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Sponsors Are Really Important for Women

influence of sponsorsWondering if sponsors are really important for women? Read this Wall Street Journal interview for a demonstration of two important career lessons about why sponsors matter:

  1. Be aware that there are assumptions about you operating that can postpone (or even derail) your success. In Anna Catalano’s case, the assumption was that she would not want an international transfer because she was pregnant. Don’t let assumptions about what you want to get in the way of your path to the corner office.
  2. Negotiate sponsorship from those who can rebut the presumptions and encourage people who can make things happen to ask rather than assume.

As you will see, if Anna’s sponsor had not asked her whether she wanted to accept a role in China despite the fact that she was expecting her second child, that opportunity would have passed her by. She may not have had another chance. In many cases, the stereotypes about women define the roles they are offered. For example, people often think that women with young children do not want to travel so dismiss the possibility they would want jobs that require it.

A sponsor who knows that is not the case can make all the difference. He or she can encourage those who can make things happen to test their assumptions.  Sponsors are allies who are in the room when you are not.

Don’t Let Working From Home (WFH) Derail Your Career

Working from Home (WFH)
Working From Home (WFH)

As horrible as the Covid-19 situation has been, it has allowed us to demonstrate that working from home (WFH) can work if done properly.

And since working from home (WFH) has traditionally more important to women than to men, it seemed like a good thing. In fact, it might have been the silver lining in the Covid-19 cloud.

Not so fast! Working from home can create career problems that disproportionately affect women according to a new Harvard Business Review article.  These include:

  1. Increased work family conflict
    Everything from sharing the workspace to dividing up the household chores to home-schooling the children can create or exacerbate tension.
  2. Access to the right assignments and the right people
    We know that it’s impossible to progress unless one assembles the right portfolio of experience. And although it may not be impossible, it is certainly a lot harder to get ahead without sponsorship.
  3. Being in the room(s) where it happens.
    Out of sight can  mean being out of mind. Working remotely for long periods of time, no matter how productively, can leave you invisible when promotions are decided or important project are staffed.

Don’t let these potential “trip wires” get you off track. Enjoy the flexibility that working from home (WFH) offers even after the Covid-19 situation has been solved and it is safe to go back to the office.

I’ve just created a virtual session that offers practical advice and tools about how to negotiate ways to reduce the risks mentioned above. Get in touch if you’d like to discuss bringing this session to the women at your organization.

Negotiating WFH Boundaries Successfully

Working from home (WFH) requires change for those used to working in an office. Among those changes is the fact that negotiations that weren’t necessary before have become de rigeur. Tips for negotiating WFH boundaries successfully can help – these negotiations are with people who matter to you personally.

Carol Frohlinger shared some advice recently in an article titled, “Communicating Your Boundaries for Better Productivity”

Tips for Negotiating Working from Home Boundaries Successfully:

  • Plan your ideal work from home situation. Write it all down so that you will be able to negotiate your work from home boundaries successfully. Even if you don’t think it’ll be possible to achieve your ideal situation, having thought it through in detail will be useful when you begin the negotiation.
  • Have the conversation. Take the time to sit down with those who share your space to discuss how you can work most productively – if you fail to fail to do so, expect that you will get in each other’s way. Take control by working things out before they cause problems. For example, decide
    • who will work in which area
    • how you will manage noise
    • how you will indicate to each other when you can be interrupted and when you can’t
  • Listen carefully to be sure you understand the other person’s needs. Too often, we ask questions but we don’t really listen to the answers. Instead, we use the time to plan the next thing we’re going to say. As a result, we deprive ourselves of information we could use to craft a creative solution. In addition, the other party often notices and isn’t pleased.
  • Check in to make sure things are working periodically. Negotiating working from home boundaries successfully is rarely “one and done.” As things change, people will need to renegotiate the agreements they have made to accommodate the changes.
  • Negotiating WFH boundaries successfully is more than about the boundaries agreed to. The ways these negotiations are handled are indicative of the ways people feel about each other and the respect each has for the other’s work.

 

Successful Negotiation through Powerful Communication

Successful Negotiation through Powerful Communication What does it take to negotiate successfully? Strong communication skills can make or break negotiation outcomes. “Successful Negotiation through Powerful Communication” is the topic when Carol Frohlinger takes the stage at the Simmons Leadership Conference.

Practical Advice Based on Successful Negotiation Behaviors and Powerful Communication Techniques

The research is quite clear — women face challenges in workplace negotiations that men don’t. Strategically honing communication skills is the secret women need to level the playing field and own their power. In other words, women can negotiate what is important to them by communicating powerfully.

Because that is so important, Dr. Lois Frankel, co-author of Nice Girls Just Don’t Get It will be joining Carol to talk about:

  • the three strategies women use to negotiate: asking, bending and shaping*
  • the common workplace negotiations about role, compensation and work/family demands
  • the communication essentials women must master

When women negotiate successfully using powerful communication tools, they are able to secure the roles they deserve, the flexibility they require and the compensation they’ve earned. These are the things that result in both career success and career satisfaction. And both women and their organizations benefit.

Don’t hesitate — register for an e-pass here.

*Adapted from a paper by Hannah Riley Bowles, Bobbi Thomason, and Julia B. Bear.

Programming for Women’s Initiatives Still a Black Box

2019 NAWL Survey Report

All firms participating in the recently published 2019 National Association of Women Lawyers Report on the Promotion and Retention of Women in Law Firms (NAWL) reported they have women’s initiatives. Little is known, however, about the programming associated with these women’s initiatives.

Few firms responded to questions about programming details. As a result, NAWL wasn’t able to do an analysis. Respondents did report, however, that their programming included business development (98%) and “soft skills” including navigating the law firm.

The report’s author, Destiny Peery, concluded that firms are still finding it a challenge to be strategic with their programming. She noted that opportunities for improvement include:

  • connecting the dots so that it is clear how programming is tied to the goals and objectives the firm has set for the initiative
  • directing programming to specific audiences to ensure their needs are met and
  • creating programming that is deep enough to produce change where women’s advancement is most affected.

My Perspective

I agree and add that my experience has been that women’s initiatives have offered little real skill building programming*. Why? A few reasons:

  • Budgets are tight. Firms are reluctant to make the necessary investment to ensure that the women’s initiative can get meaningful results.
  • Because resources are so constrained those leading women’s initiatives are forced to make difficult choices – a wine and cheese tasting or shoe shopping event are relatively inexpensive activities that can fill the calendar and provide excellent photo opportunities. Don’t get me wrong, I like wine and shoes as much as the next person! These sorts of occasions aren’t likely to accomplish more than creating good will though.
  • Events are relatively easy to do – the best ones have a speaker, hopefully one with some research-based advice. But a speaker, even an excellent speaker, will be able to only raise awareness. Building skills involves acquiring knowledge and applying it to commonly faced career situations. Practice is required.
  • There’s a lot of bad content out there. Not only is bad content offensive – and wrong – but it will damage a women’s initiative. Creating strong, research-based content is time-consuming; busy leaders of women’s initiatives often don’t have the bandwidth to do it.

The Women’s  Initiative Programming Toolkit  was created as a way for women’s initiatives to meet the need for high-quality programming. Read more about it here.

*Gender parity in law firms will be achieved only when firms are willing to tackle the systemic issues that affect women. For a recent piece discussing this, see It’s Not The Women, It’s The Workplace by Andie Kramer. In the meantime, some progress is possible when women are offered tools and training to negotiate conditions of career success in the current environment. See, for example,  Her Place at the Table: A Woman’s Guide to Negotiating Five Key Challenges to Leadership Success.
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Sponsors Are Really Important for Women

Wondering if sponsors are really important for women? Read this Wall Street

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