Lisa DeAngelis, Director

UMass Boston | College of Management | Center for Collaborative Leadership

Unlocking the Full Potential of Women at Work

| 1 Comment

I’ve just finished reading “Unlocking the Full Potential of Women at Work”, the recently released McKinsey & Company research summary report that was produced in
partnership with The Wall Street Journal’s Executive Task Force for Women in
the Economy. The report’s tone is optimistic and conveys “tremendous untapped
opportunity” and suggests that change can be realized in as little as 5 years. However,
it identifies four “stubborn barriers” to women’s success.

For more than a decade, the Center for Collaborative Leadership at UMass Boston has
worked to explore and refine the collaborative leadership model.Integral
to this work is the Center’s Emerging Leaders Program (ELP).  The ELP is charged with identifying and developing future leaders for Greater Boston who are diverse, reflect the changing demography of our city, and who practice a collaborative style of leadership.

Through this program, talented women (and men) are immersed in topics that inform their success as leaders in their organizations and communities. In our sessions, we
address several of the barriers to women’s advancement that were highlighted in
the McKinsey & Company report including: lifestyle choices, institutional
mind-sets, and individual mind-sets.

Lifestyle Choices

According to the report, “about half of the women surveyed said that they were both
primary breadwinners and primary caregivers. Most of the men who are primary breadwinners are not primary caregivers”.  Clearly this model isn’t working for women, and it isn’t working for employers either. In our session, “The Integrated Life” we focus on who the leader is as an individual, and then explore how that informs the way in which they show up in the different aspects of their lives – professional life, family life, community & friends, and personal life. The session reframes the work/life construct from one of “who will I make happy today, my boss or my child?” to one where the decision of where and how you spend your time is rooted in the beliefs and values you hold.  Lifestyle choices play a role, however as women, viewing ourselves as equal partners in our relationships and being grounded in what’s important to us, enables dialogue with our family and our employers to re-shape the expectations and equality in those relationships.

Institutional Mind-Sets

The report also states that “leaders expect women to model” male-like behavior. In the
“Objectivity and the Principals of Success” session, our rising leaders learn about and analyze institutional mind-sets and individual biases. The objectivity session presents skills to prompt women (and men) to pause in the moment, and take a fresh (objective) look at the issue and situation – an essential skill for both men and women if we are to break down the expectation that women leaders should act more like men leaders if we are to be successful.

Individual Mind-Sets

In the report, the women interviewed felt that they had held themselves back from
accelerated growth and that they should have cultivated sponsors. Many of the
rising professionals nominated to our leadership program do not have sponsors,
substantiating McKinsey & Company findings. To address this deficit, the
Emerging Leaders Program has a session articulating the differences between
mentors, sponsors, and personal boards of advisors/peer networks, and the
importance of each. We encourage women (and men) to identify sponsors who know the skills of the aspiring leader, understand their career aspirations, and have
the clout to advocate on their behalf.  The program also explores the differences
between the gender’s interactions with their sponsors and the impacts. Fellows are
challenged to identify sponsors, mentors and personal board of advisors/peer
network and create a plan to fill gaps they identify in the process.  

As the McKinsey & Company report notes, “wherever you are, it’s a good place to start.” Building from genuine leadership with aspirations, goals, targets and accountability toward gender diversity is the foundation of this change. Cultivating a portfolio of leadership skills to remove barriers and unlock the full potential of women is essential for our business, our communities, and our families. Here in the Greater Boston region, we at the Center for Collaborative Leadership are committed to developing leaders who do just that!

One Comment

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