Posts Tagged ‘ leadership ’

A Long Way from Equal

November 16, 2009

whp I was complaining to my father after learning a male coworker made more money than me despite the fact I was on the management team and my coworker was not. My father responded, “I didn’t think women had to deal with that anymore. I thought women were treated as equals these days.” I’ll spare you the 30 minute rant I shared with my father in response.

The idea that women and men are equals in the workplace is a common misconception. After all, there are more women going to work every day than there are men. And women are breadwinners: a working wife, on average, contributes 42.2 percent of her household’s income. (Source: The Center for American Progress). Women receive the majority of college degrees. But for some reason, this doesn’t add up to women rising to the tops of their organizations in any significant numbers. We know that the wage gap is widening, not closing. And, in Massachusetts alone, women are losing ground at the top.

Now, a new report from the White House Project points out just how far women still need to go in several different industries. According to “Benchmarking Women’s Leadership” women represent a mere 18 percent of top leaders. Take a look at the percentage of women who are:

*Full professors 26%

*University presidents 23%

*Fortune 500 CEOS 3%

*Among the highest paid at the Fortune 500 6%

*Movie and TV directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers 16%

*Television station owners 6%

*Newspaper publishers 18%

*News directors of radio stations 20%

*News directors at television stations 28%

*Law partners 18%

*Judges 25%

*Top military officers 11%

*Members of Congress 17%

*State legislators 24%

*Mayors 15%

*Protestant clergy and rabbis 15% (The Catholic Church, Orthodox Judaism and Islam prohibit women from holding ministerial leadership positions.)

*College athletic directors 21 percent

The sector where women come closest to parity is nonprofit. Women represent 45 percent of nonprofit CEOS. But when you take a closer look, you will see they represent only 21 percent of the CEOs at organizations with budgets of $25 million or more. And women CEOS at these organizations earn, on average only 66 percent of what their male counterparts earn.

Maybe you are reading this and thinking, “Well I don’t want to own a television station or be a mayor or a minister. I make a decent living and have a good life.” That’s fine. But the lack of women at the top still affects you. There is a growing body of literature showing the correlation between diversity of leadership and positive results.

Women and men approach leadership, risk management, team building and other key skills differently. Women represent 51 percent of the population and at least 85 percent of consumer buying power. In order for the United States to compete in a global market, rebound from the recession, and best represent the interests of all of its citizens, we need to shift the balance of power.

Why We Need Women in Office

November 10, 2009

By Hello Ladies

politician

Last night, in the town where I live, we had a warrant review in preparation for a special town meeting. On the table are some critical items to do with education, raising taxes and smut zoning. As I looked around the room, I observed how few women are in power:

-9 person finance committee: 2 are women

-5 person board of selectman: 1 is a woman

- 7 person school committee: 2 are women

- 5 person planning board: no women

And yet the town population over the age of 18 is 54 percent female and 46 percent male. That is not representative government.

We’ve written before about the need for women to lead. Diverse leadership leads to better problem solving, more creativity, representative government. Girls need role models so they know they too can grow up to serve and lead some day.

And then this weekend, we witnessed the House trade women’s rights for healthcare reform. The Women’s Campaign Forum writes that if there were more women representatives, the Stupak amendment would have been defeated.

she shoudlrun There are some great organizations that support women who want to run for elected office. I encourage you to take a look. Start with She Should Run.

(Logo used with Creative Commons license.)

A Request for the Ladies: Lead from the Front

October 26, 2009

By Hello Ladies

podium Recently I helped organize a big community event. It was planned and hosted by a group of citizens and a town committee, on which I serve. I observed a few things during the process about me and other women.

The idea for the event came from two very smart men who shared their vision and their passion and got others on board. A young woman stepped up and organized the group as it was clear these two men were not strong in the detail department. The woman ran the planning sessions, sent group emails, kept us all on task, and did most of the leg work.

At the event, the women from our team took on facilitating and coordinating roles. We directed, multitasked and worked behind the scenes to make sure the event ran smoothly. The men on the team took the time to make speeches, greet the local politicians who showed up, and speak to the media and pose for photo opps. The women were not pushed out of the limelight—we had equal opportunity to speak and and to network. We didn’t take it.

When the event ended, I watched one of the men on our team, someone who had worked hard but no more so than anyone else, give interviews with several reporters. The young woman who had led the day’s efforts was across the hall breaking down the exhibits and cleaning up. No one in the media asked to speak with her because they didn’t know she existed.

Although the event was a success, and I made new friends and am proud of our team’s accomplishments, I have decided I will never volunteer like that again. Like so many women I know, I am not motivated by getting the credit. I am a little bit shy about speaking in public and standing in the spotlight. I get satisfaction from doing my best and I happen to be very good at getting things done. However, I have finally figured out at forty-something that only working behind the scenes is not enough. In doing so, I am doing a disservice to other women.

You see, while I talk about the importance of women leaders in politics, community-building and business, I have been hiding, along with so many other capable women. Ladies, we need to put a face on women’s leadership. We need to get out in front so that other women will be more likely to get involved; so that young girls have role models; so that men looking for committee chairs, candidates, and board members, will know we are capable and available.

So the next time my committee takes on a project, I will still work hard behind the scenes but I will also get over my self-consciousness and volunteer to speak at the event. I will still arrive early to set up and stay late to clean up, but I will also stop running around long enough to speak to the distinguished guests, give the media a quote and enjoy the moment. If someone asks me my role in the event, I will not deflect attention but will instead take my due credit. I’ll try not to worry that others may think I am power hungry.

Ladies, we know it takes both the visionaries and worker bees to make the world run. We’ve read the reports and seen the evidence that diversity is good for business, for community, and for politics. So what are we waiting for? If we don’t step out in front how can we expect our neighbors, our mothers and our daughters to do it?

Are you with me?

Elinor Ostrom Wins Nobel Prize in Economics

October 12, 2009

By Hello Ladies

nobelprize Elinor Ostrom is the first woman ever to receive the Nobel Prize in Economics, more accurately known as The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences. The prize has been awarded 40 times to 60 Laureates since 1969. Ostrom won the award, along with Oliver Williamson, for work in economic governance.

This is significant for several reasons:

*Firsts are progress. Every time a woman is a “first” (except for cookie baking First Ladies — been there, done that) it opens a door for more women. It gives girls an image of what they might achieve someday. It’s incredulous really, that we expect little girls to grow up believing they can be anything when we bombard them with images of men in those roles and describe so many occupations with gender-specific language (alderman, councilman, chairman, selectman, etc.) Firsts start to change the perception of women.

*She is not alone. Ostrom is joined this year by four other women Laureates. Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn and Dr. Carol Greider won the prize for physiology or medicine. Professor Ada Yonath was awarded the prize in chemistry. And Herta Muller won the Nobel Prize in Literature. For five women to win the award in the same year is a major milestone. Nobel Prizes have only been awarded to women 41 times between 1901 and 2009.

*When you consider the fields in which Nobel prizes are awarded, and when you take into account who does the nominating, you realize just how hard it is for women’s achievements to be recognized. Economics, physics, chemistry, physiology, medicine, literature and even peace, are still mostly male-dominated fields. And it is professors, scientists and previous prize winners who nominate candidates. Again, this is a male-dominated base. You can read more on this topic here.

*Ostrom and Williamson were recognized for work they’ve done in economic governance. According to Nobelprize.org, they have challenged conventional wisdom in this area. One only needs to look to Wall Street and the current economic crisis to appreciate just how critical it is that we revisit our approach. Perhaps recognizing Ostrom will help underscore the need for gender equity in corporate leadership. Read more on why and how here.

This. Is. Good. News.