Blog | Page 15 | Ali Levin

It is time for organizations to double down on creating workplaces of belonging and inclusion, or risk losing their women.

According to the McKinsey and LeanIn.org 2020 Women in the Workplace study, two million women are estimated to consider taking a leave of absence or leaving the workplace altogether due to Covid-19. Close to one million women have already left the workplace. This is the first time in six-years that women have left work at a pace far greater than men and this unprecedented departure threatens to undo years of hard work in the direction of achieving gender balance in the workplace, leaving aside for the moment the strides we must be taking towards achieving gender balance in leadership.

It will take organizations a lot to keep their women. So organizations must first understand why diversity really matters and commit to getting serious about keeping their women.

Diversity improves the quality of a team’s work.

Diversity leads to higher-quality work, better decision-making, and greater team satisfaction. When done well, it impacts not only the company’s bottom line but the lives of its employees and everyone in the organization’s ecosystem, including clients, customers, vendors and suppliers. Organizations with whom I consult want higher quality products and happier, more productive teams; yet when it comes to doing the hard work, there is still resistance. Homogeneity is easier. If we are serious about changing things, we must actually believe that change will result in better.

Women leaders create the conditions for success

I coach women in leadership because women leaders create the conditions for themselves and others to thrive. Research in a 2019 Harvard Business Review Article shows that women are thought to be more effective than men in 84% of the competencies that are frequently developed in leadership including, among other things, taking initiative, resilience, self-development, driving for results, displaying honesty and integrity, developing, inspiring and motivating others.

Strong listening skills and empathetic leadership leads to outstanding results. For example, in showcasing Jacinda Arden’s leadership in New Zealand, the Atlantic wrote that New Zealand’s Prime Minister “may be the most effective leader on the planet.” Describing her style as one, “focused on empathy,” that “isn’t just resonating with her people; it’s putting the country on track for success against the coronavirus.” Leading with empathy is one of the most important things people in organizations can do to build more diversity and inclusion.

Diversity means getting comfortable with difficult conversations

Organizations must double down on building psychological safety at work. Thanks to Amy Edmonson’s work at Harvard and Google’s Project Aristotle, many are familiar with the term psychological safety and know that it leads to more effective teams. But in practice, and as it relates to diversity, creating psychological safety means fostering an environment where we can talk honestly about the vulnerabilities we feel around privilege and discrimination, inclusion and exclusion, without fear of punishment or retribution.

We must learn to share what we don’t know, what makes us uncomfortable, what feels unfair and how we can work collectively to tackle systemic barriers to inclusion and promotion. Using tried and tested methods of communication like Marshall Rosenberg’s nonviolent communication model, Nancy Kline’s thinking rounds or the Young Presidents Organization’s model for forums which includes listening, accepting and sharing are all good places to start. And leaders of organizations must be doing this work themselves. Without them engaging, role modeling, practicing and leading from the front, change will not happen.

A culture of inclusion is required to get to balance

Belonging and inclusion mean diverse ideas, perspectives and people are considered when decisions are made. Organizations must be rigorously thoughtful about who gets access to information, how people communicate and what gets considered when it’s time to decide. There must be regular acts of courageous leadership, speaking truth to power and insisting on diversity in leadership, in talent pipelines and on boards.

Embracing equality requires challenging what we think works

In embracing the collective awakening to barriers to promotion and, at times like these, even to staying at work, we need to explore deeply the extent to which stereotypes or assumptions are at play in the organization. Who is included and who is not? What voices get heard? Who has real power and how did they get that power? Even NASDAQ is embracing equality with their proposed new listing rules that will require all of the companies listed on the US exchange to require at least two diverse directors on boards, one of which must be a woman.

“We are human beings, not human doings.”
– Dalia Lama

Finally, we all need to have real conversations about the way we work. As the Dalai Lama said, we are human beings, not human doings. We need to take a hard look at what we are demanding and what we get in return. In what is currently a remote only environment for many of us, can we be flexible about how and when we respond to work related inquiries? In making work sustainable, we must ask what are our goals, the scope of our projects and how we agree to certain timelines? This requires clarity about expectations and why they matter, and consideration of the whole person working, particularly working mothers, working single mothers, working women caring for others and women working to care for themselves.

Women build relationships naturally by getting to know people, offering to help, listening to problems and giving advice, but do we optimize these relationships? When it comes to advancing our careers, we have to consider who can help us the most in achieving our personal vision. And we have to get strategic about who and how we ask for that help. It’s necessary to get really good at what we do, but careers are not built on talent, expertise or even hard work alone, they are the result of a mutual exchange of benefits and we must learn the art of leverage to get ahead.

Reconnect to your personal vision.

First, connect back to your personal vision and ask yourself what specifically you need to bring that vision to life? Typically this will involve developing a certain degree of expertise at something or having access to people, resources or experiences as a way of furthering your career. What exactly do you need and from whom? This is a mindset that you need to develop early and tend to often. As you advance in your career, what and who you need to be successful will naturally evolve. You have to stay on top of that and not fall into the ‘inevitability of success’ that I explore with so many of the women I coach. Women who are ambitious put their heads down and do the hard work to get ahead. And that will get you so far, but to really rise in an organization, you have to do more.

Know exactly what you are asking for and who to ask.

Once you can clearly articulate what it is you are asking for and you know why it matters to you (and don’t underestimate the difficulty of this first step!) you can then start to map out who can help. There has to be a reason, however, for someone to help you and you will need to get very good at articulating what is in it for them as well.

Inside of the company where you work, this should be pretty easy. Because your success is the company’s success. Still, when you ask for a new opportunity at work, a resource, a promotion or additional budget, you must be clear on how what you are asking for will impact the business. If you can’t clearly explain that, figure it out first. Find people on the inside who will want to support you because it will reflect well on them.

Next, you need to begin to look outside of the organization and at your network generally. If you develop a particular set of skills that are marketable, useful, and help build businesses, who else might find your development of that skill set useful? You will be successful in enlisting allies, supporters and promoters when they understand how your success connects to their bigger picture.

Identify allies and potential allies.

When I coach people, I ask them to start by mapping their existing network of allies. By allies, I mean those who enable you to achieve your personal vision. I suggest categorizing them into two types: direct allies and indirect allies.

Direct allies are those who actively promote you and make your work visible. Inside of your organization, they use and rely on your skills, they already give you more work, and they are clear promoters of what you do well. Map out who your direct allies are and then ask yourself, how do you strengthen your relationship with those allies? Thank them for their support, and continue to ensure that they are also receiving some benefit from your successful performance. Tending to existing relationships is critical!

Indirect allies also play an important role in bringing your vision to life. They are connectors who know you and know about your work. They have access to additional opportunities that help you grow and develop. And often, without even being asked, they promote you. Once again, do not underestimate why they do this. Maybe they are just being kind; but it is likely that there are other reasons.

People connect people because they are generous (for which they should be thanked), because they see you as someone who has real talent and can make a contribution (for which they will want to be appreciated), because they really believe in your mission or who you are (for which they will expect you to have an impact and you should let them know when you do) or because you have something they need now or may need in the future (for which you should be willing to trade).

In order to find out what your indirect allies care about, ask. Learn about them first so that you can begin to explore possibilities for reciprocity. What is it that you know that could help them? Who is in your network that could possibly benefit them?

Never underestimate your connections, or the connections of your connections. When I was coaching MBA students at the University of Oxford, I would ask them what they were working on and who they were inspired by? In one case, I had a student who told me about someone who inspired him. I had never met that person, but he was a thought leader and the student had read one of his books. I reached out to one of my contacts who knew him and I made an introduction. This person became a mentor to the student I was coaching.

Stay focused on the purpose of the network.

In leveraged relationships, keep focused on the purpose of the network: the opportunity to enhance your reputation, visibility or learn a new skill. In establishing leverage, your purpose is front and center and clearly stated. Don’t waste your time or the valuable time of others unless you know explicitly what it is you want from the connection. Keep focused on what you need to promote yourself and what you can offer in return. Be clear about why it is in their interest to build a relationship with you and what might that offer them going forward.

Leveraging relationships takes courage. But if we ground our requests in a larger purpose, and connect it to our values, then we’re asking not just for our benefit but for the benefit of all.

Promoting Women Creates Better Companies