Pink is the new black, but being a woman in a male dominated environment can be challenging. Don’t even begin to talk to me about mental baggage and work-life balance!
But recent research is validating our natural skills, and luckily, they are ever-so compatible with men’s natural skills. We have the leadership qualities. The world would benefit from a gender balance. Listen to Katie Snapp, a motivational speaker, about Women in Leadership.
PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION
It occurred to me – what is it that’s so different about us?
We’ve got definite differences, but we’ve got these advantages that I saw not so much leveraged in the workplace as they could’ve been, right?
You guys have probably all been there. And having come from background of technical environment – those of you that are in male dominated workforce does know what that feels like.
So I started thinking, “You know? I know that we’re good. I know that we are good leaders. I know we’re natural leaders. We do it in so many different areas of our lives – not just business. Why is it that we haven’t been able to be quite as effective or prevalent in the business world?”
So I started doing a little research on it and I wanted to share that with you today. I’m going to share with you what I find fascinating, what I find depressing and what I think probably needs to change.
So the fascinating part – is some of the research is being done now. There’s quite an undercurrent of women taking a more visible role as leaders. And I think there’s a national movement going on.
So let’s take the top fortune 500 companies. Stack them up based on nothing – other than the number of women in leadership. And the top 25% outperforms the bottom 25% on a return on equity by 53% when they’re ranked by nothing – other than how dominant women are in that workplace.
Interesting isn’t it? Women make – as you know, 80% of the consumer decisions in the world because we’re great shoppers. But we also buy half the cars, half the computers, we’re half the shareholders.
I just look at where we are and I think, “Its right to have women more represented around the country. It’s a fair thing to do, but my God! Isn’t it really a good business decision too? Wouldn’t you really want to do it especially if you’re in a business that buys and sells consumer goods?”
So that’s what’s fascinating to me. “Wow! We’ve got really good potential leverage in what we’re doing.” But here’s what’s depressing.
Organizations – most of them, more than 80% of them believe that gender equity in a workplace should be something that they strive for. But guess how many people actually do something about it? About a quarter of them.
About a quarter of them have the sort of diversity and inclusion type efforts that they say is a good thing to do, but they don’t really do. 40% don’t even have it on their radar – nothing going on there.
Of the fortune 500 CEO’s – 11 of them are women. Down from 15 last year, we’re seeing a back slide in some areas. I know I’m depressing you – I can tell.
We’re more than half of the workforce. As of 2009, we’re 51% of the workforce and it’s probably a little more since then. But we’re 18% of the leadership. We’re 13% of executive positions at CEO’s. We’re just not being able to move up into positions of influence that we would like to be. But why is it that that’s something that’s not really accepted?
I mean, this happens with all. This happens with the way that we use collaboration as a decision making method. Wouldn’t you say?
It’s different than the way a man would do it. We’re gatherers. They’re hunters. We’re looking for what people are thinking to solve a problem. They’re looking for the answer and then they’re going to nail it.
Now that’s kind of a simplistic Venus and Mars approach, but that really does happen and there really is evidence to prove that the way that their brains function – are different than ours.
So when we’re in these environments where we’re overwhelmed by the way that other people are doing things, we start putting our own methods, our own feminine approaches under the rug. We let them go by the wayside.
Now, I’ve got to wonder – What do you think that does to your ability to be effective? What do you think that does in order to make yourself comfortable and grow?
Most women do not apply for… This is another study called – The Gender Dividend by Deloitte. Most women do not apply for promotions or to move up the ladder because they don’t feel that they’re confident enough to get it.
So when it comes to women in leadership, I feel so passionate about it because of those fascinating statistics and the data and what’s happening nationally. It’s a good thing.
I also know that men love working with women. So we’re not talking about taking over the world – I don’t think we want to do that. I think a gender balanced workplace… I know a gender balanced workplace is really healthy for a business as well and it helps us feel more fulfilled.
So that’s where I urge you to go. I mean, I’m going to leave you with two tips from the book that I feel strongly about. It kind of come back to me every once in a while. Some of these in here – by the way are just kind of light and frivolous and others are more serious about how to run a meeting.
But the first of the two that I want to leave with you is Number 153 – Good approaches to being a great leader are easy to find. Don’t tour the world – looking for the best. Find a decent, simple one and live by it.
Then the very last one – Number 249 that I left in the book is something that all of us should focus on being. Number 249 – Strive to be someone’s role model.
And when you’ve achieved that and when you’re shooting for that – even though it’s a process and not a destination, you’ll find that you’re making your own little impact on the world, you’re making your own little area of meaning. And it’s where we become fulfilled as women.
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