4 Ways Men Can Close the Gender Gap

Men are often the first to admit they don’t understand women, and in the workplace, that resonates like a kitchen timer at suppertime.

To keep from over-burdening them with our always-ready list of how they can change, we sought to simplify it to a digestible few. Here’s the list of our suggestions for them, and a recommendation that any or all could fill up a productive webinar or brown bag lunch session. Gents, we are ready when you are.

1) Understand it exists.

According to a 2001 Catalyst study, women today hold only 3 percent of the CEO positions and 15 percent of the board positions among Fortune 500 companies. Whereas women comprise nearly half of the country’s workforce, they accounted for only 21 percent of middle managers and just 15 percent of all senior executive, corporate officer and board positions. For more information on this subject see, Gender Equality as an Investment Concept by Joseph F. Keefe, President & CEO, Pax World Management LLC. Read the entire report here.

2) Acknowledge that a woman’s leadership style is different than that of a man.

Support the differences in leadership styles and talk about them. The worst thing that can happen is that you promote a strong and capable woman, and then her success ackfires because she appears to be aggressive when managing others. Guess what? Her only management role models may have been men. She believes she has to use your command and control style (a man’s go-to leadership style) in order to motivate others. Let her know nothing is further from the truth. You promoted her because she has the skills to lead others, and she does not have to look like a command and control man to do that. Help her embrace her natural supportive leadership style.

Yes, women lead differently. As an example, women are more collaborative in decision-making. This can be perceived as a weakness, as though she doesn’t have the answer when asking others what they think about decisions being made. However, in the end, by including others in the decision-making process, a woman, will have already garnered support and created better buy in for quicker implementation. Neither a woman’s or a man’s leadership style is better, acknowledging differences and having both equals balance.

3) Mentor and Promote Deserving Women

You see the potential, you know she can do it, but you have more in common with the young man down the hall and who knows she’s probably planning on having kids soon anyway. All are great excuses in favor of promoting the man rather than the woman but obviously not getting us anywhere. I have supported women on my senior team while they had their families and I’m here to tell you that they are the most productive individuals I’ve had the pleasure to manage. As far as having more in common with the guy down the hall –  think of the woman as the daughter you would want to have an equal chance in the workforce.

If it is up to you to hand out promotions, always give them to the most deserving person but don’t overlook a woman because she’s different.

4) Appreciate the balance in having both genders on your team.

Just as women’s leadership may look different, the strengths they bring to a team will be different yet very beneficial. Gender-balance is the way nature intended our species to co-exist, and the workplace should be no different. With too many men  you likely get an aggressive testosterone-filled environment. Too many women and the drama is unproductive. Balance tends to de-emphasize these negatives; you are then left with a positive, productive workplace.

In my former career as a restaurant owner I would clearly notice when I did not have a gender-balanced team. Too many men and side-work didn’t get done, too many women and disagreements would be more abundant. I’m a true believer in having balance in all we do. Why not try it in your organization. Promoting more women to your leadership team has been proven to improve your bottom-line profits as well, but that is for another BLOG post.

To read more on this… Women-savvy companies: a better investment bet by Linda Tarr-Whelan  Read the article here.

And in conclusion … let’s just say that balance CAN create harmony… and creativity … and collaboration … and a strengthened financial position … and improved problem-solving. And if that’s not enough for you, then just do it because it’s the right thing to do.