BC Business
What needs to change to see more women in leadership positions? Facebook's COO is on a crusade for change. Facebook’s COO, Sheryl Sandberg, recently gave a TED talk on women in leadership positions. She is candid, admitting to her own blind spots in seeing the women around her, and she shares the limitations she has faced as a female business leader. Her perspective is valuable for leaders of either gender. Sandberg's advice to women in business
Facebook’s COO, Sheryl Sandberg, recently gave a TED talk on women in leadership positions.
She is candid, admitting to her own blind spots in seeing the women around her, and she shares the limitations she has faced as a female business leader. Her perspective is valuable for leaders of either gender.
1. Sit at the table; believe in yourself, negotiate for yourself, and get in the game. 2. Make your life partner your equal in all things, particularly those domestic. If you’re both going to take on challenging careers, you need to share the domestic sphere equally. 3. Don’t leave before your leave; don’t let near, distant, or potential maternity leave hamper your ambition.
Sandberg tells women to keep their foot on the gas pedal until the very moment they walk out the door to begin maternity leave. Strive to get your career to where you want it so that when you step back in, you’ve got an engaging work life waiting for you.
I agree whole-heartedly that this is key if we’re going to increase the number of women in boardrooms and leadership positions. The issue, though, is somewhat more complex. I’ve seen this pattern in the workplace, but I don’t believe it’s born of ignorance or a lack of drive. Women start to check out or dial back their commitments because they foresee the struggle on the other side.
To stifle this trend, we need more support for parents (of both genders) in the workforce. That means flexible hours, more sick days, accessible childcare, and other “soft benefits” around workplace happiness. It’s easy for women to see children and leadership as an impossible combination when top positions do not support the realities of being the primary caregiver. It’s understandable that women would be hesistant to pursue a commitment they fear they wouldn’t be able to fulfill in the near future.
Funnily enough, this idea loops back to point number two – making your partner your equal. In Sweden, a fairytale land for parental leave and childcare, new legislation mandates that men take a significant portion of the 13-month parental leave. An article in New York Times notes progress in this respect, in that “companies have come to expect employees to take leave irrespective of gender, and not to penalize fathers at promotion time.”
Taking time out from one’s career for family is becoming a non-gendered reality, so women should no longer see mat leave as a career liability.
I urge you to watch Sandberg’s full talk, but I also urge all of us who care about this issue to look at how we can change the institutions that support us. Leadership roles should be as accessible to women as they are to men.