Taking the Stage. Judith Humphrey

Stage.” Here you will learn how to take the stage mentally. It all begins with the conscious choice to come out from the wings and be fearless in your desire to be heard, every day – even when others may not agree with you. It means finding the confidence to accept that others want to see, hear, and be led by you. You'll discover how to silence that inner voice that says “You shouldn't speak up now,” or “You can't add any value to this discussion.” You will learn how to feel comfortable speaking up, discussing your accomplishments, showing courage, and holding your ground when others seek to undercut you or dissuade you from taking the stage.

      Part 2 shows readers how to “Create a Strong Script” – either one that's written or one that's simply in your mind. Here you will discover how to take the stage verbally. Every time we speak – whether at the podium, at meetings, in one-on-one encounters, or on the phone – we create scripts. Sometimes we only have time to create a brief mental outline of what we want to say; in other instances we can put pen to paper. Whatever the format, your script should portray you and your ideas in the best light. Unfortunately, many women undermine their leadership by crafting weak scripts that call attention to their perceived inadequacies, or present them as perpetually busy, always sorry, often worried, confused, or stressed. A woman might say, “I'm sorry, it was my fault,” “Don't mind me, I'm having a bad day,” “I'm buried in work.” This part of the book will show you how to script yourself as a confident leader, not only with strong language, but also with a clear message, a persuasive structure, an opening grabber that gets the audience's attention, and a closing call to action. You will learn how to craft compelling scripts for all situations – from formal meetings and career discussions to elevator conversations.

      Part 3 explains how to “Unlock the Power of Your Voice.” Here you will discover how to take the stage vocally. We should use our voices as instruments of leadership; yet many women reduce this power by softening or sweetening their tones, or rushing so no one can interrupt them. They also often lift their voices at the end of sentences, which makes them sound as though they are asking a question rather than speaking decisively. Such “upspeak” makes women sound unsure of themselves. This part will teach you to overcome such minimizing vocal patterns and reclaim the true power of your voice.

      Part 4 shows you how to “Stand Out on Stage.” Here you will learn how to take the stage physically. Having a strong physical presence is important for leaders and shows others that you are confident and capable. Women often project a less than confident physical presence. Their minimizing body language can involve everything from poor posture, small gestures, and furtive or weak eye contact to ingratiating facial expressions and clothing that distracts from their leadership. This part of the book shows you how to project a strong, self-affirming physical presence.

      In sum, the four parts of the book will make clear how to take the stage mentally, verbally, vocally, and physically.

      This book does not advocate that women try to become men or simply agree to play by men's rules. Rather, Taking the Stage calls on women to develop a more forceful approach to leadership and to make certain that their voices and ideas are heard. Self-confidence and assertiveness do not belong to men alone, although these qualities are often associated with the “male” style of leadership. Such strengths are a woman's birthright, too.

      Nor does arguing that women need to become bolder and more assertive suggest that we should dismiss the special qualities women bring to their leadership. Dr. Judy Rosener writes in a Harvard Business Review article, “Ways Women Lead,” that “effective leaders don't come from one mold…[Women's] nontraditional leadership style is well suited to the conditions of some work environments and can increase an organization's chances of surviving in an uncertain world.”3 Indeed, women's collaborative style of leadership is critical to today's organizations. Women listen well, demonstrate empathy, work well together, and can be extremely supportive. Women are also more likely to develop other women.4 In their book The Athena Doctrine, John Gerzema and Michael D'Antonio aptly conclude that “the world would be a better place if men thought more like women.”5

      But by themselves, the “female” qualities of leadership can produce an overemphasis on others and an underemphasis on ourselves. With such a focus, many women lose out on jobs, promotions, kudos, air time, and power. Women need to supplement their “female” approach with the self-assertiveness that men display. If women follow the path recommended in this book, they will be embracing both what we think of as “male” and “female” qualities and achieving a holistic leadership style.

      How difficult will it be for women to develop this new style of leadership, which combines “male” and “female” qualities? And to put the issue more broadly, how difficult will it be for corporate cultures to change? Some assert that there are “social norms that are so gendered and so stereotyped that even though we think we've gone past them, we really haven't.”6 But in the firms that want to make progress in this area, much has been accomplished. Changing the course of history – or corporate history – is not easy. It's time now for women to move beyond negative assumptions and look to themselves for the courage and determination needed to rise through the ranks and create a new model for female leadership.

      Male leaders also have a vested interest in this positive transformation of female leadership. John Montalbano, chief executive officer of RBC Global Asset Management, told me in an interview, “If you have a strong culture, the professionals in your organization have a keen interest in winning. Winning ultimately means having the best talent around the table. And when you identify great talent regardless of gender or race, you must foster it and allow it to have a meaningful contribution within the organization.”

      Our Time Is Now!

      Why is the need for this book so pressing? In some respects women have made great strides. Women today are more educated and professionally ready than they have ever been. Young women are now more likely than young men to enroll in and graduate from higher education.7 Women receive nearly 60 percent of college degrees, up from one-third in 1960.8 Some have called this the “feminization of higher education.”9

      But despite those gains in education and the increasing number of women in professional programs, study after study shows that very few females reach the higher echelons of leadership and power. Women's progress up the corporate ladder – in America and around the world – by all accounts has been painfully slow.10 The New York Times sums it up: “Men still control the most important industries, especially technology, occupy most of the positions on the lists of the richest Americans, and continue to make more money than women who have similar skills and education.”11

      This lack of progress hurts companies as well as individual women. Studies by the research firm Catalyst show that corporations in which more women are on the board and in the top executive ranks have higher earnings and better returns on investment.12 Women are not only important consumers, their values shape our society in ways that differ from their male counterparts. They are also an extraordinary source of talent. Companies ignore them at great risk to the bottom line.

      In a Fortune magazine article, Warren Buffet emphasizes his belief that promoting women makes for good business. He writes, “Women are a major reason we will do so well…We've seen what can be accomplished when we use 50 % of our human capacity. If you visualize what 100 % can do, you'll join me as an unbridled optimist about America's future.” He concludes, “Fellow males, get on board.”13

      The implications of Taking the Stage extend far beyond personal development. We in The Humphrey Group have seen a huge groundswell in corporate commitment to this program. It's no longer just women who see this need. Male executives champion this program

3

Judy B. Rosener, “Ways Women Lead,” Harvard Business Review, November–December 1990, 3–4.

4

Sarah Dinolfo, “High Potentials in the Pipeline: Leaders Pay It Forward,” Catalyst Research Release, June 13, 2012.

5

John Gerzema and Michael D'Antonio, The Athena Doctrine: How Women (and the Men Who Think Like Them) Will Rule the Future (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2013), 8. In a proprietary global survey, the authors found that 66 percent of adults agree that “the world would be a better place if men thought more like women.”

6

Phyllis Korkki, “For Women, Parity Is Still a Subtly Steep Climb,” New York Times, October 8, 2011. Korkki quotes Ilene H. Lang, president and chief executive officer of Catalyst, who refers to “entrenched sexism” and “social norms that are so gendered and so stereotyped that even though we think we've gone past them, we really haven't.”

7

Kelvin Pollard, “The Gender Gap in College Enrollment and Graduation,” Population Reference Bureau, www.prb.org/Articles/2011/gender-gap-in-education.aspx.

8

Stephanie Coontz, “The Myth of Male Decline,” New York Times, September 30, 2012, 5.

9

Pollard, “The Gender Gap in College Enrollment and Graduation,” 1.

10

Many sources point to this conclusion. Catalyst tells us that in Fortune 500 companies in 2013 women represented only 4.2 percent of CEOs, compared with 2.4 percent in 2009, and they represented 14.3 percent of executive officers in 2012, compared with 13.5 percent in 2009. See Catalyst, “Women in U.S. Management and Labor Force,” Knowledge Center/Catalyst.org, http://catalyst.org/knowledge/women-us-management-and-labor. Grant Thornton in 2012 stated, “Women hold one in five senior management roles globally, very similar to the level observed in 2004.” See The 2012 Grant Thornton International Business Report, “Women in Senior Management: Still Not Enough,” www.internationalbusinessreport.com/files/ibr2012%20-%20women%20in%20senior%20management%20master.pdf. The Rosenzweig Report on Women at the Top Levels of Corporate Canada shows that women in the named officer position of the top 100 biggest public companies in Canada have risen from 4.6 percent to only 8 percent over the past nine years, www.rosenzweigco.com/mediacenter/diversity/index.html. Catherine Rampell states in a New York Times article, “Still Few Women in Management, Report Says,” September 27, 2010: “As of 2007, the latest year for which comprehensive data on managers was available, women accounted for about 40 percent of managers in the United States work force. In 2000, women held 39 percent of management positions.” These data are from a Government Accountability Office report issued in 2012. Barbara Kellerman, a professor of leadership at Harvard's Kennedy School, writes in “The Abiding Tyranny of the Male Leadership Model – a Manifesto,” Harvard Business Review, April 27, 2010: “I'm sick of hearing how far we've come. I'm sick of hearing how much better situated we are now than before…The fact is that so far as leadership is concerned, women in nearly every realm are nearly nowhere.” Quoted in Hanna Rosin, The End of Men, New York: Riverhead Books, 2012, 198. A biennial survey from Columbia Business School and the Women's Executive Circle of New York, released in November 2013, found that the number of women leading top New York companies had flat-lined in recent years. See Mara Gay, “Women See Slow Progress in Leadership,” Wall Street Journal, November 14, 2013. See also Philip N. Cohen, “Jump-Starting the Struggle for Equality,” New York Times, Sunday, November 24, 2013, 9. Cohen writes that “the movement toward equality stopped. The labor force hit 46 percent female in 1994, and it hasn't changed much since. Women's full-time annual earnings were 76 percent of men's in 2001, and 77 percent in 2011.” Phyllis Korkki in “For Women, Parity Is Still a Subtly Steep Climb,” New York Times, October 8, 2011, writes, “Last year, women held about 14 percent of senior executive positions at Fortune 500 companies, according to the non-profit group Catalyst…That number has barely budged since 2005, after 10 years of slow but steady increases.” Finally, see Nancy M. Carter and Christine Silva's article, “Women in Management: Delusions of Progress,” Harvard Business Review, March 2010. The authors cite Catalyst research that shows “among graduates of elite MBA programs around the world – the high potentials on whom companies are counting to navigate the turbulent global economy – women continue to lag men at every single career stage, right from their first professional jobs. Reports of progress in advancement, compensation, and career satisfaction are at best overstated, at worst just plain wrong.” See full report at www.catalyst.org/publication/372/pipelines-broken-promise.

11

Coontz, “The Myth of Male Decline,” 5.

12

In a 2011 study, Catalyst found that “companies with the most women board directors outperformed those with the least on return on sales (ROS) by 16 percent and return on invested capital (ROIC), by 26 percent.” Cited in “Why Diversity Matters,” Catalyst Information Center, www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/Catalyst_Why_diversity_matters.pdf.

13

Warren Buffett, “Warren Buffett Is Bullish…on Women,” Fortune, May 20, 2013, 121, 124.