DM Coaching and Development

Qualities women need to suceed in a Man's World

2010-03-11T15:53:59+00:00

I read this article about the qualities needed by women entrepreneurs with interest, because it demonstrates one of the things I coach women in my workshops about. That is how women find it harder than men to make themselves and their achievements visible. Men seem to have no problem with telling people about how well they have performed in a given task, but women shy away from this, feeling that they are being boastful or obnoxious. It is however, something they really need to overcome in order to be visible and progress in a male dominated environment. I also like that the article mentions authority and attitude, and how it is essential that you need to believe in yourself and your power. You are in that position because you deserve to be there and must now have the attitude that you will not tolerate condescension or pity because you are a woman. You need to look at your peers and subordinates not as men or women but just as people who you need to find the best way to interact with regardless of their gender. When women master these skills it makes it easier to break through the glass ceiling.

Pipeline's Broken Promise for Female MBAs

2010-03-09T15:31:05+00:00

Having an MBA sadly doesn’t appear to level the gender playing field according to the second report Pipeline’s Broken Promise from the series The Promise of Future Leadership: Highly Talented Employees in the Pipeline. These reports set out to see how the best and brightest have fared post MBA and have discovered career women lag behind men in both advancement and compensation and are less satisfied with their careers overall. “‘Give it time,’ has run its course,” said Ilene H. Lang, President & Chief Executive Officer, Catalyst. “In a world where women comprise 40 percent of the global workforce and are earning advanced and professional degrees in record numbers—even surpassing men in many cases—gender inequity is a waste. Companies without parity for women at all levels are unsustainable. Smart leaders will act now or risk falling behind.” The report found that men were twice as likely as women to be in CEO or senior executive level roles and that on average they were being paid $4,600 more than a woman in their first role. They were also more likely to start their post MBA career at a higher level than women. One piece of good news is that the report served as a wakeup call to CEOs and senior leaders to make recommendations for corrective action. Not soon enough I think.

The Joy of Positive Feedback

2010-03-04T13:30:17+00:00

It is always lovely to receive positive feedback from my executive coaching for women, but equally when someone takes the time to write to me after reading my book it proves to me that it has had the impact on them that I had hoped for when I wrote it. I wanted to share some feedback that I received recently from a 32 year old professional lady who works in a predominantly male environment. She says ‘I struggled to find a mentor at work and actually gave up a long time ago, so it was a welcome 'wake-up call' to read in your book how vital mentors are. I identified with most of the points made in your book, about how as we progress, work increasingly revolves around how we communicate our work, how we collaborate and how we network. Having focused on technical skills for a long time, it is clear that I need to improve my speaking and presenting for internal and external meetings. As English is my second language, this adds to the challenge. Thanks to your book I am now going to try a Toastmasters meeting next week and take it from there. I had no idea these groups even existed!’ So thank you so much to her for sharing and it is such a pleasure to me that she is actively using some of the tips from the book. If you would like a signed copy of Beyond The Boys Club - Strategies for achieving career success as a woman working in a male dominated field, you can get one here.

Female Role Models and Mentors – could be the key to more women in science

2010-03-02T15:21:03+00:00

I was interested in this article about reaching gender equity in science especially because it picks up on an area which I focus on in both my book and during my Beyond The Boys Club Boot Camps - the key factor of having female role models and mentors. The article gives some great examples of women in leadership, working in science and engineering who have become mentors and role models – some of them specifically because they had no role model when they started out. As Geraldine Richmond, a professor of chemistry at the University of Oregon, says ‘one of the factors that has inspired more women to pursue scientific careers has been having examples of successful women who have done the same’. Aoife Moloney, a lecturer at the School of Electronic and Communications Engineering at Dublin Institute of Technology says she has always been in the minority and this inspired her to take part in Role Model Day at her institute. She explains "that has been very successful. We invite women engineers working in industry mainly. They talk to second level students about doing engineering.” The good news coming out of this is that the proportion of female graduates in most scientific fields has never been higher. According to findings reported in the NRC's (National Research Council) Gender Differences, although women are underrepresented in the applicant pool for faculty positions in many fields, those who do apply are hired at rates equal to or higher than those for men.

Gender Matters – it seems it does in faculty hiring.

2010-02-26T14:55:32+00:00

My long-time friend from CAMAwise, Esther Haines, sent me this great article about whether it makes a difference having a woman in the top job when it comes to faculty hiring. It appears that women have made slow but steady progress in representation on college boards and this seems to be having a positive effect on the number of female faculty members. Cornell Higher Education Research Institute released a study undertaken over a long period of time, and a large sample of institutions, which could give value to the argument that change at the top of institutions could lead to change at junior faculty level. According to the report of a recent National Research Council committee, there is evidence that the gender of the chair of a faculty search committee can influence the likelihood that female Ph.D.'s will apply for a position in science and engineering fields at major research universities. More research is needed on deans and department chairs to see if having women in leadership is related to the hiring of more women, but the results would appear to be positive for women, particularly in science and engineering.

Why office gossip can be good for you

2010-02-24T13:32:40+00:00

This story in Forbes caught my eye as spending time on water cooler talk is something that I do recommend in my coaching sessions for women. Office gossip isn’t always bad for you, the reality is that many deals are informally agreed and relationships strengthened during this ‘down time’ with colleagues. If you never participate in the banter and the ‘what are you doing this weekend’ type conversations you may not be seen as a team player. As Donna Eder co-author of the paper "Strategies of Adult Gossip" says, when you aren’t the leader you don’t have as much power to express yourself directly, so a well placed piece of gossip could do the job for you. The professional female needs to learn this social skill and use it to her advantage to create camaraderie particularly if she works in a mostly male dominated environment, where she may be excluded from the golfing and drinking outings.

How to get the recognition you deserve, and take control of your career

2010-02-22T12:43:13+00:00

As you may know I am a great believer in mentoring and networking and the benefits they can bring to your career. In particular for career women working in a male dominated environment. This is one of the reasons I created my Beyond the Boys Club Boot Camps. Having run the first Boot Camp during January and February I was absolutely delighted with the feedback I received, with Boot Campers saying they ‘couldn’t believe’ the difference the Boot Camp was making to their career, and that was before they had even completed the course! Not only will you get the opportunity to network with the other Boot Campers, I will also teach you some valuable techniques for networking within and outside your organisation to enable you to widen your circle of influence. You will also learn how to raise your profile – something women often find difficult – to get the recognition you deserve. If you are a professional female who really wants to move your career on to the next level take the opportunity now, because this is the last Boot Camp to be offered at the special introductory price. It was such a pleasure to work with the last group of Boot Campers and I am really looking forward to the next group.To find out more and book your place go to Beyond the Boys Club Boot Camp

The iPad - Great product, shame about the name!

2010-02-19T12:57:11+00:00

There has been a lot written about Apple’s new iPad but I found this article from the Huffington Post amusing. It highlights why we need more women in technology, as the article points out you can just imagine a room full of men thinking this was a really great name for their new product. They need to remember that whilst women control 66% of home computer purchases they only hold 27% of computer related jobs according to a study by the National Center for Women & Information Technology. There has also been a steady decline in the number of computer science bachelor's degrees awarded to women. It would seem to me that there is a great opportunity here for women in IT to start making inroads into this male dominated environment. Then maybe next time Apple release a new product the women will be applauding the product’s name as well.

The New Economics of Marriage - a Great Result for Men it would seem!

2010-02-17T12:13:15+00:00

According to a report by The Pew Research Center 22% of married women are now earning more than their husbands - which is over a fivefold increase from 1970 when it was just 4%. The economic gains of being married have increased for men with the study also finding that better educated women are more likely to marry than less well educated women - putting paid to the myth that men don’t want a woman smarter than them. These women are also likely to earn more therefore increasing the household income. When a man married forty years ago it was unlikely that the household gained a second income as he would be the sole breadwinner. Now with many men being the victims of the recession it is just as likely that the wife will be the main earner – thereby increasing household income overall. The good news for career women is that the study also found that their earnings grew 44% compared with only 6% for men, which has narrowed but not closed the earnings gap. So at least things are starting to move in the right direction, let’s hope the trend continues. And the good news for men - with household income going up is that pressure on them having to provide is going down.

Why the Decline of Senior Women in Financial Institutions?

2010-02-15T14:08:07+00:00

My friend Adam Quinton at Bank of America sent me this interesting article on the return of Sallie Krawcheck to Wall Street when she was hired six months ago as president of global wealth and investment management at Bank of America. Sallie was amazed and delighted with the emails she received from current and former Wall Street women celebrating her return.

She had been forced out very publicly as head of a comparable unit at Citigroup in August 2008 and of other women in a similar position she is the only returner. Bruce Greenwald, a professor of finance and strategy at Columbia University Business School believes “It is more difficult for women to come back because the environment in financial institutions is generally more hostile to women, this culture has developed over a very long period of time and it has been exacerbated as the firms’ emphasis has shifted from traditional investment banking to sales and trading, which is an even more macho culture.”

The number of women in this sector has declined since 2006 with the aggressive environment of the trading floor being cited as the reason. I certainly see in the work I do with professional women that there is a growing anxiety for women in the financial industry that their career paths are narrowing despite business starting to pick up.

You can learn techniques to develop your career as a woman in banking and finance, in our Beyond the Boys Club Boot Camp the next one starts on March 12^th. This could be just what you need to make that breakthrough.