Fighting for gender equality as a leader

This article has originally been published in german on Moneycab.com on January 25th, 2018.

The 1st of January was the start of a new year for everyone, but Iceland went above and beyond when they decided to make it illegal to pay men more than woman. The decision was an ambitious and radically progressive leap towards equality, something that the rest of the world can follow suit.

Under this new legislation, companies and government agencies that have at least 25 people working for them will have to prove to the government that they pay their employees equally. If they can’t prove parity exists they face hefty fines. It’s astonishing that this small island has ranked first for nine consecutive years as the world’s most gender-equal country, according to the yearly World Economic Forum gender equality index. In Iceland, the legislation is a result of an open-minded culture. But does this work the other way around? Can culture follow legislation? After all, the goal is to reach a true shift in mindset, where gender equality becomes the norm. So where is Switzerland in all of this, and why is parity so important?

The gender parity gap has widened globally

It’s great that Iceland serves as a role model when it comes to gender equality, but the reality is that the parity gap has widened in all areas globally (education, health, economy, politics) since the WEF’s first gender equality index was released in 2006. Switzerland, though it is home to one of the last jurisdictions in Europe to grant women the right to vote, used to be ranked quite highly. Since 2006, the country has closed 74% of its economic gender gap and came in 11th in last year’s index. However, it is not keeping up with other countries and its progress is slowly decelerating.

Last weekend, thousands of women took to the streets one year after Trump has been elected for another women’s march. Although the majority of the protests took place in the US, women in Europe also took to the streets in solidarity. Even in Zurich, women were spotted holding feminists signs and requests to impeach the American president. If the global culture shift is happening at a rapid pace, Switzerland is on board, even though it might take a little longer for gender equality to become embedded.

Women in Switzerland occupy 47% of white-collar jobs. As for senior executive roles (legislators, senior officers, managers, CEOs), only 35.6% are held by women. Switzerland is 43rd in the global ranking for women occupying leadership roles. What is interesting, though, is that women take a clear lead when it comes to higher education. So how come they hit a glass ceiling when it comes to their professional life? This could be due to social codes, but studies found that women tend to take on social sciences and humanities, leading them to have fewer “advancement opportunities”.

“What got you here won’t get you there.”

From a coaching perspective, female leaders face different challenges than their male counterparts. Behavioural strategies don’t work as much at a very high level, or, as Marshall Goldsmith put it: “What got you here won’t get you there.” According to a study by the Centre for Creative Leadership, the average woman does a little bit better than a man in terms of receiving more positive overall feedback. However, the average woman is harder on herself than the average man. Women tend to be more self-critical and less self-promotional. This may serve the woman leader up to a certain level, but eventually becomes counterproductive at a high level.

Rather than focusing on the problem, though, it’s important to understand how to create a culture of diversity in the workplace as a leader. Although Switzerland may not be at the same level as Iceland, there are a few things that can be done to tackle gender inequality.

First and foremost, gender equality is not a women’s issue. It concerns everybody. Having more women in managerial positions will have a positive, snowball effect. Younger generations will see women executives and strive for this success, seeing it as an attainable goal. The solution to more gender equality in the corporate world is twofold: perception gaps must be tackled and women need allies - both male and female.

Gender balance must be a priority on the CEOs agenda

If a company has women in strategic executive positions, this will foster a healthy and unbiased culture of appreciation and respect within the rest of the company. The key word here is “strategic”. Too often than not, women are part of an executive team but are not granted strategic roles, taking over important staff roles instead. This is tokenism and is not an honest representation of equality. Research has shown that gender balance happens in companies only if it is on the CEOs agenda and one of their priorities. A good place to start is to look into a company’s executive team and asses how integrated in the decision-making process women in demanding roles are. This will unveil whether or not gender equality is part of a company’s core values. Gender equality and equal pay must be strategic priorities. As a leader, it is important to take on challenging conversations about equality and see which women are integrated in a company’s talent pipeline. It takes investigative work, too. Simple structural changes like a company’s policy could improve how women navigate their professional lives drastically.

But even if women don’t occupy many leadership positions, they can find male allies to support them in changing their company’s take on equality. As a male leader, it’s important to show genuine understanding of how inequality costs everyone, and not just the woman in question. If the issue of equal pay and parity in general is on the agenda at the executive level, if it is being discussed among everyone in the Leadership Alliance, this will eventually trickle down into the company’s structure and philosophy. Men tend to be allies to women in the private sphere, but don’t always find it as easy to be allies in the public sphere. This is perhaps due to the bystander effect, conformity or lack of psychological standing.

Creating a healthy Leadership Alliance, where men and women at an executive level are willing to place equality at the heart of a company’s values, is the first step in the right direction. First stop: Iceland. Next stop: Switzerland?

About Nicole Heimann & Partners AG

Nicole Heimann & Partners AG specializes in professional coaching for top level, high-performance individuals and teams with the aim of establishing successful and sustainable Leadership Alliances in companies. Nicole Heimann & Partners AG guarantees tangible and measurable results.