According to the Women in the Workplace study conducted jointly by LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Co., “women are still underrepresented at every level in the corporate pipeline.”
The reasons are complex and the obstacles many, not least of which are company practices and culture. But as women, it’s vital that we are also aware of our own self-sabotage which no doubt stems from the way we, as girls, are conditioned.
In her monumental book, Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg shares a true story that happened in a meeting that was held at Facebook to discuss the economy. The Treasury Secretary of the US arrived with with four staff members – two senior and two junior, all women. After grabbing plates and food, they settled not at the table where the discussion was being held, but on chairs that were positioned at the side of the room. Though Sandberg motioned them to join those seated at the table, and though the four women “had every right to be at this meeting”, their seating choice turned them into spectators, rather than active participants. It’s this type of self-sabotage that we must fight against, however hard it may be for us to “sit at the table.”
Here are 5 reasons the world needs more executive women, and the reason that we must join the table, speak up and contribute.
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“Women are very good problem solvers”
That’s what Jane Harman says (4:36) in this must-see interview with Pnina Sharvit Baruch, senior research associate at INSS in which they discuss the dearth of women in leadership positions in the field of national security and the question – is gender relevant to the decision-making process.
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Women listen
In this article by Knowledge@Wharton, Jennifer Potenta, a director in MetLife’s Corporate Private Placements group states that listening is something she does better than her male counterparts. Could this imply that women listen better than men?
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Women manage with more compassion
This article from HRZone, a human resource website, states that there is growing evidence that “compassionate management has a direct impact on the bottom line because it creates a body of happier employees who are less stressed, committed and more productive.” And guess who’s more compassionate – men or women? (This is not to say that men can’t learn compassion, but only that it comes more easily to women.)
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Women are better list-makers
According to Carol Smith, former Elle publisher, “…women are better list-makers…”. Women makes lists and give them priority. They work through their list until it’s done and if they run into a problem, they deal with it head on to solve it.
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Women are more emotionally and socially competent than men
According to a study by Hay Group division, Korn Ferry, data from 55,000 professionals across 90 countries showed that “women more effectively employ the emotional and social competencies correlated with effective leadership and management than men.”
The world needs more executive women in the workforce to problem solve, create better working environments and bring even better results to organizations. The world needs you.
Why do you think the world needs more executive women?
