Women and Leadership

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Women and Leadership A Presentation for Women in
High Tech By Patty Prosser Managing Partner,
Career Consultants Oi Partners
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INTERESTING FACTS AND FIGURES

• More women than ever before hold senior executive
  positions and sit on corporate boards.
• 1 out of 4 women earn more than their spouse.
• Women executives in high status jobs have not
  given up more of their personal and family lives
  to manage their careers than women executives in
  lower status jobs.
• According to FASTCOMPANY, in this age of economic
  distress and emotional despair, women are rising
  to the top as humane bosses with winning
  principles.
• According to Catalyst, 89.2 of Fortune 500
  companies have at least one board seat held by a
  woman.

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MORE INTERESTING FACTS AND FIGURES

• Women make up 47 of investors and they account
  for 40 of people in US with more than 600K in
  assets.
• Women control 80 of household spending including
  retail purchases and groceries. 
• Women influence 85 of all automobile purchases,
  51 of consumer electronics purchases, and 51 of
  all travel purchases.
• Women head 40 of all US households with incomes
  over 600,000.
• Women own 66 of all home-based businesses.
• Since 1964, the majority of voters in this
  country have been women.

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• Unfortunately, the news is not all good..
• Only 4 of the top income earners at Fortune
  500 companies are women.
• Only 11 companies in the Fortune 1000 had women
  CEOs in 2002.
• In the US, more than one-third of all
  women-headed households fall below the poverty
  line.
• Only 1 of the worlds assets are in the name
  of women.
• In Silicon Valley, for every 100 shares of
  stock options owned by a man, nly 1 share is
  owned by a woman.
• The wage gap between male/female managers
  actually widened between 1995-2000. in the
  communications industry, women earned .73 for
  every 1 a man earned which was down .13 from
  five years prior. (.86)
• The number of sexual harassment claims between
  1992 and 2000 rose by more than 50.

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Whats Holding Us Back?

• ?

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• Whats Holding Us Back?
• Internal Barriers
• Lack of Self-Confidence
• Male-centric business world setting
• Risk-aversion
• Criteria used
• Survival of the fittest
• Lack of role models
• Lack of training
• Perceived work/life balance issues

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• 24/7 SYNDROME
• Overachievement
• Must work twice as hard as male counterpart
• Take on more than we should
• Personal sacrifice

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• FEAR
• Afraid to acknowledge our leadership styles
  are different from men
• Somehow different from will become less than
• Insecurity
• Strength of voice and expressing ones own
  perspective
• Dont want to appear pushy or aggressive
• Self-criticism

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• LACK OF OPPORTUNITY
• Women hold only 10 of 13,013 corporate
  officers and only 5 are currently CEOs of
  Fortune 500 companies
• Only 28 of 978 female corporate
  officers hold positions with PL responsibility
• Limited number of job assignments
• Stereotypes about commitment
• Limited number of sponsors
• Not fitting the company image of a leader

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• LACK OF SUPPORT
• Top management does not support female
  leaders
• Lack of diversity training
• Little publicity about women
• Women themselves do not support other women

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• Gender Issues
• Exclusion from important networks
• Lack of diversity training
• Perceived advantage
• over males counterparts
• Women themselves do not support other women

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WHAT ARE SOME STEREOTYPING BARRIERS WOMEN FACE?

• ?

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STEREOTYPING BARRIERS
WOMEN
Are the weaker sex Seek permission before
acting Take on more to prove they can Are
uncomfortable saying no Dont look men in the
eye Waffle under pressure Arent willing to get
their hands dirty
Get too emotionally involved Show their feelings
too readily Talk too much Cant be trusted Will
never fit in Should be at home raising
children Are the givers/men are takers Others
put on board
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OLD PARADIGM FEMALE LEADERSHIP

• Imitated male leadership styles
• Abided by mens rules including styles of
  clothing
• Aggressive, command and control style
• Autocratic hoarding and demanding power
• Hierarchical rank means power!
• Limited communication between ranks
• Focused on individual effort rather
• than team
• Opposition to change

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NEW PARADIGM FEMALE LEADERSHIP

• Dont issue orders to achieve results, but
  create an independent vision that inspires their
  employees.
• Possess a laser focus on achieving objectives.
• Use financial and management savvy to transform
  companies.
• Foster collegial relationships with
  employees/clients by relating to these folks in a
  high touch way.
• Obsessed with customer preferences.
• Have courage to make tough choices in the face
  of a staunch opposition.
• Embrace change.
• Build leadership within
• Manage with humility.
• Engage colleagues in decision-making.
• Release people to be creative.
• Assume high levels of risk.
• Decisive and strong.

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• The Survey Says
•  
• According to a 1996 Michigan-based study of 941
  managers across 17 states.
•  
• Women managers consistently rate better than
  their male counterparts by their bosses,
  themselves and their employees. Not just in the
  softer skill areas like communicating, empowering
  people and being positive
•  
• Women have demonstrated greater skill at being
  decisive, better at planning and better at
  facilitating change.
•  
• Additionally.
•  
• Female leaders today
• Concern themselves with the importance of
  establishing relationships and maintaining
  connections with others.
• Are more likely to critically examine the
  past, ask the difficult questions, promote
  collective visioning, focus on the development
  of others and respond with the good of the entire
  organization in mind.
• Deeply believing that there is a better way
  and are committed to practicing it.

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WHAT WOMEN DO WELL!

• Good Time Mangers
• Cooperative/Collaborative
• Multi-taskers
• Self-reliant
• Empathetic
• Thoughtful
• Strong
• Supportive

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WHAT WOMEN DO WELL! (cont.)

• Nurturing
• Helpful
• Honest
• Respectful
• Good Planners
• Courageous
• Consensus-builders
• Compassionate
• Intuitive

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CASE STUDY EXERCISES
Rules Must utilize as many of traditional female
traits to achieve goal Must be a collaborative
effort Means to achieve goal must be realistic
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LEADERSHIP TRAITS THAT ARE WINNING RECOGNITION
AND ACHIEVING RESULTS

• Confidence and willingness to take risks
• Anticipating changes in the marketplace
  (VISION)
• Use of traditional feminine qualities like
  empathy, collaboration and cooperation
• Possessing a clear vision
• Willingness to strengthen others
• Ability to develop teams and
• partners

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• LEADERSHIP TRAITS THAT ARE WINNING RECOGNITION
  AND ACHIEVING RESULTS (cont.)
• Staying focused on achieving goals
• Effective problem-solving
• Being able to manage change
• Motivating others
• High personal standards
• Maximizing high touch in an era of high
  tech
• Having a mentor

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• It helps to have help
• Value and Role of a Mentor/Coach
• Most of us need to be held accountable for our
  results, but who holds us accountable and how we
  feel about them can have a profound effect on the
  quality of those results.
• Mentor or coach
• Someone who can advise us and impart their
  knowledge and skill on us.

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• What to look for in a mentor/coach
• Someone who can broaden your perspective
  not necessarily like you
• Someone who has faced similar problems not
  necessarily higher up on the food chain
• Someone you can learn from
• Someone you admire and respect
• Someone you can trust to be confidential
• Someone who is willing to hold you
  accountable
• Someone with shared values

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What Can You Do?

• Developing a Personal Action Plan

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TIPS FOR WOMEN TO ENHANCE THEIR CREDIBILITY AS
LEADERS (first 10 from Training and Development,
March 1998, p.8)

• Add coaching/mentoring skills to your
  repertoire
• Give critical, as well as, positive feedback
• When coaching men, give the critical feedback
  first
• Take a stand
• Communicate ideas in a concise, focused manner
• Lighten up
• Reduce visual distractions and err on the
  conservative side
• Always maintain eye contact

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TIPS FOR WOMEN TO ENHANCE THEIR CREDIBILITY AS
LEADERS (first 10 from Training and Development,
March 1998, p.8)

• 9. Think and talk about the future
• 10. Dont let what you have been interfere with
  what you can be
• Get a mentor or coach for yourself
• 12. Dont minimize yourself with disparaging
  comments such as I was having a PMS moment or
  My blonde roots are showing
• 13. Be genuine develop your own leadership
  style through increasing your own self-awareness
  and working to eliminate blind spots
• 14. Build strong external and internal networks
  networks provide information information is power

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Courage is not the absence of fear. It is going
forward with the face of fear. Abraham
Lincoln