Glass Ceilings & Sticky Floors

Hitting The Glass Ceiling?

Margaret was pushing herself to the limit. As one of the very few women in senior management in her company she felt she had to produce better results than any of the men to have any chance of further promotion. But it felt like pushing sand uphill – there was no momentum to her career, and she felt disillusioned and isolated. There seemed to be an unspoken game going on, but she couldn’t work out what it was or how to win.

Or Holding Yourself Back (the 'Sticky Floor')?

Jennifer believes in perfection.

She is never satisfied with the quality of work being done

by herself and by her department. She tends to underestimate

her effectiveness as a leader and as a manager, as she can

always see room for improvement. So she does not believe

that she is ready yet for promotion to a senior leadership position.

What’s more, she has seen other women stepping up-

and she doesn’t always like the change in personality that

seems to have followed. Does she really want to go for it anyway?

Does she really want to sacrifice her values, home life

and become yet another stressed out executive?

All these doubts lead her to decide not to push her name forward. ‘Maybe sometime in the future. Not now. Not me. I'm not worthy of this yet.’

If you can relate to these examples, you might consider our new program for 2010, Glass Ceilings & Sticky Floors.

Why?

o Understand what is really going on with the ‘glass ceiling’.

o Join a group of high powered leaders of the future.

o Build a unique picture of the kind of leader that women believe will make the greatest contribution to any company.

o Learn your own strengths and chart persuasive evidence of these strengths – no more sticky floors!

o Learn what you really need to know at Director level from one of the top experts in this field in Australia, a woman who has a track record of achievement to be proud of.

o Develop a compelling, unique, tailored strategy for your own journey to success.

o Enjoy all the benefits that professional coaching, mentoring and specialist advice can bring with expertise and time structured to your individual needs each month.

o Attend monthly gatherings to refresh your ideas and to share time with your group and coach.

o Learn how to raise your profile in authentic ways through a variety of methods. Become the ‘go to’ person in your organisation.

o Join a member-only online forum to share materials, ideas and stories.

o Keep up to date with regular newsletters.

o Join our founder members group and become one of the mentors of the next generation of women leaders.

o Continue to receive expert coaching and support when you succeed in the promotions that you deserve, so that you gain genuine credibility. This in turn helps women in general to be viewed as competent, reliable and valuable members of any executive team.

o Transform your income! What would it mean in annual reward when you move up the ladder?

o Look after yourself. We will be working hard to support you in building and keeping a great whole life balance.

Express an interest by clicking the 'Contact Us' button on the left margin. Read on if you want more information first!

Why should you and your company invest?

Your company:

Regulation: If your company does not take visible action now to redress the gender imbalance in senior leadership, it will soon be forced to do so. Australian Government and ASX regulation is coming in that country. Companies will have to set targets and explain non-compliance. And if that doesn’t work, this issue might be elevated to ‘listing rule’ status so that the ASX could suspend non-compliant companies.

So, for a relatively modest investment, your company can show that it is serious about developing its most promising women.

Avoid Tokenism: The last thing companies need to do is to appoint token women to senior leadership positions. That demeans the women concerned and leaves them as ‘lame duck’ leaders or directors – and it could fundamentally weaken the company itself. So it is in the company’s interests to develop women with real talent – winners - and to help them to be the real deal.

Company Performance: Women improve bottom line performance. Recent research is showing that performance improves with women on board, and significantly improves with 3 or more women on board [McKinsey, 2007 and other studies].

You’re a Proven Team Player: Your company will know that you are a woman who is prepared to work with men, not against them. Why? Because you just happen to have chosen a preparation program designed and directed by a man. This is not a feminist issue – this is an issue that affects us all and could transform everyone’s prosperity.

Why should you personally consider investing precious resources - your time, effort and perhaps funds in this program?

Think seriously about what each of the following gains would mean to you:

The financial reward of a Board position, or of promotion. Every year.
The sense of confidence that you will gain with thorough, non-superficial preparation
Eliminating any sense of isolation. You are not going it alone! You will have a success team of coaches and members to support you throughout your journey.
Clarity about your core values and strengths. This is essential to guide you whenever the going gets tough.
A whole life balance – now and throughout your career.
A regular flow of bite-sized chunks of new ideas, relevant topics and updates.
True expertise in corporate governance.
Support through the transition into your new position.
A potential role as a mentor to women who will try to follow their own paths into leadership in the future.
A significant role in showing the valuable contribution women can make to the companies of the future.

Can you put a price tag on all of that? You should try. You are a Director/senior manager of the future and you need to assess not just costs but the value of investment, and ensure that you get every drop of return on that investment that you can possibly get.

Whatever conclusion you reach, our purpose is not just to repay your investment but to massively exceed your expectations.

Please note that the first group of 8-12 women will become our Founder Members Group and will play a significant role in the future of Without Walls.

Make the breakthrough! Stop holding back. Shatter that ceiling, or just step through the door!

If you are interested enough to want to explore this program and the options available further, contact Hugh Todd to arrange a conversation with him in person using the Contact Us button in the left margin.

Still want to know more before expressing an interest? Why not. Read on!

According to the latest EOWA Australian Census of Women in Leadership survey, just 72 of 1215 line executive management positions are held by women. That’s a meagre 5.9%. This means that companies are losing out on a massive pool of talent and potential. And even those who have made it are likely to be rewarded unfairly - on average the 21 women executives in the forty four S&P/ASX 200 Financial sector companies currently receive only 48% of the average remuneration of male executives in those companies [Source: EOWA Census of Women in Leadership].

This is just plain WRONG. And it isn't in anybody's best interests.

Let's work together to change it!

Participants on this program will be among the success stories that inspire others to contribute to a massive and long overdue sea-change in the way that companies are led. The program offers a combination of learning, understanding, building group and individual strategies, mutual support and tailored coaching.

Core Program:

What’s Stopping You? Cutting through the vast range of assumptions, problems and attitudes to discover the fundamental root causes of the chronic shortage of women in senior leadership roles.

What’s The Goal? Understanding the characteristics, skills and knowledge needed by the ideal senior leader.

Strength Finding: We will appraise your leadership strengths and develop clear, well evidenced assessments for each participant. We will also clarify the factors you need to develop if you are to succeed.

Corporate Governance: A leading expert will guide you through what you need to know, and will share her extensive experience and tips, as well as helping to shape your strategy to reach your goals.

How To Get There: We will provoke new thinking about how to achieve your goals and potential and help you to determine those strategies that will be most effective for you in your own unique situation.

Members of the core program will be expected to work as a powerful support network in helping each other to achieve success, backed up throughout by the program coach. An online forum for members will make this easy to maintain.

Monthly 'Mastermind' Gatherings:

Each month you can attend a 'lightning talk' which will provoke your thinking, and sharpen up your skills and confidence and will provide a great starting point for informal discussion and networking. These are likely to come from two themes: Managing Yourself, and Leading Others.

Managing Yourself topics include: Ethical leadership and being true to yourself; managing pressure and stress for peak performance; managing time and priorities; self belief; communicating with influence; presentation skills; dealing with difficult people.

Leading Others topics include: Generating both leadership and managerial skills; building a meaningful vision for future success and getting full buy-in; problem solving and decision making skills; building high performing teams; delegating and empowering; coaching and feedback; how to create a motivational environment; managing resistance to change; communicating effectively; asserting and managing conflict; managing performance; dealing with success.

Network events will focus on each topic, providing opportunities for members to meet up, learn, and discuss strategies with each other. We also intend to offer tele-seminars for those who cannot attend, and to make these available online for 24/7 access.

Glass Ceilings & Sticky Floors

Hitting The Glass Ceiling?

Or Holding Yourself Back (the 'Sticky Floor')?

Core Program:

Find Out More:

An Interview with Hugh S Todd Program Director

The Bottom Line: Australia Needs More Women on Board!