Women in Leadership-Challenging the “Glass Ceiling”

For women who are striving to reach the upper echelon in the corporate world, much has been said about hitting the “glass ceiling.” Does the glass ceiling exist today and, if so, how can women break beyond it to achieve top leadership positions within their organizations?

“Tooting your own horn is just one of the many ways that you can increase the likelihood that you’ll shatter the glass ceiling and snag keys to that corner office,” said Nicole Williams, best-selling author and LinkedIn’s connection director. “If you’re uncomfortable speaking up about your accomplishments, then your best bet is to seek out a sponsor or a mentor in your office who can vouch for you.”

According to a survey of 1,000 female professionals in the U.S. conducted by LinkedIn and released in October, nearly one-fifth of professional women never had a mentor. LinkedIn found out that 52 percent of those women said that they had “never encountered someone appropriate.” Additionally, 67 percent of the respondents said that they had never been mentors because “no one ever asked.”

“Waiting in the wings for a mentor to discover you or hoping that your company will implement a mentoring program aren’t your only options,” Williams stated. She suggested taking control of your professional life. Use resources such as LinkedIn to search for professionals by title and find potential mentors in your zip code.

Corporate versus nonprofit:

Is there a difference for female professionals?

Gretchen Faro is the chief executive officer and president of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Cleveland. She has held several nonprofit management positions, including positions with MAGNET, Northern Ohio Youth Orchestras, The Herb Society of America, and the Cleveland Chapter of City Year; Prior to that, Faro worked in corporate finance and manufacturing with companies such as Ameri-Trust, Eaton Corporation and Gould, Inc.

When it comes to the idea of hitting a glass ceiling, Faro said gender has not been a huge issue in whether career opportunities came her way. “I actually benefited from women who did fight that fight long before I did. What I found in my career was that there were women ahead of me that had cleared the path in terms of capabilities and skills for the job.”

Faro said that the onus is on each individual woman to understand what she wants career-wise and make it happen. Don’t make excuses or complain that you are being overlooked for a promotion. She also highly agreed with the LinkedIn finding that women need to find a mentor. “Women coming up through the ranks may now have more of an advantage in that realm. That’s because there are more female leaders today and more women who want to serve as mentors. That wasn’t quite the case when I was first starting my career.”

She suggested that women might have an edge in leadership positions in the nonprofit industry. That’s because they have a natural ability to connect to their employer based on the mission of the organization. Additionally, women have a strong sense of collaboration and work well in teams. Women have a tendency to deflect glory, Faro said. It’s easier for them to say, “Oh it wasn’t me. It was the whole team.” It’s something that comes naturally to women and a way that we’ve learned to thrive in the world; It’s through a sense of community and family.

Alternatives to the glass ceiling:

A nationwide survey of women released in November shows that sacrificing personal life to quickly climb the corporate ladder may not be worth the journey for many of today’s professional women.  The third annual “Women and Workplace” survey, conducted by the Polling Company/Women Trend, finds that 65 percent of college-educated women, age 35 to 60, prefer to have more free time in their lives than to make more money at their jobs.

Another trend over the past 10 to 20 years is that women are starting their own businesses in record numbers. Women were frustrated with the glass ceiling and the difficulty of being able to rise to higher levels in their companies. “They realized that they didn’t have to keep banging their head against it. They could go off and do it themselves, having greater control over what they make, whom they work with, when they work, and what they do,” said Jeanne Coughlin, a certified professional behavioral analyst and principal of the Coughlin Group. She is also president of the Cleveland chapter of the Women Presidents’ Organization.

Leadership development skills and training:

In addition to finding a mentor and learning the art of self-promotion, women need to develop their leadership skills career experts advise; especially those who aspire to top-level jobs in their organization.

A good exercise a woman can do is a S.W.O.T. analysis, suggested Jeanne Coughlin of the Coughlin Group, who also participates in Leadership Lorain County. Take a look at your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Look at yourself as a brand.

Here are tips to increase your likelihood of landing a leadership role:

Ø  Make sure that you understand what exactly “leadership” is, and identify the skills that go into being a better leader. Those skills include communicating, listening, negotiating, problem solving, and holding effective meetings. 

Ø  Look into leadership development training in your area. Local Universities, colleges, and business seminars offer many types of programs, for instance. Most of the programs address the skill piece of leadership development.

Ø  Speak to others in positions to which you aspire. Ask them how they got to where they are in their careers and how to build leadership skills.

Ø  Volunteer in nonprofit organizations. Choose something that you are passionate about. It will help you identify new leadership opportunities. Leverage that when communicating your leadership experiences and skills when you move to another organization.