Putting the “I” in Leader

At the Forté Corporate Best Practices Summit, Sally Helgesen heralded the “age of women’s leadership” as companies become less hierarchical and more collaborative. The idea is that this emerging business environment will play to women’s strengths, and that (at least progressive) companies will recognize this by giving women more authority and leadership opportunities.
But companies have been operating in this new mode for a while, and the number of women in leadership has stalled – even at some of the most progressive companies. So, how to explain this apparent contradiction?

I think it has a lot to do with how women take credit. Yes, more and more work is done by teams, and women lead teams well. But are these women getting credit when their teams deliver outstanding results? Yes, more and more business is done through partnerships and relationships, and women are good at building partnerships and fostering relationships. But, are women getting credit for doing so? I suspect that many women are not getting the credit, and therefore the leadership roles, they deserve in part because they don’t know how to ask for it. As the authors of The Labyrinth of Leadership painstakingly document, women must navigate between the “unwritten rule” in the workplace that leaders will self-promote (a leader is decisive and assertive), in order to be seen as a leader, and the implicit bias about women that they must not be perceived as too “aggressive” and “ambitious.”

The trick then is to put the “I” in leader – to take credit for your accomplishments without coming across as only interested in getting ahead. One suggestion is to let others do the bragging for you. In the self- assessment I wrote for my performance review this year, I included feedback from clients who raved about me. It was more comfortable than raving about myself, and it had more credibility coming from a third party! This tip, and many others, can be found in Peggy Klaus’ book, Brag: The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It.

Do you have any other tips for putting the “I” in leader? Share your story, so that we can all advance the cause of women’s leadership. If you believe Sally, and I do, our organizations’ future depends on it.