Peter, “Workplace Diversity Can Help the Bottom Line,” MIT News, October 7, 2014. http://news.mit.edu/2014/workplace-diversity-can-help-bottom-line-1007.4 4 Landel, Michel, “Gender Balance and the Link to Performance,” McKinsey & Company, February 2015. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/leadership/gender-balance-and-the-link-to-performance.
5 5 Government of Australia: Workplace Gender Equality, “The Business Case,” https://www.wgea.gov.au/topics/workplace-gender-equality/the-business-case. Accessed February 20, 2020.
6 6 Ibid.
2 Confronting Corporate Reality
“If you exclude 50% of the talent pool, it's no wonder you find yourself in a war for talent.”
–Theresa J. Whitmarsh, executive director of the Washington State Investment Board
Spotting and addressing the barriers that are blocking organizations from the enormous opportunities and advantages of high-performing, right-balanced teams with great leadership isn't difficult, but you have to know where to look.
Let's begin with the story of Mike, someone who embodies the experiences of many male employees in the business world.
* * * * *
Mike was smart, driven, and loved to compete, graduating from a prestigious university with honors and starring on its football team. He viewed every aspect of his life as a challenge to be the best, whether it was his relationships, college studies, or job. After graduation, a large financial services company hired Mike for a financial analyst role. Mike and his boss, a fellow college athlete, hit it off right away. Conversations about sports over cups of coffee in the hallway evolved into frequent lunches together. Although no other female colleague received similar invites to eat lunch with the boss, Mike chalked it up to his initiative, drive, and winning personality. And while female colleagues were interrupted in meetings by a few combative colleagues, Mike's boss always made sure that his views were carefully considered over their objections.
Thanks to their frequent business lunches, Mike's boss introduced him to his own boss and other peers throughout the organization. When it was time for promotions, Mike's boss advocated for his promotion, although he had only been at the company for six months. No other employee had advanced as quickly, even his hard-working colleagues Amy and Margot, who had been key contributors on his most successful projects and had been overlooked despite being with the company for 18 months.
Leadership throughout the organization began to perceive Mike in the same way his boss did: he was competent, a great leader, and had promise and potential. Mike continued to progress through the organization, making the most of every opportunity in his path, and ultimately landed in a senior executive position. A few times in his career he encountered an overly aggressive executive who used his power to subdue him and deride his performance, but Mike always managed to deflect the person's behavior or to address it head-on. He had built a big enough network to sustain him through these small hits to his career. Each conflict with a colleague or manager attempting to derail him became an opportunity to compete and win. When Mike heard reports of some colleagues, mostly women, being bullied by his latest supervisor, he found that bully's weakness and relied on his own network in order to prevail. At times Mike crossed paths with Amy, who had advanced to a position below him in the company but surprisingly stalled in her progress despite producing excellent work. He learned that Margot had moved on to another firm and reasoned that she had been unable to handle the high-stakes pressure and risks like he could.
Mike leveraged each opportunity and relationship to prepare himself for his next step. Over time he became known throughout the company as decisive, competitive, and a risk taker. Departments and projects under his responsibility consistently produced positive outcomes. He developed a strong network outside of his company and stayed up on industry trends. If he wanted information, he simply reached out to his vast network of friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. He would leverage this information with his leadership team, from which they would generate ideas. Mike even distinguished himself by serving on a nonprofit board. After 18 years in the business, he was finally promoted to the C-suite and had reached the pinnacle of his career.
* * * * *
Mike's story stands out as a tale of success. He wisely made the most of each opportunity, took initiative, and understood when to take risks. His success is not a mirage, and he had a lot to be proud of as he looked back on his career. However, Mike and many of his colleagues were also blind to the inequalities others experienced, especially women. Mike rose to success, but how much unnecessary conflict held him and his colleagues back? How many sleepless nights did he have because he was being targeted by another leader who was levels higher than him? How many employees suffered unnecessary distress and loss of productivity because of leaders who undermined them? Can we even quantify the loss of a talented colleague like Margot or the barriers that prevented Amy from leading at a higher capacity?
It's likely that more women in leadership roles could have spotted the toxic trends holding women back at Mike's company. This would have greatly benefited Amy and Margot, while also helping Mike and the company, since he had already demonstrated good chemistry while working with them. Despite Mike's success, his story suggests that, in many workplaces, all may not be well. That possibility comes into sharper focus with the story of Jennifer.
If we track the story of Jennifer, who shares much of the same promise and potential as Mike, we may find some unexpected barriers Mike never considered and a much better idea of the antiquated culture companies need to address with a shift toward a high-performance, right-balanced culture.
* * * * *
Jennifer graduated summa cum laude from a state college with a world-renowned engineering program. She studied hard for her grades, served as president of her sorority, raised money for childhood cancer research, and worked as a resident assistant to pay for her college expenses. She was smart, driven, and loved to make a difference, using every aspect of her life to lead teams of people to do great things. Her family even put her in charge of planning their vacations because of her attention to detail, consideration of others, and ability to meet a tight deadline.
After Jennifer's college graduation, a large engineering company hired her as an assistant engineer and placed her under Tim, a tough and very competitive boss. Tim rarely met with Jennifer one-on-one, and when he communicated about her, he sold her ideas as his own. Despite Jennifer's excellent work that earned the praise of her colleagues, Tim never advocated for Jennifer. When she asked about the requirements for a promotion, Tim told her to sit tight and it would eventually come.
After 12 months, Jennifer received a 2% raise but no promotion. She continued to work 80 hours per week, producing twice the amount of work as others while helping her colleagues succeed. She noticed that the company had a need to share information so that everyone could perform better at their jobs, so she started a study club every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:00 a.m. She developed a reputation for being a great leader of people, inspiring others, especially the few women peers she had in the organization, to be their
