The career advice you probably didn't get | Susan Colantuono | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR
The content discusses the issue of women's representation in leadership positions and the importance of business, strategic, and financial acumen in closing the gender gap.
Key Insights
- 🚺 The percentage of women in top leadership positions is significantly lower than the percentage of women in middle management and professional roles. This raises the question of why there are so few women leaders at the top.
- 🌟 Leadership should be recognized and valued at every level, including middle management. The focus should shift from questioning why there are so few women leaders to exploring why there are so many women "mired in the middle."
- 🔑 Moving up in organizations requires being known for leadership skills, which involves using one's talents to achieve extraordinary outcomes by engaging others. This applies to both women and men.
- 🔋 Business, strategic, and financial acumen is the missing 33 percent in the career success equation for women. This skill set is crucial for advancing to senior and executive positions.
- 💡 Conventional advice given to women often lacks emphasis on developing business, strategic, and financial acumen. This advice may be important for breaking through to middle management, but it won't close the gender gap at the top.
- 🔍 Talent and performance management systems in organizations often focus more on personal actions and working with others than on business, strategic, and financial acumen. This contributes to the gender gap at the top.
- 🤝 Informal mentoring and sponsorship can help men advance in their careers, but it may not provide women with the necessary guidance on developing business, strategic, and financial acumen.
- 🌐 Achieving strategic alignment in organizations is crucial for success. To close the gender gap at the top, company directors, CEOs, and HR executives need to promote and emphasize the importance of business skills. Managers need to examine their mindsets and create a level playing field for everyone.
- 📈 Developing and demonstrating business acumen is essential for women to break through from middle management to leadership positions. Women can start focusing on their business understanding and strategic insights to accelerate their careers.
Transcript
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Questions & Answers
Q: Why do we have so few women leaders?
The percentages of women at the top of organizations represent not even a third of the number of women in middle management and professional positions. This raises the question of why there are so many women stuck in middle management and what needs to happen to help them move up to leadership positions.
Q: What is the missing 33 percent in the career success equation for women?
The missing 33 percent refers to the importance of business, strategic, and financial acumen in leadership. Women are often not given advice or guidance about the significance of developing these skills and how they play a crucial role in moving up in organizations.
Q: What do organizations typically focus on when identifying high-potential employees?
Organizations usually prioritize personal greatness and the ability to engage the greatness in others when identifying high-potential employees. However, they often neglect to place sufficient emphasis on business, strategic, and financial acumen, which is twice as important for advancement opportunities.
Q: Why hasn't conventional advice to women closed the gender gap at the top?
Conventional advice to women often focuses on personal actions like assertiveness, confidence, and personal branding, as well as working effectively with others. While these are important for career advancement, they are not the key differentiators for moving from middle management to senior and executive positions. Developing business, strategic, and financial acumen is what truly propels women to the top.
Q: What role do talent development and performance management systems play in the missing 33 percent?
Talent development and performance management systems often fail to provide women with clear messaging about the importance of business, strategic, and financial acumen. These systems typically focus three to one on other elements of leadership, which perpetuates the gender gap at the top and hampers women's progress.
Q: How can organizations help close the gender gap and achieve strategic alignment?
Organizations can help close the gender gap and achieve strategic alignment by directing women toward resources that emphasize business, strategic, and financial acumen. Directors on boards should advocate for proportional pools of women in succession discussions, CEOs should expect proportional pools and address any lack of business experience in women, and HR executives should ensure the missing 33 percent is appropriately emphasized. Additionally, examining and challenging mindsets about women, men, careers, and success is crucial for creating a level playing field.
Summary & Key Takeaways
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Women make up 50% of middle management and professional positions, but only a small percentage hold top leadership roles.
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The missing 33% for women's career success is business, strategic, and financial acumen.
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Current advice and talent development systems focus more on personal actions and working with others, rather than developing these essential leadership skills.
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