anatomy of a blindside
TRANSCRIPT
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Anatomy of a
Blindside
How High Achieving Women Get Ahead and Stay Ahead
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Political Blindspot: “not consciously seeing the extent to which informal influences shape the decision making process” Joe DeLuca Ph.D, Political Savvy
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Gender Stereotypes
Second Generation
Gender Issues
Workplace Practices
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How to Avoid the Blindside
Starting point: Embrace the politics. Understand its importance.
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The Importance of Political Will
Political skill is very important but it’s only one part of the equation. Organizations
are political arenas and to be effective in such arenas, one must have BOTH the
political will and political skill.
Mintzberg
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Your Political Toolkit
Magnifying Glass
Pass Go and Collect $200 Card Get Out of Jail Free Card
Mirror
GPS
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Self PromotionThe tool for access to informal networks and information
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“
”
Self-Promotion is a Leadership Skill
I Wish I’d Known That Earlier in My Career: The Power of Positive Workplace Politics, Jane Horan
Self promotion is a skill that can and must be learned. Self promotion is critical for
exposure and recognition for you and your team. It is a much needed leadership skill
that is easy to learn and attain.
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Promotion is a Political Skill
Adjust one’s behavior to the environment and situation.
Know yourself
and how you are
perceived.
Know your
audience: what
interests them,
what motivates
them.
Communicate your value: who, when, where, how.
(Let others know what you can do
for them.)
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Observe
Ask questions
Active listening
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ObservationUnderstand the Workplace Dynamics
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3 Things To Look For:
1. The Rules: the written and unwritten rules.
1. The Power: who has power and influence?
2. The Culture: what type of culture?
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The Rules
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What are the rules?
• Meritocracy
– Who gets promoted and why?
– What does it take to get promoted?
– What’s your experience about what it takes for a woman to get ahead?
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What are the rules?
• Equal Opportunity
– Who are the senior leaders?
– Is there equal representation male/female?
– Do men get promoted faster?
– Are women stuck in support roles?
– Does the company invest in women’s leadership?
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The Power
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Who has power?
• Who has power and influence behind the org chart?
• How are decisions made?
• Who is in “favor”?
• Who initiates change?
– Top down?
– Bottom up?
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How are decisions made?
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The Culture
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What is the culture?
• Consensus driven?
• Conservative? Innovative? Toxic?
• How does the culture adapt to change?
• Does the company pay lip service to diversity?
• What type of behavior is rewarded?
• What type of behavior in no rewarded?
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What have you learned
about the reality of your
workplace?
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“
”Fischer 2007
Only when you succeed in making yourself an active part of the network
of relationships behind the formal organizational chart do you have any realistic chance of initiating relatively
big changes.
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Strategic Networking
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“
”I wish I’d Known That Earlier in My Career: The Power of Positive Workplace Politics, Jane Horan
Being connected to power and influence networks is one of the most important steps you can
take to build political awareness and your career.
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Workplace Networks
Developmental
Helps you get your job done daily
Sources of InformationConnectors
Who you know and who you need to know.
Mentors/sponsorsKey Stakeholders
Operational Strategic
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Highly open networks tie to a diverse set ofindividuals who don’t know one another. Thistype of network is often associated withfaster promotions and higher bonuses.
Highly closed networks are made up of peopleyou know who also know each other. Womenand people of color more often have thisstructure.
Source: Damon Phillips, Diversity, Professional Careers, and Workplace Social Networks (presentation at UBS, 2012)
Workplace Hypothetical Network A Workplace Hypothetical Network B
Open vs. Closed networks
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“
”Source: Center for Work-Life Policy
To their detriment, women perceive cultivating relationships and mobilizing them
on their behalf as, at best, an occasional necessity rather than the key exercise of
leadership. They fail to see that the practice of seeking out powerful people, cultivating favor
and cashing in those chips is itself a demonstration of leadership potential.
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Sponsorship
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Definition of Sponsorship
Sponsors are senior leaders with influence who use their relationship capital to advance the careers of those they sponsor by doing some or all of the following:
Expand your aspiration of what you can do and the impact you can have
Recommend you for promising opportunities or challenging assignments
Connect you to other leaders to enhance your visibility
Provide “cover” for you to take risks
Give you honest feedback and career advice
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“
”
Sponsorship
Source: Sylvia Ann Hewitt, et al, The Sponsor Effect (Harvard Business Review, 2010)
The barrier is no longer about experience of performance. It is all
about relationship-building and connections, who you know,
i.e. sponsors.
Men are more likely to have open, efficient networks and at least
twice as likely as women to say that they look for relationships at work
that can help them:
- Get on the right assignments- Get ahead
Source: Damon Phillips, Diversity, Professional Careers, and Workplace Social Networks (presentation at UBS, 2012); Sylvia Ann Hewlett, et al, The Sponsor Effect (Center for Talent Innovation, 2010)
The Impact of Sponsorship
Those with open or efficient networks are more likely to receive
promotions and strong performance evaluations.
The Impact of Open Networks in a Large Electronics Company
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
Probability of PromotionRate
Probability of "Outstanding"Evaluation
Efficient Network (C=20)
Dense Network (C=90)
Copyright: Damon J. Phillips (2010)
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57% 57%
70% 68%
Satisfied with Rate of Advancement/ Forward Momentum
Men without
Sponsors
Women with
Sponsors
Men with
Sponsors
Women without
Sponsors
Impact of Sponsors
Source: Sylvia Ann Hewitt, et al, The Sponsor Effect (Harvard Business Review, 2010)
Sponsorship creates career traction—and men are almost
twice as likely as women to have a sponsor.
Sponsors are invested in your career success. They help you get stretch assignments and put your
name forward for leadership roles.
Only 48% of women executives credit personal connections for their most recent promotion, as
opposed to 83% of men.
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Executive Coaching
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How to Avoid a Blindside
Understand the importance of workplace politics.
Assess your influence.
Utilize the Political Tool Kit to gain visibility and influence.
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The Politics of Promotion:How High Achieving Women Get Ahead and Stay Ahead
Now available on Amazon.www.PoliticsofPromotionBook.com
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WomensSuccessCoaching.com
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Bonnie Marcus, M.Ed., CEC