Contributed by Karol Wasylyshyn, author of Behind the Executive Door: Unexpected lessons for Managing Your Boss and Career
When historians write about business in late 20th and early 21st century America, they will say it was a time of intense leadership scrutiny – not only of executives’ results but of how they achieved them. This focus on leadership behavior has been my life’s work.
Or, in other words, I’ve been in the right place at the right time to deliver on a distinctive value proposition. Specifically, my integration of a business background and training in clinical psychology has enabled me to provide the behavioral guidance necessary for senior business leaders to thrive and win in a global business climate.
In my consulting experience, thriving and winning in a business climate that has become exponentially more complex and volatile is as much about effective leadership behavior as it is about smarts, industry knowledge, and classic leadership competencies such as strategic thinking and innovation management. Even a cursory examination of the flame-outs of well-known business leaders to include Carly Fiorina, Robert Nardelli, Al (“Chainsaw”) Dunlap, Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling, Tony Hayward and Mark Hurd bear this out.
A few years ago I became intrigued by a couple of questions. First, Do the executives with whom I’ve worked fall into any particular behavior patterns? And second, If they did represent specific behavioral patterns (they did), how could this information be helpful to both them and the people who report to them?
Based on my analysis of 300 executive coaching cases, I identified three distinct behavioral patterns or leadership types that I named Remarkable, Perilous, and Toxic. Subsequent empirical research found these three types to be empirically distinct based on two commonly used psychological tests – one based on the Big Five Factor theory of personality and the other a measure of emotional intelligence.
What Type of Leader are You?
Expert AnswersWhen historians write about business in late 20th and early 21st century America, they will say it was a time of intense leadership scrutiny – not only of executives’ results but of how they achieved them. This focus on leadership behavior has been my life’s work.
Or, in other words, I’ve been in the right place at the right time to deliver on a distinctive value proposition. Specifically, my integration of a business background and training in clinical psychology has enabled me to provide the behavioral guidance necessary for senior business leaders to thrive and win in a global business climate.
In my consulting experience, thriving and winning in a business climate that has become exponentially more complex and volatile is as much about effective leadership behavior as it is about smarts, industry knowledge, and classic leadership competencies such as strategic thinking and innovation management. Even a cursory examination of the flame-outs of well-known business leaders to include Carly Fiorina, Robert Nardelli, Al (“Chainsaw”) Dunlap, Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling, Tony Hayward and Mark Hurd bear this out.
A few years ago I became intrigued by a couple of questions. First, Do the executives with whom I’ve worked fall into any particular behavior patterns? And second, If they did represent specific behavioral patterns (they did), how could this information be helpful to both them and the people who report to them?
Based on my analysis of 300 executive coaching cases, I identified three distinct behavioral patterns or leadership types that I named Remarkable, Perilous, and Toxic. Subsequent empirical research found these three types to be empirically distinct based on two commonly used psychological tests – one based on the Big Five Factor theory of personality and the other a measure of emotional intelligence.
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Negotiation November: Why You Need to Tell Before You Ask
Office PoliticsLast month Catalyst’s President and CEO Ilene Lang addressed roughly 2,000 women at Deutsche Bank’s Women on Wall Street event, regarding the organization’s latest report “The Myth of the Ideal Worker: Does Doing All the Right Things Really Get Women Ahead?”
The report analyzes the effectiveness of a number of career strategies – and while men seem to come out ahead no matter what career strategies they employ, women did benefit significantly from talking up their accomplishments.
Surprisingly, the report showed that although there is plenty of discussion around women “not asking” or women “waiting to be rewarded” for their work, in fact, women are negotiating.
She said, “Women and men negotiate the same. Women are less likely to negotiate compensation in their first job, but after that they learn from that.”
Why, then, aren’t women getting as far as men when it comes to asking for more? One part of the solution may be a simple as engaging in a little show and tell.
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Women, Age, and Ambition – A Fresh Perspective
Featured, Next LevelRecently More Magazine released the results of a survey on ambition, work/life issues, and other topics. According to the survey of 500 college educated women over 35, 43% of respondents said they were less ambitious now than they were ten years ago.
The headline that many news outlets and websites ran with was along the lines of “Women are Losing Ambition.”
Well, not exactly.
In fact, the survey revealed quite the opposite. Because, while 43% of the survey respondents said they were less ambitious now than they were ten years ago, the majority (57%) said they were just as or more ambitious today.
I repeat: the majority of women in the survey said they were just as or more ambitious now than they were 10 years ago. Amazing what insight you can gain by shifting your perspective.
It is curious that so many ambitious women’s voices (the majority!) have been ignored. Why is it easier to pretend that ambitious women don’t exist?
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Voice of Experience: Kathleen Hughes, Managing Director, Head of Global Liquidity Sales, Goldman Sachs Asset Management
People, Voices of ExperienceAnd, she said, how you build that brand depends significantly on your firm’s culture. “Our culture here tends to be team-oriented. Relationships matter.”
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National Women’s Law Center’s 2011 Awards Dinner
NewsOn Wednesday, November 9, 2011, the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) welcomed over 2,000 attendees to its 2011 Awards Dinner. The event featured President Obama as the keynote speaker, paid special tribute to the women Freedom Riders, and raised over a million and a half dollars to continue the National Women’s Law Center’s mission to “advance and protect women’s equality and opportunity.”
The events of the evening spanned the past and the present. What has been accomplished, and what’s still left to do. Many remarked upon a renewed sense of optimism after hearing President Obama’s words: “That next generation of smart, powerful women? They’re already knocking on the door. They’re coming, and we need to get ready.”
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5 Reasons to Say No Now
Office PoliticsFinding it hard to say “no” at work? Very often, women try hard to please everybody, from bosses to clients, but it’s not always the most productive way to get ahead in your career. Saying “no” can actually open up opportunities and provide options for others if used at the right time. Learning to say “no” is a skill that all women should learn to use diplomatically for maximum career benefit.
Even as professional women, many of us were raised thinking that we’re meant to support the needs of others – and as a result, being a “yes girl” comes naturally. It can become painfully obvious in the corporate world that being a people-pleaser whilst trying to stay in touch with personal career goals are opposing factors.
Patti DeNucci, author of “The Intentional Networker: Attracting Powerful Relationships, Referrals & Results in Business,” says that learning to gracefully decline some tasks is, “the essence of not only connecting more intentionally, but living and working more intentionally as well. And as women, we so easily get into the trap of trying to please everyone and be friends with everyone, when a more focused and mindful approach would serve us (and others) much better.”
Saying “no” is a skill every woman can effectively use, at any stage of her career. If you want to experience this focused and balanced approach to managing your career, here are five reasons why you should start saying “no,” and fast.
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Plugging the Leaky Pipeline at the Mid-Management Level
Industry Leaders, LeadershipFor years, we’ve been led to believe that once women had the “right” education, the “right” training, and the “right” work experience, not only would they succeed at the highest levels of business, but they’d also reach parity in the c-suite. According to the Catalyst report The Pipeline’s Broken Promise [PDF], the premise of this assumption was that the pipeline for women into senior leadership was robust, but it appears that the hopes surrounding parity were too optimistic.
Catalyst reports that when it comes to top talent, women lag in advancement, compensation, and career satisfaction and in order to combat this systematic gender inequity, companies must better develop and fully leverage highly talented women in the workforce.
The good news is that there are major companies, like Time Warner, American Express, and McKinsey, that are working to plug the leaky pipeline at the mid-management level.
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Op Ed: Working Moms’ Work-Life Choices
Expert AnswersWomen have wondered since the beginning of feminism whether it is possible to have it all: a challenging career, healthy kids, and a satisfying marriage. And there isn’t a mother around who hasn’t occasionally questioned her choice from time to time, whichever one she has made. For some, it’s all the time.
The latest issue of Working Mother (November 2011) contains the results of the Working Mother Institute survey of 3,700 mothers to inquire about how they handle the question of striking work-life balance. The article that details their findings is titled “What Moms Choose.”
The “Working Mother Report” sheds light on what women feel about the paths they have chosen. Some of their results are surprising and even seem to contradict other results. But it is a fascinating exposition of the banes and blessings of being a working mom and a stay-at-home mom.
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Negotiation November: Why Women Need to Start Negotiating Early – You’re Worth It
Office PoliticsWe’ve all heard it before: By not negotiating, women sacrifice thousands of dollars by the end of their professional lives. Recent research has revealed, however, that the number is closer to half a million.
Linda Babcock, a Carnegie Mellon University economics professor and co-author of the book Women Don’t Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide, surveyed M.B.A. students who graduated in 2002 and 2003 and found that those who negotiated received up to 8 percent more than what they were initially offered. Of those two graduating classes, 52 percent of the men negotiated their salaries, compared to only 12 percent of women. Even more frustrating, women who do step up and negotiate are seen in a negative light, thought to be “too pushy.”
In her research, Babcock had people in their 20s and 30s watch tapes of men and women negotiate using the same tactics. Viewers said they found the women demanding, while they considered the men’s behavior acceptable.
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Is Blackberry Balance Healthy?
Work-LifeHere’s some good news: the history of human work patterns reveals that leisure time is on the rise, and people today work less than ever before.
In a 2010 report, the Economic History Association (EH) noted that “because of the decline in the length of the workweek and the declining portion of a lifetime that is spent in paid work… the fraction of the typical American’s lifetime devoted to work has become remarkably small.”
Sounds great. But if that’s the case, why do so many of us feel that work demands are eating into our personal time?
Technology is blurring the line between work and leisure, and this merits a closer look at the way we define our terms. According to the EH study, working hours consist of “paid work, travel to and from work, and household chores.” But what about that quick inbox check over morning coffee? How about that message you sent to your boss during lunch? And what about the research you did on your smartphone before bed?
Although our time at the office has decreased, the time we spend working has grown in ways that are difficult to measure precisely, and leads to questions about whether all this work on the fly is really good for us psychologically, emotionally, and physically.
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