Appendix B: What Organizations Can Learn From How Women Leaders Negotiate the Five Challenges


OVERVIEW

This book explores how women leaders negotiate five challenges critical to their success. It is written for individuals. But as we interviewed women leaders and captured their insights, we realized that organizations, too, could learn something from the women whose stories we have featured. While their observations may not apply to all women or even to all organizations, the consensus was broad on one point. Organizations need to recognize the nature and intensity of the testing that women appointed to leadership positions are likely to face.

The Test

What Drives It?

How Does It Affect a Woman in a Leadership Role?


The Token Test

The assumption that gender has something to do with a woman's appointment to a leadership role

She must prove that gender had nothing to do with her appointment.

The Double-Bind Test

The stereotypes that equate leadership with masculine ("strong") behavior and devalue relational ("women's") work

She is forced to choose between being a leader and being a woman and, regardless of her choice, can be judged harshly.

The Fitness Test

The notion that women may not have the seasoning or the line experience required of leaders

She must demonstrate her fitness for the role, especially if her credentials are atypical.

The Right Stuff Test

The question of whether women have the skills, commitment (and backbone) to lead

Skills may not be equally valued or rewarded when practiced by men and women and women can have a difficult time proving that they have what it takes to get the job done.




Her Place at the Table. A Woman's Guide to Negotiating Five Key Challenges to Leadership Success
Her Place at the Table: A Womans Guide to Negotiating Five Key Challenges to Leadership Success
ISBN: 0470633751
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 64

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