What about the middle?
Middle management that is.
When thinking about how to build the pipeline for women to fill leadership roles in the C-Suite and Boardrooms, it is easy to focus on the bottom rung of the career ladder being broken.?However, to improve the numbers of women and increase the level of diversity seen in corporate leadership, we need to make improvements at every level of the career journey.?
A study by IBM explored what is happening for management in the middle.
“I like what it said at the end of article. IBM was taking men and women partnering them up in allyship mentorship, having them actually have conversations…Incredibly powerful to have the men see as well as women see the disparity.?It would help with that pipeline…would inspire people at higher levels to have the conversations to bring people up. That is very powerful.”
~Lisa Danforth
To discover where and why middle managers need help to get to the next level and create a list of actionable recommendations, I enlisted a group of exceptional career coaches to mastermind how we and the business world can support future leaders as they climb the proverbial ladder.?
There is no quick fix.
From the beginning of the conversation, it was clear we all understood that there is no quick fix.?The exodus of women in leadership roles needs to be continuously worked on. Women need to speak up and ask for the support they need to reach their career goals.?Seeking a coach to help reduce their limiting beliefs and find pathways to move forward is a good first step.
“More and more women need to self-advocate and self-promote.?We are too quiet.?We need to strengthen that muscle, that self-promotion muscle.”
~Christine Kidder
It's up to CEOs, Boards and the C-Suite to make an impact and lead the efforts.?Leaders will stay when they feel welcome and supported.?
Middle managers need multiple mentors to prepare for future leadership roles.
Mentors and the use of peer support can make all the difference to keeping employees engaged and growing in leadership preparedness.???
“Middle manager level candidates’ exposure to executive leadership and mentorship programs where it wouldn’t necessarily be the next rung mentoring you, it would be the next couple of rungs in Group settings … empowering when you have a tribe behind you… more human capitol when it comes to career advancement.”
~Teegan Bartos
Another area lacking for middle managers is training for business development.?Most leadership roles require strong sales skills to sell to investors, the board, clients, customers, and even internal corporate stakeholders.?
Sales skills help employees within and without their company.
Having the ability to sell across departments and work groups allows middle managers to be seen as leaders and gain the network to accomplish business projects requiring teams built from many areas of a company.
“You are not only selling yourself to the people buying your products or services from your company and it’s not just for finding a new job.?It’s for doing the job you have better.?And maybe that does mean working in a cross functional team.”
~Heather H. Bennett
This is why managing and sharing your personal brand is so important at all levels. ?The skills needed to create a powerful network and gain key thought leadership are vital to advancing beyond middle management to leadership.?
Managing and sharing your personal brand is vital for career progression.
Both tools and training are needed for women in middle and senior management positions to learn how to do business development as not having these skills can be a barrier to advancement.?Preparing a full slate of support to help a newly promoted manager will lead to a faster return on investment and higher performance for the manager and their team.?
“A very clear way to affect the issue is to give them the confidence that they can do the management position and find the business and do the business development and not be afraid.?Tell the employee we are going to give you the promotion and we are also going to make sure you are successful by giving you the mentorship, technology and team to be successful.”
~Heather H. Bennett
The first cuts to occur in challenging economic times are often in HR, leadership development, and marketing.?With lower investment in leadership development and training within corporations, preparing for leadership is often left up to the middle manager and their mentors.?
To combat these cuts, employees should seek external credentials as well as take advantage of internal programs such as leadership development.?It was noted that rotational management programs, although highly competitive to join, are excellent opportunities to see roles outside of corporate silos.?
“I think that (rotations) would be so helpful, especially if you are a really driven individual, and you had your eye on a C-level position, that would make you a strong candidate later in your career that you had exposure to every part of the organization and you knew how all of the pieces worked together.”
~Catherine Morgan
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Rotation management training and external credentialing help advance careers.
“I actually think that external credentialling is going to be more powerful.?Unfortunately, that puts the onus on the female who is ambitious, to self-advocate either in her salary negotiations, in her performance reviews, to say my goal is to develop x, y, z and I’d like to be reimbursed for that, right, negotiation doesn’t stop after you get hired.”
~Erica Reckamp
Roles in the home also need to be reconsidered.?Parenting equity should be viewed as a broader issue, rather than just a women-in-the-workplace initiative.?All parents need support from each other and their employers to do their best.?
Hybrid and remote work should be seen as a opportunity to keep top talent engaged.
Providing flexibility in how, when and where we work differentiates employers that are seeking to keep top talent through thoughtful hybrid and remote work plans.?
“Parent equity is not just a women’s issue. How do we support all parents because we have reached a point of gender parenting with equity.?If things don’t change in the home, I am not sure what corporations could do.”
~Jess Feldt
Another area impacting middle managers is compensation.?Pay transparency is not as clear an answer as was initially promoted.?The careers of high achievers and producers can be stunted or slowed by pay transparency.?More data is clearly needed as additional jurisdictions adopt pay transparency laws and regulations.
Pay transparency is more complicated than initially thought.
This article by Harvard Business Review highlights the complicated nuances behind the numbers in pay transparency.?
Another clear area that needs work is establishing two-way communication up and down the corporate ladder.??Middle managers need to promote themselves through clear and consistent communication of their abilities and skills.
“Business communication…because if you can’t communicate you can’t do anything.?We have sort of established that through this whole conversation… better communication, being more persuasive.”
~Catherine Johns?
Both communication of goals and active management of careers and personal brands will be needed to help strengthen the middle market pipeline as women excel in their current roles and prepare for a future in leadership.
The answer may be fractional and shared C-Suite roles.
To succeed in the boardroom and c-suite, women will need both support and more innovative solutions to filling those executive roles.
“If the issues are primarily because the women at the top are overwhelmed and not getting the support from the people they put around them or not given the latitude to bring in their own team of people that they know will be supportive and help them delegate the majority of the work because that’s what CEOs do, then some of the solutions I have seen successes with are Co-CEOs sharing the lead.”
~Michele Ashby
A few key recommendations for corporate leaders to support women in middle management and build a stronger leadership pipeline:
Most importantly, recognize that this effort to keep and increase women in leadership roles will take support from all levels of the corporate world, but will need to be continuously driven and inspired by company and industry leaders.??
Are you looking to change your job or start your own business?
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Leadership Coach and Speaker | Building Family-Friendly Work Cultures and Individual Fulfillment
1 年Thank you for hosting and capturing this discussion! It was an honor to be included.
Career Transition Expert | Author of This Isn't Working! Evolving the Way We Work to Decrease Stress, Anxiety, and Depression | TEDx Speaker | Business Consultant to Consultants | Advisor | Artist
1 年This was such a thought-provoking discussion, Heather! I was so grateful to be included. Thank you for hosting it.