The struggle is real people. Everyone has had a moment when they ask themselves, ‘do I address the issue, or do I let it slide?’ The ‘slide’ option is most often the easiest path to take. Afterall, if the issue isn’t addressed it either goes without notice (or minimal fuss) or it goes away faster-in theory. This ‘theory’ plays out nicely on paper in Seth Godin’s blog Counting Beans , which illustrates nicely what the cost of compromise can be. The blog frames ‘compromise’ as the moment one decides to place ‘win’ over ‘worry’. The moment you short change what is right for what is easy and/or a short-term win. Bottom line, every action has an outcome. So the question becomes what is the long-term outcome of compromise for the sake of perceived ‘wins’ or ease? What is your desired outcome? How are your decisions framing the culture in your organization’s culture?
You Don’t Have To Be A Boss To Be A Leader
You don’t have to be a boss or manager to be a leader. Communicate. Engage. Inspire.
The More Women In Leadership Roles, The Better The Company Does
I saw the following earlier today… I wondered if this was an opinion or a fact. I came across the following, Women In Leadership=Better Company Results . Within the article, I found the following most compelling, “They examined 16 different “competencies,” like taking initiative and driving for results, and found that women rated higher than men in 12 of the categories. When it came to total leadership strength, “at every level, more women were rated by their peers, their bosses, their direct reports, and their other associates as better overall leaders than their male counterparts — and the higher the level, the wider that gap grows.”” So the question is, in a world that places high value and great demand on corporate and organizational profits along with return on investment, why aren’t we hiring more women to up our game?
Are Women In Government Stuck?
In a recent article from Governing magazine, “Why Women’s Presence in Politics Has Stagnated,” I was unpleasantly surprised to see female legislators are still at the same percentage level, roughly, as they were in 1997. What an unpleasant discovery it was to read that. I believe a lot of us just assumed progress was going on. And unfortunately legislative positions do not seem to be the only areas of lag. Of the over 9,000 International City/County Management Association members only 23% are women. Even more depressing is that the percentage of women in those chief administrative positions have reminded dismally consistent at 13% since 1981. I feel I am part of the problem as without organization’s such as The Legacy Project in Illinois or other data gathering entities I would still be rolling along feeling it is all getting better. Sadly, without a conscious, focused effort and review of government culture, either as individual entities or overall, along with data mining, progress will not magically come. How do we know this? Numbers don’t lie. And just in case equity isn’t a motivator within your organization, women bring a dynamic into an organization’s culture that is often extremely conducive to increased positive customer service, increased return on investment, etc. So if you are not motivated by social progress, there is certainly enough data out there showing more women in leadership positions equate to increased profitability and in the case of government, wise use of tax payer dollars. The graph below is going on three years old, but based on the figures I’ve seen lately is a fair visual representation providing a great overview of where the U.S. stands internationally when it comes to government and non-government female management. It is an additional indicator demonstrating how far U.S. government entities have fallen behind.
It Is All About Timing
I’ve been deliberating about several career moves lately. It can be hard to discern at times which thoughts are just good ol fashion fear of failure and which thoughts merit examination. We all are capable of making plans, it is the unknown outcomes that muddy the waters that can wash over your path along the way. Like Mike Tyson said, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” So when I came across the TED Talk below which focuses on what makes a startp successful, I listened hard. So what does makes a startup (or anything else you could argue) successful? Timing. I agree with what Bill Gross shares in his TED Talk. Perhaps you will too. So now the challenge becomes, jumping when the time is right, even if you don’t feel 100% prepared. Sometimes you just have to go and do before the right timing slips away. To hear what Bill Gross, founder and CEO of Idealab has to share, listen here.
“A Stalled Revolution”
The following is from and interesting article on women in the workplace. The full article can be found here. “In recent years, however, the percentage of women in top management positions and on corporate boards has stalled: As recently as 2011, their presence in top management positions in S&P 1500 companies was less than 9 percent. Although there has been a slow but steady increase, progress for women is uneven; while 19 percent of S&P 500 board directors are women, only 15 percent of directors of S&P mid-cap companies are women, compared to 12.6 percent of directors of S&P small-cap companies. Overall, just 15.8 percent of directors of S&P 1500 companies are women. Companies with female CEOs tend to have more female directors; however, as of October, 2014, there were only 67 female CEOs in the S&P 1500.”