Women Should Step Up to Top Leadership Roles

If you’re a woman in a leadership role, it’s likely you have felt at some time your career like you were aiming for the number two position instead of the number one position.

Yet, the tide has been changing in business over the last few years, as there have been more women stepping into top leadership positions.

Research done by catalyst.org shows the following statistics:

• In 2019, 29% of senior management roles are held by women, the highest number ever on record.
• 87% of global businesses have at least one woman in a senior management role in 2019.

Those are positive signs, but as more women rise through leadership ranks, there are even more opportunities to take on the top spots.

There are many stereotypes that surround being a woman in leadership, ranging from perceptions that women are distracted by care-giving at home to being inept at implementing organizational change as compared to a man in the same role.

We need to change the way we think about women in leadership and change the stereotypes associated to such. In order to do so, it’s essential to understand the truth behind women in leadership.

In a recent Forbes article, Shelley Zalis wrote about why women need to become more comfortable with being uncomfortable. We highlighted some of her thoughts about women below.

• Women are willing to take the risk.
  • “Studies show that women are more likely to be picked for senior leadership positions when companies are in crisis or at high risk of failing.”

Women are willing to stand up and take chances in the workplace; be strong and fearless.

• The truth is that life stage matters—no matter your gender. 

There is a struggle in society where women find trouble in a work/life balance. It’s a deeply personal matter on the decisions a woman makes regarding her work and personal life. Either way, the workplace needs to improve to better accommodate a work/life balance.

• Rewrite the rules.
  • “What typically happens for women in middle management is one of three things:
    1. They rise to the top but have work-life balance issues.
    2. They leave the workforce completely to raise their families.
    3. They leave to start their own company”

If you’re in a position of selecting more women into leadership roles in your organization, re-writing the rules doesn’t mean changing your core values or principles in your business. It just means appreciating the power of having different styles, approaches, ways of solving problems, and networks in the workplace.

In the natural world as well as the business world, diversity increases strength. Alloyed metals are stronger than any one of them separately.

Shelley Zalis shares more points from her Forbes article that discuss how we can close the gap on stereotypes of women in the workplace.

Question: How can your organization place a greater value on what women bring to leadership roles? What can you do increase overall diversity in your organization and the strengths that accrue from that?