Carol Kinsey Goman* says women face unique challenges when it comes to being perceived as leaders.
Image: Metamorworks
I have been speaking on the topic of leadership presence for several years, but only lately created a program designed for women — and the question I get most often is, “Why focus on women?”
My answer is, as they say in the commercial, “Because we’re worth it!”
We’re highly educated.
According to the US National Center for Education Statistics, women make up more than 56 per cent of university students.
We increase innovation.
An economist from Carnegie Mellon found that teams that included at least one female member had a collectively higher IQ than teams that had just men.
We make organisations more profitable.
The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology recently published a paper called The Case for Investing in Women detailing the huge difference that women make in the workforce.
One of their findings is that in Fortune 500 companies with at least three female directors, the return on invested capital jumped over 66 per cent, return on sales went up 42 per cent and return on equity increased by 53 per cent.
But here’s the rub.
Leadership presence doesn’t automatically come with your education, your talent for innovation, or your business results.
Instead, leadership presence is entirely subjective.
It depends on how others perceive you.
Women face unique challenges when it comes to being perceived as leaders.
The most pervasive obstacles are unconscious bias, the double-bind paradox, and imposter syndrome.
Few people would consciously think that a woman can’t be a leader.
But unconscious bias appears in numerous studies.
For example, when researchers ask both men and women to draw a picture of a leader, they’ll almost always draw a male figure.
The double-bind paradox states that as males rise in rank and status at work, they retain (and often increase) their perceived likeability — so they can be both powerful and likeable.
But when women project status and authority in order to advance in the workplace — the more powerful they appear, the less they are liked.
Catalyst, an organisation that studies women in leadership, calls this the “dammed if you do, doomed if you don’t” dilemma.
Imposter syndrome is the fear of being exposed as a fraud, of feeling unworthy of your success.
While both genders experience it, a female’s self-doubt is more likely to negatively impact her career when she doesn’t exhibit the self-confidence expected in a leader.
For example, internal research by Hewlett-Packard found that women only apply for jobs for which they feel they are a 100 per cent match; men apply even when they meet no more than 60 per cent of the requirements.
To complicate matters further, women fall into verbal and nonverbal communication traps that rob them of presence.
Here are three of those traps:
Trap #1 — Sending nonverbal submission signals
Sometimes it’s as simple as the tilt of your head.
Tilting your head to one side is a warm (“pro-social”) signal that you are listening and involved.
As such, head tilts can be very empathetic and inclusive.
But they are also subconsciously processed as submission signals.
(Dogs tilt their heads to expose their necks, as a way to show deference to the dominant animal.)
Continue using head tilts when you want to demonstrate your concern for and interest in members of your team or when you want to encourage people to expand on what they are saying.
But when you need to project power and confidence — asking for a promotion or giving a presentation to the executive team or board of directors — keep your head straight up in a more neutral (and authoritative) position.
Trap #2 — Looking less than you are
Here’s how most women sit around a conference table in a business meeting: Legs are crossed, elbows into waist, hands together on lap, shoulders slightly rounded.
In other words, women condense their bodies.
If you find yourself in this posture, realise that it could be depleting your leadership presence by making you look less confident, less professional, and less powerful than you really are.
Confidence and authority are non-verbally demonstrated through claiming height and space.
If you are sitting, you can still project power by sitting straight with both feet on the floor (which makes you look and feel “grounded”), by hooking one arm over the back of your chair, by making more open arm gestures, or by spreading out your belongings on the conference table to claim more territory.
Remember, also, that if everyone is seated, standing when you speak gives you instant status by becoming — for the moment — the tallest person in the room.
And if you move around, the additional space you take up adds to that impression.
Trap #3 — Staying invisible
A head of human resources told me that the saddest comment he hears when executives are evaluating potential candidates for high-level positions is, “I have no idea who she is.”
I think this happens more often with female candidates because we are more likely to adopt a “good student” mentality — in which we believe that if we just keep our heads down and do good work, others are bound to notice and reward us.
Apparently, that’s not the case.
Research with senior leaders in Silicon Valley found that the top criterion for promotion was visibility.
One savvy female executive stated it this way: “It’s not enough to be a legend in your own mind.”
“You need to make others aware of your talents and accomplishments.”
So, ask yourself: Are the executives in your organisation aware of your talents and accomplishments?
If not, you need to increase your visibility by volunteering for key projects, offering to give presentations, publicising your team’s accomplishments, and taking an active part in your professional associations.
You need to broaden and deepen your network and look for mentors and sponsors who will guide and help promote you.
Because as gifted as you may be, your leadership presence can only be built by getting out there and letting others see you in action.
* Carol Kinsey Goman is a body language and leadership coach as well as a change-management consultant. She tweets at @CGoman and her website is CarolKinseyGoman.com.
This article first appeared at www.forbes.com.
