Cover of The Web of Inclusion
Last week I spoke at a program sponsored by the Iowa Newspaper Foundation, Connie Wimer, and Business Publications. The program was titled "Inspiring Women Leaders: Our Influence in Iowa's Newspapers." It was a unique opportunity for women in the industry to hear from other experienced women in the industry who were on panels sharing their perspectives. I was asked to share my perspectives on leadership and I focused on why women's voices are needed now.
Basically the forces shaping our world today are creating a perfect storm for which women leaders are needed to change the conditions and to calm things down. We are living and working in a 24/7 world where the lines are blurred between when work starts and stops and life begins and ends. Organizations are struggling with rapid and unpredictable changes as demographics, technology, and the economics of work has shifted. Based on research (relying heavily from the work of Sally Helgesen, author of The Web of Inclusion and The Female Vision: Women's Real Power at Work), women leaders bring to the workplace these characteristics:
- We place a high value on relationships and judged the success of their organizations based on the quality of relationships within them.
- We prefer direct communication to communication up and down a chain of command.
- We are comfortable with diversity having been outsiders themselves.
- We are often unwilling and maybe unable to compartmentalize their lives so we can draw from personal experience to bring insights to our positions.
- We are skeptical of hierarchies and dislike perks and privileges that reinforce a pecking order in the hierarchy.
- We prefer leading from the center rather than the top and structure organizations to reflect this.
- We prefer asking big-picture questions about our work and the value in the world.
Here is the perfect storm—Organizations need these skills now more than ever!
- Relationship-building used to be considered a “soft skill” that tough, command and control leaders could not afford. Now relationships RULE—with customers, suppliers, employees, all stakeholders. If you are not good at building relationships, someone is blogging about it and customers are writing complaints on your website! 20 years ago Fortune Magazine featured “America’s Toughest Boos” in a recurring cover story. That was dropped and now they publish their annual cover story of 100 best places to work.
- Technology facilitates direct communication, networked technologies undermine hierarchies which helps leading from the center. A more holistic approach with an emphasis on green, sustainability, and inclusion.
- Diversity is inevitable in a global economy. As work and home become more integrated, compartmentalizing becomes a liability and we have an advantage.
Female leadership characteristics that about 20 years ago seemed far outside the mainstream are now seen as desirable and necessary to succeed. What used to be considered "feminine leadership" is now being advocated by men and women as the leadership characteristics needed today.
Women like to lead from the center and Helgesen popularized the word "web" as a way to describe organizational structures that are not hierarchical, but that weave people together. With the networks being used today, webs are more valuable than ever.
As I like to say, "leadership is a relationship and not a position" and we need leaders at all levels and in all organizations–profit and not-for-profit. We are woven together whether we like it or not so start leading from the center.
I love the part about the “leadership is a relationship and not a position,” as I have tried to create many long-lasting relationships across many silos in the company without the leader title. When people have questions or concerns, they don’t hesitate to call or e-mail me. They know if I’m not the correct person that I’ll know who is the correct person and direct them. It is a network of quality co-workers that I can rely on just like they can rely on me.
Women have now surpassed men nationally in both college attendance and degree accomplishment. Here in the Des Moines metro area, there are more families where both parents work than not, and more women in supervisory roles (per cpaita) than elsewhere in the country. Given those statistics, Des Moines could lead the trend of “leading from the center” management. What an exciting idea!
I’ve studied or worked in Customer Service, Psychology, and Advertising. Every job I’ve had was mostly populated and lead by women, so it’s difficult for me to understand needing special thought or consideration. I’m used to seeing women more as individuals than as a category of co-workers, so as a man I’m not sure what my appropriate call to action is on this topic. What should I be doing differently?
“I think that maybe if women and children were in charge we would get somewhere.” James Thurber
This quote is on a card that graces my desk. I have a “LIFE” magazine from 1976 on “Great American Women.” Few of the women profiled were under age 50, but so inspiring: Alice Paul, Georgia O’Keefe, Wilma Rudolph, scientists and businesswomen and writers and mothers. Women’s leadership is needed, and is possible, now more than ever!
As a woman, it is great to see our power and force being recognized in the workplace. Although, I think Des Moines is unique when it comes to working women. Des Moines has made several lists for “Best City of Families,” “Best Cities for Working Women,” and “Best Cities for Working Mothers.” There are nine Des Moines companies on Parenting magazine’s Working Mother 100 best companies list (http://www.parenting.com/gallery/2011-best-cities-to-live?pnid=381607). The culture isn’t like this in all cities and definitely not all companies. I think the pay scale gap between men and women is still a huge problem across the country.
I think women are better eqipped to handle the blurry lines where work starts and stops and life begins and ends. Often times men fall into the traditional working hours and tend to categorize their lives. Women, however, play multiple roles at one time. Now with technology making it easy to be plugged into everything no matter where you are, I suspect women will be able to shine through more at the workplace because they already have that skill down.
I have noticed more females in leadership roles recently as well. I wasn’t sure if this was because I seek to model the way after these female leaders or if it was because there really are more leaders. After reading this I believe that maybe there are actually more female leaders in recent years, because the softer side of leadership is now more accepted. I like that women no longer have to adapt to one male-inspired, standard form of leadership, but can instead embrace the leadership style that is most natural and best suited for the position-at-hand. “leadership is a relationship and not a position” was a great quote in this article. I also believe that leadership is not just a title, but also a persona among colleagues.
I think the remote workplace today, as well as all the technology, make relationship building skills all that much more important. When groups all sat together in the same office, asking others questions or getting their help was as easy as standing up and looking over the cubical wall. Now, some of these “soft skills” have become vital for success in the modern workplace.