Contributed by John Keyser, Founder and Principal of Common Sense Leadership
Have you heard this quotation from Rudyard Kipling? “My six best friends’ names are Who, What, Where, When and Why.”
As a leadership consultant and coach who emphasizes the value of purposeful questions, I’d like to change the quotation. In business, it’s more apt to say, “My three best friends’ names are What, Why, and How.”
Sure, there are times when we need to specify the who, when, and where. No question about that. But think about these fundamentals in our business lives, and how critically important they are:
- Knowing what our success looks like, by asking our clients, our board, our stakeholders, our boss.
- Asking our clients and team members what good communication looks like to them.
- Asking our team members and our clients how we can help them.
- Asking our team why we do things the way we do. Is there a better way?
Remember, we cannot assume, we must ask, and we must ask each person. As a leader, we serve our constituents, our external and our internal clients.
In fact, as a leader, it is essential to realize that we are here to guide and help others. We must recognize what our teams want and need from us as their leader. Each may have differences, but we do know from studies that our team members want to feel appreciated, and that they are an important member of a team. They want to be heard and to feel their ideas matter. And they want to feel supported, that they are being helped to succeed.
Feedback is the lifeblood of teamwork. Setting a positive, constructive tone is true leadership at its best. It takes inner confidence to ask such questions as, “What do you think?” “What’s your opinion?” “How can we be better?” and, especially, “How do you think I can be better?” When we humbly strive to improve our own core competencies, we show others how important this is, and how to begin this essential process.
If we don’t have inner confidence, it is important to develop it. Without it, it is difficult to grow and improve.
Five Leadership Practices to Make Work Transitions Easier
Ask A Career CoachAre you going through a work transition or contemplating it? Unhappy in your current role but feel stuck or unsure about what to do next? The economy has many people going through transitions right now.
True story. A senior level sales leader came to me 12 months ago very clear that her work situation was not working for her. Her company, under pressure to increase profits, had raised prices dramatically. As customers quickly shifted to competitors, she was being held accountable for lost sales. As the primary bread earner in her family she couldn’t just quit her job, yet the pressure was untenable. She felt stuck. She approached me for executive coaching to transition to a company that had a more sustainable business strategy and would be a better fit. Soon after we started working together she ended up losing her job due to layoffs at her company.
Here are five leadership practices that helped her get to a job that was a much better fit for her.
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Questions are Our Best Friends
Expert AnswersHave you heard this quotation from Rudyard Kipling? “My six best friends’ names are Who, What, Where, When and Why.”
As a leadership consultant and coach who emphasizes the value of purposeful questions, I’d like to change the quotation. In business, it’s more apt to say, “My three best friends’ names are What, Why, and How.”
Sure, there are times when we need to specify the who, when, and where. No question about that. But think about these fundamentals in our business lives, and how critically important they are:
Remember, we cannot assume, we must ask, and we must ask each person. As a leader, we serve our constituents, our external and our internal clients.
In fact, as a leader, it is essential to realize that we are here to guide and help others. We must recognize what our teams want and need from us as their leader. Each may have differences, but we do know from studies that our team members want to feel appreciated, and that they are an important member of a team. They want to be heard and to feel their ideas matter. And they want to feel supported, that they are being helped to succeed.
Feedback is the lifeblood of teamwork. Setting a positive, constructive tone is true leadership at its best. It takes inner confidence to ask such questions as, “What do you think?” “What’s your opinion?” “How can we be better?” and, especially, “How do you think I can be better?” When we humbly strive to improve our own core competencies, we show others how important this is, and how to begin this essential process.
If we don’t have inner confidence, it is important to develop it. Without it, it is difficult to grow and improve.
Read more
Women Prefer Jobs with Clear Rules on Negotiation
Money TalksA new working paper released by the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests that women are more likely to apply for jobs where negotiation is explicitly anticipated.
The study supports a theory that women prefer work environments with an unambiguous set of rules about compensation, whereas men tend to prefer environments where that set of rules is less defined. “This leads to the gender gap being much more pronounced in jobs that leave negotiation of wage ambiguous,” write the authors, Andreas Liebbrandt of Monash University in Australia and John A. List, of the University of Chicago.
Liebbrandt and List found that women were more likely to submit applications to job openings that indicated the salary was negotiable. They were just as willing to negotiate as the men who applied for these jobs.
We’ve heard the women-blaming maxim time and time again that “women don’t ask.” But this study actually shows that women do ask – as long as the rules of the game are clear. Research has shown that women who do negotiate for their salary are sometimes penalized for not adhering to gender norms around assertiveness. This study suggests that, in general, women are aware of this factor, and avoid jobs where they could get snared in the negotiation double bind: if you don’t ask, you don’t get …but if you do ask, you could get labeled a “difficult woman” or a few other choice words that could slow your career down.
By disclosing that negotiation is anticipated, hiring managers send a signal to women that the playing field may be closer to fair.
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Voice of Experience: Angela Raitzin, Managing Principal and Head of New York Office, Morton Capital Management
Voices of ExperienceAngela Raitzin, Managing Principal and Head of the New York Office of Morton Capital, says she is dedicated to encouraging women to join and stay in the financial industry.
“I think, particularly as a more senior woman, you have to make time for mentoring. At multiple points in my career, I made it a point to recruit and encourage women to consider financial services and investment banking in particular as a career. Encouraging women to join is the first step but encouraging them to stay, and getting them over the hump from the VP or Director and Managing Director levels is also crucial, “she explained. “Starting over 10 years ago Wall Street made a big push to hire more women and I have seen many positive signs in the past 5 years that they are now making strides to retain these same women.”
She is particularly enthusiastic about the benefits of working in financial advising. As an active recruiter of students from her business school to New York, she says emphasizing the entrepreneurial spirit and the flexible hours associated with financial advising is key. “Both are important to the advancement and retention of women.”
She continued, “For one, you can cast a wide net in terms of your clients. And second, there is much more flexibility to your schedule. In my own case, I didn’t have that degree of flexibility earlier in my career and I think it’s a huge positive.”
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Happy Thanksgiving from The Glass Hammer!
NewsAs we draw closer to the end of another year, The Glass Hammer’s team is taking time off to reflect upon the things we are thankful for.
This has been a big year for us at Evolved People Media. We hosted several successful events for professional women in New York and London, published interesting new research, and launched a new consulting and training division – all while continuing to publish inspirational profiles and practical advice on how to get to your next career level.
Our community of ambitious women is growing, and for that we are thankful. This year we have focused on celebrating the growing power of influential women throughout the financial and professional services. As more women ascend to the top of the ladder, they open new pathways for women at every step along the way. That’s good for women and companies. We believe (and research proves) that a more diverse workforce builds stronger firms.
We’re thankful for the trailblazing women who have made it possible for all of us to climb higher – in that vein, here are a few of our recent posts on the growing power of women to change the world.
What are you thankful for this year? Let us know in the comments section below. We’ll be back next week with more articles designed to inform, inspire, and empower you!
Women Don’t Get as Many Big Jobs that Lead to Promotions
Next LevelAccording to Catalyst’s latest research, women high potentials (in this case, women with MBAs) don’t receive as many career-changing jobs and assignments as men.
The study tracked the careers of 1,660 male and female MBAs, and found that within a few years of graduating, men were more likely to get the kinds of jobs that help propel careers forward: projects with high visibility, jobs that are “mission critical,” and international assignments.
What’s more, participating in a leadership development program had less of an impact on career growth for women than for men.
Anna Beninger, co-author of the study and Senior Associate, Research at Catalyst, said, “This really is about companies not using the talent of high potential women. Women are entered into the same formal leadership programs and they stay in them longer. But they still don’t get the same access to these jobs as men. There seems to be a lack of strategy around how companies develop women.“
She added, “There are a lot of missed opportunities.”
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Voice of Experience: Marcia Wakeman, Partner, Banking, Capco
Voices of ExperienceMarcia Wakeman, Banking Partner at the consulting firm Capco, believes strongly in the power of mentoring. After spending almost two decades in the industry, she has experienced first hand how finding the right mentor can make a difference in someone’s career. Now, she encourages seasoned women to remember to give back.
“My advice is really taking interest in mentoring, especially the junior women. Reach out and share your experiences. We tend to forget that all the things we have learned would be of value to them,” she explained.
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Making History: Celebrating Women in the Media
NewsEarlier this week the Women’s Media Center celebrated the increasing visibility and power of women at its third annual awards dinner. The event honored women working to change the way females are portrayed media. As host Anne Hathaway noted in her opening remarks, the Women’s Media Center works to make sure “neither girls nor boys will grow up to think women can be insulted, demeaned, or sidelined on national TV or radio.”
Women are gaining power and influence, she continued, but the playing field is far from equal. “We might be farther along than we ever have been, but it’s not far enough yet.”
She continued, “To be honest, I’m not sure I want women to be part of the current media fray. I want us to shape it and make it better.”
Women’s Media Center President Julie Burton echoed a similar sentiment. She explained that getting women involved in the making of media is critical to building gender equality. “If we don’t make our own history, it seems we are not going to be in it,” she said.
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Movers and Shakers: Marie Picard, Counsel, ING U.S. Investment Management
Movers and ShakersMarie Picard, Counsel at ING U.S. Investment Management, believes strongly in the value of mentoring.
“I really think it’s important to find people who can mentor and advise you – formally or informally. Find people you know and respect and look up to, who you are able to learn from. Foster those relationships. People have a lot to teach you – sometimes you just have to ask,” she said.
She also advised women to be mentors themselves – the confidence boost, she says, can help propel you forward. “Help younger women and men at the firm who may be more junior and put effort into sharing knowledge. It’s really validating and empowering to share the knowledge you’ve accumulated over time.”
“It makes you realize how much you know, and it helps create that network of relationships that’s so important,” she added.
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Movers and Shakers: Jill Huntley, Senior Director of Corporate Citizenship, Accenture
Movers and Shakers“Seize the opportunities,” says Jill Huntley, Senior Director of Corporate Citizenship at Accenture. “There is luck everywhere. It just depends on whether you’re looking for it, if you can see it, and if you are ready to grab it when it’s there.”
For example, Huntley began her career at Accenture 18 years ago as a business consultant. But when she embarked on an assignment to Africa in 2000, she developed an interest in corporate citizenship, which opened doors and led to a global role at the company.
“You don’t know where your first step is going to lead. Take some chances and stretch your self. Look for challenges,” she said. “There are many different roads that will take you through your career.”
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