Leading with Purpose

Robin J. Ely Diane Doerge Wilson Professor of Business Administration

Senior Associate Dean for Culture and Community

Celebration 60 Harvard Law School

September 28, 2013

Leadership is . . .

Enabling others to bring their best selves

forward in service of a meaningful goal.

Leadership is . . .

Enabling others to bring their best selves

forward in service of a meaningful goal.

Leadership is . . .

Enabling others to bring their best selves

forward in service of a meaningful goal.

Woman Leader

Warm

Nurturing

Communal

Competent

Dominant

Agentic

What the culture tells us

Woman = Leader

The “double bind”

Cultural Messages

Research Findings

Experiment:

MBA students evaluate two different versions of case of a successful

woman entrepreneur (Heidi and Howard).

Asked to evaluate style, competence, likeability, whether to hire.

Outcomes:

Equally competent and effective.

He’s more genuine and kind; she’s more self-promoting and power

hungry.

He’s more likeable and more likely to be hired.

The more aggressive they perceived her; the more they disliked her.

No effect for him.

Frank Flynn and Cameron Mitchell, MBA Class experiment, NYU Stern School of Business

Hillary Clinton and the Double Bind

More Hillary . . .

And another . . .

Other Media Depictions

England’s

Margaret Thatcher

“Attila the Hen”

Israel’s Golda Meir

“the only man in the Cabinet”

India’s

Indira Gandhi

“the old witch”

-Richard Nixon

Germany’s

Angela Merkel

“the iron frau”

Advice in the Popular Media

The Scholarly Literature: Androgyny?

The Scholarly Literature: Androgyny?

Effective Leaders

Effective leaders pursue purposes aligned with

their personal values and oriented toward

advancing the collective good (Fu et al., 2010; Lord & Hall,

2005; Quinn, 2004).

Leaders hyper-focused on self-image/engaged

in self-serving impression management are:

Excessively concerned with meeting others’

expectations.

Unable to step outside their comfort zone.

Disconnected from their core values and

purpose (Sosik, Avolio & Jung, 2002; Quinn, 2004).

Don’t let stereotypes derail you

Ask:

What is necessary to get the work done?

What kind of support do your subordinates,

coworkers, & superiors need from you to be able to

accomplish whatever the goal is?

And then be responsive to those needs.

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What we tell ourselves

We get (the equivalent of) the following report card:

MATH A

ENGLISH C

ART A

SCIENCE A-

HISTORY A+

What is our typical response?

“The perfect is the enemy of the good!” - Voltaire

18

What perfect looks like (behind the scenes!)

Can you relate???

20

A Little Quiz

1. Have a hard time saying no?

2. Feel like you have no time for yourself?

3. Have a hard time prioritizing tasks?

4. Sometimes feel so depleted that nothing seems as

important as getting some sleep?

5. Sometimes wonder why you are driving so hard?

6. Feel bad about how little time you spend with your

family/friends/community?

7. Feel bad about leaving work—on time/early/exiting

altogether?

Yes??

You are losing sight of what’s meaningful to you!

Research Findings

People who anchor their lives in a meaningful

purpose report:

Less depression, anxiety, stress, substance abuse,

and workaholism

More engagement in their work

More control over their lives

(Steger & Kashdan, 2013)

Create networks of support with other women

Find safe spaces for learning, experimenting,

community:

Women-only leadership-development

programs

“Lean-in” circles

Monthly dinner groups with similarly-

positioned women

Research Findings

Being female

is a liability:

Double -binds

Being female is

indifferent/

a good thing

• Poor role models

• Act too much like

men

• Too sexual

• Gender no basis

for identification

• Great role models

• Supportive

• Gender a positive

source of

identification

• Not supportive

• Dysfunctionally

competitive

• Supportive

• Competitive,

but able to stay

in relationship

Proportional

Representation

of

Senior Women

Low

High

Women partners Women peers

Leadership is . . .

Enabling others to bring their best selves

forward in service of a meaningful goal.

People don’t follow you because of what you do . . .

They follow you because of why you do it.

(Adapted from Simon Sinek)

What Is Your Work Purpose?

• In moments when you are at your best, what kind of work are you

doing? What values or meaning characterize that work?

• Recall times when you have been most creative or felt most proud;

what were you doing?

• When have you taken the strongest stand in your life? What were

you standing for?

• How do you want to contribute? What impact do you want to have?

• Are you pursuing your purpose in your present work? How?

• If you died tomorrow, what regrets (if any) would you have about your

professional life?

Tips on How to Lead with Purpose*

1. Clarify your values; state your commitments to

someone out loud.

2. Think small.

3. Be specific.

4. Focus on what you will do, not what you won’t do.

5. Make self-care a top priority (self-care ≠ selfishness!).

6. Focus your attention on the present moment, and ask

yourself:

Am I living in a manner that is aligned with what

matters most to me?

* From Ellen Ostrow, “New Year’s Resolutions: Personal” Forthcoming in GP Solo, Nov./Dec. 2013.