How Women Can Overcome Barriers and Position Themselves As Leaders

A look into the development difference between men and women leaders.

Tammy Heerman
Director, Custom Leadership Programs
Knightsbridge Leadership Solutions

There are no special gender rules for good leadership. In other words, good leadership is good leadership, regardless of whether the leader is a man or a woman. The unresolved question is whether we need to treat men and women differently as we develop them into leaders?

The barriers for female leaders are still very much in place. The senior ranks in many organizations continue to be dominated by men, making it difficult for women to break through or even to be seen as leadership material. If gender balance has been identified as a priority, men are still more likely to encourage and mentor other men to take on leadership roles.

In some instances, women themselves continue to be their own worst enemies. Although women are generally better at collaborating and building communities within large organizations, we often see that they lack the confidence to network on their own behalf, upward in the hierarchy or build the relationships that can translate into leadership opportunities. Men tend to “own” their successes and use them as springboards for advancement; women are still more likely to share the credit for success, rather than take the spotlight, therefore missing the leadership opportunities that normally come with success.

While men seem to automatically seek leadership at the first chance, women are more likely to decline leadership opportunities out of a fear they do not have the relevant experience or skills.

Although the skill set of a good leader is the same for men and women, it’s likely that women still need some specific attention when it comes to positioning themselves for leadership opportunities.

IF YOU ARE AN INDIVIDUAL LOOKING TO TAKE A PROGRAM TO HELP ADVANCE YOUR LEADERSHIP SKILLS:

• Ensure that the program is first and foremost business focused. Although it’s valid to confront the different gender perspectives on leadership, you must build the capabilities as all leaders must do to align and engage teams to the strategy.

IF YOU ARE AN ORGANIZATION LOOKING TO IMPLEMENT A PROGRAM:

• Get buy-in from senior levels of your organization before attempting to bridge the leadership gender gap. It’s important that stakeholders accept the need to develop and encourage female leaders. You’ll need current leaders to sponsor, mentor and coach emerging leaders, regardless of gender.

• Recognize that the support of these programs should put a stake in the ground to show your organization is putting its full energy behind broadening your talent pool by supporting the advancement of high talent women.

• Preach delayed gratification and celebrate small victories. There is no quick fix for a gender gap in an organization that has not made a deliberate attempt to develop female leaders. It’s going to take time to do this right. Manage expectations to make sure people don’t give up prematurely.

• Address your talent management and selection processes. To create culture change and to strengthen your bench strength of female leaders, you can’t rely on a single program but must also integrate the same principles into your broader talent management practices.

All leaders have to go through a process of figuring out who they are and what they want to achieve in their organizations. There is a need for some specific encouragement at the outset of leadership development to pull in the best women candidates. That doesn’t make the rules for leadership different for men and women. It does, however, recognize the challenges that must be conquered to help establish a new generation of female leaders who will, just by their presence, encourage others to follow in their footsteps.

Tammy Heermann, MSc, is Director of Custom Leadership Programs with the Knightsbridge Leadership Solutions Practice in Toronto. She has national oversight for the design, development and facilitation of executive and award winning leadership programs at all levels, and works with women globally on building their leadership capacity.