”

They also discuss the value of partnering with leaders in the business space. Developing institutional know-how and business acumen, they reason, will help feminists create meaningful and long-lasting change.

Read more

/by

Rules for Success Discussed at Fordham’s Wall Street Council Event

business woman By Natalie Sabia (New York City)

On a spring evening in New York City, women from all aspects of the financial world, including eager business school students, gathered to hear from a few of Wall Street’s successful and smart, yet entertaining, women. The event was sponsored by Fordham’s Wall Street Council, and advertised by women organizations such as “100 Women in Hedge Funds” and “85 Broads.”

Only two years old, Fordham’s Wall Street Council (FWSC) has exceeded the school’s expectations by organizing networking events such as this one. FWSC started with 25 people, within Fordham’s Graduate School of Business Administration (GBA), who were interested in building out their network while also helping fellow students grow theirs. The goal is to foster collaboration among other GBA students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends interested in expanding their network and opening up career opportunities. This group also offers an avenue to get involved with GBA faculty, which helps with their visibility and mission. “Try to meet someone tonight you’ve never met before,” said David Gautschi, Ph.D., Dean, Fordham Graduate School of Business. “Try and also talk to some students,” said Gautschi.

An interesting open to the gender discussion from Iftekhar Hasan, Ph.D., E. General Corrigan Chair in International Business and Finance, Fordham University Schools of Business. He analyzed CFO activity between females and males, specifically looking at the turnover among S&P 1500 companies. The results showed overall, every time a company became troubled, a woman CFO is typically hired.  The company then becomes more conservative, has a higher level of tangible assets and the cost of borrowing is lower.  “Typically, the cost of borrowing for that company becomes 14 percent to 30 percent cheaper because the market recognizes women are less risky,” said Hasan.

Read more

/by

The Path to Gender Parity: Every Route Matters

iStock_000007716967XSmallBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Our focus, at The Glass Hammer, is on women’s career advancement at the mid and senior levels. In the past few years, we have seen more women stepping up to leadership in many industries, as well as in politics and the non-profit sector. But not a lot more. We are dealing with very incremental, hard-won change, which is one reason why we believe the issue of women’s advancement (in all spheres of life) is cultural.

It is cultural within the context of each individual organization, and it is cultural within the context of each industry. It is cultural in the wider sense of our society as well. Because all of these spheres affect one another, it means work must be done concurrently in each of them.

Work must be done in each sphere to achieve broad, difficult, cultural change, and that’s how large organizations like the National Council for Research on Women make an impact. Earlier this week, the NCRW held its annual awards dinner in New York. This event draws together folks from every part of the garden of change-agents, ensuring ideas are pollinated and everyone understands we’re in this together (and yes, they draw in much-needed funds from the pockets and purses of well-meaning donors).

As Aine Duggan, NCRW’s new President remarked, there are many routes that we must take to achieve gender parity. On International Women’s Day, perhaps we should each reflect on why we have taken our particular route and why it leads toward women’s advancement.

Read more

/by

WILD about Options: Educating Women on Options Trading

WILDPanelContributed by Jessica Titlebaum, Marketing Director, Americas at Orc and President of Women in Listed Derivatives

The derivatives industry is evolving due to regulation coming from Washington and it’s forcing participants to look at different opportunities in new markets. To help emerging and experienced women navigate these broader territories, Women in Listed Derivatives (WILD) organized an educational seminar on Options trading.

Hosted by NYSE Euronext and sponsored by the Options Industry Council and Fidessa, the workshop included an educational introduction to Options trading, a keynote speaker about career advancement and panel discussion focused on the current market environment.

Read more

/by

Women’s Initiatives: Driving Business for Law Firms

By Robin Madell (San Francisco)

As chief diversity officers have emphasized worldwide, creating more opportunities for women in the workplace isn’t just a feel-good proposition: it makes business sense. Many law firms are clearly noting this fact, evidenced by the increasing number of “women’s initiatives” being launched – initiatives that have a clear business focus. These initiatives are dedicated to supporting and promoting the talent and career aspirations of female attorneys in the legal industry, and also generating revenue.

“I believe that well-structured women’s initiatives are important to firms’ overall business and bottom line in that they can provide women the tools to work better in the law firm environment and to develop business more successfully,” says Kelly Turner, president of the Coalition of Women’s Initiatives in Law and Of Counsel at Locke Lord LLP. “They also can provide a built-in support network for women lawyers looking to advance within their firms and exposure to the firms’ women leaders and rainmakers.”

“Women are an ever-increasing piece of the business population,” says Yolanda Kanes, who heads up the women’s initiative at Tannenbaum Helpern Syracuse & Hirschtritt LLP (THSH) and is a partner and co-chair of the firm’s Trusts & Estates practice. “The issues regarding women remain somewhat unique, because in addition to taking on expanded business and professional responsibilities, we remain committed to maintaining the family aspect of our lives, and struggle daily to balance those responsibilities which can often cut deeply into our professional lives. Women’s initiative groups help bring the business production side of our working life into focus.”

Read more

/by

Connecting the Dots: From Networking to Coordinating

Businesswomen drinking coffee.By Jessica Titlebaum (Chicago)

While networking is a crucial skill for success, it’s become a stale concept. These days, every conference, seminar, or workshop is followed by a networking reception offering attendees a chance to meet and mingle with their peers. Don’t get me wrong, I am a strong believer in sipping a cocktail, rolling up your sleeves, and shaking a few hands. I never go anywhere without business cards. However, success doesn’t come in establishing relationships, it’s in the nurturing of them.

It’s after trust is established that successful people start coordinating solutions and that’s why I believe we need a new term that describes this productive aspect of relationship building. It’s not just about networking anymore, it’s about coordinating. Whether you are facilitating introductions, meeting a customer’s need, or marketing a new product, these actions require coordination, a connecting of dots.

Read more

/by

Wall Street Women and the Power of Networking

iStock_000009417543XSmallBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Networks can provide many means for support – a way to find out about new jobs or projects, a group of friends with whom to laugh or cry, your own private strategic advisors – and sometimes all of these things at once. The first generation of women on Wall Street learned this very quickly.

“I think networking is critical for advancing in any position, and probably more so for women in finance,” explained Melissa Fisher, author of the new book Wall Street Women.

Fisher’s book is an ethnographic account of the first generation of women to enter the world of finance as professionals. She began following their careers more than two decades ago, and the book relates their career challenges and triumphs from the ‘60s and ‘70s onward. One of the key strands her research revealed was the value of networking – from the very start of their careers and all the way through to today.

“These women are still relatively young, in their 50s and 60s,” Fisher pointed out. “We should be using them as a resource to understand women in the workplace. This is a generation that opened doors – and we need to keep the door open. We can learn a lot from them.”

Read more

/by

Five Tips to Step Outside Your Comfort Zone and Build Your Network

Two female friends talking.By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Networking. It’s one of those things we all know we should do, but for many people, it just doesn’t come naturally. One of those people was Laurie Dalton White, Managing Director of Hill + Knowlton Strategies, and Conference Director for the Pennsylvania Conference for Women, the Massachusetts Conference for Women, and the Texas Conference for Women.

According to White, the conferences – which have helped over 150,000 women connect over the past thirteen years – are designed to provide a comfortable space for women to swap ideas, success strategies, and business cards. She explained, “Our goals are to provide women a space to educate, inspire, and encourage each other to achieve their goals.”

Here’s how she managed to achieve her own dream of connecting women so that they can help one another thrive – and become an expert networker along the way.

Read more

/by