Women Executives: Leadership Role Models (Part 3)
If my 2 previous posts have seemed less than optimistic, let me assure you that there is hope (for us all!).
Below is an article by Professor Ginka Toegel the Director of Strategies for Leadership Program, International Institute of Management Development, Switzerland.
Companies are not setting themselves these targets out of some generalized notion of equality but because there is a strong business case for them to do so.
There has been a great deal of research in this area that suggests the value of having gender diverse management teams.
For example, companies that have more than three women in management positions tend to have better return on equity and assets than do those with fewer women.
They also tend to score higher on organizational effectiveness criteria. Equally, women board members tend to be very well-prepared for meetings, which raises the benchmark for others.
This subsequently leads to better discussions, and better decisions.
So, there is a clear business case for companies hiring and promoting more senior women. But what is life like for the women who are already in these roles?
When we have less than 15 percent of a minority in a social category, we talk about tokens.
And anyone who is in that position is likely to be under a huge amount of pressure, as they are highly visible, and frequently will feel that they represent not just themselves, but their entire category.
At 25 percent – in many companies this is currently the target – they are still in a minority, but they are no longer tokens.
The tipping point is 35 percent: once we reach this level, visibility becomes less of an issue and women’s identity as women becomes less salient.
Past this point, when women speak, they are heard as individuals with their own separate backgrounds, values and personalities, not as “the woman”.
Her opinions and views are not reduced to her gender.
The problem at the moment is that we have so few senior women in management positions that they are perceived as outsiders.
This creates a kind of legitimacy gap, in that they do not fit the (male) stereotype of what it is to be a leader.
This leads in turn to another problem, which is that male leaders tend to be associated with “agentic” behavior: they are more likely to be proactive, assertive, dominant, in control of the situation.
Female leaders, by contrast, show what we call “communal values”: friendliness, support, warmth and a caring attitude.
When we look at these two sets of values, it becomes clear that it is the agentic approach that we associate with leadership.
Many women come to the conclusion that, as a result of these stereotypes, the only way for them to be perceived to be legitimate leaders is to emulate male leaders.
However, the real answer is not so straightforward.
If women simply emulate men, they violate the gender stereotype, which creates a perception that they are being phony.
This creates a real problem, and can lead to them being penalized for being inauthentic leaders.
Women should instead blend both sets of characteristics.
Indra Nooyi, the Chief Executive and Chairwoman of PepsiCo, does this very successfully; she can make tough decisions and is very assertive in negotiations, but her direct reports also describe her as extremely warm and caring.
What then of the future? Well, despite the disappointing statistics there are many good reasons to be positive.
The next 5 to 10 years will see a dramatic change for the better.
Women managers can contribute to this by understanding that there are certain expectations related to organizational leadership, and developing their skills accordingly.
Women Executives: Leadership Role Models (Part 2)
Just in case you are wondering if there is still a stigma attached to being a woman and aspiring to executive and management roles, please read the article below.
I would be very interested to hear your thoughts
Maternity leave will kill your career, recruitment companies warn women
By Jane Hansen The Sunday Telegraph, September 19, 2010
Pregnancy
Refusing to promote a woman because she pregnant is illegal but recruitment agents believe those who take maternity leave are less likely to get ahead.
HEAD-hunting companies say women should forgo maternity leave if they want their careers to flourish.
Refusing promotion to an employee because she is pregnant is illegal, but leading head-hunters admit mothers are more likely to be promoted to top-level positions, such as chief executive officer or board director, if they do not take maternity leave.
“You’re only the parent of a one-year-old for a short time and if an employee is worried about childcare arrangements, uncomfortable, or worrying who’s looking after the baby, then I’m not sure you’ll be focused on the job,” recruitment firm Talent 2’s New South Wales (Australia) general manager Nicholas Tuckfield said of women who return from maternity leave too early.
Mr Tuckfield, who head-hunts candidates for jobs with salaries of more than $100,000, said taking 12 months’ maternity leave in an extremely competitive job market would have a negative impact.
He said at senior executive level, where MBAs were mandatory and long hours par for the course, competition was stiff.
Highly competitive
“On a logical level, if you’re out of the workforce for 12 months you don’t advance your managerial skills and, inevitably, everyone else does,” he said.
“You don’t get to the top doing 37 1/2 hours a week.
“It’s highly competitive, and if you’re an aspiring rising star and take a year out, your star won’t keep rising.”
Julia Ross, who was pregnant when she set up her recruitment agency 22 years ago, said although times were changing, at the executive level it was unforgiving.
“If you’re aiming for managing director, stopping and starting your career will make it tougher to place yourself properly,” Ms Ross said.
“You may even pass up promotions but, hey, it didn’t stop (Westpac Chief Executive Officer) Gail Kelly, did it?”
Fair Work Ombudsman chief counsel Leigh Johns said more than 70 pregnancy discrimination complaints had been made to the agency since its inception in July last year.
Complaints
A prosecution has been launched in the case of a 36-year-old mother-of-one who allegedly was told she might not be able to return to her position as clerical worker and that her pregnancy had “caused inconvenience” for a printing company.
Several of the complaints, including those arising from employers declining to keep a job open, demotion of someone on parental leave, and refusing promotion to an employee because she is pregnant, are currently under investigation.
Mr Johns said women needed to be aware of their rights.
“News of impending parenthood should be met with delight, not discrimination,” he said.
Neil Waters from Egon Zehnder, a company which specialises in placing chief executives, said if a woman was genuinely good at her job she would be given the right to juggle work and pregnancy.
“You can’t put a line through someone because they’re going to bear a child … but there are trade-offs and not everyone can make them,” he said.
“The CEO becomes the company. It’s hard work, 18 hours a day, six days a week, and it’s an enormous commitment.”
Slow change
Other top level executive recruitment officers, such as Heidi Mason from Russell Reynolds, said the findings were a reflection of an old, conservative view which was slowly changing.
“I think there’s a perception that there’s an impact, but we’re starting to respect that men and women who balance their lives make better leaders,” Ms Mason said.
But the fact remains that only two per cent of chief executive roles are held by women, and men outnumber women on boards by 10 to one.
The NSW Anti Discrimination Board president Stepan Kerkyasharian said there are unwritten rules at play that explain the deficit of women in the upper echelons of business.
“Some recruitment agencies may be complicit in this, a client says to them ‘no, we don’t want a women who might get pregnant’ wink, wink, nudge nudge,” he said.
Women Executives: Leadership Role Models (Part 1)
If you think 21st century women have it made as top flight executives, Chief Executive Officers and the ultimate holy grail of governance as Chairman of the Board of a multi national corporation, think again.
Male captains of industry have been fortunate to have so many outstanding male examples to model as they ascend the corporate ladder. In fact there is an embarrassment of riches with regards to asking and getting a strong and positive mentor to help them grow and develop into the top job.
The same cannot be said for females. Women executives in leadership positions are few and far in between according to some statistics I uncovered.
A 2008 Australian Census of Women in Leadership published by the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency found that the number of women on boards and executive management of Australia’s top 200 ASX (Australian Stock Exchange) companies could be counted on fingers on one hand (with one digit to spare).
The percentage of women as Chairman and CEOs were 4 of 200 (2.0%) in each category; board of directors numbered 125 of 1504 (8.3%).
There was no female on the board of directors in 51 % of these ASX 200 listed companies.
Because we see more women in business suits today (than say in the 1950s) there is an assumption that they must occupy executive management positions. The reality is that there are more women in middle management positions in human resources, finance, medical and health administration, and real estate and property businesses today than any other time.
However, at the pointy end i.e., top management where the real game is played, women are under represented.
In 2010, only 2.8 percent of Fortune 500 chief executives were female.
I believe that sisters need to do it for themselves.
Specifically they need strong, smart and compassionate female role models to help them navigate their way through the management maze.
How will they do this? I will discuss some strategies in my next post.
Yours in health, wealth and happiness
Book Review-7 Strategies for Wealth and Happiness
A timeless classic by Jim Rohn a motivator extraordinaire, that is written in an easy reading style for anyone who has had enough of being average (read beige) and wants a better life.
This includes health, material success and most importantly a deeply satisfying sense of contentment.
Click here to listen Book Review-7 Strategies for Wealth and Happiness
or read on
Jim Rohn’s own journey started when at the age of 25 he met his mentor Earl Schoaff who asked him the uncomfortable question of where his life was headed.
To his credit, Rohn replied with an honest “No where” and that was the start of the years of learning everything he could from his mentor.
He has distilled his years of experience into the seven strategies of goal setting, being a sponge and soaking it up, having the determination to change and forming new habits, staying on top of your spending, making time a priority, seeking out like minded associates and learning the art of living well.
These strategies if faithfully applied are your keys to a magnificent life.
The Secret of Success
The secret is that there is no secret.
Click here to listen to the full 60 minutes Audio of Secret of Success on my program \”Your Money and Your Mindset\”
Below is the synopsis if you can’t wait!
It is a series of sequential steps that anyone can take if they so choose and success will almost be guaranteed.
Step1: write down your goals on a piece of paper. Just thinking about it means that what you desire is still an intangible concept.
The magic starts when your goals take on a physical form.
Use the SMART method as a guide to help you (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timeframe)
Step 2: start moving-literally get off from where you are sitting and start doing (this constitutes activity).
The good thing is that motion will quickly tell you if you are heading in the right direction towards your goals or not.
It is essentially a feedback mechanism that indicates to you in no uncertain terms if you are on the right track.
Step 3: know that there is an art to setting goals. The most efficient way is to divide them into four sections and I have listed some examples in each category i) physical (losing weight or getting fit); ii) mental (attending professional development courses to improve your career prospects); iii) emotional (making time to regularly spend with people who are important in your life) and iv) spiritual (communing with Nature and getting in touch with you, the real person).
Step 4: create a vision board or goal book where on one page you have images and pictures of your goals and on the facing page, write in the present tense what achieving this goal looks, feels, smells and tastes like. Always have a start and finish date, and a reward for when you reach that goal.
Investing the emotional energy into this activity engages your subconscious into putting you in the right spot (sometimes literally) for the opportunities as they present themselves to you.
And here is the real bonus, as you go about on a daily basis achieving small victories in regard to the steps you take towards achieving your goals, you discover your life purpose.
This is the person you were always meant to be.
Yours in health, wealth and happiness
Financial Education for Kids: 3 Tips For A Great Start
I believe that you are never too young to learn how to wisely manage your money.
Just imagine if this was a compulsory subject taught in grade school would the global financial crisis have been less severe if not altogether avoided?
That wasn’t a rhetorical question, folks.
Instead, what we have in our education system is the mantra that is continuously drilled into our heads that we should knuckle down, study hard and get good grades so that we can find ourselves secure jobs that see us to retirement.
Anybody notice what is wrong with the previous statement?
For one thing, the employment landscape has changed so much in the last 25 years that if you are 22 years old and reading this, you will very possibly be on to your third job before you reach 30.
The pace at which technology is changing and the rate business models are evolving means that you may want to revise your thoughts on having only one job for life.
So, back to the topic at hand; as parents how do you model to your kids on the issue of money. This means that what you say, and do with the money you earn will to a large degree determine how your children deal with their own hard earned when they are old enough to do so.
Here are some tips to get them on the right track
1. The 70:20:10 Rule
Disciplined saving of 30 cents into the piggy bank for every dollar that they get as pocket money or for the older kids what they make on paper rounds etc.
Explain to them that they are allowed to spend 70 cents on anything they want but 20 cents has to go into the bank.
Kids will ask why and the answer is that it is seed money that they will lend the bank and the good thing is that the bank has to pay them extra (interest) for borrowing their money. This is empowering for your child to know that they are doing the banks a favour, not the other way around
2. Tithing: the other 10 cents
This 10 cents teaches your child the idea of giving to charitable causes and creates generosity of spirit. One great way is to discuss with your kids that by tithing they can help people less fortunate then themselves and it makes for a better community when everybody pitches in. It is a fantastic way to build your child’s self esteem.
3. Delayed gratification
We all want it NOW!
Advertisers know how to push all the right buttons but as we have seen, there are a lot of under 25’s who are declared bankrupts from using the instant credit offered by retailers for the latest gadgets only to find that they cannot repay the debt.
Personally I think that having a bad credit rating is as bad as having STD; no one will want to do business with you and even worse when you realise that you had the chance to buy into a great business but cannot get finance to do so.
If your child desperately wants something now, and has the money saved ask them to sleep on it for 2 whole days before they go to the store to get it.
It is not being cruel to your child, but getting them to think about their wants versus their needs.
Above all, have open and honest communication with them about money-it’s not a dirty word.
Yours in health, wealth and happiness
Goodbye Corporate World, Hello My Own Heart Centered Successful Business
Hello all
I had the pleasure of interviewing Blanca Vergara sometime ago. Her story is inspiring, and I hope it will give you that little push to take action and change the course of your life.
Enjoy the read and click on the live link at the end to hear her truth.
Blanca Vergara had it all- the power, prestige, a plum executive management position in one of Europe’s leading companies. But that was not enough and eventually she broke free of the golden handcuffs to start her own executive business performance consultancy.
She listened to her internal wisdom, one that manifested spectacularly as a vivid dream, so startling that in her own words, she ‘jumped out of bed to write this vision down”.
Having found her authentic self Blanca’s business underwent an extraordinary growth, as her perfect clients began beating a path to her door.
Today she coaches people who recognize that they want more in their lives and have up until now been trading their life force for a paycheck.
Her clients are people who want to follow their passion and purpose and make a meaningful contribution to this world.
She guides and leads them in this transition process where their souls are enriched as they do what really moves their heart whilst giving them the practical marketing, positioning and business tools to not only survive but thrive in their chosen business niche.
If you a budding heart centered entrepreneur who is ready for the next step, this is a sign to connect.
Interview with Ms Blanca Vergara (unlinked)
Yours in health, wealth and happiness
Entrepreneurial Spirit of Me Inc
We are AGAINST scarcity that says that everything you receive was forcibly taken from somebody else.
Entrepreneurship is about making new pies, not dividing up old ones. Perry Marshall
I took this quote out of Perry Marshall’s newsletter.
Many of you know him as the man who figured out Google Adwords.
There is a common but erroneous belief that for you to profit in a business deal, there must be a poor sucker elsewhere who loses his shirt.
Somehow we feel that we have to hold our breath whilst divvying up the pie lest we accidentally inhale the tiny slice that is our portion.
Would it not be easier, like the man says to make a new pie?
Now, there’s a thought.
We live in the best of times, in this century where so many opportunities abound.
Most of us live in democracies that give us the freedom to choose businesses and enterprises that were not available before the advent of the phenomenon known as the internet.
The magic word is abundance as opposed to scarcity or more specifically the “scarcity mentality”.
I use this term used to denote someone who sees the hole instead of the donut.
Abundance has the connotation of being expansive, generous and giving.
I don’t know about you but I like to think that my business offers something valuable to my clients, a product or service that will improve the quality of their lives.
When I think along those lines, I am making a new pie and certainly no one has lost their shirt over this deal.
No one was ripped off, and there was no driving of a hard bargain that resulted in a winner and a loser.
We both won.
Yours in wealth, health and happiness
Your Money and Your Mindset: Interview with Mr Paul Blackburn Part 2
Paul Blackburn’s brush with prostate cancer was his wakeup call to becoming serious about wealth creation for himself. He has written this book to share the strategies that have made him a millionaire today.
In this interview he describes some of the success characteristics of his millionaire clients. These include being unafraid to ask for help with their finances. They are unconcerned with what others think of them for their frank admission that they do not know everything.
This group of people is willing and happy to pay for financial and life coaching if that is what is required to get them to the next level of achievement.
Another practical tip he has for us is to save a percentage of our income that becomes the foundation of investing in a business. This slow and steady strategy helps a person acclimate to being wealthy. In his words, “They have time to be comfortable around a lot of money and are less inclined to squander their wealth”.
Paul’s take home tip: “A well kept secret of the wealthy is that they take time out from their businesses to recharge and re-energize. This freshens their business practices and they come back to make even more money!”
Interview with Mr Paul Blackburn Part 2 (unlinked)