Women: 7 Tips on How to Get Ahead (PHOTOS)

Welcome to a series of blogs I will be writing with my colleague and friend, Stephen Miles. Although Steve's credentials could go on for pages, he is, in short, a renowned thought leader, C-suite (CEO and COO) coach, and global expert on succession planning. Together, we have a combined 30 years of executive coaching expertise, including five books.

Today's blog addresses the critical issue of how women can achieve even greater success in business. Although it's hard to believe, less than 5 percent of CEO's are women! Only 3 percent of Fortune 500 organizations have women at the helm, and just 15 percent of Fortune 500 board seats are held by women. Ladies, this sucks!

In our experience, this is being fueled by seven negative behavioral patterns that are stopping women from getting ahead. (And men too). Here are our suggested tips:

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Don't Focus On Being Liked

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Do the right thing, even if it feels risky. The number one challenge to women's success remains their fear of not being liked. The need to be "liked" can stop a woman from exhibiting her great leadership potential. Strong leadership entails making bold moves. Bold moves involve risk. Risk demands change and not everyone "likes" to have their equilibrium challenged. Consider this: one of the main reasons Apple is so successful is that they believe in a culture of disharmony. This doesn't mean they treat their employees badly - quite the contrary. It means they encourage disagreement. They promote argument for the sake of making something better. They insist that everyone thinks and acts beyond his or her job description. This has nothing to do with being liked. It has to do with adopting a process that will get to the best results. To get ahead you have to level-up your own tolerance of healthy friction within your team. Then you have to invite it, work with it and prosper from it. Make new ideas, controversial approaches, and innovative strategies your best friends. If your company, boss or manager doesn't "like" your approach and would prefer you never ruffle a feather, it's time to move on. Why? Because that organization's chance of prospering in our global marketplace is slim to none.

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Do the right thing, even if it feels risky. The number one challenge to women's success remains their fear of not being liked.

The need to be "liked" can stop a woman from exhibiting her great leadership potential. Strong leadership entails making bold moves. Bold moves involve risk. Risk demands change and not everyone "likes" to have their equilibrium challenged.

Consider this: one of the main reasons Apple is so successful is that they believe in a culture of disharmony. This doesn't mean they treat their employees badly - quite the contrary. It means they encourage disagreement. They promote argument for the sake of making something better. They insist that everyone thinks and acts beyond his or her job description. This has nothing to do with being liked. It has to do with adopting a process that will get to the best results.

To get ahead you have to level-up your own tolerance of healthy friction within your team. Then you have to invite it, work with it and prosper from it. Make new ideas, controversial approaches, and innovative strategies your best friends.

If your company, boss or manager doesn't "like" your approach and would prefer you never ruffle a feather, it's time to move on. Why? Because that organization's chance of prospering in our global marketplace is slim to none.

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Women of this world - stand up in the fullness of who you are. Embrace these seven tips and make our world an even more balanced place. We look forward to your unstoppable success.

To reach Debbie and Stephen:
[e-mail]
www.debbierobins.com
[e-mail]
www.yourcareergame.com

 

Comments

[Inanina]

03:27 PM on 07/24/2010

Hello Debbie! I think you have to take your message on the road. There are many women in position of leadership who are totally ignorant of your basic tips. My two cents on the debate is that probably many of those women in position of leadership did not get there thanks to a female mentor. So they have no clue how to mentor another woman without coming across as a 'mother-he­n' (seen lots of that and I hate it). My second issue of working collaborat­ively amongst women is that many women are risk-avers­e and don't like direct confrontat­ion with a colleague when there is a disagreeme­nt. I've seen many women become very defensive or emotional when challenged on a particular issue (many personal examples). You will find that in mostly female working groups that there will be lots of 'informal communicat­ion channels' which always delay progress because no one wants to speak her mind openly. You should add this tip to your list 'Don't take things personally­'.

[Debbie Robins]

07:30 PM on 07/26/2010

Fabulous feedback, commentary­. Thank you!!!! Deb

[Billie]

09:45 AM on 07/24/2010

Loved this--grea­t tips. As a woman, I am especially pained when I see insecure envious women who are the boss and abuse other women they feel threatened by. In fact, I've seen this so much (and heard complaints about it by so many) that I would never take a chance on working for another woman again. The brutality a selfish insecure woman dishes out with absolutely no conscience is ten times what a man who is boss will dish out. I have many woman friends who are high achievers and I absolutely support them. Went out to dinner a couple of nights ago with a bunch of women friends to celebrate someone's new job. She said, "The director of the company is a guy---phew­!"

This is a sad statement (and a true feeling among women) about how badly women need to become more responsibl­e with power.

[Debbie Robins]

07:30 PM on 07/26/2010

Couldn't agree more. Thank you for writing to me/comment­ing on our blog! Deb

[ezwalker]

06:40 PM on 07/23/2010

Excellent article. I have been in the heart of the jungle for 25 years, and this article tells it like it is!

[Debbie Robins]

07:31 PM on 07/26/2010

Thanks SO much. Keep swinging from those corporate trees!! Deb

[Greg Sureck]

11:11 PM on 07/21/2010

biggest mistake a woman boss can make is trying to be tough like a man

[Mister Biggles]

05:37 PM on 07/23/2010

Why?

[ezwalker]

06:43 PM on 07/23/2010

I agree. Why lower yourself to that level!