To Get Paid More, Cultivate Your Network!

Before the great recession, an author in Canada, reported that women executives have a harder time than their male counterparts finding a new job after they've been let go. If that isn't reason enough to focus a portion of your energy on developing a smart strategic network (as differentiated from a collection of friends), a new study by Marie Lalanne and Paul Seabright of the Toulouse School of Economics adds another. Improved compensation for executive director positions!

As reported in the Economist:

"They find that if you were to compare two executive directors, identical in every way except that one had 200 ex-colleagues now sitting on boards and the other 400, the latter, on average, would be paid 6% more. For non-executives the gap is 14%.

The really juicy finding concerns the difference between the sexes. Among executive-board members, women earn 17% less than their male counterparts. There are plenty of plausible explanations for this disparity, from interruptions to women’s careers to old-fashioned discrimination. But the authors find that this pay gap can be fully explained by the effect of executives’ networks. Men can leverage a large network into more senior positions or a seat on a more lucrative board; women don’t seem to be able to."

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 As an explanation of why women execs have a harder time getting a new job, their findings also speak to the importance of "weak ties" (that we've written about).

"According to Granovetter, the social connections that are the most valuable when looking for a job are not the closest ones but the more distant ones. Strong ties, such as close friends and relatives, are more likely to have similar information concerning job opportunities, while weak ties, such as acquaintances and coworkers, are more likely to move in different social circles and to have access to different information about job and other opportunities."

Although the cited research applies to the most senior women, it is of use to all of us. The time to cultivate your strategic network is when you don't need it!

Lead ON!
Susan
Susan Colantuono is CEO of Leading Women and author of No Ceiling, No Walls.
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With Eyes Wide Open

Ever since I spoke at the W.I.N. conference in Rome last month I've been thinking a lot about career advice given to women over the past 40 years. Much of the advice hasn't changed although the words might have changed. We've been told and continue to be told to:

• Speak up, be assertive, ask
• Get a mentor (40 years ago the definition was the same as today's idea of a sponsor)
• Dress for success, develop executive presence
• Manage your reputation, enhance your personal brand
• Balance work/life, integrate work and life

and yet the advances that women have made have mostly slowed or stagnated.

That's why my message about the importance of developing and demonstrating business, strategic and financial acumen is so "eye-opening" - as a matter of fact every email I received from the global women who attended my presentation used those words!

The most rewarding email was from Manuela who wrote: 

"I came back and immediately sent an email to our VP clearly communicating the cost savings I achieved working on a project for investments for next year such 63% savings versus plan, 1 mill $ here another 12 mill$ (!) there – it is huge, Im proud of it and I said it this time…."

Manuela not only wrote about sharing her "eye-opening moments with women back at work" she was actually able to put into immediate action the advice about demonstrating business acumen! She'll forever move forward in her career with eyes wide open.

If you're serious about your career and think you can climb to success by following conventional wisdom, please think again. Clear advice about developing and demonstrating business, strategic and financial acumen (what we call The Missing 33%™ or The Secret 33%™) is hard to come by. To remedy that deficit is what motivated me to write No Ceiling, No Walls: What Women Haven't Been Told About Leadership from Career-Start to the Corporate Boardroom.

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SPECIAL DISCOUNT HERE

If you're serious about your success and don't already own a copy of No Ceiling, No Walls, gift yourself with a copy. It might sound self-serving to promote my book, but really it's you-serving!

With the holidays approaching, we're offering a special discount to help spread the word. It makes a great gift for colleagues, team members, proteges, daughters, nieces, moms and any other woman serious about her career.

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