3 Things this Women's Month has highlighted ??

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?? How do we keep young mothers on the Career Path?

?? Why are Senior Technical women still getting poor Meeting Room Respect when they are the most qualified ones at the table?

?? Where are all the women VP Sales/R&D/Product/COO?

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As we come to the end of Women's Month, I reflect on the work that I've done this month with Women leaders across my client's spectrum.

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These 3 areas have really come to the fore in discussions for 2023:

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1. How do we keep young mothers on the career path: ??

First-time mothers or mothers with young kids are often being lost by companies/leadership who simply do not see the challenge and sacrifice that is being made here. They are often forced into either taking part-time roles that have no advancement or influence or falling out of the workplace eventually and then having a hell of a time coming back. I worked with a legal counsel who took 14 years out but she left when she was fairly advanced. She is bright, insightful, and very educated BUT she has a 14 years gap in her CV - so she is starting almost at the bottom of the ladder and feel she needs to prove her worth every day because she is NOT the Junior role they have assigned her.

Women want to have careers but something has got to give and it's not going to be her kids. Men almost never have to make this choice.

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Big Picture: Whether you have kids or don't, the fact is we need the next generation. Whether it be to continue our line or to pay the current adult generations social security. This is a major problem that is showing itself in countries like Japan and certain European countries where there is a low birth rate. There have been several articles lately on European women saying they have to make the choice between "career or children" and the impacts are being felt in such areas as the birth rate. I personally have never heard a man speak those words when discussing personal life topics. But I hear women say it and worry about it all the time.

So I don't buy the line "it's her choice to have kids".

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This is why it is so critical to have women VP leaders in "power roles" that have the influence to direct company policy and challenge non-diverse ways of thinking. It's important that women are making policies that support young mothers and keep the talent growing and committed to the company. Women have also proven to be more loyal to the company they work.

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We need CEO's not to say "well my wife and I sat down and we decided who was going to stay at home, so it's a discussion you as a family need to have".

It's not a family issue, it's a way of doing business issue. Yes, a business is a business but we will never create inclusive organisations and business ecosystems if we do not include women's lifestyles as a factor in the way we work. The fact is that business environments are masculine by design and history. It's understandable after millennia of women being behind the scenes in business (another book waiting to be written about how many women have been driving business but never allowed to be visible or credited because of the century and the norms).

I have no clue what the answer is to this complex issue, but there were a few answers from the Women India Business Leadership group in Ribbon:

Flexible working hours for mothers with newborns, lactation leave

Transportation and sensitivity about meeting hours for mothers

Offer Internships for mature women coming back into the workplace to ramp them up quickly

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I work with a company that has a critical woman leader who champions initiatives that take family holiday season into account, daycare and other women's aspects. We need to have official company strategies that work to retain our young mothers.

And I would personally add that I think designating fathers with young kids' "official time" and consideration to get back home to bathe and do homework with kids would help to make space for men to be more active in the child-rearing space.

2. Acceptance & Acknowledging Women in Technical Roles:

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A common complaint I hear is there is hardly any woman available to recruit in Technical R&D roles. While I can see the imbalance in certain aspects I would say that half of that issue is that men simply do not acknowledge or see women as leaders even when they are in those roles.

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The number of women's communities and workshops that I have given where the same tired old example of "I propose an idea or give my thoughts on solutions and I'm overlooked but then my male counterpart says exactly the same thing 10 minutes later and everyone claps him on the back for his brilliant idea." I have heard this in 2016 in Silicon Valley from an AI Senior Manager, whose team was so frustrated that her idea was overlooked they took it to the CTO. I have heard it in Europe and just a couple of months ago in 2023 Israel, a Tier 3 Group Manager of some 20-odd years of experience voiced her sheer frustration at male colleagues who directed questions towards uninformed male colleagues at an internal global conference. She described how men would literally talk over her at this conference even when she voiced that she was the expert.

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Part of the problem is not enough RECOGNITION of the existing women and not enough male and female voices using women role models as examples.

Take Iris Shoor who sold her company (second-time exit) to LinkedIn last year (2022). Calcalista, a major Tech publication, posted a picture of the man from LinkedIn running the acquisition. Not a picture of Iris Shoor, the Founder. This in itself was unusual practice but especially so since it's rare to have a female founder (VCs once again have an appalling rate of investment for women founders because guess what - in Israel the study revealed only 9% of Investing partners, i.e. making money decisions, are women.).

Another example is Mira Murati, the now CTO of the phenomena ChatGPT. She joined as VP of AI in 2018 and, until fairly recently has gotten very little coverage - CEO Sam Altman has been getting tons though. And if you go onto Wikipedia there is only a photo of Sam Altman, no mention of Mira Murati.

?My solution is to find women actively and insist when you recruit that for every 3 men you see you want 2 women. Ask your network of women to recommend other women. If you don't have a network of women - Build one! And if they come, interview them with other women leaders in the room - send the signal there is space here.

And be open-minded and factor in context. I literally heard of a VP R&D role that had 2 women candidates and 1 male candidate. The mostly male R&D chose to select the man because he was a better "culture" fit.

Often leaders will say they are objective, but when it comes down to it they want to hear things framed and presented in a language that they are used to. That lacks diversity.

I've challenged many a male leader in our coaching process to look at what you really need that manager for - to lead people or be the expert coder?

Remember, the higher up you go in your role and the bigger the company the more it is about leading people and getting buy-in and maximising effectiveness. It's not about you the code, that you have a full team for.

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Nothing is going to change if the R&D divisions do not normalize women as experts in this field. Be aware if this behavior is going on. I had a Board member that was a C-Suite player in AT&T speak with both suppliers and other members when he saw that they were asking him questions that they should have been asking his female VP in meetings. #calloutbias

And be ready with examples of women in your field that are successful so that you can normalise women in technical/scientific roles in real-time.

3. VP Level Influence Positions:

I still hear too much talk in Diversity workshops about no women at VP Level Sales/R&D/COO...I'm not touching CEO in this post, that's a book.

At the end of the day, there are a limited number of VP positions that hold "power" and influence in the company.

Yes, it's up to the person's communication not always the title BUT when the CTO speaks or the VP of Sales wants a budget or the COO proposes initiatives and budget to back inclusive strategies - people listen! Money talks, those that can access the budget or hold the budget?get to build how the company operates and what is important and what's "nice to have/fluffy stuff". (CFO roles can be very influential or admin based, depending on the organization and CEO.)

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It is highly noticeable by the women leaders and employees in my sessions that there are little to no VPs in the "money positions". This makes it hard when women who are bold and driven want to grow. Because those women are seen as "outliers", the exception and they are often judged to be "too aggressive, pushy, diva". So we have the same Hamster on a Wheel process where they are not promoted and then they are not given the chance to build inclusive teams.

As one now R&D Group manager said, before she was promoted to Team Lead, there was only 1 woman in the team. She actively got involved with changing that, including reviewing the recruiting language to attract more women. Now there are almost 40% more women in her group of 12.

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Senior women managers are known to champion the rights of minority groups and fight for better terms on behalf of their team. We need companies to have a strategy to groom and promote women in technical positions, it will not happen through "objectively, the best person gets the job". There is a clear bias, from both men and women, that often stops that.

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And for heaven's sake, can we stop mentoring women to be "more confident and authoritative". And can we start mentoring women about business strategies, the financials, and looking for new lines of revenue!

And a big ask, can we include mentoring men to be more collaborative leaders, better listeners, and have more EQ and diversity consciousness as part of career growth. It's a must, not a "nice to have".

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I'd be interested to hear what Hot Topics came to the forefront of your Women's Month?