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Women & Leadership: Overcoming the Challenge

As baby boomers retire, corporate America addresses the need to develop bench strength. Legislative mandates require companies to comply with Equal Employment Opportunity and / or Affirmative Action laws and “Workforce Diversity” has become the buzzword of the 21st century.

Nationwide, HR departments address the problem by ensuring companies addresses the needs of people who historically have been viewed as different. Homemaking has been restructured or replaced for a seat in the boardroom. However, packed in the briefcase is the daunting challenge of change.

Carol Heady grew up in corporate America and was often disappointed by the lack of support and direction available to women. The impact of September 11th caused her to reevaluate her career path. On December 7, 2001 she founded HRD Solutions, a consulting practice specializing in training, employment and management development programs, organizational development and professional development coaching. No longer restricted by limiting policies and procedures, Heady helps professional women enhance their leadership strengths and achieve their personal and professional goals.

The Challenge

According to Heady the three greatest challenges to women on the path to leadership are:

• Getting a seat at the table - Women are the new immigrants of corporate America whose voices often ring mute when it comes to participating in senior management decisions.
• Stereotyping – Women have historically been discouraged from entering male dominated fields such as financial services, engineering, and technology. These attitudes are so inherent that a recent Toyota commercial featured a adolescent girl who says “I’ll being walking down the aisle soon.” while a young boy declares “I’ll be going to college soon.”
• Opportunity – A lack of opportunity for line positions with P & L responsibility. “Women need to actually voice or communicate interest in these P & L assignments,” Heady said.

Overcoming Perceptions

Heady encourages women to take responsibility for their goals by taking on assignments that stretch their role and experience to create greater opportunities. For example an HR Generalist interested in advancing to a HR Director could learn compensation and benefits by volunteering for assignments where one can gain experience in these competencies.

Women can show they understand the business through sharpening their communication skills. “Perceive yourself as a business partner and demonstrate you understand the big picture” Heady suggests, “Articulate your ideas and opinions effectively.”

Leadership Competencies

Men and women’s approach to leadership can differ much like an object viewed through a kaleidoscope lens. The core competencies remain the same while the implementation takes on a different shape. Women have a greater tendency towards being collaborative while men tend to focus on the competitive aspects of a project.

Heady contends, “Effective leadership is effective leadership whether a man or woman is doing it.” There are six essential dimensions of leadership that need to be learned and developed by anyone interested in becoming a successful leader. They are:

• Visioning –The ability to develop and communicate a long term vision or outcome is essential for successful leadership.
• Interpersonal communications – Successful leaders have effective communications skills around delivering good and bad news and have the ability to build collaborative relationships. Understanding your own leadership style can favorably impact your interpersonal communication style.
• Technical competence – Develop the technical or functional expertise or experience required for your industry or position. For example project managers must possess strengths in problem solving.
• Team Effectiveness – The ability to create and lead high performance teams. Specific competencies include establishing goals, delegating authority, coaching and developing others.
• Character – Leaders are role models and therefore influence team behavior. Sought after traits are include honesty, integrity and trustworthiness.
• Self-awareness – The most critical and empowering dimension of leadership is being aware of preferred leadership styles. An honest assessment of one’s strengths and limitations is critical for successful leadership. Women can gain self-awareness through both professional and informal assessment of strengths and weakness. Awareness can lead to leveraging strengths and compensating for weaknesses.

Heady cautions women to be authentic and true to one’s self. Self-awareness can help ensure a good fit by exploring that the company’s demands are in alignment with personal needs and expectations.