The drain of talented women from the executive ranks is appalling and hits at the fundamental bedrock of our talent pool of candidates to participate on and run our Boards.
As a regular contributor to the ‘Pipeline Top Flight’ leadership programme, I see a stream of talented women who are fortunate to have been supported by their organisations to get impactful strategic learning and guidance on making it into the top Executive, CEO, COO and CFO roles of our businesses and organisations and to improve their retention in those roles.
However, to quote the Pipeline Topflight programme.
“In the last ten years, 40% of senior female executives have left corporate Britain. A further 35% are thinking of leaving. Why? These women are all asking themselves the following questions: ‘Can I get to the top in this organisation?’, and ‘Do I want to get to the top in this organisation?’. All too often the answer comes back: ‘No’.”
For many women the opportunity of support from such a cutting-edge development programme rarely presents itself. They are left to ‘struggle’ their way through a narrow corridor of perceptions, pre-judgements and assumptions about their capability and ambitions.
As a Board Chairman and Mentor, I often get asked what drives me onwards and what supported my career development. While there are many contextual ideas’, strategies and actions that I work on with individual coaching clients for Board and Senior Leadership positions, here are five ‘inner voices’ I have clung to over the years as I built my own career.
1. Break out, look sceptically at the path of least resistance, look for the alternative options and signal your intent to do things differently. Look after your own career, invest in yourself. You are the one that can make it happen.
2. Don’t be labelled, smash the assumptions about you from other people; don’t like operational work?, can’t do an overseas assignment?, don’t want a senior role?, not good at finance?, not tough enough? Don’t let assumptions tell your story.
3. Take some risks, put yourself in unusual situations and volunteer for assignments others see as too tough, too exposed or not of direct value to their immediate career. This, however, needs careful planning, learning and a good Coach/Mentor.
4. Reach out and support others, this is for them and yourself. ‘Sow and you shall reap’, years later people I have helped remembered that help. It is amazing that the smallest things, words to give perspective, a facilitation to achieve something or just comfort given to someone, is rarely forgotten.
5. Pitch your strategic career horizon high, look beyond your current role, envision where you want to go in the next two roles, how you will get there and who your will engage will to support your cause.
Our lives are very busy and speeding up all the time. It is important to take time to reflect on where you have been, where you are now and most importantly where you want to be. Remembering the wise words of Socrates “the secret of change is to focus your energy not on fighting the old, but building the new”.
