Jul. 25, 2018 "Eliminating the gender gap: Thanks to millennials, change is coming": Today I found this article by Farah Bundeali and Elio Luongo in the Globe and Mail:
Farah Bundeali is a partner and Elio Luongo is the CEO and senior partner at KPMG in Canada.
We may finally be getting closer to reaching the tipping point in achieving gender balance in the senior leadership ranks of corporate Canada.
Correcting this imbalance has been a supposed priority for decades, but despite all the sound business reasons for doing so, we’ve not really made much progress. Women now comprise half the workforce and hold more university degrees than men do, yet the proportion of women in senior roles still only runs about 30 per cent.
But we believe we are about to see real change in the coming decade. While we think that the various efforts over the last 30 to 40 years will continue to drive change, our belief is largely driven by our confidence in the millennial effect.
Most of our gap-closing effort to date has been centred on breaking down the conscious and unconscious biases that built the glass ceiling in the first place. But to the extent that those still holding the reins of power continue to carry some form of bias, it’s also clear that millennials, soon to be the Canadian workforce’s largest identifiable demographic – as well as the post-millennial or “iGen” cohort, who are just starting to enter the workforce – are unlikely to hold the same biases as the generations that preceded them.
Millennials have been big drivers of change; they think and act differently than their parents. They consume and process data like no other generation. They are connected to their friends and communities in a way never seen before. And they are not afraid to tell you how they feel.
We understand the impact they’ve had on many industries – shopping, television, travel – but they are also quietly challenging the status quo in the workplace. With millennials, the expectation is that parental leaves and childcare responsibilities will be shared between men and women. Equal responsibilities at home mean an expectation of equal opportunities and respect in the workplace.
That mindset is already there. According to a joint study by Qualtrics and Accel, 60 per cent of millennial women and 52 per cent of millennial men don’t have a preference about the gender of their boss.
Not surprisingly, 68 per cent of women are more likely to ask a more senior woman for advice in the workplace. But what was striking was that it is the case with men as well – 71 per cent of millennial men were more likely to turn to a woman for advice at work.
The implications are two-fold: not only do the workforce’s younger generations hold fewer biases about women in leadership, pushing us towards a more inclusive and diverse set of leaders tomorrow, they’ll also demand it of their leaders today.
It’s been shown that millennials and their older counterparts typically have the same kind of career goals; where they differ most widely is in the ways they go about achieving those goals. And not being shy about taking their expectations and opinions straight to the top is a defining millennial characteristic.
If they don’t like what they hear back, they are likely to pack up and move on to another organization that better shares their beliefs and values. We know that millennials are driven by purpose and seek to work in organizations that share their views, values and vision.
So it is crucial that Canadian organizations are ready for this eventual generational shift – remember, millennials will make up the bulk of our workforce in the next decade.
Organizations that fail to be truly inclusive suffer not only from a lack of diverse thinking to address the complex challenges and opportunities facing them, they also fail to win the loyalty and commitment of their employees, clients and stakeholders.
Organizations that fail to be truly inclusive suffer not only from a lack of diverse thinking to address the complex challenges and opportunities facing them, they also fail to win the loyalty and commitment of their employees, clients and stakeholders.
Those that embrace it will find they have a far greater pool of talent to choose from – and with that, stronger bottom lines.
By actively working toward an inclusive and diverse culture, KPMG has seen a steady and encouraging improvement in the numbers of high-performing women moving into more senior roles. In 2017, 40 per cent of our newly promoted partners were women.
Still, we have much more work to do. We have to be nimble and adaptive in our thinking. Our people and our clients demand and expect that of us. We need to continue to support an environment that helps develop and advance our young leaders.
We’ve created programs such as the Leaders of Tomorrow Circle and WIN@Leadership, where inclusive, innovative and collaborative discussions help develop and advance our young leaders – and also reshape the way we think and act as a firm.
We’ve created programs such as the Leaders of Tomorrow Circle and WIN@Leadership, where inclusive, innovative and collaborative discussions help develop and advance our young leaders – and also reshape the way we think and act as a firm.
The numbers will continue to grow. The need for diversity in the way we think about and approach the challenges of the day is too urgent. We cannot afford to slow down. If anything, we have to accelerate.
We are close, and once the tipping point is reached, there’s no turning back. That will be a very good thing indeed.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/careers/leadership/article-eliminating-the-gender-gap-thanks-to-millennials-change-is-coming/
Nov. 17, 2018 "Leaders need not heed gender stereotypes": Today I found this article by Harvey Schachter in the Globe and Mail. "Workplaces authority figures should utilize masculine and feminine energies," consultant Betty- Ann Heggie says.
The two classic styles of leadership can be called hard or soft.
Hard tends to be assertive-dominant, analytical, and, when needed, remorseless.
Soft tends to be more co-operative and collaborative, empathetic, and laid back, letting others take the lead.
Soft tends to be more co-operative and collaborative, empathetic, and laid back, letting others take the lead.
I have had fun writing about some newfangled notions of leadership styles, each worth considering in various situations, but in essence for many people their instincts and actions boil down to hard or soft. Those are long-standing approaches, extending beyond our own time as managers. But these days, they are commonly associated with men and women – men more likely to display the hard side and women the soft side.
To say that is to be both trite and offensive at the same time – trite because much has been written already about it and offensive because many people don’t like to be pigeonholed by gender (and many men, in particular, have their back up against gender analysis of work).
Betty-Ann Heggie, a Toronto-based consultant and former senior vice-president of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (now Nutrien Ltd.), offers helpful perspective by asking us to think of masculine and feminine “energies” coming together in what she calls “gender physics.” We are pulled by our gender to our namesake energy, but gender is not destiny. She says that about 70 per cent of men and women will have a natural energy consistent with their biological gender while 30 per cent don’t.
Even that can be influenced by discipline. In her workshops, she finds a higher propensity for masculine energy within women employed in engineering and law, where masculine energies are valued.
Younger men, particularly those who have taken paternity leave, are more apt to have a higher feminine energy level.
Younger men, particularly those who have taken paternity leave, are more apt to have a higher feminine energy level.
Neither energy beats the other in all situations. Each can backfire on us – if we define our own preferred energy, we can easily recall situations where it was very helpful and others where it wasn’t. She says we want to be humans, not genders, and should be seeking to be whole – using masculine and feminine energies, together. “Balanced leaders are the best leaders,” she writes in her book Gender Physics.
You undoubtedly know how this plays out for you and your colleagues. In her book, she lists complementary energies. For example, feminine energy tends to be “we” and masculine “me” – part of the group versus apart.
Feminine energy is totally engaged and contributing, but is content to follow the leaders; masculine energy wants to direct the action.
How/what is another distinction: Feminine energy relishes the process and considers all its aspects while masculine energy lets details fall away as it focuses on the goal.
Feminine energy is motivated by emotion and ideals, or the heart, while masculine energy seeks logical and reasoned examination, the head.
Feminine energy is totally engaged and contributing, but is content to follow the leaders; masculine energy wants to direct the action.
How/what is another distinction: Feminine energy relishes the process and considers all its aspects while masculine energy lets details fall away as it focuses on the goal.
Feminine energy is motivated by emotion and ideals, or the heart, while masculine energy seeks logical and reasoned examination, the head.
In each case – and others she delineates – we need both energies, as individuals and as organizations. But it can be hard to break out of our gender’s pull. “Fear of rejection motivates men and women to express the attributes of their gender,” she says.
Much has been written about how hard it is for women to retain elements of their gender pull, particularly in masculine energy organizations, and how, paradoxically, when they take on masculine norms such as being assertive they can be rejected.
Less attention has been paid to how men get penalized for straying from masculine norms.
“Research demonstrates that men too face backlash when they don’t adhere to masculine gender stereotypes – when they show vulnerability, act nicer, display empathy, express sadness, exhibit modesty, and proclaim to be feminists,” David Mayer, a professor of management and organizations at the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business, wrote recently in Harvard Business Review.
Less attention has been paid to how men get penalized for straying from masculine norms.
“Research demonstrates that men too face backlash when they don’t adhere to masculine gender stereotypes – when they show vulnerability, act nicer, display empathy, express sadness, exhibit modesty, and proclaim to be feminists,” David Mayer, a professor of management and organizations at the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business, wrote recently in Harvard Business Review.
So the 30 per cent of men with feminine energies and those with masculine energies who try to find more balance could be on shaky ground.
For example, when male (but not female) leaders ask for help they are viewed as less competent, capable and confident. Nice guys are evaluated as less competent and less hireable for managerial roles. Women are more likely to get credit for empathy at work than men.
For example, when male (but not female) leaders ask for help they are viewed as less competent, capable and confident. Nice guys are evaluated as less competent and less hireable for managerial roles. Women are more likely to get credit for empathy at work than men.
Gender is powerful. We need to be aware of its pull on us and the threat of stereotypes.
Thinking of it as energies – part of gender physics – may help us find better balance.
Thinking of it as energies – part of gender physics – may help us find better balance.
Cannonballs
- Josh Sample, CEO of Drive Social Media, a marketing consultancy, lets employees write their own recommendations when they are leaving his company. But there’s a kicker: They can only write it once, and after he reads it he either signs his name to it or trashes it, without a second chance. That forces them to be objective, encourages reflection and self-awareness, and gives him and the employee something they can be happy about.
My opinion: I did that at Telemarketer #3 job in 2018. They gave us a form to fill out.
I then gave my opinion and recommendations to this Work from Home job in May 2020. I told them and what others said in the chat box during the online class training: The class was disorganized. If they were to take attendance, they should get everybody to email that they are there.
- Don’t stall when you get an idea from an employee you are unsure about. Bryant University management professor Michael Roberto says employees deserve a clear yes or no answer in a timely fashion, with a rationale when the answer is negative. Delay and you just cause them to distrust you and the organization.
- In job interviews, count the number of absolutes the candidate offers – “always,” “never,” “absolutely” and the like. It could signal the person is a zealot and thus somebody not to hire, says executive search consultant William Vanderbloemen.
6 months ago
It's always amazed me how much money companies and to public organizations are willing to pay to subject their employees to this sort of pseudo-scientific gibberish. Just think of how many research and development engineers and scientists, doctors, nurses, professors, or whatever could be hired with the money!
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