Executive Women Rank The Most Effective Training Program Topics
SHAMBAUGH recently asked 50 business leaders, including CEOs, COOs, CFOs, SVPs, VPs and individuals responsible for providing Leadership Development Programs for women leaders in Fortune 500 organizations, what they thought was most holding women back: a glass ceiling or what SHAMBAUGH calls Sticky Floors. Those interviewed included women, men and working mothers.
This new survey confirmed the hypothesis that we at SHAMBAUGH have formulated over two decades of working with women leaders – that our own self-limiting behaviors, beliefs and assumptions create some of the biggest barriers to advancement. We were not surprised by the answers on what these executives said held them or others back, but we were surprised by their answers on how best to help high potential women through training programs.
First, the Top Five Limiting Behaviors or Sticky Floors identified by survey participants:
1. The Need for a Greater Sense of Self Awareness
2. Better Work/Life Balance
3. Not Building Strategic Relationships
4. Not Making Your Words Count
5. Lack of Political Savvy
I personally interviewed several of the survey participants and heard a majority of them – all high potential candidates for the executive suite – admit that they can be their own worst enemy. They shared with me that they were either passed by or failed to pursue a promotion due to unknowingly demonstrating certain patterns of behaviors or living certain beliefs that eventually were self-limiting in terms of achieving their career goals. The irony is that these behaviors and beliefs may have been effective or worked for them as a manager or emerging leader, but these women realized what worked for them in the management ranks is not the recipe for advancing to the executive suite. Once they took time to reassess these patterns and/or worked with a coach to gain the right feedback and focus, they were able to re-wire their beliefs and re-frame their behaviors which provided them a better foundation, and levels of confidence and competence, to advance to senior leadership roles or the executive suite.
This survey validated SHAMBAUGH’s findings after coaching hundreds of women that there is a critical tipping point for women: When they reach senior management and/or emerging leader level positions, talented and smart women, unfortunately, are passed by for the next promotion because of these self-limiting behaviors, but they themselves don’t understand the reasons for not getting the promotion. If they had a deeper knowledge or awareness of themselves in terms of what is working and not working for them, they would have would have a much better chance of advancing to the senior ranks.
When asked what the most important topics are that should be included in a training program for women leaders who wanted to advance to senior ranks, the group identified two of the most significant barriers – Making Your Words Count and Building Strategic Relationships – as the two most critical topics in an executive training program. However, Work/Life Balance just barely made the top ten. We believe that while many business leaders recognize this as a critical issue, they consider it a personal issue and not something that is addressed in a learning environment.
Another general theme expressed by the majority of those interviewed was that women need to be well versed in business acumen, industry expertise and finance (as the language of business) in order to be considered for the senior positions. However, these areas were not seen as training topics but rather as long term areas of study, such as in an MBA program, or acquired through the right work experiences.
The top ten topics for leadership training for women as identified by survey participants (in order of importance with 1 being most important):
1. Communication (Making Your Words Count)
2. Strategic Networking
3. Strategic Thinking
4. Self-Awareness
5. Influence/Negotiating
6. Executive Presence
7. How to Find & On-board Mentors
8. Political Savvy
9. Leadership Styles
10. Work/Life Balance (in terms of Career Planning)
In terms of the format for training, the overwhelming consensus was that having external coaching as part of a leadership development program was the most critical success factor and the key differentiator for women leaders to successfully address the topics mentioned above.
By no means does this information imply that women don’t have what it takes to be executives or that it is all up to women to work on their own sticky floors. Its will take a total solution – one that calls for women to look within themselves and gain a greater awareness of where they may be limiting themselves and then having the courage and where-with-all to do something about it. It also calls for men to meet women where they are – to coach and mentor them with a greater knowledge of where they may be holding themselves back. For women, it starts with a vision of themselves as leaders. For male mentors, I encourage them to help women look within and see their full potential as well as the impact they have and can have as current or future executives. It takes a village!
In my next blog, we’ll take a look at the experiences other than training recommended by these executive women for advancing through the organization.
Read more about the 2007 SHAMBAUGH Survey of Executive Women.
Learn about SHAMBAUGH’s Leadership Development Programs and their Women in Leadership and Learning (WILL) Program and Solutions
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