Leading the Invisible: Illuminating Gender

As a woman, I have seen and felt the first-hand struggles in the workplace, but you don’t have to take my word for it, let’s look at the numbers…

“In 2019, the proportion of women in senior management roles globally grew to 29%, the highest number ever recorded. In 2020, this percentage remains the same.” In a 2020 global analysis by Mercer, you will also see the gap widened for women in more senior level positions: Executives: 23%; Senior managers: 29%; Managers: 37%; Professionals: 42%; Support staff: 47%.

Deloitte also recognized in a new study that the pandemic has made a significant impact on working women. In a survey of nearly 400 working women across nine countries, a third said their workloads have increased, 46% feel a need to always be available (during “off” hours), and 23% of these women who feel they need to always be “on” for work fear they will end up having to choose between their personal responsibilities and their careers.

Sponsorship is a common reason that women end up leaving the workforce. Women want to feel like they have allies that understand them and their desired career path. Leaders who can support not only their challenges in the workplace, but the invisible demands outside the work environment brought by children, partners, family and friends.

If we then consider that we are in the wake of a pandemic, balancing these demands can be overwhelming. So, when women feel they can no longer uphold the demands of being a mother, a sister, or a partner with their career, we find women will turn to the clearer and more fulfilling path.

One of my mentees, a woman, a mother, worked very hard on a highly visible proposal, working multiple late evenings and early mornings. Due to that hard work, the proposal successfully moved to the next round. But, when it came to who would present the proposal, that opportunity was instead granted to two men on the team who she would have to prep.

The experience was obviously devastating to her self-confidence, and she started to question her future with the company.

As a leader, this fired me up. Of course, I wanted to charge into the situation and advocate for her earned opportunity; but more so, I wanted to set her up for as much success as possible. So how would we accomplish that? Together.

Together, we created a script to approach the diverse leadership team of men and women to confidently support her case for being seen, heard, and considered. After her perspective was shared, the situation boiled down to a simple oversight the leaders apologized for; but this should not happen in the first place. In the end, it also taught me something important: Use your voice and empower others to use theirs. These situations often create opportunities to teach leaders.

We are consistently faced with unconscious biases in the workplace. But we will never be able to face and overcome this bias unless we speak up. If we don’t speak up, we don’t just miss an opportunity to be more inclusive – we miss the ability to make a larger, better impact.

The idea of making a big impact on the broader organization may seem foreboding, but as leaders it is more powerful to focus on the things within your control. Concentrate on your sphere of influence and start making changes there. You will quickly see how the impact of changes in your corner of the organization can reverberate elsewhere – a ripple effect!

I’m not saying this will be easy. I know that opening the door to other ideas and approaches is difficult at first. But I quickly experienced a more collaborative, higher performing team with better conversations, debates, and ultimately decisions where we felt collectively accountable for the success. I can honestly say this greatly contributes to our impact within our organization and fundamentally changes the impact we make with clients.

Reflecting on the last year, I worry I haven’t used my voice loud enough. And truly believe that underutilizing my voice is a disservice to gender and racial equality. And while I recognize there is an art to striking a balance between burning bridges and being equitable, I am committing myself here to use my voice constructively to empower women to get the equal and fair shot they have earned.