Shelley Zalis* says there are important things that need to change when it comes to overcoming stereotypes surrounding female leaders.
Why do we always opt in for the number two position when we can get the number one position?
Why don’t we sit at the head of the table when the seat is open?
Why do we get blamed for failure when it’s a job that’s impossible?
These are questions that we have to ask ourselves.
While we may be placing different expectations on ourselves, there are also stereotypes that are holding us back.
It’s no secret that female leaders are treated differently from their male counterparts.
When a women is appointed to the CEO position for an organisational turnaround and fails, the perception is often because she was distracted by personal factors such as caregiving duties.
When a man is appointed, the perception is often that the organisation simply couldn’t be saved.
The research backs this up.
An analysis of news coverage of CEOs by the Rockefeller Foundation found not only that the media covered the personal lives of female CEOs more frequently than male CEOs, but that 80 per cent of news stories pegged the blame for failed turnarounds to CEOs when they were women, compared to just 31 per cent when they were men.
Here are some thoughts about what needs to change when it comes to overcoming stereotypes surrounding female leaders.
Women are willing to take the risk
Studies show that women are more likely to be picked for senior leadership positions when organisations are in crisis.
There’s even a term for this phenomenon: The glass cliff.
The truth is that life stage matters — no matter your gender.
There is no one-size fits all: The decisions each woman makes about work and life are deeply personal.
When Jennifer Kohl was offered the top position after the CEO of the fledgling company where she previously worked resigned, she was seven months pregnant with her first child.
“For me, given I was about to give birth to my first child, and the fact that my mother was also suffering from an ongoing illness, I felt the only answer was to decline,” says Kohl.
“I did it, however, with a very heavy heart.”
“Because I knew I could do this job and I knew I would be great at it.”
“What I didn’t know is what sort of sacrifice I would have to make for my family to have that job.”
Former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, the first woman to hold the position, told CNBC.com, “I’ve been blessed with an amazing career, but if I’m being honest, there have been moments I wish I’d spent more time with my children and family.”
She said spending more time with her family was a factor when stepping down.
Unfortunately, jobs have been set up as an either/or scenario when it comes to work and family, but it shouldn’t be.
We need to make workplace adjustments to accommodate life stage needs.
This will help everyone rise to the top at work while also being able to succeed at home.
Rewrite the rules
There are other biases that women face in the workplace, but the number one bias that all women face is about family and career.
That is the biggest reason why women fall out of the messy middle.
What typically happens for women in middle management is one of three things: 1. They rise to the top but have work–life balance issues.
- They leave the workforce completely to raise their families.
- They leave to start their own company.
If we keep following the rules of the workplace that were written 100 years when women weren’t largely in the workplace, we won’t get ahead.
Don’t listen to that voice in your head, just say yes, and then figure out how to make it work by writing your own rules.
You can have a successful life that includes both career and family.
Flip the balance
It’s also a leadership issue.
If you think about the C-suite and the board, leadership remains predominantly male, and that dictates the decision-making power and a woman’s ability to execute on her strategy.
Female CEOs are still the minority at that table.
Having at least 30 per cent women in the C-suite and on the board is when we’ll see a real flipping point.
Track progress
At the rate we’re going, it will take 202 years to close the global gender pay gap.
We have to start treating equality as a metric just like any other organisational goal.
“I think we’re making progress, but I don’t think we’re making it nearly fast enough,” says Andi Owen, CEO of Herman Miller, a global designer and furniture manufacturer.
“There still aren’t enough women in key positions.”
“As a society we need to measure equality in order to change it.”
The ‘first’ lays the path for the rest of us to follow
Being the first is always scary, whether it’s being the first female CEO or the first woman to run for office.
I always say that being uncomfortable is like wearing a new pair of high heels.
The first time you wear them, they pinch.
But the more you wear those shoes, the more comfortable they get.
We have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, and just say yes.
It’s the next generation that will close all these gaps.
It’s our responsibility now to open up all these conversations and opportunities, so the next generation of female leaders can come in and be the change we want to see — which is women in the C-suite.
* Shelley Zalis is CEO of Female Quotient. She tweets at @ShelleyZalis.
This article first appeared at www.forbes.com.
