The fact that Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In has been such a success highlights the importance of maintaining a focus on women’s development – particularly when it comes to leadership.
But in many organisations, ‘women only’ initiatives can be been seen as a weakness (“just a group of women sitting around complaining”) or an unfair investment (“what about us?” the men say). Added to this are those who tell you they are “over” gender diversity, with comments such as “seriously are we still banging on about women’s issues?” Further still are some of the women themselves who claim they don’t like feeling “singled out” and prefer to be treated like everyone else. This is all going on at the same time that we’re wondering why the pipeline of female leaders hasn’t improved in more than 10 years.
Often these comments are followed by statements that we need to include men if we are going to achieve change, and so on. And yes these comments do have merit – creating inclusive work practices is the key here. However, research shows that when it comes to developing inclusive workplaces and a more balanced representation of genders in leadership, the power of change is in the “AND”: Mixed leadership development sessions, and women-only sessions are needed to drive sustainable change.
Women only initiatives have merit in building leadership capabilities on a number of critical levels:
- Research shows that when women are in mixed training sessions they tend to “shortcut” their experiences and tone down their level of sharing. This can be due to feeling their views aren’t valued, fear of being judged or just a sense that their perspective may fall on deaf ears. Being able to reflect on themselves as leaders is a key aspect of leadership development (for men and women). However for this to be effective, these reflections have to be heard and valued equally. If this means helping women to develop their leadership perspectives in women only environments and then moving to mixed sessions, research shows this approach has merit.
- Women only training initiatives (when conducted well) validate the experience of women in the workplace, particularly when it comes to leadership. Women have reported greater depth of insight in sessions designed for women. This is the result of a shift in dynamics that takes place when a minority voice takes on a majority position (as happens in women only sessions). Women report feeling less isolated and more validated in their career experiences as they have the opportunity share their perspectives with women who may have taken similar pathways or made similar decisions over their lives. While we can assume most women understand the range of pathways available to them over their careers, often the reality is women can feel alone in trying to navigate them, particularly at senior levels.
- Negligible change in the representation of women in senior roles over the past ten years tells us there are systemic changes (organisational and cultural) that still need to take place. And at the same time, we need to continue to work with women to ensure that they feel capable of stepping up, see stepping up as attractive option, and feel that it is manageable in the long term. As one of my clients who works in an inclusive organisation observed recently: “The issue for us is no longer about whether we feel supported here (as so much systemic work has been done), but rather whether we want the next challenge and are prepared to put our hands up.” If we are going to make a difference in building the female pipeline we need to continue to ensure we are tapping into the leadership capability of women through the right mix of development forums.
So next time you are involved in a women only initiative or you see one taking place in your organisation, make sure you take the time to clarify to anyone willing to hear it that there is important strategic work going on in these sessions. Yes it is important to have men involved, but there is merit in women getting together to share/explore and expand their leadership potential.