By Susan Colantuono
The podcast currently has 39 episodes available.
Racquel Moses is the CEO of the Caribbean Climate Smart Accelerator and host of the "Getting to the Top" podcast.
Advice for women:
Recommended book: Where You Are Is Not Who You Are by Ursula Burns
Notable Quotes
"Figure out the things that you need to know that you are weak at and do not run from them. Know that it is the most challenging experiences that will help you to develop in those capacities. " - Racquel Moses
"We are socialized to think that we are not good at financials. But when you look at who's running family budgets and the role that women play in consumer buying, we are naturals at numbers." - Racquel Moses
⭐ Link to Where You Are Is Not Who You Are by Ursula Burns
⭐ Link to Racquel's podcast: Getting to the Top
⭐ Connect with Racquel on Linkedin
⭐ Business Savvy YOU! delivers the business, financial and strategic acumen you need to succeed: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/overview-business-savvy-you
⭐ Discover The Most Important Thing You Need to Succeed FREE email course: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/newsletter-opt-in-1
⭐ Receive unique and transformative career advice: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/BusinessSavvyNewsletterOpt-In
⭐ Turn Career Advice from Flawed to Fantastic!: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/lead-magnet-7-career-tips-keeping-1
*Megan creates a listenable pod from a truly imperfectly created original containing my walking huffs & puffs, footfalls, background noises - birds, waves, cars, dogs, roosters and more. Thank heavens for Megan!
Key Takeaways from Interview with Helen Jonsen:
A kaleidoscope career utilizes fundamental skills and talents in various roles and industries throughout one's professional life. -
Business disruptions (e.g., pandemic, AI) are changing how people work and view their careers.
Non-linear career paths are becoming more common and accepted.
Key to navigating a kaleidoscope career:
Advice for job seekers:
Advice for hiring managers:
Notable Quotes:
"We have fundamental skills, talents, passions, interests that are always a part of us. It's how we change them and move them around and use them in different workplaces, in different opportunities, that builds a kaleidoscope career." - Helen Jonsen
"People need to own their own story, to learn the stories that they want to share about their story. Those remarkable skills that they have and I'll bring them to the table." - Helen Jonsen
Subscribe to Helen Jonsen's newsletter to access her upcoming "Kaleidoscope Career" podcast
Previous podcast episode on "Girl Talk vs. Women Talk - 3 Shifts to Command Respect"
⭐ Business Savvy YOU! delivers the business, financial and strategic acumen you need to succeed: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/overview-business-savvy-you
⭐ Discover The Most Important Thing You Need to Succeed FREE email course: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/newsletter-opt-in-1
⭐ Receive unique and transformative career advice: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/BusinessSavvyNewsletterOpt-In
⭐ Turn Career Advice from Flawed to Fantastic!: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/lead-magnet-7-career-tips-keeping-1
*Megan creates a listenable pod from a truly imperfectly created original containing my walking huffs & puffs, footfalls, background noises - birds, waves, cars, dogs, roosters and more. Thank heavens for Megan!
We are highlighting 3 common career frustrations that women face:
And providing actionable tips for conquering them including prioritizing tasks based on business impact and aligning work with strategic outcomes.
⭐ Business Savvy YOU! delivers the business, financial and strategic acumen you need to succeed: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/overview-business-savvy-you
⭐ Discover The Most Important Thing You Need to Succeed FREE email course: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/newsletter-opt-in-1
⭐ Receive unique and transformative career advice: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/BusinessSavvyNewsletterOpt-In
⭐ Turn Career Advice from Flawed to Fantastic!: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/lead-magnet-7-career-tips-keeping-1
*Megan creates a listenable pod from a truly imperfectly created original containing my walking huffs & puffs, footfalls, background noises - birds, waves, cars, dogs, roosters and more. Thank heavens for Megan!
In Part 1 of a series of podcasts based on my conversation with Helen Jonsen we discuss the crucial differences between "Girl Talk" and "Woman Talk" in professional settings. She shares three key strategies for women to command respect and authority: eliminating unnecessary apologies, owning the room through strong introductions, and always using your full name. These simple yet powerful communication shifts can significantly impact how women are perceived and treated in the workplace.
Helen has built a kaleidoscope career based on decades of experience from newsrooms to corporate boardrooms really interesting Variants there from startups to established publishers from nonprofits to government agency.
She's been an entrepreneur and an executive at the confluence of digital media and business disruption. Storytelling's in Helen's DNA and at the heart of everything she creates. She speaks on the craft of communication, strengthening advocacy, resiliency in the face of life's challenges, life/work balance, leadership, and the advancement of women.
⭐ Learn about Helen Jonsen's Kaleidoscope Career here: https://helenjonsen.com/helen-s-story
⭐ Business Savvy YOU! delivers the business, financial and strategic acumen you need to succeed: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/overview-business-savvy-you
⭐ Discover The Most Important Thing You Need to Succeed FREE email course: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/newsletter-opt-in-1
⭐ Receive unique and transformative career advice: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/BusinessSavvyNewsletterOpt-In
⭐ Turn Career Advice from Flawed to Fantastic!: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/lead-magnet-7-career-tips-keeping-1
*Megan creates a listenable pod from a truly imperfectly created original containing my walking huffs & puffs, footfalls, background noises - birds, waves, cars, dogs, roosters and more. Thank heavens for Megan!
Your emotions aren't the problem, it's how you're packaging them. Discover how to couple your passion with business savvy to shatter stereotypes and command respect in the workplace.
⭐ Business Savvy YOU! delivers the business, financial and strategic acumen you need to succeed: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/overview-business-savvy-you
⭐ Discover The Most Important Thing You Need to Succeed FREE email course: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/newsletter-opt-in-1
⭐ Receive unique and transformative career advice: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/BusinessSavvyNewsletterOpt-In
⭐ Turn Career Advice from Flawed to Fantastic!: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/lead-magnet-7-career-tips-keeping-1
*Megan creates a listenable pod from a truly imperfectly created original containing my walking huffs & puffs, footfalls, background noises - birds, waves, cars, dogs, roosters and more. Thank heavens for Megan!
5 reasons ( out of dozens) why I support VP Kamala Harris for President and hope you will too! Check out the Go Deeper Links for a comprehensive list of VP Harris' positions and experience.
⭐ Comprehensive list of VP Harris' positions and experience.
⭐ Business Savvy YOU! delivers the business, financial and strategic acumen you need to succeed: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/overview-business-savvy-you
⭐ Discover The Most Important Thing You Need to Succeed FREE email course: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/newsletter-opt-in-1
⭐ Receive unique and transformative career advice: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/BusinessSavvyNewsletterOpt-In
⭐ Turn Career Advice from Flawed to Fantastic!: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/lead-magnet-7-career-tips-keeping-1
*Megan creates a listenable pod from a truly imperfectly created original containing my walking huffs & puffs, footfalls, background noises - birds, waves, cars, dogs, roosters and more. Thank heavens for Megan!
This is undoubtedly a blog of a different color!
I had the pleasure of watching many of the Euro Cup games over the last few weeks, and while I'm from the U. S., and more or less agnostic about who wins, I do have to say that this year my preferred team time did win.
Spain had an amazing run and is an amazing team. I got to watch almost all of their games.
PSST: I have to admit to having a bit of a crush on their player Marc Cucurella
When he runs down the field with his mop of hair and his pink cleats it's almost like he's floating.
Not to mention the fact that he's a really good soccer/football player.
So what did I learn/remember while watching?
Here are Eight career and leadership tips that I was reminded of as I watched the many games that I was able to watch.
1. Sometimes you have to step back in order to go forward. There are many times when the offense passed the ball back to the defense as they were trying to create conditions to score. And the same is true for us. Sometimes we have to take a step back in our careers in order to go forward. I know many women who have done that.
It's also true that sometimes we have to take a step back and rethink our position in the face of new evidence. in order to go forward with a recommendation that will stick.
2.Sometimes we have to go slow to go fast. There were many times in all of the games when, rather than keep an unrelenting offense going, the team would pause to set up a play. So the rhythm of the game changed from fast and frantic to slow and methodical. In business, this is a truth I learned early in my career in relation to Implementing new technology.
When organizations were methodical in their planning, implementation (and I don't mean just the switch over, I mean the switch over and the transition to effective use) of the technology, always went faster.
3. The best players saw the whole picture and communicated with their teammates. There were many times when the camera enabled us to see that, even as they dribbled the ball downfield, players would lift their head, look around for open teammates and successfully pass the ball. Why? Either because the play was known in advance or because there was communication eye to eye, by hand, or sometimes verbally.
This is so true of leaders at every level. Seeing the big picture, especially through business acumen, financial acumen, and strategic acumen and communicating with teammates and direct reports about that big picture, is a success factor for you as the leader (at whatever level) and for your organization.
4. Appreciation of diversity matters. Spain (and the other teams) had diversity of talent, diversity of heritage diversity of age. Speaking of age, I also in love with Lamine Yamal, who was playing in a Euro Cup at the age of 16 with much more seasoned and older players. Diversity of style. The Spanish team had their buttoned up players and their scruffy players.
If the field is diverse when we seek talent, our teams become diverse. As I commented on a story that my friend and colleague Sandra Veledar from I.Liv.
told about two managers who headed up similar teams. One was a woman, one was a man. Her team ended up being 50 50, women and men. His ended up being all men.
I explained that it's because women are more likely to recognize talent in other women. Because, in most cases, we don't look through mindsets based on stereotypes about women, men, careers and leadership.
5. Effort doesn't count! Something else that happened in the finals was Spain dominated in the first half And yet the score didn't reflect it at all. They went into halftime and the score was 0 - 0 Spain v England.
This reminded me of something that I say often.
"No one cares the storms you encounter. They only care did you bring in the ship."
Even though you might work really hard and bring all your expertise to bear, if you don't deliver outcomes, it really doesn't matter in terms of how you're perceived.
It can matter to you in terms of knowing that you are doing your best. But those outside of you who will make career decisions about you in most cases won't care.
6. Celebrate milestones. For each team, every goal was an occasion for celebration. The joy and esprit de corps that they showed after each goal was uplifting.
And we need those interim wins. And we need to celebrate those wins whenever we're on a journey toward hitting key outcomes.
So, as a colleague a manager or an executive, make sure that you build in milestone celebrations - even as your team or your colleagues stay focused on the long term goal of hitting those outcomes that will keep the organization vibrant, vital, and moving forward.
7. Sometimes you have to get out of your lane. If I turned my head away and then returned to the match, I would be surprised that someone from defense was far up field on offense, or someone on the left had switched over to the right. The same is true for us.
Sometimes to be effective, we have to get out of our lane. Saying, "That's not my job" will hold you back. Hearing, "That's not your job" will hold the organization back.
This is especially true when it comes to creating coalitions for change and or pointing out issues and potential solutions.
And finally, the last lesson I want to mention because it's kind of silly and I think you'll appreciate it.
8. Real men do wear pink. I was flabbergasted at the number of players on all the teams who were wearing pink cleats.
The origin behind them is a little murky.
Some people say it was originally in honor of the Breast Cancer Month. Some people write that it's an anti- homophobic statement
To me the reason doesn't really matter. It's a delightful break from gender norms. Further, now it's a "thing," but I am reminded that the pioneers displayed courage, values and foresight. All aspects of personal greatness - the foundation upon which we stand as leaders.
I hope that one or more of these tips resonates with and inspires you to continue to be the best at what you do!
Catch you next time,
Susan
⭐ Business Savvy YOU! delivers the business, financial and strategic acumen you need to succeed: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/overview-business-savvy-you
⭐ Discover The Most Important Thing You Need to Succeed FREE email course: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/newsletter-opt-in-1
⭐ Receive unique and transformative career advice: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/BusinessSavvyNewsletterOpt-In
⭐ Turn Career Advice from Flawed to Fantastic!: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/lead-magnet-7-career-tips-keeping-1
*Megan creates a listenable pod from a truly imperfectly created original containing my walking huffs & puffs, footfalls, background noises - birds, waves, cars, dogs, roosters and more. Thank heavens for Megan!
TLDR: Use your smart search capabilities to discover where a woman can go in the company you're interviewing for. Also ask questions to discover what the hiring manger thinks about where women can go.
As a college graduate, I had the opportunity to interview for two positions, both with insurance companies in the Hartford area. Now, this was the dark ages, so bear with me.
The first position was an opportunity to be a technical writer. I had majored in English and minored in economics, and this felt like a job that was right up my alley. But as the hiring manager escorted me to his office for the interview, I walked through a sea of men. We talked about whatever questions he asked me - none of which I remember, but I do remember the one question I asked him. But I do remember one of the questions I asked him, and that was, "Where can a woman go around here?"
His answer was, "Hmm, I really don't know."
The second job I interviewed for was to be secretary to a director.
When I asked him the same question, where can a woman go around here? He pointed outside of the glass walls of his office and said, "Well, over there is Joan Hurwitz. She's a director. And at that desk over there is Betty Cole. She's a manager. And over at that desk is Annette Civitolo. We just brought her in from the field to be a supervisor."
Any rational person would think that I took the technical writing job. It was up my alley. It tapped my skills. But I took the secretary position because the man who would be my boss, Dave Chichester, could answer my question about where a woman could go around there.
And I had a really rapid rise at that company, primarily because I was such an awful secretary. Dave kicked me out of that role after three months and into a role where I was leading an IT project. Which is a whole other story full of lessons.
Why am I telling you this?
Because in the age of LinkedIn and corporate websites, you don't have to ask a hiring manager, "Where can a woman go around here?" You can find that out very easily by using smart search skills.
So my advice is to be sure that you do a diligent search to discover what you can about the career trajectories of women who are on the organization's executive team:
And what can you find by searching LinkedIn for other women in leadership roles in the company? Especially in whatever function you're interviewing for.
BUT it would be important to know the hiring manager's perspectives on career growth and mindset about his or her role in developing team members.
So, you can ask questions such as:
What you're looking for is someone who's conscious of his or her role in developing team members. And also, subtly, you're looking for parity in whether they are talking about the women who report to them and/or the men.
Now let's say it's a position you really want. You know that you are 100% well suited. That you are aligned with its mission or it's a company whose products or services excite you. And they don't have such a great track record for women in management.
Am I saying that if you're offered the position, you should turn it down?
Absolutely not.
But if you go in, but if you go into that position, go in with eyes wide open.
Every industry has had its women pioneers. Women who started their careers when they were young and the expectations at the time were that women wouldn't go anywhere. Yet these women rose to become CEOs or other senior executives.
One characteristic many of them share is that they were uncomfortable being allies for women or speaking on behalf of women.
Because they had to prove their operational chops first. (Illustrating my point about the importance of Business Savvy.)
As pioneers, they also had to work to fit in. And I can tell you, many of them have stories about how uncomfortable it was. About jokes they had to put up with, events at private country clubs where women couldn't go in the front door, and about adjusting their communication styles to be more easily heard.
Some of these adjustments are deeply offensive. Others have to do with expanding your ideas of your capabilities. But if you go into a role in a company where you're going to be a pioneer, it's important to understand what you will be facing.
And I actually want to encourage you to do that. If it's a dream job, and, or, a company that you've been eager to work with, go for it. We need women, especially in STEM industry companies, who will be the pioneers and open the doors for the next generation.
if you do go for it, find allies outside of the company - trustworthy women, with whom you can discuss your successes and the challenges you face.
When you are interviewing for new opportunities,
1. Make sure you do the preliminary research about the environment for women.
2. Craft an interview question you feel comfortable asking to help Illuminate the hiring manager's mindset about career advancement and development of his or her direct reports.
A caveat. You want to ask questions in a way that signals that you're interested in continuous improvement, continuous learning, and greater contributions to the corporation; without appearing overly ambitious. Sad to say it's a double standard that we as women face and we have to walk that very fine line.
That said, a manager who wouldn't hire you because you're ambitious isn't really a manager you would want to work for.
3. If you go in as a pioneer, be sure, be sure that you are able to tap a support system outside of the company. And stay attuned to ways you can maximize your communication style to enhance your effectiveness.
Catch you next time.
Susan
⭐ Business Savvy YOU! delivers the business, financial and strategic acumen you need to succeed: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/overview-business-savvy-you
⭐ Discover The Most Important Thing You Need to Succeed FREE email course: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/newsletter-opt-in-1
⭐ Receive unique and transformative career advice: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/BusinessSavvyNewsletterOpt-In
⭐ Turn Career Advice from Flawed to Fantastic!: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/lead-magnet-7-career-tips-keeping-1
*Megan creates a listenable pod from a truly imperfectly created original containing my walking huffs & puffs, footfalls, background noises - birds, waves, cars, dogs, roosters and more. Thank heavens for Megan!
Your strengths don't matter!
Do I have your attention yet?
It's not 100 percent true, of course, and I will get to that in a minute. But first, let me explain what I mean.
When it comes to career growth, decisions are made on the basis of your proven and perceived leadership skills.
(Of course, bias in the minds of the hiring or promoting managers come into play, but since we can't do anything about that, I won't address that here.)
What is leadership? You probably already know my leadership definition, but if you don't:
So let's examine strengths in the context of each component of the definition.
When it comes to personal greatness, strengths comprise only 1/6th of the total package.
Based on an extensive review of the leadership literature, personal greatness includes:
Native born attributes (e.g. various intelligences - interpersonal, intra-personal, analytical, spatial, etc.)
Strengths (various skills that have been learned and developed)
Values (answers to the question, "To be a good person I must...")
Worldview or Mindsets (i.e. the lenses through which you see and interpret the world, e.g. egalitarian vs elitist)
Leadership in your whole life (activities outside of work that interest someone and make her/him/them interesting)
Purpose (a sense - however ambiguous or clear - of why you are here, the legacy you're meant to leave.
In other words, strengths comprise only 1/6th of 1/3rd of the leadership definition.
Let's look at a second component of leadership, the ability to engage the greatness in others.
Basically there are three important and broad elements here:
Interpersonal skills - your ability to effectively interact one on one with others.
Team skills - your ability to engage and align team(s).
Strategic relationships and the way you deploy your relationships
And then the third component of leadership is the ability to achieve and sustain extraordinary outcomes.
Here, getting results is neutralized because everyone is expected to get results. And hiring and promotion decisions are based on the fact that people have gotten results.
But what's not talked about as much, except by managers, executive decision-makers, me and a few of my colleagues, are proven and perceived:
Business acumen
Financial Acumen
Strategic Acumen
I am not saying, pay no attention to your client's strengths.
What I'm saying is give them weight proportional to their contribution to her leadership capabilities.
You've probably heard or read the phrase, "First discover your strengths."
What comes next? Did you ever hear how to deploy those strengths in order to"
Develop and demonstrate their business, financial and strategic acumen
Engage your strategic network?
Strengths must deployed in service of the actions of leadership. They are not the basis of leadership.
They are deployed in order to expand your ability to:
Interact effectively with others
Engage and align your team(s)
Build a network and use it to advance the organization's goals.
Develop and demonstrate business, financial, and strategic acumen.
This is what no one is telling you.
If the first step is for you to know your strengths, the second step is to understand that they are only 1/12 of what you need to become a great leader - and that that is only true if you deploys them to continuously improve you other components of leadership.
This is one of the reasons that I so frequently talk about and am annoyed by the fact that most leadership development programs and organizations over-focus on personal greatness using assessments like Strengths Finder and MBTI and DiSC. These have a value because one of the characteristics of successful leaders is that they are self aware.
But leadership development programs and organizations are not appropriately proportioned in relationship to the entirety of leadership.
Most also over-focus on engaging the greatness in others - offering skill building about giving and receiving feedback, how to create high functioning teams, creating an inclusive and safe culture, etc. All of which are important, and most of which managers expect women to be good at (and we are).
If you're "good enough" in the eyes of her management, you don't have to "polish the diamond" by investing time and energy at getting even better at engaging others.
Only ≤ 25% of organizations performance evals focus on business, financial, and strategic acumen, meaning that's developmental feedback that you client don't get. Furthermore, women are rarely told how to deploy our strengths in order to develop these skill areas.
It's important to be asking yourself and your manager(s), "Am I also "good enough" at business, financial, and strategic acumen?" If not, focus on "strengthen the setting."
Don't rely on your strengths to get you where you want to go.
Deploy your strengths in the service of skills and actions in the areas of strategic networks and business savvy.
Don't rely on feedback you receive from formal HR systems or formal leadership programs. They are singularly untrustworthy indicators of whether you will be seen as a leader and as a viable candidate for open positions.
Yes, celebrate the self awareness that comes from knowing your strengths.
Develop a plan or a roadmap for how you can deploy those strengths in areas that need development. For most women, it's not in the areas of interpersonal and team skills. They can be in the area of developing and nurturing a strategic network that drives the organization forward. And they can most certainly be in the area of developing her business savvy (or business financial and strategic acumen).
When you're in a situation of having received feedback about your strengths, think about these questions:
How am I deploying my strengths to do a better job at one on one communications?
How am I deploying your strengths to do a better job at engaging and aligning my team or teams?
How am I deploying your strengths to develop, nurture, and activate a strategic network that helps drive the organization forward?
How am I deploying your strengths to develop and demonstrate my business acumen?
How am I deploying your strengths to develop and demonstrate my financial acumen?
How am I deploying your strengths to develop and demonstrate my strategic acumen?
These are important, because, as I said at the beginning, strengths don't matter...except to the extent that they enable your ever-enhancing leadership capabilities and ever more effective leadership actions.
Here's to your continued success.
Catch you next time,
Susan
⭐ Business Savvy YOU! delivers the business, financial and strategic acumen you need to succeed: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/overview-business-savvy-you
⭐ Discover The Most Important Thing You Need to Succeed FREE email course: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/newsletter-opt-in-1
⭐ Receive unique and transformative career advice: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/BusinessSavvyNewsletterOpt-In
⭐ Turn Career Advice from Flawed to Fantastic!: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/lead-magnet-7-career-tips-keeping-1
*Megan creates a listenable pod from a truly imperfectly created original containing my walking huffs & puffs, footfalls, background noises - birds, waves, cars, dogs, roosters and more. Thank heavens for Megan!
If organizations, coaches, and consultants spent half as much time getting managers to do their jobs rather than putting energy and effort into "fixing" women, we would be much further ahead on creating a level playing field, on women's advancement and on closing the wage gap.
For far too long, responsibility has been placed on women to break the glass ceiling.
This is ludicrous.
Yes, women can be prepared to move into ever higher positions, but the glass ceiling is created by managers, mostly men, whose decisions on promotions and hiring keep women out.
So instead of praising women for breaking the glass ceiling, let's focus attention on the managers who hire them. And on the fact that, by some means, these managers have managed to counter the mindsets held by so many managers that keep women back.
Mindsets reflected in comments like these.
These apparently "considerate" and sensitive comments are made from a mindset related to the Motherhood Penalty and Fatherhood Reward because the opposite is also said.
Another mindset that holds women back is the mindset that managers, both women and men have about what leadership looks like.
If managers truly believed all the exhortations they hear from HR, and learning and development professionals, notable business journals and other publications, they would believe that people who engage their teams and who are inclusive should get ahead. They're the right ones to promote.
But a mindset that gets in the way of this is the mindset that says that leadership looks like command and control. And while in emergency situations or when time is essential, It might be true that command and control is a useful strategy, in general, it is not.
But decisions are made about hiring and promotions where comments like these are made.
A third mindset that managers hold that will often be detrimental to women is the belief that if someone is ambitious he or she will ask for opportunities.
While this is often true of men and increasingly true of women, it isn't universally true.
There are many women whose mindset is a countervailing one.
We believe that if we do good work, if we get results, our work will be recognized and rewards will come.
Instead of telling managers that they have to fix these and other mindsets that create career barriers for women, we exhort women to break the glass ceiling and we praise them when they do.
Similarly, when it comes to the wage gap, we tell women to negotiate, ask for more money.
And what happens when we do? Often, especially by the first gatekeepers in HR, we're considered pushy, too aggressive.
And when we don't, of course, we don't get the compensation that might be given to a man.
Now what enables this?
It truly has nothing to do with whether or not women ask. Because, in many ways we're damned if we do and we're damned if we don't.
It does have to do with gatekeeping and the fact that HR and HR systems will often penalize women who negotiate. They will often offer women compensation at the lowest possible point.
And when it comes to routine salary increases managers, will often favor men (see mindsets above).
Instead of telling women that we have to negotiate, let's fix the systems and let's change the mindsets of managers.
Let HR make it impossible for wage inequalities to develop over time based on manager's decisions about promotional increases.
Educate HR about how their mindsets can disadvantage women when their companies are on a path toward wage equity.
This whole thing infuriates me because we've known all of this 50 years.
Differing degrees of sophistication and understanding But I can attest to the fact that these were conversations being had in the company I grew up in 50 years ago.
This it infuriates me because when I was CEO of my consulting business we would find executives willing to undertake the journey toward changing the mindsets of managers, but then with the slightest of pushback, the shift would be made from:
"Let's talk about the generic mindsets of managers that impact the career trajectories of women."
to
"Let's talk about how unconscious bias affects everybody. Let's do broad diversity training."
Which only tended to water down the initiatives for women's advancement and do nothing for the advancement of other groups that are underrepresented in senior management and or that suffer from wage inequality.
Furthermore, most of these biases aren't unconscious at all. They are conscious, but they are justified in the minds of the people who have them.
So I'm on my soapbox about putting responsibility for women's advancement and wage equity where it belongs - in the hands of managers and in the hands of the HR professionals whose systems enable the inequalities and leave issues of mindset unaddressed.
Catch you next time.
Susan
⭐ Business Savvy YOU! delivers the business, financial and strategic acumen you need to succeed: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/overview-business-savvy-you
⭐ Discover The Most Important Thing You Need to Succeed FREE email course: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/newsletter-opt-in-1
⭐ Receive unique and transformative career advice: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/BusinessSavvyNewsletterOpt-In
⭐ Turn Career Advice from Flawed to Fantastic!: https://www.bebusinesssavvy.com/lead-magnet-7-career-tips-keeping-1
*Megan creates a listenable pod from a truly imperfectly created original containing my walking huffs & puffs, footfalls, background noises - birds, waves, cars, dogs, roosters and more. Thank heavens for Megan!
The podcast currently has 39 episodes available.