There is a good chance that you have witnessed a gathering of your co-workers after the unfortunate demise of a high-potential project or goal. Odds are you played a part in gathering the remains of a venture through statistics, polls, surveys, and listed out all of the reasons why your project didn’t go the way it was supposed to. It’s a common practice for project groups to analyze failed projects in order to prevent the same outcome for the next one.
Tag Archive for: Leadership
There are many ways to create change and arguably one of the most effective ways to get people on board with any concept, including gender equality, is to show them that doing the right thing can also be the most profitable path also.
For nine years theglasshammer has reported on the stagnant numbers of women on boards and in senior management. Yet there is an ever growing body of research the latest of which comes from McKinsey in January 2015 that shows that companies which commit to diverse leadership are more likely to have financial returns as much as 35 percent above their national industry median.
So, why is there still a disconnect? What can give companies the carrot or the stick that they need to do better beyond fluffy aspirational goals and lip service when it comes to promoting women?
One group that can help create change are investors. State Street’s newly launched ETF index fund – the SSGA SPDR SHE Gender Diversity ETF as well as the Sallie Krawcheck endorsed fund – the PAX Ellevate Fund allows for options when as an investor you want to see companies hire and promote women into senior leadership.
So what has changed?
Simply put, there are three things that are changing the game:
Firstly, data for who is on boards and in senior management team has only been relatively newly available. BoardEX and MSCI have dedicated teams to produce independent data on the gender breakdown of large companies’ executive teams.
Secondly, the continued bifurcation of the market is providing more choice for investors. ETFs and other passively managed and more commoditized products are in direct conjunction with more actively managed fund approaches and is certainly driving down costs and increasing transparency.
Thirdly, investors want to live their values and are more aware of what their values are
We aren’t just talking about a handful of aware women putting a few dollars into their pension plan. The California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) announced its initial investment of $250 million in the SSGA Gender Diversity Index, a large- cap U.S. stock index primarily tilted toward companies with a greater than usual number of women in senior leadership positions.
CalSTRS Chief Investment Officer Christopher J. Ailman. “We are entering a new era of impact investing — one based on looking for values or purpose that generate investment returns based on diversity of thoughts and perspectives, while also creating change with our capital. I believe it’s time to change the face of Wall Street and corporate America.”
What is the SHE index?
The SHE index itself is an index which is based on a methodology involving measuring the number of women at senior management levels in the largest firms.
The resulting product is an ETF that tracks a newly created, proprietary gender diversity index comprised of the largest companies in the US with senior women leaders relative to other firms within their sector. Rather than wait for companies to take action themselves or rely on legislation to be enacted, SHE provides a way for people to fight the gender gap directly by investing in companies that put a premium on women in leadership positions.
Jennifer Bender, Managing Director and creator of the SHE index explained to theglasshammer.com that prior to launching this ETF product, Statestreet has been working with rule based large data sets on the institutional side of the business. She comments that it seemed like a natural transition to provide retail investors with the same ability. She comments,
“If investors want to vote with their feet plus get the long term equity return they are looking for then this product allows them to do this.”
When asked about how the companies are picked for the index, Jenn Bender explains that top firms are picked to meet specific criteria using independent research. She explains,
“We want the index to be sector constrained so that we have similar sector weights as the US large cap universe which ensures we have a diverse group of industries represented. The companies in our index have the highest ratios of female senior managers in their sector. “
Walking the talk
Allison Quirk, executive vice president and chief human resources and citizenship officerat State Street believes that it is another way to tackle gender equality work.
When asked about the new SHE index, she sees the importance of reflecting the work State Street continues to do the inside to create that pipeline of female leaders with an external commercial product that aligns with the State Street culture. She comments,
“It is good for business to ensure women have what they need to navigate – it is our responsibility to engage the entire talent pool to ensure a sustainable pipeline of female leaders. We have eighteen female EVPs now who each sponsor other women just below them, this effort along with our male colleagues taking the lead also on mentoring and sponsoring women, means that we really believe we will see the rewards of paying it forward. “
With 27% of their SVP’s and 23% of their EVP’s being women, it seems that this firm is taking gender parity seriously.
State Street’s SHE fund also has an innovative charitable component to it that focuses on the next generation of women leaders. The company will take a portion of revenues and direct them to the newly created Donor Advised Fund, which will in turn support organizations that inspire and equip girls to be future business leaders – particularly in industries where women have low representation today, such as STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).
Pipeline at all levels is what more firms need to think about.
How can you make a sideways step within your job yet still move your career ahead? The opportunity, even demand, is intrapreneurship.
Intrapreneurship is entrepreneurship, but within the context of a larger organization. An intrapreneur is “an employee of an established organization with an entrepreneurial mindset,” who thinks more like a start-up owner.
Alyson Krueger writes in Fast Company, “Obviously there have always been go-getters in companies who try to move the needle forward and push the status quo. But never before has there been such a push for employees to take ownership of their own corner of a company.”
Asserted in Entrepreneur, “intrapreneurship is the new entrepreneurship.”
Satisfaction and Engagement Meets Innovation and Leadership
A survey from University of Phoenix School of Business found people who are satisfied in their job are nearly twice as likely to report having the opportunity for intrapreneurship (61%) compared to those who are not satisfied (33%). It’s logical that organizations are being advised to foster entrepreneurial cultures as a way of attracting talent as well as increasing employee engagement.
Murray Newlands writes in Inc., “Intrapreneurs will become the building blocks of a company’s executive teams and leaders. They are the driving force that moves a company forward and they will inevitably rise to the top of the company as they understand the company from all levels. Starting from the bottom, they will see the company as a set of processes in which every process must evolve.”
Intrapreneurs shake up the ladder, which is one way to change the gender status quo. They do not obey traditional career paths, but creates new ones, while changing how things work from the inside-out. There are many articles that advise on the skills to be effective as an intrapreneur. But the first word that comes to mind when we hear entrepreneurial is spirit.
Here are five qualities that seem across the board inherent to stoking your intrapreneurial spirit.
Quality 1: Relentless Curiosity.
Intrapreneurs see the opportunity for something that is not yet there, which takes curiosity, perceptiveness, intuition, and being attuned to seeing trends before others. They also have to be able to question and “challenge current business practices,” not simply fall in line or put their heads-down and get on with it. Intrapreneurs don’t stay in the box. They question the box. Coming up with ideas is a mindset, and it’s value does not hinge on the success or failure of one idea.
According to Claudia Chan, founder of S.H.E. Globl Media, in Fast Company, intrepreneurial employees are asking questions such as,“What do I want to create that is going to fill a white space? What doesn’t exist that needs to exist? There is a hole and they want to fill it. There is a problem, and they want to solve it.”
Quality 2: Risk-Taking Creativity.
Chan writes, “If you’re not uncomfortable or scared, you’re not driving innovation.”
Intrapreneurs bring creativity where it did not exist before, in the form of ideas, processes, and solutions, and they embrace a spirit of uncertainty. As a visionary, you cannot know exactly what you’re doing, because what you’re doing has not been done before. It’s very important to be knowledgeable and leverage your strengths, but also find the right point to make the leap.
Susan Folley of Corporate Entrepreneurs, LLC writes, “This is the great divide between traditional leaders and intrapreneurs – the known and unknown. It is the difference between playing it safe or taking a risk, relying on past experience or experimentation, needing detailed information to decide or leveraging what you know, minimizing risks or maximizing value, asking for what you need or leveraging what you’ve got. They see what is possible. It’s a mindset, a way of operating that is foreign to many of us.”
Quality 3: Daring and Vocal Courage.
Intrapreneurship takes a willingness to step up with your ideas and be vocal, even finding a way to visualize them so they become more accessible to others.
As shared in her book Daring Greatly, researcher Brené Brown asked Kevin Surace what the biggest obstacle to creativity and innovation was, and he replied that it is the fear of even putting your ideas out there due to worries about ridicule or being belittled, yet “innovative ideas often sound crazy and failure and learning are a part of revolution.”
So it’s necessary to stoke your courage, but according to Brown the culture matters. Ask if the culture you’re in is also rewarding the value of creative courage. If you’re a woman of intrapreneurial spirit full of ideas, be in an environment in which you and your ideas will flourish.
Quality 4: Passionate & Adaptable Resilience.
Once you’ve put yourself out there, it’s important not to let your ideas die upon rejection of one articulation, but foster resilience and passion towards getting to the best work, just as a writer may have to find the real story one hundred pages into her first draft.
Rich Maloof writes in Forbes, “find a granular element of the concept that is undeniably of value.” You can always find the new simplified starting point and with iterative progress, your Plan D may be ten times better than Plan A started out.
Quality 5: Contagious Collaboration.
A large part of intrapreneurship is being able to “assemble” the right team around an idea and foster an enthusiastic start-up mentality – all hands-in, less silos and more shared accountability. If intraprenership requires a learn-by-doing approach, you’re going to need a passionate team willing to learn and relearn with you. You must be able to make a personal vision a team vision.
Intrapreneurial women will not be the first up the ladder. Instead, they’ll invent a new platform to stand on, from which the view looks different for everyone.
By Aimee Hansen
March is Women’s History Month, which gives us even more of a reason to recognize powerful women, both past and present, who continually inspire us to move forward. Regions, a bank that features a Women and Wealth initiative to educate, equip and empower women, is celebrating Women’s History Month by honoring the contributions of women who have made a difference in countless facets of life.
From media entrepreneurs to leaders impacting their own communities, we can learn from these women’s successes and apply their knowledge to improve our own careers and lives. Here are some key examples of inspirational leaders and their advice for reaching – and exceeding – your goals:
Develop Your Leadership Skills with a Mentor
As the president and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Pam Iorio is a shining example of women leaders who are making a difference in their own communities and beyond. Her gift for leadership shows not only through her work with Big Brothers Big Sisters, but also in her past career as Mayor of the City of Tampa and her tenure as leader-in-residence at the John H. Sykes College of Business at the University of Tampa. The author of Straightforward: Ways to Live and Lead, Iorio delivers a strong message about the importance of developing leadership skills. Her message: Learn to lead yourself well so you can, in turn, lead others.
Regions Bank commends Iorio’s work to change communities across America through the power of mentoring and recognizes that career-oriented women can grow and learn from this inspiration. One way women can develop their own leadership skills is by cultivating a relationship with a female mentor
Define Your Personal Brand
Wendy Lane Stevens, the founder and president of national public relations firm LANE, advises women to spend time developing a personal brand that reflects your core beliefs. Every day and in nearly every situation – board meetings, conversation with clients, coffee with girlfriends – your personal brand is on display through your actions, words and decisions. It’s never too late to create a personal brand or modify your current one. Stevens suggests these steps:
Brainstorm and write down 30 to 40 words that describe who you are and the traits you like about yourself or want to improve. After thoughtful consideration, narrow the list to about six words.
Compare your descriptions to the words that three of your role models would use to describe themselves. Use this as a gauge to refine your list.
Ask a family member or close friend to review your words. Are they aspirational and achievable? “You want these words to be authentic and transparent, so you want honest feedback,” Stevens says.
Use the words to develop an elevator speech that describes who you are and what you believe – this becomes your personal motto. Keep it near you – like on your computer or on your phone so you’re constantly reminded of your core values or brand.
Every several months, grade yourself on how you’ve integrated your values and brand into your life.
No matter what your profession, you can glean valuable insights from smart, successful women all around you, including all of the powerful females Regions Bank is recognizing this March. If you’re interested more career insights and guidance for women in the workforce, Regions has shared with us some additional resources:
For Entry-Level Women – Learn How To Budget After Landing Your First Job. When you’re starting your first job, it can be difficult to learn how to budget your money. Regions shares four tips to help you separate your wants from your needs and set yourself up for financial success.
For Female Business Owners – Learn About, and Leverage, the Resources Available to Women and Minorities in Business. The government helps foster growth for women and minority business owners in part by offering tax breaks to companies that work with these businesses. Make sure you thoroughly understand these programs, and take the steps necessary to qualify for them.
For Moms in the Workforce – Balancing Career and Home. When it comes to work/life balance, find the right fit for you rather than an equal balance.
This article was sponsored by Regions Private Wealth Management.
You 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
It would be hard to argue that there has ever been a better time to be a professional woman, but despite making up close to 50% of America’s workforce, women are still very under-represented in executive roles (just 5.2% of Forbes 500 CEOs are women). Smart companies that understand the value of diversity and well-read hiring managers know that female-led companies are often more productive and financially stable. Yet women continue to be a scarcity in boardrooms and corner offices around the country. Visionaries like Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, and scholars like Harvard’s Dr. Hermina Ibarra posit that the lack of female leadership has less to do with the paths available to the modern woman, and results more from the context in which these women are expected to learn to lead.
Have you ever been in a position where your views differ with those of your leader’s? Most of us can relate to this at some point in our careers; having different opinions to those of your leader’s can lead to a healthy debate and can be an opportunity to challenge ideas and drive innovation. This aspect of debate and challenge is one of the most valued aspects of developing a diverse workforce. What happens though when you’re the leader and the diversity of thought results in a fundamental misalignment of long term goals or behaviors? You just don’t see eye to eye and can’t personally identify with your team followers (team or employees).
According to a 2013 paper by Weichun Zu et al, limited personal identification between leaders and followers can have a negative effect – not only in terms of leadership effectiveness, but also in the team’s ability to innovate and their commitment to the organization. The authors present a compelling argument; rather than focus on the impact of organizational identification on employees, we should focus more on the effectiveness of individuals personally aligning with leaders.
Organizational identification, first introduced in 1987 by Cheney and Tompkins, is usually experienced when decision makers select the option which “best promotes the perceived interests of that organization”. The advantages of high organizational identification include greater job satisfaction, improved cooperation and reduced absenteeism. What Zu et al found, is that personal identification results in these benefits too but with greater impact.
This case is supported by a research study published by Hobman et al in 2011 which highlights this difference between organizational and personal identification. The study found that “identification with the leader significantly mediated the positive associations between supportive leadership, intellectual stimulation, personal recognition, in the prediction of job satisfaction and job performance”. While identifying with individuals can have a positive impact, the authors didn’t find the impact to be as great when followers identified with the organization as a whole.
Effective leadership on an individual level is therefore critical to an organization’s success. This even more important in today’s relatively buoyant market where long term commitment to the organization such as high retention rates, is harder to come by. What does this mean for today’s leaders?
Thomas Sy, Professor of Psychology at University of California Riverside, shows how a leader’s perception of his or her followers can have a negative impact when trying to recruit a diverse workforce. In his paper, “What do you think of followers?” and in an interview with Science Daily, Sy highlights the risks around categorizing followers (most often done automatically and spontaneously). “Western leaders may recognize the potential of followers who show enthusiasm, and label and treat these individuals as ‘high potentials.’ However, Western leaders may overlook the same potential in equally capable followers who may not exhibit enthusiasm because their cultural values may inhibit expression of emotions (e.g. Eastern cultures such as Japan and China). This bias may also occur for gender.” Simply put, leaders are individually accountable for the diversity of their workforce, not just the organization’s bottom line.
Today you will play a part in several small stories at the office. Each one will be made up of a setting, characters, dialogue, context, and a scenario in play.
What you may not have noticed is that in each of these interactions, meaning is being negotiated by one or more people who are simultaneously building their leadership identity. Is one of them you?
Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant have written in the New York Times about the challenges of “speaking while female”, which holds women and companies back – such as being manterrupted, having male co-workers take the words from your mouth and run with them, being penalized in competency ratings for talking as much as male executive peers, or witnessing your contributions not being allotted equal weight in strategic discussions. Clearly, more is at stake than share of talk time.
According to the discursive leadership approach, “leadership is a language game in which meaning is managed.” When women’s voices are undermined, their ability to create meaning, and therefore leadership identity, is likely too.
Small Stories and Identity Creation
Discursive leadership says that leadership identity is achieved through influencing the meaning within everyday interactions in an organization, where the players predominantly framing conversations are reinforcing their positioning as leaders.
Research from Jonathon Clifton at the Universite´ de Valenciennes in France suggests that we too often overlook the importance of everyday “small stories” in developing leadership. We often look at leadership identity through narratives where leaders stands back and reflect on their lives.
In contrast short stories are short, happening all the time in everyday settings, told within the purpose of interaction, and aren’t necessarily about the speaker – and it’s those moments in which leadership identity, viewed as more “fragmented, fluid, and dynamic” – is constructed. Echoing Herminia Ibarra’sperspective on leadership identity, identity isn’t something we have or are – it’s something we do.
If we look at leadership more as a practice and process, and less as a quality, then the upcoming briefing meeting, the strategic discussion, and the next conflict resolution are moments in which we can “perform leader identities.” At any moment, we can “do identity” in interactions.
Being a Meaning Maker
Clifton’s research focuses on observing how we “do leadership” through our daily discourse by managing meaning in the “here-and-now” moments of interaction.
Citing previous research, Clifton notes that at any point a narrator (speaker) manages meaning and position herself or himself as leader by:
- positioning characters (co-workers) & the collective (eg. organization) relative to each other in a story
- positioning self as leader by being the one to convey that story right now
- positioning self relative to the organization and certain master narratives (eg an organizational priority)
Any time we talk about anything, we position it in one particular way and not another, which privileges one version of organizational reality while pushing aside others. By influencing the meaning through which discussions are framed, a speaker positions himself or herself as leader through the interaction.
The “fine-grained” discursive techniques of leadership are not necessarily conscious because meaning is always being influenced in conversation. Once observed, certain techniques can be sharpened with awareness and practice. Here’s examples of language plays the researcher pointed out in recorded meetings:
- leading the verbal briefing of a situation at hand
- speaking on behalf of players when summarizing a situation and the various perspectives
- being the speaker framing the situation as news in the here & now, while perhaps conveying an insider viewpoint
- initiating assessment of a situation, challenging a previous assessment, or upgrading it to a stronger assessment
- judging or affirming another’s assessment to assert greater expertise
- bringing in stories or information to justify a certain way of looking at things
- returning the conversation to an angle of topic after intervening conversation
- speaking on behalf of the organization, animating its perspective and giving it voice through “we”
- authoring a (selective) organizational landscape through which dynamics are then interpreted and decisions framed
Resources and Power Imbalance in Managing Meaning
According to the research, the dance of leadership discourse is not strictly defined by hierarchy, but open to resistance, negotiation, or acquiescence and is often distributed and negotiated among different participants in any given discussion. As observed in previous research, “management of meaning does not take place in a social vacuum and rights to assess are constantly being claimed, challenged, and policed as participants jockey for influence…” But not everybody holds equal resources or power in the game.
What each person perceives as their “allowable contribution” to any discussion (eg opening, guiding, assessing, & closing it) is affected by where they sit, and if we bring Sandberg & Grant’s article into consideration – potentially by their experiences of speaking in a specific context in their organization as a man or a woman.
Though not addressing gender differences, the research acknowledges the impact of power imbalance. Clifton notes, “In this language game, rights to assess and, therefore, to define the organizational landscape are negotiated in talk and the person, or persons, who have most influence in this process emerge as the leaders. Thus, from this perspective, leadership is not a zero-sum game, rather it is in constant flow as talk progresses… it can be distributed and it is open to challenge.”
“However,” he notes, “those most likely to emerge as leaders are those who have access to more powerful discursive resources with which to influence the process of the negotiation of meaning.”
Applying that to formal roles, Clifton states “Whilst leadership may not be commensurate with hierarchy, access to discursive resources that are category-bound to more ‘powerful’ identities, such as chairperson, may skew the ability to do leadership in favour of people incumbent of certain organizational identities.”
Disrupting the Discourse Dynamic
In the majority of companies, the incumbents of most executive level identities are men. At both an executive and senior pipeline level, women are not in a position of equal access to the big conversations and often face challenges when they do get a seat at the decision table.
Sandberg and Grant have shared that senior women experience different outcomes to men when they speak. The bigger consequence at hand when women’s voices are institutionally disadvantaged is arguably the consistent re-positioning of predominantly male leadership and privileging of male-led organizational narratives.
Yet the research examples illustrated women “doing leadership” in discussion, including with male bosses. If leadership is a flow practiced with each conversation and discourse is a dance happening at every interaction, then every day presents new opportunities for you to “do leader.”
The more women do, and the more informal organizational culture changes to support and reward them equally to men in doing so, the less “leader” will be a long identity bridge women have to cross.
Instead, leadership can become a series of moments we step and speak into.
Someone once asked me what advice I would give my 21 year old self as she ventured into the corporate world. Turning back the clock, I see myself at that age, a young woman about to enter the professional STEM field. Sporting my brand new leather briefcase in hand, chock-full of boundless energy and enthusiasm, bursting with idealism and with hopes of changing the world. Confident that what I said and what I did truly mattered. Not yet tainted by the bureaucracies and politics of any organization. Taking on the world with unabashed and fearless determination. I remember her clearly. Chances are we all remember our self of yesteryear.
What wisdom have I acquired through the years that I could share with her and so many others who are just starting out today?
1. Leadership takes courage
By definition, leadership is forging a path where no one has gone before. Be prepared to face fear of the unknown. This in no way diminishes you but presents a unique opportunity to search within you. You will be fine as long as you are fueled by a belief in yourself and heed to your moral compass. Your big dreams will often leave you standing alone but never stop dreaming. This vision is fundamental to the road map you will need in moving ahead. Always remember that the path you blaze will be tread by others so don’t leave them behind. Your ability to influence others is the key ingredient to igniting change. Be patient, change happens one person at a time but there will be many that will not budge. That is their choice, not yours.
2. Remain true to your convictions
Always stand up for what you believe in. But know that you will not always get your way. Corporate politics is a tough pill to swallow and youthful idealism can erode with each workplace disappointment. Compromise is an art so explore your right brain and let creativity flow. This is all part of growing up. Organizations that lack diverse leadership may pose an unfairly stacked deck against females and you will face gender bias at least once in your career. The very first time this happens will be a painful blow that disorients and disappoints. After all, encountering gender as a barrier is a loss of innocence. But you will recover stronger and more resilient.
3. Stay hungry
Ambition is the fuel that propels us out of the gates keeping our eyes on the prize while never looking back. Each individual success results in a burgeoning confidence. There will be setbacks which may result in second guessing your relevance and impact in the workplace. Despite these, never drop out. Make the most of the hand you have been dealt and never stop striving for the finish line.
4. You matter
Predominantly male organizations may provide an absence of females to look up to making it a very lonely place. Despite this, know that you are not alone. Fill the void with someone who cares and cheers you on. Mentors and advocates come in all shapes, sizes, and yes, genders. Engaging men in the conversation results in game changing partnerships and lays the foundation for empowerment and gender equality. If you must be the first in your organization to shatter the parochial glass ceiling, strap yourself in. You are in for a trip of a lifetime. One less glass ceiling moves all women ahead. You owe it to yourself and those that follow to get off the sidelines and roar.
5. Pay it forward
Always look for those that look to you as an emerging leader. You must remember that you too bear a responsibility to the generation that follows. After all, it is the next generation of women and men that will continue the progress that has been made and effect long-term and permanent change. Just as you stand on the shoulders of those that came before you, so too will the next generation stand on your shoulders.
My grown up self has still so much to learn and if asked the same question in five years, my hope is that I have acquired more wisdom to add to my list. But one thing I know for sure is that I am impacting the world. Each and every day, we are given the opportunity to create a legacy. The caliber of that legacy is completely up to us. Let it be a positive one and the foundation for those that follow in their attempt at changing the world.
Guest Contribution by Rossana G. D’Antonio, PE, GE
Guest advice and opinions not necessarily those of theglasshammer.com
Tina Youngblood (formerly Mallie) began her career as the first woman professor of accounting, with a PhD, to receive tenure from Miami University. From there, she has carved her pathway to success with the force of lions and a graceful ease. After 7 years at the University, Youngblood took her sabbatical in New York City. During that time, she decided to leave academia for an opportunity to work for PricewaterhouseCoopers as their global chief of staff. When PwC’s CEO, Jim Schiro, left the company to lead the then failing Zurich Insurance Group, he took two people with him—Youngblood was one of them.
“This was definitely a watershed moment in my career”, says Youngblood. She spent two and half years working with Schiro in Switzerland before returning to the United States as Zurich’s Chief Administrative Officer in North America. Again, she was the first woman ever to hold this position, managing human resources, governance and “all functions of the company that were not directly related to insurance.” From there, she moved from one promotion to the next. She became the first woman to run Construction Services, and then head of Direct Markets for Zurich North America Commercial where she was responsible for overseeing the company’s insurance offerings to businesses that service cars, trucks, motorcycles and auto recyclers. In total, Youngblood held 5 different positions in her 10-year run with Zurich, addressing new challenges without pause or consideration of what it might mean to be the “first woman” over and over again.
“This was definitely a watershed moment in my career”
With a diverse set of management experiences, Youngblood moved on from Zurich to become US CEO of Cunningham Lindsay. She has served as Vice Chair of Spencer Capital Holdings since 2013 and has recently been named CEO of their subsidiary, Spencer Re in December of 2014.
Youngblood took her time when looking back over the years to find her proudest moment, “This is a tough one for me because I have had an incredible career with lots of opportunity.” But once she has decided, she is clear. While head of the Direct Markets group at Zurich, Tina was responsible for putting together a team of people who would turn around the company’s bottom line in only a couple of years. “Putting together that team and building a culture of transparency and turning the company around from the employee engagement perspective, making it a place that people were proud to work, and leading them through the process was a very proud and gratifying experience. It was a tough decision—to save 600 jobs we had to get rid of some—but because we were honest, we transformed the business from a financial and cultural perspective as well.”
Listen before you leap
If Tina could pass a bit of advice to her younger self, she would counsel her on the art of communication, “It is 90% listening and 10% talking.” Luckily, she learned this lesson early in her career when she was a professor. “I had a student ask me a question, and I answered her. She stared back at me blankly and I knew I hadn’t gotten it right. When she asked me for the third time, I repeated her question back to her, and when I did that, it was wrong. We got though it and it was a great lesson for me then as it still is today. Every single day of my career and my life, I see how active listening is the most essential part of communication. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in a board room, listening to a discussion between two people who are talking about two completely different things. I say, ‘Hey, do you guys even realize you are talking about two different things?’”
Breaking from tradition
Not surprisingly, Tina sees a lot to be excited about in her new position, “we have a tremendous opportunity that will allow us to make a real difference in the company and the industry.” For customers, she is excited about the unique options that Spencer Re will be able to offer as a result of the ongoing consolidation in the insurance industry. “We are in a unique place right now that will allow us to have new conversations with stakeholders who haven’t previously been at the same table. There are a lot of new options outside of the traditional offerings when we think of the reinsurance industry.”
“we have a tremendous opportunity that will allow us to make a real difference in the company and the industry.”
It is with this same good business sense that Youngblood approaches the many challenges facing women in the workforce today. “As a woman who has been in a male dominated industry for my entire career, I think it is always possible to overcome the barriers. A lot of times the barriers are because of expectations—there are expectations of women with a particular role that they will succeed in, there are lots of them. Some of them are self-imposed and some are imposed by the industry. There are jobs traditionally held by women and those that people expect to be held by men. I’ve never felt like there was anything I couldn’t do if I set my mind to it. It’s never really occurred to me that I’m the only woman or the first woman. It’s more about how I can contribute, this is how I can add value. I just look at other people as people.”
Value integrity
Obviously, this perspective has served Tina well. She advises her mentees and other young women in her industry to remain true and just be who they are, right down to their haircuts. “I used to have longer hair, I was given advice to cut my hair, and wear my glasses. I thought, ‘Why would I do that, and what does that have to do with anything? At the forefront of everything is your integrity – when you put your head on the pillow at night, you sleep on your integrity, and that’s all you have. If there is something that you don’t think is right and it goes against your belief system, then you shouldn’t do it. Don’t forget your core, your purpose, as they say.”
Youngblood feels that Spencer has a culture that supports her own sense of integrity. “One of the reasons I took this job is because of the culture that we are building is all about retention, advancement, education and values.”
Tina served as the head of women in leadership group at Zurich and says that mentoring is still her favorite part of the job. Finding young people to mentor is an essential part of her plan as she works to build and grow Spencer Re.
Share your blessings
As the surviving sister of a younger brother with special needs, Mallie has found great satisfaction in working with the St. Michael Special School in New Orleans. The relationship began while she was with Zurich. The school serves children of all ages; giving them the education and support they need to be their best selves. “There are opportunities to serve everywhere. If you are blessed, I believe you should share.”
In her free time, Tina “sincerely enjoys” the game of golf. Still a resident of Kansas City, she spends a lot of time traveling for work, but still loves to travel for fun as well.
By Rebecca S. Caum