Why do more men need to be advocates for women in leadership?
The future is better with more women at the table. Businesses and corporations will benefit from advocating for more women in leadership with improved financial results. Catalyst found that Fortune 500 companies with the highest representation of women on boards financially outperform those with the fewest female board members and Gallup found gender-diverse business units have higher average revenue than less diverse business units. The Center for Creative Leadership predict having larger percentages of women in an organisation results in greater job satisfaction, higher levels of employee engagement, and decreased rates of burnout for all workers
Today, across all sectors, communities and societies, women are underrepresented in leadership positions. Women hold just 29% of senior management roles (Source: Catalyst), in 2021 make up only 8.1% of Fortune 500 CEOs and in the UK the gender pay gap is 15.5% (Source: ONS UK). This is despite women outnumbering men at almost every educational level and being about half the workforce in most countries.
We have seen many equality schemes being adopted to try to alleviate some of the issues faced by women at work but barriers remain.
One key issue is gender stereotypes and biases. To challenge the status quo and move the dial on gender equality, we need more men to challenge stereotypes, confront bias, and leverage their expertise and networks to benefit women in the workplace. Interestingly, LeanIn.org found men who work well with women and tap the full talents of their teams outperform their peers.
Here are 3 practical ways men can advocate for women in leadership.
Challenging gender bias
The first step in challenging gender bias is awareness, that is being aware of our own biases and the gender biases that hold women back. Research by Catalyst shows that women face a double bind of being seen as either competent or likeable but not both. To learn more about the barriers holding women back I recommend reading THE FIX: Overcome the Invisible Barriers that Hold Women back at Work by Michelle P King. King’s research reveals that the one thing holding women back above all else is gender denial. She says “by denying gender inequality, we are preventing women and minorities from getting that corner office”. It is easy to fall into the denial camp, I mean it’s easier to believe that meritocracy always wins, accepting that this is not true is like accepting that the tooth fairy doesn’t exist.
If we are to overcome gender bias we must acknowledge it, understand it and take steps to change it.
With an awareness of how gender bias manifests itself, both men and women must challenge these biases, as LeanIn.org puts it when you hear a woman called “bossy” or “shrill” request a specific example of what the woman did and then ask “would you have the same reaction if a man did the same thing?”.
2. Mentoring and sponsoring women
I think most of us have sought out a mentor at some point in our careers, getting a sponsor is not as easy. Sponsorship is about empowerment, creating a space at the table for someone, advocating for them and giving them the opportunities, encouragement and feedback needed to succeed.
The HBR research shows women tend to be over-mentored and under-sponsored.
Research from McKinsey found that “having a mentor increased the likelihood of promotion two years later for men, but had no effect on promotion for women. One reason was that the women’s mentors were less senior than those of men and, as a result, lacked the clout needed to advocate for them”. McKinsey also found women had fewer meaningful interactions with senior leaders, compared to their male peers - and this gap widened as they advanced.
Since there are more men in leadership roles, they are best placed to strengthen the leadership pipeline in their organisations by supporting talented women.
Practically men can:
Share their ‘insider knowledge’ and experiences about how to advance in the organisation, then help strategise with female mentees about how to get ahead and how to fill any developmental gaps that might block progress.
Connect women to influential people in their network. They can advocate for their mentee with peers and pave the way for high potential women to meet influential and powerful people in their organisation and industry.
Create opportunities by giving women a high profile project, promotion or stretch opportunity. In most cases success takes more than one attempt, male leaders can coach a mentee/protege through the challenges and setbacks.
3. Provide honest, constructive, performance-based feedback
I can see throughout my career how important constructive feedback has been, every time I’ve taken steps to act on feedback received it has resulted in increased growth and recognition.
HBR found that developmental feedback for women tends to focus on delivery rather than vision, coping with politics rather than leveraging politics, and collaboration rather than assertiveness. It also tends to present a lack of confidence as a fundamental shortcoming, rather than a specific skill that can be developed.
Let’s even the stakes, surely it’s an easy win. We can all provide developmental feedback equally to men and women, giving feedback focused on growth opportunities.
I am not suggesting that men need to stop advocating for other men. Both men and women need advocates, however, evidence shows women are not getting their fair share of advocacy and support.
How about sharing this post with a male colleague?
