The upshot of the distinction between closed and open questions, is that it can tell us if we are actually coaching our people to explore their own ideas and solutions, or if we are feeding them answers they can try, through closed questions.
Communication is a critical workplace skill. It is a way to contribute value, demonstrate knowledge, influence outcomes, build relationships and build your leadership brand – unless you’re a woman. Then it’s not so straightforward.
Enter the Gender Penalty….
When men speak up, their voices are valued. When women speak up, their contributions are often challenged. This makes being seen and heard a constant battle for women in the workplace.
This dynamic means men are likely to speak up and women are likely to be shut down. Not only are women silenced in their speech and discounted in their contributions, they are accused of not ‘sounding like a leader’. When women communicate, their voices, styles and speech patterns are unconsciously compared to the male model – and often come up lacking in credibility and authority.
Why are women’s voices overlooked and undervalued? Why does society hear women differently when they speak? What can we do about it?
In the workplace, women are routinely interrupted, talked over, ignored and overlooked. Women’s ideas are discounted, and their competency is assumed to be lacking compared to men.
Contrary to the common perception that women talk more than men in the corporate setting, the reverse is true. In mixed groups, women speak less than men. This isn’t because they don’t have anything of value to say, it’s because they can’t get a word in edgeways. Men are given more space to talk, and they take up more space when they do talk.
OMG OMG OMG!!!
On the 7th October I attended the gala event for the ABLE awards (Author Book Launch and Expo). The night was a celebration of books launched this year as well as the announcement of their annual book award winners.
I entered three categories. And...I WON THREE CATEGORIES!!!! Can you believe it??!! I’m still pinching myself. I am over the moon!
Women who have children are more likely to be the primary caregiver. As such, they will either take a career break or work part-time in order to raise their kids. This means less money comes in each week, lower pay and less superannuation. I mean it literally when I say care is costing us.
It was never my intention to be an advocate. It was never my intention to be a feminist, and nor was it my intention to run a Leadership program for Women. And yet here I am.
A gender advocate, a feminist, and founder of the award-winning program Women at Work (not to mention the author of a book to help women navigate a male-dominated leadership landscape - The Gender Penalty, but I digress…)
I always thought women could look after themselves. I thought the hard work of picketing and marching and striking was over. That we had fought for equal rights, and won. And we did. Sort of.
Whilst we have come along in leaps and bounds in terms of women's rights in society (at least in the Western World); we also have a way to go for the cultural norms to catch up. And part of those norms are the messages we send girls and women about how to fix themselves in order to get ahead.
That’s why I designed my Women at Work program.
Playing favourites may not be your intention, but with perception steering the ship, it could be the reality. As leaders, we need to make a conscious effort to include all our people. We need to spend time equally, engage with those we may not get along with, and ensure all our people feel heard, valued and included. It’s easy enough to do, once we realise we need to do it.
Great leaders build engagement. Engagement in meetings requires contribution and involvement. Many leaders I work with complain of a lack of engagement from their team members during meetings, despite their best efforts. This is not always about their leadership or their teams’ engagement; often there are other factors at play.
