A New Look at Leadership Development for Women

Over the years, I've been involved with Linkage through their Global Institute for Leadership Development and their Women in Leadership Summit. So I was delighted when I was contacted to take part in a series of interviews on leadership for a global research study on the identification and development of leaders. The result of this work will be in an upcoming book by Phil Harkins, the CEO of Linkage - and a well known expert on leadership.

The interview was far ranging and today I received this note from the interviewer.

"Thank you very much for your willingness to support our leadership research at Linkage. Your discussion of the excess emphasis on traits (rather than results) in modern business is one of the key highlights that came out of this series of interviews. Your candor has been extremely helpful to us..."

Here are 4 of the key points I made during the interview.

1. I shared my definition of leadership: "Leadership is using the greatness in you to achieve and sustain extraordinary outcomes by engaging the greatness in others."
2. Women have been under-served by most leadership development initiatives because they over-focus on interpersonal skills (the 1/3rd of the leadership definition that has to do with engaging the greatness in others). For decades the a collection of competencies labeled interpersonal skills is one where women are consistently rated by their bosses as outperforming men.
3. The individualistic culture in the U.S. drives an overemphasis on seeking individual traits of leaders (the 1/3rd of the leadership definition that has to do with the greatness in you). This also under-serves women because of the competencies sought by boards and CEOs when identifying C-suite candidates and high potential employees, only 24% have to do with personal traits.
4. Of the competencies sought by boards and CEOs when identifying C-suite candidates and high potential employees, 50% have to do with business, strategic and financial acumen. These have to do with the 1/3rd of the leadership definition that has to do with achieving and sustaining extraordinary outcomes. Specifically, they are looking for evidence of these competencies via impact on the business. In study after study over the past several decades, men have been rated as outperforming women in these areas. That's why we call these extremely important competencies The Missing 33%™of the career success equation for women.
   

For decades, the paradigms underlying leadership development have been viewed as neutral - in spite of the fact that much the research at the root of these paradigms - dating back to the late 70s - was done on men. As a result, most over-focus on 2/3 of the leadership definition, leaving women at a disadvantage.

To illustrate: In our work with companies on their women's initatives, we analyze the competencies that they embed in their performance and leadership development systems. In one F500 company, only 18% of its management competencies focus on business, strategic or financial acumen (The Missing 33%) - while 48% focused on personal traits. So, if a woman were to cultivate her personal traits per their system, she would hit a glass ceiling pretty early in her career because she would lack the business, strategic and financial skills required to advance.

And while some companies place more of a balanced emphasis between personal traits and engagement skills, the minimal focus on business, strategic and financial acumen is not uncommon!

How does your organization emphasize The Missing 33% in its performance, succession, leadership development, women's initiative content and other advancement systems?

To learn more about The Missing 33%, why it's important, and what you can do about it; check out this short video, and pick up a copy of No Ceiling, No Walls. You'll be glad you did!

Lead ON!
Susan
Susan Colantuono is CEO of Leading Women and author of No Ceiling, No Walls.
Follow her on Twitter |  LittlePinkBook  |  Facebook  |  LinkedInGroup |  LinkedIn

3 Important Questions!

Are you a Businesswoman or a Woman in Business?

Earlier this month I enjoyed delivering a webinar to a number of Professional Women in Healthcare. The topic was Think Like a CEO: Developing Business Acumen. Implicit in the topic is the question, do you think of yourself as a "woman in business" or as a businesswoman. I recommend that your answer should be that you think of yourself as a businesswoman. Here's why:

A "woman in business" can be said to be a woman working in a business, but a businesswoman is a woman who "gets" and is advancing the business of her organization. She understands the business of business, has strategic and financial acumen and is more likely to be considered as a "high potential" candidate for advancement.

So, how do you think of yourself?

What's the Brand of Your Women's Initiative?

It was an honor to consult with a large financial services organization as it launched launch its women's initiative - including a recommendation to initiate a women's leadership employee resource group. During the discussion about recommendations to the executive team and goals for the initiative, the topic of work/life balance and flex-time arose.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to offer advice, here's what I said,

"It's important to think about you you want your executives to see your efforts. Do you want to lead with the stereotypical work/life balance issues, or do you want to lead with a focus on leadership development and building the business?"

They made the right choice. What's your answer?

What are you Doing about The Missing 33%™?

In presenting The Missing 33% to the global women's council of a F500 company, I discovered that only 18% of its management competencies focus on business, strategic or financial acumen - while 48% focused on personal greatness competencies.

This is nearly the reverse of what our research indicates are the skills that executives and boards seek in C-suite candidates and high-potential employees. Of the skills sought for these movers, 50% have to do with business, strategic and financial acumen and 24% with elements of personal greatness.

How do you measure up in the area of business, strategic and financial acumen? How does your organization emphasize these in its performance, succession, leadership development, women's initiative content and other advancement systems?

At Leading Women, we consider business, strategic and financial acumen to be The Missing 33% of the career success equation for women. To learn more about what that means, why it's important, and what you can do about it; check out this short video, and pick up a copy of No Ceiling, No Walls. You'll be glad you did!

Lead ON!
Susan
Susan Colantuono is CEO of Leading Women and author of No Ceiling, No Walls.
Follow her on Twitter |  LittlePinkBook  |  Facebook  |  LinkedInGroup |  LinkedIn