Walking the talk on lifting up the women around you
It’s not uncommon for companies to have a relatively solid gender split at whole-company level but a steady decline in the % of women in leadership positions as you work your way up the ladder to board level, where the ratio can be downright embarrassing.
This is a pipeline problem - your talent development and succession planning strategy hasn’t worked. There can be lots of reasons for this - I’m only going to go into one.
Women aren’t getting the opportunities they need to build their profile.
If you’re eager for a cohort of women in your middle management/junior leadership layer to become the future executive cohort for your company, then you need to change this. Just putting their heads down and delivering great work isn’t enough - the work doesn’t speak for itself. They also need to exposure. To help them, you need to give them a platform and be their hype man.
Give them a platform
Most men in leadership positions will come across far more opportunities for profile building than a woman in a similar position. (Yes, NotAllMen - don’t bring that energy here). So we need you to share or even give us that platform.
Have you been asked to do some public speaking at a conference or on a panel? Why not offer up a woman colleague you rate in your place? Or suggest you share the stage with her? Know a conference organiser? Then why not proactively suggest a woman you rate as a great speaker for their event.
Presenting to an executive board? Co-present with your woman colleague - or better still, hand her the stage and stay in the room to protect the space for her.
Asked to write an article/report/blog post? Can you co-author or co-edit with women you rate? Make sure she gets in the byline. Better yet, proactively pitch her as a writer/collaborator in places where you’ve got connections.
Asked for a quote? Volunteer something pithy and compelling from a woman you work with. Can’t remember any good quotes from women around you? Fix that - notice them, write them down, cite them in public. Plant their words in people’s minds, just as people do with the sound bites and ideas of prominent men.
Be their hype man
When you’re working with new and powerful stakeholders (clients, internal customers, whoever), always introduce the women in your team. Know their bios well, know their successes and big them up in meetings. And make sure you create opportunities for them to shine, early on, so that their value in the room is self-evident and appreciated.
Learn and tell the stories of the women around you. Help their work reach wider audiences - forward it, share it, comment and shout-out whether it’s in private, internally or publicly and on social media. Be name-dropping those women. Thank them publicly, celebrate their achievements. Nominate them for awards. You want them to be in demand, you want people to be excited to work with them. As a senior man you might usually be the headliner - but you can still have the humility to take on the role of warm-up act for the impressive women you take along with you.
And women - be ready. Don’t worry about not having anything to say - I know that isn’t true. Read this:
https://www.audreefletcher.co.uk/blog/2023/2/4/yeah-buti-dont-really-have-anything-worth-sharing