Much has been made of how societal evolution is creating the conditions for women to break through the famous glass ceiling and to take their places beside men in leadership positions. In the modern world success is no longer necessarily pre-indicated by overpowering physical strength and speed, or even by intimidating and narrowly focused aggressiveness. It requires a broadly based intelligence, the ability to combine focus with perspective, and what are often termed the leadership skills of promoting willing collaborative involvement in an endeavor. Women are fully capable of any and all of these – perhaps even generally superior in some – so their time to start filling executive positions at the very top must be near.
Evidently, however, not yet. According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, we’ve long been told that once women start to fill a larger proportion of the line positions that are considered essential training ground for future CEOs, we’ll also see them filling the positions at the top with greater frequency. Yet, while women now occupy 10% of those operational roles in Fortune 500 companies, they have won only 2% of the CEO spots. Indeed, one woman with world-class line experience who was on a short-list of candidates for the top spot was passed over by a man with no such experience; he was, pure and simple, a staff officer: the organization’s chief attorney.
Perhaps the evolution of our psychological make-up hasn’t caught up with the many positive changes we’ve wrought in the way we now operate in society. Maybe the male-dominated selection committees simply don’t respond well to women candidates, but rather are dazzled by the traditional masculine signals of intelligence and leadership ability: commanding physical presence, height and strength; and a charismatic, aggressive “take-charge” attitude. Women may have a difficult time competing against male candidates who exhibit these traits.
Or, maybe the glass ceiling is being quietly and insidiously kept in place. Women would do well to keep up the pressure (as they no doubt will). Men would do well to grow up, pull aside the false barrier, and compete on merit. In the meanwhile, let’s keep nudging evolution along.
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