Empowering Women in Leadership

In honour of the day that’s in it, International Women’s Day 2023, I’m sharing my thoughts on empowering women in leadership, and this year’s official UN theme DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality (find out more about what #embraceequity is all about here… yes I was surprised too!). Thanks Sarah Courtney for pointing this out to me!

I’m so proud to be speaking on this topic today at an organisation I greatly admire. If you’d like to know more about the workshops I offer, you can book a call with me here: https://calendly.com/happieratworkhq/speaking?

Why is it important to empower women leaders?

Diversity, especially at leadership positions, has been shown to have a positive impact on organisation performance. It’s so important to have a diverse set of voices where decisions are made. From a consumer point of view, since women tend to be the decision-makers on household purchases, your workforce should be reflective of your customer base. Diverse thinking also drives innovation - diversity of thought not only from having more women in senior roles, but also people from different industries, different thinking styles (e.g. neurodivergence), and people with different life experiences.

One example I refer to again and again was when Apple designed the Health Tracker without a tracker for periods - something I’m sure would not have happened if there were women in the room where decisions are made.

Some considerations before diving in…

• At the current rate of change, it will take 100+ years to close the gender gap
• Women are underrepresented in leadership – globally only a quarter of senior management positions are held by women
• The pandemic had a negative impact on women’s careers – fewer women were hired into senior roles, 25% of senior women left their roles
• Traditionally, male traits and qualities are perceived as ‘leadership qualities’
• Lack of flexible working and the prohibitive cost of childcare means women exit the workforce
• Workplace politics - women are great at building relationships, but not necessarily at leveraging those relationships
• Queen Bee syndrome - once women reach a position of power, they look to ‘protect their hive’ and are unwilling to support other women to succeed (thanks to Carla Miller for this term!)

Specific challenges that women face at work

While there are challenges that everyone faces while trying to progress in their career, there are some challenges that are unique to women. I have outlined the main ones I have come across and that I hear regularly from my clients.

Confidence - women generally feel like they need to tick all the boxes before they can progress at work (proven by research) - even if they have 9/10 requirements for the role, while men generally feel they can learn on the job and will apply with only 6/10 of the requirements

Imposter Syndrome - men and women deal with imposter syndrome in very different ways, and for women it becomes more debilitating the further they progress in their careers.

Gender pay gap - not to be confused with wage inequality (which is illegal since the 70s), the pay gap is driven by organisations having fewer women in senior positions and therefore the average pay for women is lower.

Unpaid work - generally, women take on a lot more of the unpaid work both at home (and in the office (volunteering on committees, taking notes, cleaning up…)

Leadership - there are fewer role models for women in leadership, sometimes it can be more difficult to attain leadership positions (including for some of the reasons mentioned above!), the perception is that women need to demonstrate more masculine behaviours in order to progress to leadership, there’s also what’s known as Queen Bee syndrome, when women don’t support other women to progress at work.

What can we do to better support women at work?

There are some specific actions that we can take today to start addressing some of these factors impacting on women. I have outlined some of them below.

Education/ Training -?

Simply educating women about the factors that exist that are preventing them from progressing in their careers can prove a great way to start addressing the issue. Teach them about:

• imposter syndrome - simply knowing about it can help to address it
• navigating workplace politics - rather than thinking negatively about this, look at it as ‘relationship building’ and being able to leverage those relationships
• leadership qualities - the qualities that leaders have are changing, knowing that anyone can be a leader, and labelling yourself as an ‘introvert’ doesn’t mean you can’t be an effective leader
• how to share ideas - learn to speak up, articulate your ideas and influence how decisions are made
• getting recognised for your work - often we believe our work speaks for itself, but this is not the case and we need to learn how to advocate for ourselves without feeling like we’re boasting

Confidence Building -?

Help women to build their confidence at work with specific skills that everyone needs to learn in order to progress their careers.?

• Public speaking becomes more important as we progress in our careers - Maureen McCowen can help with this.
• Sharing ideas and being recognised for your ideas without having someone else take credit for them
• Having a Positive attitude can make you seem much for confident than you feel - reframing your negative thoughts and beliefs will build your confidence
• Feeling afraid but taking action anyway, not allowing imposter syndrome to inhibit achieving goals and career progression
• Speaking up about your experiences at work, challenging the status quo without fear of reprimand

Leadership development -?

Running specific programmes designed exclusively for women will go a long way to supporting women to succeed at work and progress to leadership. Don’t forget to listen to the challenges that come up as women start to implement what they have learned. Don’t do what I read about in an article by Kelly Swingler earlier - prevent women getting access to coaching because there is a female leadership development programme ‘launching shortly’ (while giving men access to this coaching)

• Supporting women with specific development programmes
• Learning how to lead yourself - self-awareness and self-regulation?
• Act as a role model to others, by demonstrating leadership behaviours no matter what level you are at
• Authenticity - knowing that you can bring your full self to your leadership role and lead the way you are already

Flexible working -?

One of the big challenges for women looking to progress at work is the lack of opportunity to work flexibly, it is one of the key drivers for women leaving the workforce, especially after having children. How do we support women to work more flexibly?

• differing start times;?
• working from home;?
• reduced hours;?
• job sharing;?
• ‘top sharing’ - when senior job roles are shared. I learned about this from Karin Tischler

Senior sponsors -?

It’s so important to get leadership buy-in for the initiatives to support women at work. But it is also beneficial for senior leaders to mention your name in a room full of other senior leaders. Is there someone who you can be a sponsor for at work, or someone who could be a sponsor for you?

Role models -?

Who are the role models for women in leadership inside or outside your organisation? I don’t mean this from a tokenism point of view, or to perpetuate the thinking that this is a ‘diversity hire’, but rather to show what can be achieved when we have women in positions of power and what other women leaders can aspire to.

My female leader role models are:

One of the best bosses I ever had, Caroline, who used a coaching rather than ‘telling’ approach. I felt empowered to solve my own problems and supported by her at the same time.

Michelle Obama for keeping it real - sharing her challenges and that she experiences imposter syndrome.

Stephanie Brady - for understanding and living her values, being her leadership to her corporate role as well as her coaching practice.

Psychological safety -

This means feeling safe to speak up without fear of ridicule or reprimand. Amy Edmondson has pioneered some great work in this area. While this doesn’t just apply to women, women need to feel safe speaking up about the issues that apply to them specifically without feeling like they are whining and complaining.

Embracing feminine qualities at work -

For a long time, traditionally male qualities have been at the forefront of what we consider to be good leadership - things like competition, assertiveness, and A-type personalities. Thankfully I am seeing a huge shift in how we approach leadership and traditionally more feminine qualities are being embraced in the workplace. Things like collaboration, cooperation, empathy, nurturing behaviours are being recognised and rewarded at work.

Return to work support -?

Another big challenge for women is returning to work after an extended period of leave (maternity leave, carers leave…). While I don’t have first hand experience of maternity leave, I did take extended leave from work to travel after experiencing a toxic working environment. Upon my return, while I didn’t recognise it at the time, I could have used some proper supports to help me transition back into the rhythm of working and build my confidence.

• make the process as easy as possible?
• with training and coaching and?
• educate managers on the specific challenges women have returning to work (imposter syndrome, balancing home life and work life, guilt…)

Sarah Courtney supports organisations with this. Michelle O'Keeffe ?? and Tracy Gunn of Platform55 support working parents. Ciara Garvan of WorkJuggle and Karen O'Reilly, MBus, ACCA of EmployFlex support women who have been out of the workforce for a while to get back to it, providing flexible working solutions.

Shine a light on other women -

Highlighting the successes of other women doesn’t dampen your own light, and often has the opposite effect. Who can you recognise today who has had a positive impact on you and your career?

Networking opportunities -

Where can you provide opportunities to women to connect with each other? Bringing together women at all levels to connect and share with each other, inside and outside your organisation will facilitate personal and professional growth.

Male allies -

We can’t do this on our own, we need our male colleagues to understand what’s going on for us, our challenges, and to support us. It’s not ‘women versus men’ but rather a chance to help everyone rise together by providing the same types of opportunities for women to succeed. Men can be mentors and sponsors and activists. Men, we need you!

Books every (wo)man one needs to read

Invisible Women by @Caroline Criado-Perez - how most research is carried out on men and there is a big data gap for women which we need to close!

How Women Rise by Sally Helgesen and Marshall Goldsmith - how there are specific challenges that are unique to women and this book shows how to progress in your career.

Closing the Confidence Gap by Kelli Thompson (past podcast guest) - this is next on my to-read list!

Closing the Influence Gap by Carla Miller (past podcast guest) - I am currently reading this book and it’s so helpful for women leaders, especially if you’re doubting your own abilities!

You may also be interested in my recent ebook: Imposter to Empowered

Get your copy here: https://www.impostersyndrome.ie/ebook

?? Happier at Work? episodes:

For the week that’s in it - here are some of my favourite episodes talking about how to better support women at work:

Pattie Grimm (She/Her) on Empowering Women Leaders:

https://happieratwork.ie/41-pattie-grimm-on-empowering-women-leaders-4/

Karin Tischler on Flexible Working for Gender Equality:

https://happieratwork.ie/happier-at-work-46-karin-tischler-on-flexible-working-for-gender-equality/

Ignite your confidence at work with Kelli Thompson

https://happieratwork.ie/112-ignite-your-confidence-and-create-a-career-you-love-with-kelli-thompson/

How to take responsibility for your career with Carla Miller

https://happieratwork.ie/take-radical-responsibility-of-your-career-with-carla-miller/

Addressing the issues relating to women at work with Niamh Hannan

https://happieratwork.ie/139-the-broken-pieces-of-the-workplace-with-niamh-hannan/

How to stop being overlooked and get your voice heard at work with Paula Sheridan

https://happieratwork.ie/138-stop-being-overlooked-at-work-with-paula-sheridan/

What are you doing to support women at work? I’d love to know in the comments, join the conversation.

What to look forward to

In the next edition of this newsletter, I will talk about Productivity at Work. Available in 2 weeks.

On the Happier at Work programme, we focus on 3 pillars: workplace culture; empowerment; and balance.?

Send me a message to find out more!

Happier at Work partners with business leaders to support them to create and maintain happier working environments by focusing on the pillars of: workplace culture; empowerment; and balance. We offer speaking, training and workshops; happiness audits; research; and corporate programmes.

Aoife O’Brien is the founder of Happier at Work, a business with the mission to support organisations in retaining top talent. She is passionate about ‘fit’ and specifically how creating the right environment can help individuals to reach their full potential and support organisations to thrive. She is a self-professed data nerd, with a 20+ year career in market research in the fast-moving consumer goods industry working with clients like Coca Cola, Unilever and Heinz to solve marketing problems using data analytics. Aoife has been featured by several media platforms and public speaking events talking about imposter syndrome, fit, employee engagement, and productivity. She has lived and worked in Dublin, London, Perth, and Sydney and has a MSc in Work and Organisational Behaviour, a Diploma in Executive and Life Coaching and a Certificate in Career Coaching.?

The Happier at Work podcast, features a combination of interview-based episodes as well as solo podcasting, and has more than 70k listens in more than 50 countries. It was recently runner up for 2 awards. You can sign up to the Happier at Work LinkedIn Newsletter to receive the podcast straight in your LinkedIn notifications when it goes live every Friday!