The Gender, Leadership, Design Axis

Cooper Parlor ©2013 1

The gender, leadership, design axis Facilitators: Teresa Brazen, Design Education Strategist Susan Dybbs, Managing Director, Interaction Design


+  Why this topic

+  Taking a look at leadership styles

+  Cultivating leadership

Agenda


In her book Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg examines why women’s progress in achieving leadership roles has stalled. In the book she:

+  Describes the double standard where ambition in women is perceived as a negative quality, but positive in a man

+  Implores women not to forego career advancement for family too early in their careers

+  Calls women (and men) to work together to build equality

Why this topic


A few stories….


What is leadership?


“”

Leadership is a process of social influence, which

maximizes the efforts of others, toward achievement of

a common goal.

Kevin Kruse Author, speaker, entrepreneur. Article: “What is Leadership?”, Forbes April 2013


What is your leadership style?

1

Write down 3+ characteristics of your leadership style. Think about how you: communicate, managing tasks, make decisions, plan, give feedback, set goals, encourage or develop skills in others, manage conflict, negotiate, inspire others.


What does leadership look like in your organization?

1

Write down 3+ characteristics of leadership in your organization. What qualities do current leaders exhibit? What qualities do people in your organization appreciate? What kind of people are promoted? Are there patterns around how leaders communicate, managing tasks, make decisions, plan, give feedback, set goals, develop skills in others, manage conflict, negotiate, inspire others?


“Masculine“ & “Feminine“ Leadership Styles


expressive patient long-term thinkers flexible loyal intuitive mentor collaborative positive reinforcement empathic

confident decisive resilient assertive competitive direct critical independent self-reliant formal

“Masculine“ & “Feminine“ Leadership Styles


Double bind

There is a mismatch between feminine qualities and the perception of what a leader is.

Source: “Women Rising: The Unseen Barriers” by Herminia Ibarra, Robin Ely, and Deborah Kolb. HBR, Sept 2013.


What does double bind look like?

If women are confident/assertive, they are seen as arrogant or abrasive. If women act conventionally feminine, they are liked but not respected, deemed too emotional and soft to be strong leaders. Source: “Women Rising: The Unseen Barriers” by Herminia Ibarra, Robin Ely, and Deborah Kolb. HBR, Sept 2013.


Have you had or witnessed an experience like this?


Cultivating new leaders


How is leadership cultivated in your organization?

Find a partner and discuss how leadership is cultivated in each of your organizations. Think about: internal or external training programs, informal or ad hoc leadership development, mentors, how potential leaders are selected or identified, how promotions are given, career path development.


Leadership is a complex skill. It doesn’t come naturally. ?


Leadership requires a fundamental identity shift. ?



+  Women must establish credibility in a culture that is deeply conflicted about whether, when, and how they should exercise authority

+  Human tendency to gravitate toward people like yourself +  Few female leadership role models +  Gendered career paths or work +  Double-binds ?

Even more barriers for women:



What would help women get around or remove these

obstacles?


+  Practice +  Positive reinforcement +  Safe space for experimentation & coaching +  Education about obstacles ?

(especially the unspoken kind)

Leadership cultivation methods:



Brainstorm practices that would cultivate feminine leadership qualities.

1 2 3

Break into teams of 3-4 Pick a leadership development obstacle from your worksheet that resonates with your group Brainstorm a new practice that would tackle that obstacle and help cultivate women (or those exhibiting more “feminine” leadership traits) leaders


Thanks @cooper [email protected] [email protected] @teresabrazen [email protected] @dybbsy


+  “Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead”, by Sheryl Sandberg

+  “Do Male Leaders Need to Think More Like Women?” by Dorie Clark, Forbes, April 2013 http://www.forbes.com/sites/dorieclark/2013/04/15/do-male-leaders-need-to-think-more-like-women/

+  Excerpts from “The Athena Doctrine: How Women (And the Men Who Think Like Them) Will Rule the World” by John Gerzema. (Book now available on Amazon) https://app.box.com/s/7r9si0y2gz60mxci1m29

+  “’Feminine’ Values Can Give Tomorrow’s Leaders an Edge” by John Gerzema, HBR, August 2013 http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/08/research_male_leaders_should_think_more_like_women.html

+  “It’s Not Women Who Should Lean In, It’s Men who Should Lean Back”, James Allworth, HBR, April 2013. http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/04/its_not_women_who_should_lean.html

+  “What ‘Lean In’ Misunderstands about Gender Differences” by Christina Hoff Summers http://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/03/what-lean-in-misunderstands-about-gender-differences/274138/

+  “Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders?” by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, HBR, August 2013 http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/08/why_do_so_many_incompetent_men.html

+  “Women Rising: The Unseen Barriers” by Herminia Ibarra, Robin Ely, and Deborah Kolb. HBR, Sept 2013 http://hbr.org/2013/09/women-rising-the-unseen-barriers/ar/3

?

Sources of inspiration:

The Gender, Leadership, Design Axis

Business

feminine leadership

give feedback

double bind

masculine

deborah kolb

develop skills

make decisions

manage conflict