By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)
Earlier this month the Masters reminded us of the not-so-subtle bias that women continue to face in the corporate space. Even when they have reached the highest echelons of business, women still contend with outright barriers to networks of power.
And make no mistake, golf and business go hand in hand. Golf has long been the game of business people. It has social cache, while at the same time, it’s not too physically demanding. It’s good for building the rapport, conversation, and friendly competition at the core of strong business relationships.
But, the majority of women avoid the game, and, according to Leslie Andrews and Adrienne Wax, the authors of the newly published book Even Par: How Golf Helps Women Gain the Upper Hand in Business, they’re missing out on the opportunity to build strong relationships that can help advance their careers. “Golf is a great way to build relationships with clients, prospective clients, people within your company. If you can talk about golf, all of the sudden, you have a reason to talk to the CEO or your boss two levels above you,” Wax explained.
She added, “It’s not only our point of view, but statistics support the fact that golf has significant advantages to businesswomen.” She pointed to a survey by Mass Mutual of 1,000 woman who played golf. “Seventy-three percent agreed that playing golf helped them build relationships and network for business,” she said.
Golf can be a tool for advancement, but given its historical and sometimes current practice of outright discrimination, should women bother? Does learning to play golf to help your career mean assimilating to a boys’ club culture of business, or is it about taking control, using every tool at your disposal to get ahead? It’s a tricky topic.
One thing’s for sure – considering the rising clout of women in the corporate space, maybe golf needs women more than women need golf. “I can’t think of a man in business who wouldn’t want to network with Virginia Rometty,” Wax remarked.
Do Powerful Women Have a Responsibility to Challenge the System?
Managing ChangeMore control over work arrangements – that’s what 30% of senior-level Wall Street women said they would negotiate for besides money if they were starting a new job. This question was posed in a survey of over 550 high-level Wall Street women who were invited to attend last week’s Wall Street Women Forum®, a half-day, invitation-only conference.
Following more control over work arrangements, 27% said they would ask for responsibility for key clients, and 22% said they would request a seat on a key committee or task force. The findings of the survey fell in line with a key theme of the conference – women are seeking more power over their schedules, their workload, and their companies.
On the other hand, almost nine out of ten (87%) respondents agreed with the statement, “Men are paid for potential while women are paid for performance.” When the results of the survey were revealed, many women at the Forum nodded their heads in agreement. Women are working in a system that gives an advantage to men, simply for being men (although 19% said that while they agreed with the statement in general, it didn’t necessarily apply to them personally).
During her keynote discussion, Mellody Hobson, President of Ariel Investments and Chairman of the Ariel Investment Trust, said she felt senior-level women should be more vocal about the state of gender inequality on Wall Street – although she acknowledged that the economic environment makes that difficult.
“I’m a glass half full girl. I’m an eternal optimist and I feel like we’re going backward,” she said, referring to the disproportionate number of layoffs of top women during the economic crisis. “I think because of the crisis, everyone wants to keep our place and we’ve gotten a little quiet.”
She added, “We have to be more explicit about what’s at stake.”
Read more
Building Business Relationships: Women, Power, and Golf
Featured, Managing ChangeEarlier this month the Masters reminded us of the not-so-subtle bias that women continue to face in the corporate space. Even when they have reached the highest echelons of business, women still contend with outright barriers to networks of power.
And make no mistake, golf and business go hand in hand. Golf has long been the game of business people. It has social cache, while at the same time, it’s not too physically demanding. It’s good for building the rapport, conversation, and friendly competition at the core of strong business relationships.
But, the majority of women avoid the game, and, according to Leslie Andrews and Adrienne Wax, the authors of the newly published book Even Par: How Golf Helps Women Gain the Upper Hand in Business, they’re missing out on the opportunity to build strong relationships that can help advance their careers. “Golf is a great way to build relationships with clients, prospective clients, people within your company. If you can talk about golf, all of the sudden, you have a reason to talk to the CEO or your boss two levels above you,” Wax explained.
She added, “It’s not only our point of view, but statistics support the fact that golf has significant advantages to businesswomen.” She pointed to a survey by Mass Mutual of 1,000 woman who played golf. “Seventy-three percent agreed that playing golf helped them build relationships and network for business,” she said.
Golf can be a tool for advancement, but given its historical and sometimes current practice of outright discrimination, should women bother? Does learning to play golf to help your career mean assimilating to a boys’ club culture of business, or is it about taking control, using every tool at your disposal to get ahead? It’s a tricky topic.
One thing’s for sure – considering the rising clout of women in the corporate space, maybe golf needs women more than women need golf. “I can’t think of a man in business who wouldn’t want to network with Virginia Rometty,” Wax remarked.
Read more
Voice of Experience: Suzanne Rab, Partner, Antitrust, King & Spalding
Voices of Experience“Don’t downsize your own horizons. Allow yourself to imagine what you can be,” advised Suzanne Rab, Partner at King & Spalding.
In addition to her recent completion of a book on Indian competition law, Rab, an antitrust lawyer, has been tasked with launching the UK and EU antitrust ‘on the ground’ presence of the US firm from its European hub in London. That responsibility has made her even more aware of the importance of diversity, as well as her own ability to embrace change in the legal profession.
A keen advocate for women, she encourages her colleagues not to shy away from asserting themselves. “Don’t be afraid to promote your capabilities or celebrate your achievements. Don’t get me wrong – this is not about self posturing, but is a matter of confidence in your own abilities and what you can contribute. I have found that women can be more reticent to put themselves forward. Put yourself out there for senior positions if you aspire to them.”
Read more
10 Ways for Executives to Green Their Business
Green is GoodEvery day, more organizations are recognizing the impact sustainability practices can have on their business and are implementing sustainable initiatives. However, sustainability can’t exist in silo, it should be integrated into all aspects of organization. To be authentic and effective, sustainability must be measured, then goals set, documented and shared. As companies try to meet their stated goals, they should track their progress and report on their successes and shortcomings. Without transparency, sustainability efforts ring hollow.
Sustainability initiatives can increase employee retention and satisfaction, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, streamline business processes, save money, enrich the community and benefit the bottom line.
In honor of Earth Day, here are 10 ways that executive women can leverage their influence to make a difference.
Read more
STEM Fields: Something’s Gotta Give
Work-LifeWe hear it all the time: why are women still so underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematical (STEM) fields? There are scientific fields in which women are plentiful, such as medicine, and though it’s true that women remain grossly under-represented in engineering and computing, things are changing – perhaps more rapidly than we’ve been led to believe.
The Why So Few? report released by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) found that at the top level of math abilities, where boys are overrepresented, the gender gap is rapidly shrinking. Among sixth and seventh graders who score more than 700 on the math SAT, 30 years ago boys outnumbered girls 13 to one, but only about three to one now.
Plus, women, who aren’t socialized to pursue careers in STEM fields, must sometimes combat outright discrimination if they do pursue careers in these fields. That was made especially clear when Harvard’s former president and the current director of the National Economic Council for the Obama administration, Lawrence H. Summers, made some highly offensive remarks several years ago, implying that women might lack an intrinsic aptitude for math and science – which we know is not true.
It’s offensive that women’s abilities are still being called into question, requiring scientific tests to prove they’re just as capable of excelling in fields and subjects historically dominated by men. This discriminatory attitude lives on the culture of STEM – and it’s embarrassing that it continues today. But discrimination is only part of the problem when it comes to the lack of women in these fields. The other half the equation, according to a new study by the Association of Women in Science (AWIS), is the work life challenges associated with careers in STEM.
Read more
Movers and Shakers: Julia Fuller, Vice President of Environment, Health and Safety, Thomson Reuters
Movers and Shakers“My advice for women is to know yourself,” said Julia Fuller, VP of Environment, Health and Safety at Thomson Reuters. She explained, “Focus on what are the things that you really hold dear as your core values. What are you really good at? Know your real strengths. Having that knowledge about your abilities is really powerful.”
After growing her career at the Reuters Foundation and then becoming global head of corporate responsibility for Reuters, she shepherded the program through the 2008 merger with Thomson. Then Fuller turned her attention to women’s advancement. Fuller leads the UK chapter of the Women @ Thomson Reuters network, and also leads the London network Women on the Wharf, a multi-firm women’s networking group which is focused on helping women stay in their careers at the challenging mid-level.
“Be true to yourself and know what makes you tick,” she advised. “Don’t try to be someone else and don’t try to live up to someone else’s dream. Follow your own dreams.”
Read more
Transformational Tools – A Leadership Practice of Journaling
Ask A Career CoachJournaling is a powerful leadership practice that I recommend to all my Executive Coaching clients if they want transformative change in their leadership.
When I first started journaling, it was something I had to force myself to sit down and do. I am the kind of person who likes to be incredibly productive and efficient and I saw journaling as a waste of time. After all, there were many more productive things I could be doing – folding the laundry, catching up with friends on Facebook, flossing … you get the picture. And then I read data that suggests that all kinds of successful people, including U.S. Presidents, had a daily practice of journaling. Well, that got my attention!
Journalling allows us to get greater insights and knowledge into ourselves and others, which is a core foundation of emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is one of the greatest drivers of our success and wellbeing as leaders. Research also suggests that journaling can improve our stress levels, our health, and feelings of wellbeing.
So, here are 10 steps to a successful journaling practice:
Read more
Movers and Shakers: Meg Brown, Director, Sustainable Investment, Citi
Movers and ShakersBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)
According to Meg Brown, Director of Climate Change and Sustainable Investment Research at Citi, one of the first things she learned when beginning her career was the importance of speaking up. “When I was quite new, I didn’t know that if you don’t ask you don’t get. But if you do ask, you get quite a lot.”
Based in London, Brown leads Citi’s global climate change research and its European ESG product. She continued, “The best advice I’ve ever been given is to always have a view. If you have a view, if you contribute, people want you on their team, regardless of your gender.”
She said the advice has become even more meaningful as she’s advanced in her career. “No one is going to hand things to you on a plate. If you have a voice, if you contribute to the business, you can negotiate.”
Read more
Standing Out Online: The New Realities of Job Search for Executive Women
Featured, Industry Leaders, LeadershipTechnology, social media, and the recession have drastically changed the face of job seeking—it’s much harder today to stand out from the noise. Talent hunters now have access to literally hundreds of millions of online resumes in an instant through job boards, search engines, and networking sites. Yet the online environment can serve as an “equalizer” as well, helping to create a more level playing field for executive women during the job search process—provided they know the right strategies to use.
How can you cut through the clamor and gain the attention of potential employers, recruiters, and hiring managers in today’s ultra-competitive online and social media environment? Who better to ask than Mike Junge, who currently serves on the leadership recruiting team at Google and has helped hundreds of job seekers land offers with Fortune 500 companies around the globe.
Junge is also author of the recently released book, Purple Squirrel: Stand Out, Land Interviews, and Master the Modern Job Market and a former five-time Recruiter of the Year with a national staffing firm. As such, he has the inside word on what it really takes for female execs to get hired in an environment where it’s no longer about searching for jobs—it’s about being searched for.
Read more
Voice of Experience: Deborah Hazell, CEO and Regional Head of HSBC Global Asset Management, North America
Voices of ExperienceReflecting on her career, Deborah Hazell said one thing she wishes she had learned earlier is the importance of being heard. “Speak up if you want something,” she said. “My key promotions have largely been because managers only realized I was the right person when I put my hand up and stood right in front of them.”
Hazell began her career as a door-to-door salesperson, climbing through the ranks of the asset management industry to arrive at her current role, CEO of HSBC Global Asset Management, North America. Today she is passionately involved in leveling the playing field for women in the industry.
She added, “Believe in yourself, that you can do things, and speak up if you want something.”
Read more