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LEADERSHIP
women are more likely to share
economic and non-economic gains with
their families and wider communities.
FOUR STEPS TO INCLUDE AND ADVANCE WOMEN
2. Expand your interactions with
women to be more specific,
intentional and regular.
THE SOLUTION LIES IN
STRAIGHT-FORWARD ACTION
So, what’s missing? How can we fully
engage women in leadership? We’re
missing simple, straightforward actions
by managers and leaders actively
engaging in the advancement of women.
This goes way beyond recognition of
unconscious bias and even beyond
conscious inclusion to actions for
conscious active advancement of women.
Managers and leaders need to take
more than a hands-off, “the company
is handling it,” approach and become
personally involved in encouraging,
elevating and sponsoring women.
Contrary to a widely-held belief, the
majority of managers and leaders—most
of whom are men—want to help women
get ahead. I’ve repeatedly seen firsthand
evidence of this when working with men
in places as far flung as Mexico, South
Africa, the United Arab Emirates and the
Republic of Georgia, who want to know
what to do differently.
However, it takes more than making
commitments, goal setting, and meetings
1. Eliminate bias and
discrimination as well as
workplace practices that
are obstacles to women’s
advancement.
to communicate the importance of women
in leadership. It takes, direct, personal,
active involvement on the part of manag-
ers and leaders to attract, retain and
promote women in our workforces in
order to drive economic growth. The
stance has to shift from being passive,
to being active in our support for the
inclusion and advancement of women in
the workplace.
4. Engage in employee
initiatives and family-
oriented benefits.
3. Encourage women
to seek opportunities
for advancement.
For emerging economies to thrive, they
have to be diverse. Relying on one resource
or one strategy, does not work. Relying
on half the population is not enough.
Not utilizing the talents of highly educated
people doesn’t make any sense. When
wondering how we can stimulate global
economic expansion, the first step is to fully
engage the talents and leadership potential
of our greatest underutilized resource.
CONCRETE ACTIONS THAT LEADERS CAN TAKE
1. Eliminate bias and
discrimination as well as
workplace practices that
are obstacles to women’s
advancement.
As uncomfortable as it may be
to confront someone, when
you witness bias, tell the off-
ender very directly that there
is no place for their behavior. If
the person is a repeat offender
or their behavior is egregious,
consider further action up to
and including termination.
Don’t engage in practices
that make it hard to include
women—or that run the risk
of excluding them entirely.
A couple of examples to be
avoided include: regularly
setting meetings early in the
morning, late in the day, or
after work hours; or making
EMERGING MARKETS BUSINESS
business decisions during
interactions when women
are not present.
2. Expand your interactions
with women to be more
specific, intentional
and regular.
Make regular appointments to
talk with women on your team
about their work, giving frank,
constructive feedback.
Involve women in client and
revenue-building activities
whenever possible; ensure
that female colleagues are
involved in client meetings so
they can learn more about the
business and the needs of your
customers. Research from
Catalyst informs us that
female managers do very
well in positions demanding
SUMMER 2017
ISSUE NO. 3
complex interpersonal skills.
Sponsor women rather than
only mentoring them. This is
one of the most important
actions you can take to actively
advance women.
3. Encourage women to
seek opportunities for
advancement.
Regularly encourage women
to apply for jobs or opportuni-
ties. Don’t assume they have
not applied for personal
reasons. Women have
a tendency not to apply for
opportunities when they meet
80 percent of the qualifications
and often need some encour-
agement to apply.
Recognize women’s
contributions and the effort
they put into achieving results.
Make the women on your team
and their contributions visible
to more senior leaders.
4. Engage in employee
initiatives.
Actively participate in,
and lead, diversity Initiatives,
especially women’s network-
ing events. Practically
speaking, one example
would be to regularly attend
and speak at women’s
initiative events.
Take advantage of work-life
benefits your company may
have in place, like flexible
schedules or parental leave.
In other words, if you pick up
your children from school and
attend their activities, let
everyone at the office know
why you are leaving early.