Women in Leadership: Striving for Truly Inclusive Workplaces

There’s a lot of talk about creating inclusive workplaces but researchers indicate that the reality in most organizations is far from the goal. 

Part one of this series on Women in Leadership explored the idea of the gendered workplace and discussed how leaders can shift leadership archetypes and employ specific strategies to overcome implicit bias. In this second part of the series, we’re going to look at what happens to women leaders over time as a result of the gendered organization and how to foster a more inclusive workplace for all leaders.

After a decade of coaching many women in senior leadership roles, I’ve heard many stories of challenges women in gendered organizations face. Common themes include:

• Feeling pressure to over-prepare for meetings and presentations so as not to be perceived as less competent than their male peers. This phenomenon of having to prove oneself means showing up with data and evidence to validate their ideas, whereas men’s ideas are more often just accepted.
  
  
• Not being heard and having ideas ignored and dismissed – or accepted only when brought up later by a male colleague.
  
  
• Facing inappropriate disparaging remarks, which the other parties claim are jokes. “Just joking” doesn’t excuse being actively undermined in front of team members and colleagues. It’s common for women to recount times when others challenge their leadership authority.
  
  
• Missing out on decisions that happen outside of meetings. Sometimes the meeting happens before the meeting and male peers “line up their ducks” to sway a particular decision. Men tend to participate in social networking opportunities like playing golf or fishing that typically don’t include women, who often also don’t have time to spend on group leisure activities as they have family care obligations.
  
  

What the Research Says About Gender and Leadership

The research underscores the effect gender bias has on women leaders. In many organizational contexts, leadership is still experienced in the traditional concept of the male archetype. While systemic barriers such as equality measures in hiring policies and gender balanced boards have improved over the past 20 years, the unconscious belief that the male style of leadership is better still permeates across workplace cultures. Not surprisingly, the messaging is still the “think leader, think male” attitude coined by organizational psychologist Dr. Virginia Schein.

Personal leadership identities and how we view ourselves are influenced by a number of  things, including:

• Unique personal traits
• Family history
• Cultural background
• Organizational context 

We know that women and men are not socialized in the same way. Certain characteristics have historically been associated with male leadership, such as assertiveness, competitiveness, risk-taking and independent thinking. Female leadership, on the other hand, is typically characterized by qualities such as being empathetic, intuitive, collaborative and relational.

It’s true that many organizations are now embracing a more female leadership style, which is typically considered transformational or servant styles of leading. While this has broadened people’s thinking on what leadership could be, it’s hard to change the generations-old belief that men are better leaders.

When an Inclusive Workplace is Elusive 

The issue is broader than just “fitting in” as leaders. 

As women try to fit in and measure up to the traditional male leadership archetype, their confidence can diminish and understanding the rules of the game their predominantly male peers know can lead to a weakened leadership identity.

Unsurprisingly, many women struggle with imposter syndrome. They question their abilities, over-prepare for meetings, don’t put themselves forward for projects or promotions and develop a fear of failure.

Leading researchers on women’s leadership including Ely, Ibarra and Kolb suggest that we shift to thinking about leadership development as identity work and look at how gender bias in workplace cultures and in organizations interferes with the identity work of women leaders. In essence, if there is a continued belief that only the male archetype of leadership is valued, and that is reinforced unconsciously in the workplace culture, how can a woman possibly develop her leadership identity based on her authentic self?

The majority of leadership programs are outdated; while leadership competencies are still critical, providing women (and everyone else) with certain types of support will go a long way to ensuring gender inclusive workplaces, gender inclusive organizational cultures and confidence in women leaders. These include:

• leadership training and coaching opportunities situated within the paradigm of gender bias, 
• creating a safe space for women to fully explore identity work and 
• to anchor participants to their leadership purpose.
  
  

How to Support Leadership Beyond the Male Archetype

There isn’t one quick fix to eliminate implicit gender bias in the workplace and create more inclusive workplaces. This is a culture shift, and we know that takes time and effort at individual and organizational levels. 

Here are some strategies individuals and organizations can use toward setting the conditions for a workplace where women can develop and embody their leadership identity:

At an individual level, this could look like:

1. Developing your self-awareness, no matter your current position, is paramount. It’s actually the first step toward being open to how you might be showing up and what your values, perspectives and biases may be. Think of this as a practice to help you stay in touch with yourself and to come back to throughout your career.
   
   Ask yourself: How am I coming to conversations and decisions? What unconscious bias am I bringing? How can I check my bias?
   
   
2. Holding other women up. We’ve all heard the saying, rising tides lift all boats. This is about setting aside competitiveness and judgements and celebrating the successes of others. This not only supports other women, but by drawing on some of your natural characteristics, it will strengthen your own leadership identity.
   
   Ask yourself: Am I typically surrounding myself with the same type of colleagues and team members? How might I actively reach out and build relationships with different people? When was the last time I acknowledged or celebrated the actions of a peer or team member? Who might benefit from my mentorship? What can I do to help build a more inclusive workplace?
   
   
   
3. Men taking on the responsibility to create a culture of equity and diversity. They aren’t the villain in this story, but men do have the ability to reconsider that we need multiple leadership styles that are a reflection of the organization and the broader population.
   
   Ask yourself: What socialized biases do I have for leadership qualities? Is it time to bring in leadership that is different? More collaborative? Relational? What qualities would be helpful? Are our current leadership programs based on the traditional male archetype of leadership? Do they give space for discussions on implicit bias or gender differences?
   
   
4. Developing your unique leadership identity and the benefits that identity can bring to the organization. Leaders who can see the benefits of the qualities they bring to the organization will feel more confident about their ability to lead others effectively. One place to start is writing a personal leadership story. This gives leaders time to reflect on their purpose anchored in their core beliefs and goals. It helps them move from reactive leadership to a more thoughtful and intentional leadership practice.
   
   Ask yourself: What is my leadership style and identity? How might that be helping or hindering me or those working closely with me?
   
   
5. Looking beyond the usual gender dynamics when delegating and promoting others. What is your default decision-making for new opportunities or projects? Who are you overlooking? Do biases influence who you choose or discount for particular roles? This is also an important consideration as you undertake succession planning.
   
   Ask yourself: Who else could or should be at the table? Who am I missing? Who could benefit from a new challenge or opportunity to grow?
   

(Pro tip: The most successful leaders have high emotional intelligence – which can be learned but is one of the qualities most women have inherently.)

At an organizational level, this might look like:

1. Creating mentorship opportunities. Women have traditionally lacked female role models and mentors. Besides the fact that historically far fewer women have held senior leadership positions, women have traditionally had – and to some degree still have – more family responsibilities than their male peers. This leaves them less time to devote to supporting younger women. It’s also important that female mentees also have access to senior male mentors to open doors to leadership opportunities. We’ve got several strategies for crafting an effective mentorship program.
   
   
2. Offering coaching opportunities. Research indicates that executive coaching helps women develop their female leadership identity and gives them a safe environment in which they can share personal challenges. Select a coach who is well-versed in gendered organizations, implicit bias and women’s leadership. Personalized coaching offers excellent results, and management buy-in is critical for effective executive coaching.
   
   
3. Investing in peer-to-peer learning. The best leaders are not isolated. Finding a community of trusted peers builds a network of support that is invaluable. At Padraig, we offer two peer leadership groups: The Partnership (a peer group program for experienced, senior leaders and executives) and The Network (a peer group program for new leaders and those aspiring to leadership). Women leaders who can share their own and other women’s experiences in a safe space will benefit from a coach who is knowledgeable in implicit bias and the gendered workplace.
   
   
4. Making gender equity a priority. Having gender equity as a core principle and value in your organization sends a strong message. With the world being increasingly complex we need diversity in thought and leadership to guide us ahead. The benefit to the organization is two-fold: research shows an inclusive workplace culture means higher employee satisfaction and companies that prioritize diversity and inclusion financially outperform ones that do not (McKinsey & Company, Deloitte).
   
   

Coach’s Questions:

If you want to create an inclusive workplace, there are questions we should be asking ourselves:

Does our organization make gender equity and diversity a priority? Are they embedded in the values of the organization? What are some of the things we could do better? What steps can we take now to create a culture shift? 

In our next blog post, the final part of our three-part Coach’s Questions series about women in leadership will discuss untangling the gendered workplace and exploring the benefits of transformational styles of leadership.

This weeks’ Coach’s Questions is written by Certified Executive Coach (PCC) and Padraig facilitator Eve Gaudet.