Women Leading the Future

So many of us have asked the question: "How did he ever get that job? I have much more experience than he has. He's only been here five minutes anyway! I know I interviewed well and I had to interview better than him. He does not communicate well at all. It is felt by many people around here, not just me."

And if you are reflective you will go on: "What more do I have to do to be able to advance my career in this place? Or do I have to leave and try somewhere else? But then would it be any different? Is this about me or is it about the system in which we, as women, are trying to grow our careers?"

Good question, and far from feeling empowered in our workplaces, we begin to feel so disempowered. I'm always trying to find answers to these dilemmas. In fact, this is what this blog is about. So, when surfing the net one day, I came across this great organisation - Catalyst - I had to tell all of you about it. It's a good one to bookmark. I'll put the link on the bottom.

Catalyst was founded in the US in 1962, so it has a long history and long experience of helping women and companies to expand women's opportunities in business. In fact, 1962 is well before the second wave of feminism which really didn't emerge until 1970. The website says that it is "a leading nonprofit corporate membership research and advisory organisation working globally with businesses and the professions to build inclusive environments and expand opportunities for women in business."

What is so helpful about this site is the enormous range of information that is available on the site. There are 81 articles, research papers and media releases. The executive summaries or the full copy can be downloaded in many cases. Others can be bought. 

Some examples of the great material on the Catalyst site that I found particularly empowering. 

1. The Double-Bind Dilemma for Women in Leadership - Damned if you do, Doomed if you Don't.

"Through qualitative analyses of women and men managers' comments...we document the predicaments women leaders face, expose the stereotypes that create the double bind, look at the strategies successful women leaders use to deal with these stereotypes, and offer a tool for organisations to build awareness of how stereotypes influence work outcomes", says the Foreword. More importantly, it goes on to say that "Ulitmately, it is not women's leadership styles that need to change but the structures and perceptions that must keep up with today's changing times."

2. Women "Take Care", Men "Take Charge" - Stereotyping of US Business Leaders Exposed.

Don't we all know about this. The women are appointed to the "soft" management areas like Human Resources, and the men to the important ones like Finances or Strategic Development, for example.

3. Leaders in a Global Economy - A Study of Executive Women and Men.

This is a good read. It takes 9 "Common Wisdoms" about women leaders and researches them and presents the findings. Even the executive summary is worth glancing at, which is all I've read at the moment.

So, go to Catalyst at www.catalystwomen.org and have a look for yourself.