Engaging Men to Advance Women In Business

Center for Women & Business Moving from Conversation to ActionTM

Bentley University’s Center for Women & Business envisions a world where women

no longer make up a small fraction of corporate leadership. We engage preeminent

thought leaders and business executives to help them address the challenges of the

ever-changing global market for talent, while developing best practices to support,

retain and advance women in the business world. In addition, the CWB creates

leadership opportunities for female students and partners with Bentley faculty and

staff members to prepare all students for career success.

November 2013

Center for Women & Business Moving from Conversation to ActionTM

Gloria Larson Letter From the President

Betsy Myers The New Frontier For Women in Leadership – Including Men

Chris Brassell Enriching the Organizational Soil Will Help Female Leadership Grow

Lucy Lee Helm Women Can Distinguish Themselves In Almost Any Corporate Culture

Chuck Shelton Fearless Reciprocity Between Men and Women Will Advance Female Leadership

Tom Peters The Why and How – CEOs Must Prepare Their Best Female Executives to Lead

Duncan H. Spelman Men Need to Pay Attention So They Can See Women Clearly in the Workplace

Jerry Rossi It’s All About Establishing Mutual Respect Between Women and Companies

Richard J. Caturano Erasing the CEO’s Unconscious Bias

Lise Edwards Leading Beyond – An “ALL-IN” Women’s Leadership Journey

Andrés Tapia Organizations Need Greater Gender Cultural Dexterity on the Part of Both Men and Women

Ray Arata Male Executives Need to Wake Up, Man Up and Step Up

Michael Q. Simonds A CEO’s Perspective on Building a Corporate Culture That Advances Talented Women

Rob Baker Organizations Need to Make the Best Use of All Their Talent

Steven P. Manfredi CEOs Must Walk the Talk When It Comes to Advancing Women in Organizations

Stephen DelVecchio Men Need to Understand How to Include and Advance Women in an Organization

Jeffery Tobias Halter How Men in Corporate Leadership Roles Can Become Advocates For Women

Rebecca Shambaugh Integrated Leadership – Leveraging Gender Strengths For Better Business Outcomes

Susan Adams Millennial Men Are Engaged in Ways That Will Advance Women

Table of Contents

Letter From the President

Dear Friend –

My career has allowed me to experience the workplace in the public and private sectors, as well as in higher education. And I’ve been pleased and proud to watch women advance into leadership positions each step of the way.

But several years ago, I realized that the momentum had slowed. Many talented and deserving women were not moving up, being promoted, or given the opportunity to lead organizations that really needed their skilled hand and guiding wisdom.

I found this deeply troubling.

So, I tried to do something about this, something that would lead to action.

The result was Bentley University’s Center for Women and Business (CWB), now under Betsy Myers’ dynamic leadership.

I saw a tremendous opportunity here, because Bentley has unique relationships with the most thoughtful, progressive and successful companies in America.

And I believed that we could collaborate with these businesses to develop pragmatic, real-world best practices that would help women secure leadership roles and drive results in a wide range of organizations and industries.

That’s the mission of CWB. That’s our goal. And that’s what has to happen, in my view, if we want to build a competitive economy based on opportunity and growth in our country.

The time is right, and the time is now, when it comes to advancing women and giving them the responsibility to lead.

Male CEOs know that their companies can do better with leadership that blends men and women into effective teams. But men at the top of many organizations don’t know how to make this a business reality.

That’s where Bentley’s CWB can play a constructive and educational role. That’s the focus of our work.

Men have to be part of the solution; and they have to help advance women if their companies and our economy are to flourish in the coming decades.

I feel strongly about this, and I hope you do, too.

Sincerely,

Gloria C. LarsonPresidentBentley University

The New Frontier For Women in Leadership – Including Men By Betsy Myers

How can it be that in 2013, women currently hold just 10%-15% of the senior leadership (C-Suite) positions in corporate America?

And why haven’t we made more progress, given that women now represent 58% of our college graduates and hold 50% of middle-management positions – with 40% holding positions that include purchasing authority?

I could go on and on, listing the statistics.

And we often do, especially when we celebrate the progress, influence and contribution women make to both our businesses and our society.

But, as someone who has spent much of her career in positions that focused on the advancement and inclusion of women, I am as perplexed and curious as you are when it comes to the reasons why female leadership at the senior levels of American compa-nies has plateaued.

Yes, of course, there has been progress along the way; and, yes, today we have more female leaders than a generation ago, but only a very small portion is sitting at the top of organizations. And, to make matters worse, the conversations we are having about gender and work today are the very same conversations we were having when I was President Clinton’s advisor on women’s issues in the White House during the mid-1990s.

The flat-line that characterizes critical career mobil-ity for women actually began 15 years ago; and it has extended itself into the second decade of the 21st century, despite energetic and exemplary efforts by committed CEOs and their companies. These progressive and pragmatic front-runners of the private sector are promoting women into leadership roles based on potential and ability; and they are trying hard to keep the best and brightest female talent in their organizations moving in the right direction – upwards. Still, even these platinum enterprises fall short, with numbers in the 20%-25% range for women in senior leadership.

Looking beyond the numbers, though, both women and men in organizations find themselves in a con-fused – and even conflicted – workplace today.

Confused, because gender behavior and stereotyped male-female roles in companies create uncertainty on how to be; and confused, because we have mixed reactions and there are judgments when we observe men acting like men, women acting like women, women acting like men, or men acting like women.

We reach for programs and initiatives that might help us, and some – such as sponsorship, flexibility and accountability – most definitely do. But corporate leaders and their teams are frustrated by the lack of gender progress as well as the gender tension (both overt and covert) that still permeates organizations. All of this drains energy and emotion – and, even worse, engagement – from our companies.

The backdrop here, as we all know, is that the world has changed significantly. Savvy business leaders today understand that they must have a workforce that reflects the current and future workplace and customer. The good news is that we have just about reached consensus and the vast majority of corpo-rate CEOs no longer ask “why” they should include and advance women in their organizations.

Talent is a key motivator right now, and, beyond equity and fairness, most CEOs agree that in today’s competitive global marketplace they must harness the top-tier talent in their midst to survive and remain competitive and profitable. They also know that women bring a very rich set of skills and attributes that are extremely beneficial. The female perspective often leads to wiser decisions, and the rich relationship skills that women leaders offer frequently result in happier employees and deeper client connections.

So, we may understand the “why,” but it’s increas-ingly clear that there’s a giant hole in the “how” – how to include, keep and advance women in organizations.

Too often, what passes for gender efforts inside corporate America becomes a series of discussions in which women find themselves talking to women. I know from my own experience that my goal was often to merely get sign-off, budget and resources from leadership to move my agenda on women forward within the organization. For many of us in this field, this has been a meaningful and produc-tive strategy, but it hasn’t been woven into the fabric of the organization. And, on many occasions, a committed CEO, with the best of intentions, has gone away believing that this support, plus periodic face-time, was sufficient.

What we know for sure is that what got us here won’t get us there. The old saying is true: Insanity is doing the same things and expecting different results.

But to get a different result – to truly support, retain and promote women in the workplace – shouldn’t we be engaging men in the conversation as full partners?

I believe the answer is yes; I believe that men are not the problem; and I believe that men are a key factor in the productive solution.

That’s why engaging men in the advancement of women is the new frontier for every company in America that wants to compete and grow in the 21st century.

And that’s also why Bentley’s Center for Women and Business has developed this thought leader-ship gallery.

As you read further, you’ll meet a distinguished and diverse group of influencers, experts and practitioners – CEOs, C-Suite leaders, cutting-edge consultants and academics – who offer their experiences, insights and wisdom on how men in positions of organizational power and influence can help advance women to create a more balanced business model for future success.

Our hope is that these distinctive contributions will mark the beginning of a robust shift in thinking and research on this topic, so that developing and promoting female leaders becomes a best practice across the corporate landscape.

“ Engaging men in the advancement of

women is the new frontier for every

company in America.”Betsy Myers is currently the founding director of the Center for Women and Business at Bentley University. A leadership expert, author and advocate, she is also speaking at and convening workshops around the world on the changing nature of leadership and women’s leadership. Her book, “Take the Lead – Motivate, Inspire, and Bring Out the Best in Yourself and Everyone Around You,” was released in September 2011. Her experience spans the corporate, political and higher education arena. As executive director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, she focused the center’s teaching and research around personal leadership. Senior adviser to two U.S. presidents, she was most recently the COO and chair of Women for President Obama’s 2008 national presidential campaign. During the Clinton Administration, she launched, and was the first director of, the White House Office for Women’s Initiatives and Outreach. She also served as the director of the Office of Women’s Business Ownership at the SBA. Prior to joining the Clinton Administration, she spent six years building Myers Insurance and Financial Services in Los Angeles specializing in the small business and women’s market. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of San Diego and her Master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School, where she was also a Public Service Fellow.

Chris Brassell is currently a National Director in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Office of Diversity, where he is respon-sible for driving national diversity and inclusion strategies as well as thought leadership and brand identity designed to support the attraction, development, retention and advancement of the most talented individuals in the firm. He is also a nationally recognized subject matter expert on cultural transformation, work and fatherhood, and multi-generational diversity. He is spearheading an effort at PwC to engage and include white males in the diversity and inclusion discussion. He attended the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and is an active member of the Wharton Alumni Association. He is also an active advisory board member of the Howard University Center for Accounting Education, and a member of Asia Society, the Society for Human Resource Management, the National Association of Black Accountants, Ascend, and the Association for Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting.

I view female inclusion and advancement in the workplace as a seed-and-soil issue.

For years, solutions were solely focused on the seed – inspiring women to embrace ambition and other leadership skills, encour-aging networking with other female cohorts, and supporting women as they endeavored to navigate the corporate culture.

These efforts are critical, and formal pro-grams play a significant role in sending a powerful signal.

For example, Full Circle is a PwC program that allows parents to “off-ramp” from their careers, stay connected while they are gone, and then return to the firm. Mentor Moms is a PwC effort to match women returning from maternity leave with experienced mothers who are successfully juggling family and careers. And our Women’s Networking Circles provide a forum to discuss career advancement.

But we also recognize that we cannot solve the leadership gap without focusing on the soil as well – including the personal responsibility of our business leaders and our collective efforts in sustaining an inclu-sive culture.

We all have “blind spots” and people make unconscious assumptions that may lead to missed opportunities to advance women as leaders.

As a result, PwC hosts interactive sessions for our leaders about how to identify poten-tial “blind spots” and better understand how they influence decision-making. More specifically, we engage in candid conversa-tions with our white male leaders that take gender issues head on. The result is in-creased gender intelligence and enhanced cultural dexterity in this critical group.

These efforts are firmly rooted in our soil. We want our leaders to be able to coach, sponsor and connect with people who are different from them. Breaking the cycle of people sponsoring those who are similar to themselves requires these types of inten-tional effort.

Finally, it comes down to establishing trust-based relationships between men and women – I’m drawn to what my father used to tell me: “In order to lead people, you have to love and trust people; and, to love and trust people, you need to learn them.”

So, yes, men must get much better at learn-ing women; and women have to keep on learning men. It’s a crucial way to get seeds to grow vibrantly and productively in America’s corporate soil, a rich and fertile ground for next-generation prosperity.

Enriching the Organizational Soil Will Help Female Leadership Grow By Chris Brassell

“ In order to lead people, you have to

love and trust people; and, to love and

trust people, you need to learn them.”

Women can succeed in any culture. But I believe they can truly thrive and excel in an organization that values relationships, trans-parency, authenticity and acceptance.

The key is that women must have confi-dence that they can bring their whole selves, and their best selves, to work; and they shouldn’t worry how they present themselves to different audiences in the workplace.

Yes, there are norms that must be embraced in every company. And not all the norms are palatable. This is the “how-it-works-here” piece. This is the “price-of-entry” piece. But, if women can understand and navigate through this, they can do a lot of things that distinguish themselves in almost any culture.

In fact, I believe that many women may not be fully aware of the impact they can have on an organization’s culture. If there isn’t a lot of transparency and authenticity, for exam-ple, then women can bring these important virtues and values to the company.

Women should never forget that corpora-tions were originally created by men, and inherent in that are inherited values, tradi-tional values, that women can change and improve on.

I’m saying that women don’t have to conform to succeed in the workplace.

But I realize that my job, and the culture at Starbucks, is very unique. And I’m fortunate. That said, maybe my story can be instruc-tive for women who find themselves in different situations. I appreciate that I work in an extraordinary place that accepts and embraces people for who they are.

First of all, I love my work. I have to solve difficult problems quickly. But I’m here to facilitate issues and help and serve others, which is deeply satisfying, and a joy, to me.

Each day, I only aspire to do my very best; I compete against myself; and I put my whole heart into things. At Starbucks, I know the most important part of my job is simply to do the right thing.

I felt that, and learned that, the first day on the job. My first boss – a woman (the then – general counsel of Starbucks) gave me a sense of confidence in my own judgment and decision-making. She told me to listen, use my knowledge and experience, ask people for guidance, pay attention to the corporate culture, and act reasonably and compassionately. If I did that, she said she’d stand behind me.

So, rather than seeking permission to make each decision, I learned to act on my experi-ence, instincts and judgment. And I realized

the importance of passing on that sense of trust and support to others, the importance of leading and getting out of the way.

It helps that my company is entrepreneurial and values a diversity of opinions. It wel-comes innovative or non-traditional or non-corporate thinking. Creativity and diversity of thought are appreciated.

I work in a dynamic relationship-based organization, too. And I think this plays to a woman’s strengths, because we may have an advantage when it comes to connecting, nurturing, distilling and multi-tasking.

These are not just “soft skills.” At Starbucks, people value these characteristics as es-sential, because they help us achieve our objectives.

Our culture is also based on curiosity, on noticing things, on reading emotional cues, on sensing what’s behind what people are saying. Here, too, I think women have an advantage, because we’re generally pretty intuitive.

But we need to go beyond this. Women may be “first-class noticers”; but, once they notice, they need to act, to put themselves and their observations forward.

Part of this noticing is facts, while the other part is feelings.

Feelings are good; they belong in corpo-rate cultures, and women – as well as men – should not shy away from them because they add business value.

At Starbucks, we talk often about leading through the lens of humanity in a way that will make our partners (employees) feel proud – by balancing profit-making with the social conscience of our company. We believe that when people feel proud, they will be inspired to do great work, and that will ultimately help us sell more coffee.

So, I’ll conclude where I started.

Women can succeed in any culture. But, like men, they can truly thrive in an organization that values facts and feelings.

Lucy Lee Helm has been a partner (employee) at Starbucks for more than 13 years. Her May 2012 appointment as executive vice president, general counsel and secretary came after serving as interim general counsel. In her role, she leads the global Law & Corporate Affairs department, including 190 legal and compliance partners (employees) in 14 offices around the world. She also serves as a member of Starbucks senior leadership team and supports the company’s Board of Directors. In addition to her work at Starbucks, she is a member of the board of directors of the global humanitarian agency MercyCorps. She is also a board member of the Washington YMCA Youth & Government Program, where she served as chair for six years; and of Disability Rights Advocates, a non-profit disability law center in Berkeley, CA. She serves as the co-chair for the 2013-14 Campaign for Equal Justice and is an active volunteer with Parkview Services, a Seattle-based non-profit organization providing housing and other services to persons with disabilities. Prior to joining Starbucks, she was a principal at Riddell Williams P.S. in Seattle, where she was a trial lawyer specializing in commercial, insurance coverage and environmental litigation. She received her BA in political science, with highest honors, from the University of Louisville and is a cum laude graduate of the Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville.

Women Can Distinguish Themselves In Almost Any Corporate Culture By Lucy Lee Helm

“ Women can succeed in any culture.

But, like men, they can truly thrive

in an organization that values facts

and feelings.”

When we talk about including and advanc-ing women in the workplace, the process is almost always connected to character, but it’s also connected to the work. Because the process has to deliver results for the organization.

And it does. It also opens up opportunities for men.

For example, we found a huge “effective-ness gap” in a recent eight-company study of how white male executives integrated diversity and inclusivity into leadership. White male leaders viewed their leadership performance in this area very differently than others in the organization, and the average differential on many leadership competen-cies was 30-40 points.

The opportunity in this effectiveness gap was to educate and build self-awareness for the white male leaders, so they could understand how others perceived their attitudes and actions; so they could do their jobs better; and so that the business could run better.

One of the other things we’ve learned from our research is that when it comes to gender discussions, men in the workplace are often fearful; as a result, they need a safe environ-ment in order to have authentic and con-structive conversations.

Few men seek to offend women; and most women have good intentions toward men. But, to be honest, the way women some-times talk about men is critical without being helpful – and it doesn’t lead to a healthy dialogue between the genders.

So that’s one of the reasons why safety is key. Without it, most male leaders in the workplace will watch the gender conversa-tion from the sidelines and remain non-committal about including and advancing women.

And, speaking of language, I don’t like the phrase “Male Champions.” It may invite us, as men, to view ourselves as “gender heroes” in our own mind, thereby missing the power in mutuality. We absolutely need mutuality flowing between men and women in order to increase and enrich female leadership in organizations today.

We have to remember that a women’s strat-egy is only as good as the collaboration with men. It has to be a two-way street to be sustainable.

That’s why, for me, the term that really reso-nates is “Fearless Reciprocity.” This is the mix of personal responsibility, demonstrated

respect, and courageous candor that fuels every healthy human relationship.

One important outcome of Fearless Reci-procity is that male leaders in an organiza-tion become better coaches, mentors and sponsors.

A lot of male executives I talk to right now know that they aren’t giving women the same corrective feedback as they give men. And they feel really bad about this.

But the reason they’re abdicating – much to the women’s disadvantage – is that they’re worried that gender issues will enter the feedback conversation.

We need to work on this. Women can’t successfully advance as leaders in compa-nies if there isn’t corrective feedback equity from their male managers.

And, for their part, men can’t lead if they’re back on their heels, and if they’re busy deflecting, fearing or fabricating gender issues.

It all comes down to tone. If the conver-sational tone between men and women is respectful and honest, we’re going to see productive results that drive female advancement, business objectives, and, therefore, opportunities for men as well.

Having said all this, I want to be clear – and this is something my wife once told me: Men cannot expect the women in their lives to carry the entire burden of emotional intelligence. Fearless Reciprocity requires personal responsibility from men and women.

As I look ahead, I’m encouraged. Many of the Chief Diversity Officers I meet these days tell me that they are starting to see more substantive support from white male executives in their companies.

Without doubt, it’s time for many more strong steps forward.

Chuck Shelton is the Managing Director at Greatheart Leader Labs and author of “Leadership 101 For White Men.” He also serves as the Principal for The Study on White Men Leading Through Diversity and Inclusion (whitemensleadershipstudy.com), the first research to analyze the effectiveness of white men as they integrate diversity and inclusion into their leadership work. The study is sponsored by PwC, PepsiCo, Alcoa and Intel; other participating companies include: Wal-Mart, Marsh & McLennan, Exelon and Bank of America. He has spoken, consulted, coached and trained on leadership development and global diversity and inclusion internationally since 1981.

Fearless Reciprocity Between Men and Women Will Advance Female Leadership By Chuck Shelton

“ A lot of male executives know they

aren’t giving women the same correc-

tive feedback as they give men. And

they feel really bad about this.”

I began addressing women’s leadership issues in the workplace almost 20 years ago. And, back then, I realized that greater inclu-sion and advancement was only going to come if we gathered marketplace statistics that proved the business case for female leadership in organizations.

Social justice, equity, fairness and morality were (and are) all really wonderful positives, but they were not enough to fully convince male C-Suite executives to get behind women and move them up the ladder. That was the sad truth.

So it was a numbers game. But not any numbers. There were many contentious numbers, like ROI. When you asked if includ-ing and advancing more women bolstered and drove ROI, for example, the answers were unclear – and even controversial.

Those were numbers I stayed away from. But I didn’t stay away from sales numbers. These were safe, powerful and rock-like statistics. They argued clearly and without doubt that women should be in charge of designing and selling products – especially when you considered the fact that women represented huge percentages of buying power. If women bought the stuff, shouldn’t they be the ones deciding how to make and sell it?

I think you know the answer.

I also got many male executives to come along on this issue by performing what I called the “squint test.” I looked at a com-pany’s executive team and its board, and if they didn’t look like the female market they served, then I told the CEO he was off base and headed in the wrong direction. It just wasn’t debatable. There just wasn’t any argument. I won. Women won.

Today, I use another line of “reasoning.” I point out that we live in a global economy and that power is dispersed and informal. So a guy simply can’t issue orders and push something down the chain-of-command hierarchy. If you have a 40-person team, for instance, you probably have people in 17 countries and on four continents represent-ed. It’s not about who has the most stripes on his sleeve anymore. And it’s really not about a table of organization either.

This isn’t to say that teams and organizations are flat right now. They’re not. But they’re not vertical either. They’re sort of a mess – but a good mess. And women thrive in this kind of situation. They negotiate so well, and

they do so well in the relationship-building department, too. They find the right people and the right way to manage and produce in a complex and ambiguous and fluid environ-ment. Men don’t do this as well.

I was talking to a sales organization recently, and I learned that women will often go three and four people deep within a customer’s company to build relationships and make sure the sale is completed. Men, on the other hand, for some reason, don’t go this deep.

I have two ideas that could help C-Level executives if they want to (and they should) get the best and right women positioned for future leadership roles within their organizations.

First, give the up-and-coming women mana-gerial roles in independent business units. Whether that’s running a factory in China, a back office in South Dakota, or a supply-chain support group at headquarters – give them something to run; set expectations; and measure results. Just do it. And, within five years, you’ll have a strong group of fe-male leaders who have been tested and are ready for even bigger things.

Second, if a senior executive fills a job with a man, ask the executive to explain why a woman wasn’t selected. We’re talking mindfulness and accountability here. Just ask why.

Let’s go back to numbers. About 60 percent of all college graduates are now women. So I could see 60 percent of middle-manage-ment jobs filled by women by 2025.

But that’s a long way off. Companies need to test their most interesting people now, to get them ready to take over a lot sooner than that. The markets demand this, and ignoring the markets is always foolhardy.

Tom Peters is co-author of “In Search of Excellence” – the book that changed the way the world does business. Sixteen books and almost 30 years later, he’s still at the forefront of the “management guru industry” he single-handedly invented. What’s new? A lot. As CNN said, “While most business gurus milk the same mantra for all its worth, the one-man brand called Tom Peters is still re-inventing himself.” His most recent effort, released in March 2010, was “The Little BIG Things: 163 Ways to Pursue Excellence.” His bedrock belief: “Execution is strategy – it’s all about the people and the doing, not the talking and the theory.”

The Why and How – CEOs Must Prepare Their Best Female Executives to Lead By Tom Peters

“ Give women managerial roles in inde-

pendent business units … Set expecta-

tions and measure results … And, within

five years, you’ll have a strong group of

female leaders who have been tested

and are ready for even bigger things.”

My first thought on including and advancing women in the workplace is that men who are effective at developing colleagues definitely know how to do this. Men shouldn’t dumb themselves down by saying they don’t know how to mentor and promote women. It’s like saying they don’t know how to run the wash-ing machine.

At the same time, men in positions of influ-ence in organizations need to pay close attention to people’s differences.

I’m reminded of the Pat Parker poem here, “For the White Person Who Wants to Know How to Be My Friend”:

“The first thing you do is to forget that I’m Black. Second, you must never forget that I’m Black.”

The same is true for gender. Gender really matters, and so it’s essential that men really notice how women experience work differ-ently than men do.

In addition, the vast majority of organization-al cultures are masculine, and so men have to work to understand why women might not be comfortable in these environments. It’s hard work for anyone in the dominant group anywhere to do this. But attention must be paid. Men need to say to themselves: “This organization was made for me, so I need to pay attention when it comes to the people for whom it wasn’t made.”

I think many men are well meaning, but they often wear blinders that prevent them from seeing how an entire group of people has been marginalized.

Another important area is listening. Men are so busy fixing and problem-solving when women talk that they don’t hear what women are saying about the female experience in the workplace.

I encourage men in organizations to pay attention, to notice things, to think about what they’re thinking – and what women may be thinking.

This is meta-cognition, and it’s vital to addressing the problem of female advance-ment in the enterprise. You have to recog-

nize that there are a lot of things going on – some of which you will understand, others of which you won’t. But, if you’re a man, paying attention to your thought process will absolutely help.

One last thought.

When we talk about gender, it’s important that men don’t just think we’re talking about women as a monolithic group. All women are not the same. Other social identities interact with gender. There are older women and younger women; African American and His-panic women; lesbian and straight women. Each of these identities can lead to very different experiences in the workplace, and men need to take this into consideration. Again, social identities really matter.

The conclusion, though, is that men need to pay attention in the workplace. If they can begin to do this, they’ll see women more clearly. And I believe that, as a result, more and more women will be included and pro-moted into leadership roles in a wide range of organizations everywhere.

Duncan H. Spelman is Professor of Management at Bentley University. His teaching interests include: diversity in the workplace, organizational behavior, interpersonal relations and organizational change. He has written about the centrality of emotion in diversity management and how to sustain a long-term diversity change initiative. And he has delivered a presentation on going beyond open-mindedness in order to facilitate true integration across intercultural differences. He received his Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University.

Men Need to Pay Attention So They Can See Women Clearly in the Workplace By Duncan H. Spelman

“ Men need to say to themselves that,

‘This organization was made for

me, so I need to pay attention when

it comes to the people for whom it

wasn’t made.’”

I’ve spent the past 20-25 years working on domestic violence issues, and my interest, when it comes to including and advancing women in the workplace, is aligned.

I believe that women need to be treated with dignity and respect. Period!! And they shouldn’t be treated any differently than men.

In my current company, our CEO is a woman, and we probably have more female senior vice presidents than males at this level. We don’t talk a lot about the fact that our CEO is a woman; to us, she’s just a spectacular leader.

Women in college today need to know that they can contribute as much as males to a company’s success. Men in college need to know this, too.

And universities have a responsibility to make sure that their female graduates inter-view a company and aren’t just interviewed by a company.

I have two sons, and I tell them this; but, if I had a daughter, I’d tell her this, too – Go to work for a company that has a culture that shares your values.

It’s not about getting a job. If you’re good, you’ll get a job. It’s about finding a company that respects you as a person, a company that respects what you can do. If a company doesn’t care about you, you shouldn’t care about the company. They don’t deserve you.

Recently, I interviewed a young woman, a woman that we ultimately hired. But I was struck by one direct question she asked me during the interview – “How will my desire to have a family affect my career here?”

Again, I would say that a young woman shouldn’t go to work for a company that can’t answer a question like this openly, honestly and respectfully.

I believe that companies must embrace the wants and needs of their people; companies must love their people, and their people must love the company. And who you are – your age, gender, color or nationality – absolutely none of that should get in the way. The rest of it is all about performance.

So, we need a cultural shift in this country. Men need to be more understanding, more accepting, and more respectful. And the corporate stigmas need to be removed as well.

There are still pockets where this isn’t the case – even though our culture and society is changing. And even though the laws have changed.

I think that’s wrong, and I think it needs to be addressed.

And that’s why I’m still involved in women’s issues.

With over 25 years in the retail business, Jerry Rossi has served as Chairman of G. Fox & Company, Chairman of Foley’s Department Stores and President and Chief Operating Officer of Marshalls. Presently, he is Senior Executive Vice President, Group President, for The TJX Companies. He is currently responsible for Global Sourcing, Global Procurement, TJX Logistics, New Business Develop-ment, Real Estate, E-Commerce and Information Technology. He was a member of the Federal Violence Against Women Advisory Council and a member of the subcommittee looking into the impact of domestic violence in the workplace. He continues to work at both the national and state level on awareness and judicial issues that relate to domestic violence. And he is a graduate of Bentley.

It’s All About Establishing Mutual Respect Between Women and Companies By Jerry Rossi

“ Companies must embrace the wants

and needs of their people; compa-

nies must love their people, and their

people must love the company. And

who you are – your age, gender, color

or nationality – absolutely none of

that should get in the way. The rest

of it is all about performance.”

Throughout my career, which began in the 1970’s, I have always felt that one of my core strengths as a leader was listen-ing, consensus-building and respecting all points of view. I worked hard to build a successful accounting firm where my efforts lay squarely on delivering first-class service to my clients, generating revenue, creating jobs and building a fun and creative office culture for my employees.

Accounting was my pathway to the Ameri-can Dream. Growing up in a blue-collar town with hard-working immigrant parents, I wanted to make sure that talented individu-als that had to work extra hard for opportun-ities, or were in some way disadvantaged, had a shot – like I did – at becoming suc-cessful and prosperous in this field, and, quite frankly, in life.

A few years back, in my leadership role at the AICPA, I learned that although our pro-fession has made progress with respect to diversity and inclusion, the progress, at least at the leadership level, had been stalled. As I started to peel back the layers and learned about the business case for diversity, I realized just how severely under- represented women and minorities actually are in the accounting profession.

I became a student of this issue and read and met with a number of people to give me perspective. I originally thought I knew everything I needed to know about diversity at that point. At this early time, my think-ing was simplistic. I thought that if you just waved a magic human resources wand, hire more minorities, and retain them in your organization, you’ll be more diverse. Well, I was wrong. And I realized I didn’t really understand what inclusion meant, which was a big problem.

Then I had an epiphany at an industry event I attended where the leader of EY spoke movingly about inclusion. His speech made me think about all the times in my career that I had not felt included, or had not felt part of the gang or club.

It then dawned on me that as the head of a thriving accounting firm I had never made a conscious effort or decision to make people feel included or welcome – especially with the few minorities and the many women we had hired. I never intentionally wanted to exclude anybody, but by not making a con-scious effort to be sure they were included, the result in many cases was exclusion.

At the time, when it came to addressing women’s issues, we thought that we were doing a lot by providing flex-time and help-ing them to balance a work-family lifestyle. But there is more to women’s workplace issues than this. It’s walking in a board-room and being the only woman; the client

meeting you are left out of because of your gender; or the golf outing with clients you are not invited to.

Looking back, I recognize that we had no clue about the real challenges that women faced. I mentored women and help many succeed in their careers, but I didn’t get it. I didn’t understand how women are differ-ent from men; how they think versus men; or how they cope with, and overcome, the stress and obstacles they face.

Most importantly, what I didn’t realize was the many “unconscious biases” that regu-larly impact women. This was a big hurdle for me – and I believe for the other male CEOs, predominately from the Baby Boomer generation, who dominate the leadership of the Top 500 U.S. CPA firms. I call us the “Bald White Guys,” although many are more gray than bald.

Let me tell you a story. Recently, I took a group of colleagues out to smoke cigars one night after a daylong meeting in Chicago. The next day, someone pointed out that I had closed the door to females by choosing a cigar-smoking outing. It was not meant to be exclusive, but I hadn’t really thought that that type of activity wouldn’t be condu-cive for women. How inclusive was that? Not very!

I’m now determined to get all the bald – and hair-fortunate – white guys who run account-ing firms (like myself) to absolutely engage in the process of understanding women and advancing them.

If you don’t grasp this as a CEO, it’s obvious that you’re going to have a hard time truly helping women to succeed. It’s also obvious that you’re just not going to have a diverse workplace if you don’t foster inclusivity – because women and minorities aren’t going to stay with you very long without feeling fully understood, heard and welcome.

As CEOs and, more importantly, as fathers, husbands, uncles and grandfathers, we can no longer shut women out, or inadvertently pretend they don’t exist. In fact, the next time there’s a conference about women in the 21st century workplace, we need to show up and take some serious notes!

Richard J. Caturano is Chairman of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants for 2012-13. He’s also the National Leader of Culture, Diversity and Inclusion at McGladrey LLP. He was a founding member of Vitale, Caturano and Company, which merged with McGladrey in 2010. He holds a B.S. in Accounting and an M.S. in Taxation from Bentley and is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Leading Professional Service Firms executive education program.

Erasing the CEO’s Unconscious Bias By Richard J. Caturano

“ The bald – and hair-fortunate – white

guys who run accounting firms (like

myself) must absolutely engage in the

process of understanding women and

advancing them.”

I didn’t start my career with a clear idea about where it would take me. And I certain-ly didn’t think that one day I would devote my full attention to women’s leadership.

This isn’t terribly surprising.

While it’s tempting to think of one’s career as a series of ladders, the reality is that it’s more of a journey. Early on, my career path seemed to be well worn, as I traveled with many others onward and upward through the ranks of HR. Of course, I worked hard, calling on the discipline I’d honed as a dancer. But I was also very fortunate to have had some truly outstanding sponsors who helped me find the guideposts and mile-stones along the way.

Now I’m helping others find their way, because my passion has always been helping people realize their full potential. My focus on women’s leadership did not come to me from an analysis of my career choices. It called to me. Every day, I saw missed opportunities as women were systemically underutilized. At the same time, I envisioned a better world for my daughters.

I realized a while ago that HR, by itself, wasn’t equipped to accomplish this objective in an effective way. So I looked for solutions in other places. Diversity seemed promising. And so did Inclusion. Then there was Leadership Development.

Interestingly, the progressive uphill journey of this advancement issue has moved, over time, in the same direction – from HR, to Diversity, to Inclusion, to Leadership.

But the real power lies in connecting the dots – linking Diversity, Inclusion and Leadership. We need all these elements to truly succeed in supporting and advanc-ing women.

But I want to be clear.

This isn’t just about women’s leadership; it’s about women and men leading in full partnership. And this isn’t just leaning in (although leaning in is important); we need to be ALL-IN. Why?

Because women and men must be totally committed to a full partnership in order to attain a collaborative culture that creates mutual success.

ALL-IN also speaks to the collaboration and commitment we need from businesses, governments, non-profits, communities and educators.

There’s a lot to gain here. But we need to keep our feet on the ground. And we must make strides through specific, deliberate, bite-sized and measurable steps.

Three of those critical steps are: 1) engaging men who truly understand business benefits; 2) leveraging existing and/or creating wom-en’s leadership initiatives; and 3) addressing institutional barriers and blind-spots.

I’ve mentioned the idea of going ALL-IN; but this is also about leading beyond, a type of agile leadership that recognizes and accepts the diverse global workforce that now drives commerce on just about every continent.

One of the key principles of leading beyond is that we should continually drive toward a full and sustainable utilization of our teams and resources. How many people on your team are “Go-To” people? What are you do-ing to ensure that the answer is “everyone”?

Are we there yet?

This really is a journey. We’re not going to wake up someday and discover we’ve arrived at our destination.

But I believe that as we continue to internal-ize the notion of leading beyond, as we all fully commit to ALL-IN solutions that include everyone, and as we embrace the goal of women and men leading in full partnership, that’s when we’ll start to see meaningful and measurable success – and not just in women’s leadership, but in business, our communities and society as a whole.

Leading Beyond – An “ALL-IN” Women’s Leadership Journey By Lise Edwards

Lise Edwards is a human resources professional, diversity and inclusion specialist and women’s leadership advocate. As former Managing Director for Oracle Women’s Leadership (OWL), she led OWL’s growth from 13 communities to over 50 local communities and 90+ community leaders worldwide. Before leading the OWL initiative, she guided the development of Oracle’s diversity and inclusion strategy and programs. Most recently, she co-founded GenderAllies, a collaboration of inclusion professionals who stand for women and men in full partnership in organizations and communities. As a strategic business partner, GenderAllies is committed to scalable, sustainable and measurable solutions to drive fundamental cultural change for Fortune 500 companies.

“ This isn’t just about women’s leader-

ship; it’s about women and men leading

in full partnership. And this isn’t just

leaning in (although leaning in is impor-

tant); we need to be ALL-IN.”

Until we are more skilled at recognizing and managing the real differences that can exist between female and male styles of leader-ship we are going to inadvertently continue to reinforce the glass ceiling.

But first, let me address a legitimate concern about stereotyping. In doing culture work, we look to see if there are archetypes – normative behavior that manifests consis-tently within the bell curve of a group’s way of doing things. The problem comes with stereotypes – the assumption that every individual who is part of the group behaves according to the archetype.

Archetypically, many sociological and brain scan studies have shown that when it comes to leadership, women tend to be more col-laborative and men are more competitive. Women are more holistic, men are more compartmentalized. Women are less hierar-chical, men are more hierarchical.

Not addressing these differences head on is systemically weeding out women in high-potential identification and promotion processes. Why? Because the assumed behaviors within competencies used in the filtering and assessment processes may unintentionally be carrying a legacy bias toward a male style of leadership. In modern corporations this is not a conspiracy but rather a natural, organic and residual result of several generations of male-led organizations that takes on a life of its own through inertia.

But it gets worse as women then get caught in a double bind. Recent research by Korn/Ferry found that women rated higher than their male counterparts in 17 critical leader-ship skills, including operating, interperson-al, courage and drive – competencies that enable women to connect with customers, engage employees and build talent. Despite this, women may still be penalized for not exhibiting leadership in the way that men may favor. We also know the many stories of women – because of their own personal-ity or out of an adaptive behavior – getting penalized for not behaving according to the expected archetypical behavior. For instance, plenty of women who are naturally more competitive than their sistren are the targets of other forms of aspersions because she’s not behaving the way men want her to.

This is why both men and women need to have gender cultural dexterity to be able to spot where unconscious gender bias is hurting the advancement of women. This means recognizing normative behavior in both genders, and also allowing space for non-normative behaviors.

We need to then have smarter conversations about both genders’ leadership approaches. I believe that the lack of these conversa-tions, and our inability to facilitate them on a regular, substantive and sensitive basis, is one of the reasons why we haven’t really been able to move the needle forward in terms of advancing female leadership in organizations.

We must do this.

Men and women need each other to drive organizational success, and because companies need different leadership approaches at different times in their journeys. Yes, there are plenty of times the competitive and hierarchical model is necessary and it works; other times, com- mand-and-control isn’t the answer, and collaboration and cohesive teams are. And in these highly matrixed, highly polarized times due to globalization, 24/7 connectivity and increasing diversity, our organizations most definitely need more collaborative leadership.

To get to that desired state, men and women have to develop skills and partnerships that allow them to truly understand and value their differences. This is gender cultural dexterity, which requires the skills to become more conscious of one’s unconscious bias. It also means to not automatically assume similarity (saying one is “gender-blind” can be delusional). Rather, let’s get more comfortable assuming difference without guessing what that is, and then, together, constructively surface what those differ- ences may be. A good place to start is with appreciative inquiry: what is right and working in how women and men are leading today?

Gender cultural dexterity requires from women and men reciprocal adaptation as well as greater latitude for people to be their full selves at work; in this way, they can do their best work for their own sake, and for that of the organizations they serve.

Organizations Need Greater Gender Cultural Dexterity On the Part of Both Men and Women By Andrés

Tapia

Andrés Tapia is a Senior Partner with Korn/Ferry Leadership and Talent Consulting as part of its Diversity, Inclusion, and Talent Optimization Practice. He has over 25 years of experience as a management consultant, learning and development professional, diversity executive and journalist. He joined Korn/Ferry Leadership and Talent Consulting from Diversity Best Practices, a diversity and inclusion think-tank and consultancy, where he served as President and was responsible for the organization’s overall vision, strategy and outcomes. Prior to this, he was Chief Diversity Officer and Emerging Workforce Solutions Leader for Hewitt Associates. He is the author of “The Inclusion Paradox: The Obama Era and the Transformation of Global Diversity” and is a frequently sought after speaker on the topic of diversity and inclusion. He is the recipient of numerous leadership and diversity awards, and has served on a number of boards. He currently serves on the editorial board of Diversity Executive Magazine. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Modern History from Northwestern University.

“ To get to the desired state, men and

women have to develop skills and

partnerships with one another that

allow them to truly understand and

value their differences.”

I’m working to help men become more accountable and emotionally literate.

And my personal mission involves going to the corporate world and getting male execu-tives to stand up and stand strong when it comes to including and advancing women.

I’ve set ambitious goals for myself. By 2015, I want to inspire, educate and motivate one million men so they can promote gender safety and equality in their families, work-places and communities.

I really believe that more men want this, and I feel a definite momentum shift out there.

But, invariably, 11 out of 10 guys won’t change their attitudes or actions toward women in the workplace unless they’re in pain. They see a train wreck coming and then they’re willing to shift. The pain could be a lost client, a lost job, a missed promo-tion, or a difficult life transition.

These guys are 35 to 55, and they’re in posi-tions of real influence in companies. But they can’t have truly meaningful conversations or dialogues with women in the workplace until they connect better with their own emotions. They need to know it’s okay to feel joy; it’s okay to have tears; and it’s okay to grieve. They can’t keep living from the chin up. They can’t keep living and working the way their fathers did.

When I encounter a senior male executive who is deeply stubborn, who is set in his ways and unwilling to budge in terms of including and advancing women, I try to make the business case for moving women up. I ask how his company is going to grow without female leadership.

Then I appeal to his ego. I might mention what John Chambers at Cisco is doing to increase his female leadership ranks. Or what Andrew Cuomo, the Governor of New York, is doing for gender equality.

Finally, I’ll challenge this guy. And I just put it out there: “Are you courageous enough to find out the truth and see what you and your company are missing?”

These are the hardest cases. But the male executives who are sitting on the fence are pretty difficult, too.

They know. They’re aware of what women leaders can add to their organization. And they get along well with women in the work-place. But they play it safe, and they talk about female inclusion and advancement in a less-than-courageous way. It’s apathy, and it’s looking the other way. It feels risky to these guys.

They really want to do this, though. They really want to include and advance women in the workplace. I have no doubt about it.

So, this is the crowd I want to influence. These are the executives I want to get to. I want to tell them that they need to wake up. They need to man up. And they need to step up.

It’s really not negotiable. It’s the big, right and smart thing to do. And, to be completely honest, there’s just no choice here.

Male Executives Need to Wake Up, Man Up and Step Up By Ray Arata

Ray Arata is an integrative leadership coach, diversity consultant and cultural facilitator, fascinated by a potent and strategic blend of leadership, diversity and culture in the workplace. In addition to his coaching and consulting practice, he is an author and speaker. His mission is empowering men to step authentically into their roles as fathers, husbands, leaders, businessmen and friends. His new book is “Wake Up, Man Up, Step Up: Transforming Your Wake Up Call to Emotional Health and Happiness,” a guidebook that challenges men to respond in a new way to difficult and often painful life transitions. He holds a B.A. in Political Science and a Juris Doctorate from San Francisco Law School.

“ Invariably, 11 out of 10 guys won’t

change their attitudes or actions toward

women in the workplace unless they’re

in pain.”

When it comes to ensuring that women have the best chances of advancing in corporate leadership, our entire organizational struc-ture and culture should support the idea that women in leadership are the expectation rather than the exception. In order to thrive, companies need the leadership of talented, intelligent women, and those women truly deserve opportunities to lead.

From my perspective, I consider what I can do as a corporate leader to support and encourage that culture while being as sensi-tive as possible to the realities we’re deal-ing with. Generalizing can be dangerous business, and it’s important to treat people as individuals and not to work from a set of entrenched assumptions.

My first approach involves setting clear and high expectations for both men and women who have great potential – those who are on leadership tracks. All executives, regard-less of gender, have to know what they need to deliver on; how much time they’re going to have to invest in the job; and what kind of professional experiences they’ll need in order to grow and advance.

That way, they can plan and make sure the demands of leadership are compatible with their personal and family goals and lifestyle. This need is often heightened for women as they contemplate work/home balance trade-off decisions. For any leader, however, the support of a spouse or partner can be the critical piece to that puzzle, which is why our company involves spouses or partners whenever possible.

If there’s a company event, and an execu-tive is getting public recognition, I want the spouse or partner there, front and center. They are part of our executives’ success, regardless of whether it’s a male or female executive. I want the spouse or partner to understand the magnitude of accomplish-ment and opportunity, and how important their loved one is to our company. I also want the spouse or partner to see that when our executives – male or female – make sac-rifices to do a great job, we recognize that.

Along this same line, I call spouses and partners when we promote a male or female executive. It may be just a phone call, but in setting the tone for our culture, it’s a big deal. It’s a real recognition of the tal-ent, drive, experience and expertise of the leader, and a recognition of the critical support the partner provides, as well.

In addition, I try to actively encourage my top executives to challenge assumptions when they’re thinking about filling a senior position. In considering a woman for a new and expanded job, they may be tempted to dismiss her as a potential candidate if relo-cation is required, particularly if she has chil-dren and a husband who has a successful career. This kind of assumption is a barrier to providing opportunities to deserving female executives, and candid conversations about those assumptions can be a powerful force in shifting corporate culture.

Finally, it’s important for male executives to recognize that men are often much more assertive about promoting themselves and pushing hard for the next job. Women are typically less vocal. Leaders need to under-stand that, and make sure we specifically ask talented women executives what their goals and aspirations are, and help them navigate a path to get there. You may have to draw it out of them sometimes, but that process is essential to building the depth of leadership in any company.

It’s also essential for us to understand that women can generate powerful results with-out mirroring male expectations and male style. Men should have confidence when they assign a talented woman a tough or complex assignment, even if she doesn’t approach the work or drive results in the same way as her male counterpart. As male leaders, this may feel uncomfortable at times, but the best leaders recognize the immense and inherent value of varying per-spectives, strengths and temperaments.

We know that strong, smart women in lead-ership roles contribute to better business results, and they contribute to a healthier corporate culture. A thriving business culture encourages diverse viewpoints and varied ideas about what it means to lead. When we improve the prospects for women in leader-ship, we all benefit.

A CEO’s Perspective on Building a Corporate Culture That Advances Talented Women By Michael Q. Simonds

Michael Q. Simonds became President and Chief Executive Officer of Unum US in July 2013. In this role, he is responsible for leading Unum’s largest business unit. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Anthropology from Bowdoin College. Upon graduation, he began his career with Unum. He left Unum to earn his Master’s degree in Business Administration from Harvard Business School, and then served a range of financial institutions as a consultant with McKinsey & Company before returning to Unum in 2004. Since that time, he has held various marketing, product and operations leadership roles, and was most recently Chief Operating Officer of Unum US.

“ A thriving business culture encourages

diverse viewpoints and varied ideas

about what it means to lead. When we

improve the prospects for women in

leadership, we all benefit.”

For me, the issue of inclusion and advance-ment of women in the workplace is about enabling organizations to make the best use of all their talent.

It doesn’t make sense to me that as you get to the top of the organization women feature less in the senior ranks of leadership. This is not great economically, because studies show that companies with more female lead-ership do better. And women who go off and start their own companies do better, too.

So, organizations aren’t taking full advantage of their talented women. And companies haven’t structured themselves to benefit from what women have to offer. They’re not giving women the chance to add real value.

The unfortunate thing is that, in terms of 21st century leadership, women may actually be stronger than men.

When we talk about what we’re looking for in future leaders – taking initiative, collabo-ration, flexibility, people development and empathy, for example – women outscore men, and are definitely raising the level of the leadership game.

Men certainly have leadership qualities we need, but they should start adapting their leadership skills, to take on board some of these feminine traits and values.

For their part, women are now increasingly seeing that they have something to offer. They’re putting their hands up for promo-tions, and this may present a bit of a chal-lenge for men.

But we need to educate and get the word out among men that when women advance, and as we get more and more women in leadership positions, it’s a real positive. And the reason is because men will get to work in better and more successful organizations.

I’ve found that when you talk to men about advancing women, it’s important to explain that everyone benefits. Men become more interested in the conversation that way.

And there have to be other conversations as well – conversations between men, so they can talk about their anxieties, and conversa-tions between men and women, so they can discuss how to work together successfully.

Part of the conversation between men and women has to acknowledge each other’s strengths and differences. We have to celebrate those differences, and we have to manage those differences, too, because they can cause some discomfort, or even conflict.

CEOs can help here and lead by example. They need to create working environments that support women and hold their line managers and the people below them accountable for supporting efforts to get men and women to work better together.

Finally, support for women in leadership has to come from home, too. Husbands and partners have to do their share of the housework and child-care. They need to understand why female inclusion and advancement in the workplace is important; and they have to appreciate why it’s a good thing.

And it is a good thing – for everyone concerned.

Rob Baker, Senior Partner & Global Client Relationship Manager at Mercer, is based in London. He is responsible for Mercer’s relationships with a number of key global clients. He manages all aspects of the client relationship: ensuring that Mercer understands the client’s business goals, structure and people issues; working with Mercer teams to develop solutions that meet the client’s needs; coordinating project planning and delivery of these solutions; and ensuring that the client is fully satisfied with the service that Mercer provides. His previous experience includes some 20 years in Mercer’s investment consulting business, helping build its European presence and developing its investment consulting services for multinational companies. He is a Federation Board member for EPWN, a leading global women’s network (www.epwn.net) and also a member of Mercer’s UK Diversity Council.

Organizations Need to Make the Best Use Of All Their Talent By Rob Baker

“ When we talk about what we’re looking

for in future leaders – taking initiative,

collaboration, flexibility, people

development and empathy, for example

– women outscore men, and are

definitely raising the level of the leader-

ship game.”

I’ve always been an advocate for women in business. I saw my wife succeed in the financial services industry, and now I have a 25-year-old daughter who is starting her career.

Part of my commitment is reflected in the funding my wife and I helped provide to Bentley’s Center for Women and Business. We want to change things. We want men to help women advance in the workplace through best practices. And we want our daughter to succeed in her career based on her talent and professional contributions.

When it comes to helping women attain organizational leadership roles today, the answer – at least for me – is pretty obvious.

In addition to saying all the right things, CEOs have to put plans in place that move the numbers on this. They have plans that are designed to move revenues, profits and stock price, so why not a plan that quantifies how many female leaders are going to be in the C-Suite?

Thought leadership on this issue is impor-tant, but CEOs need to make it clear to the next levels down in their organizations what has to happen – Put in achievable objectives requiring managers to develop and fill the pipeline with qualified females. If the CEO demands this, we will see more female candidates for promotion when opportunities arise. If you are a male leader of a company today, this is what you have to do. It’s just not that complex.

In some respects, though, we still face many of the issues that my wife faced 20 and 30 years ago in the workplace. And I worry that my daughter could have to deal with the same problem.

If you look at the numbers, you can see this. Over the last 10-20 years, we have stalled – we’re not adding enough women to the senior ranks or boards of companies. We’re not making the kind of dent we need to.

The question is whether young women enter-ing business will get discouraged about their future, about the direction we’re heading in. We can’t let this happen, because there’s just too much talent that would go to waste.

To avoid this, men have to help women move ahead.

And men have to help men help women, too. That means dealing with unconscious male

bias, which has unintended consequences. These man-to-man conversations have to happen, and the sooner the better.

I often saw some of this unconscious bias during Monday morning staff meetings. The guys would be talking non-stop about Sunday’s NFL games, and the women at the table would just tune out. And who could blame them? The truth of the matter was that the women were taking care of the kids on Sunday afternoon so that the guys could watch all the football games.

I also remember that when a guy left work at 3:30 in the afternoon to go watch his son’s soccer game, he was Dad of the Year, a great family man. But when a woman had to leave work at 3:30 in the afternoon to go home and take care of a sick child, people frowned. And there were no Mom-of-the-Year awards given out.

So, we need to change these attitudes in order to make the workplace a more produc-tive and better-run environment. It’s also how we’re going to make sure that we develop young women who are naturally going to be considered as candidates for CEO, CFO and all the C-Suite jobs.

I don’t want us to leave this as a problem, even though it will hopefully be solved by generational changes. I know it will get better with younger people coming into, and moving up in, the workforce, but that is not a reason to sit still.

Let’s make a series of breakthroughs now – and not accept a continuation of the past behavior. We have to focus on this issue today, because it’s right, and because businesses need to develop and nurture every single bit of talent they can possibly get if they want to compete effectively in some pretty tough global marketplaces.

We can’t wait.

Steven P. Manfredi is a retired executive with more than 30 years of senior-level management experience, including his last 10 years as President and Chief Operating Officer of a leading specialty franchise company. During that period of time, he led the growth of the company from a local small regional operation into a national franchise company in 33 states as it became the leader in the specialty toy industry. Prior to that, he spent 15 years in the high-tech industry, advancing to senior-level management positions. During that time, he distinguished himself by building an innovative customer response and operations center that became the national model for his company. His organizational plan and processes resulted in broad efficiencies and scaling across the company that, in turn, provided consistent and effective customer response. Throughout the past 35 years, he has been involved in numerous non-profit and for-profit organizations, associations and boards. A graduate of Bentley, he is currently Chair of its Board of Trustees. He has just completed six years as Chair of the New England College of Optometry Board of Trustees, a leading graduate- level institution granting Doctors of Optometry degrees. He remains a member of the board.

CEOs Must Walk the Talk When It Comes to Advancing Women in OrganizationsBy Steven P. Manfredi

“ CEOs have … plans that are designed to

move revenues, profits and stock price,

so why not a plan that quantifies how

many female leaders are going to be in

the C-Suite?”

There was a time when you could get along with a homogeneous workforce.

But that’s not possible today.

Diversity and inclusion is the right thing. It’s a business imperative. And it’s critical to growing a business. Everyone wants the very best talent, and, to get it, you have to widen your sights in ways that weren’t necessary a generation ago.

I see many rooms full of women supporting women at best practices forums, and I real-ize that women cannot advance into mean-ingful leadership roles without the support of the current male leaders in organizations. Men are essential to the process, to making this happen.

Many of the men I talk with will acknowledge the advantages we’ve had as guys in com-panies and firms.

But they also get defensive when they’re not recognized for the sacrifices they’ve made along the way. I think we need to get to a place where men can safely understand that no one is questioning their hard work and long-term career commitment.

And I believe that women can play a constructive and sensitive role in this conversation.

So, we’re now good with the “why” – why it makes sense to include and advance women in leadership roles.

The question is “how” – how do we do this? No one is coaching men how to provide candid feedback to women, for example, or how to open the right doors for women.

In the end, it comes down to putting yourself in each other’s shoes. That means acknowl-edging the differences openly and honestly between men and women, even if it makes us uncomfortable. We have to do this in order to build trust between men and women in the workplace.

There’s other hard stuff that has to be done, too.

Like building informal networks and relat-ionships between men and women outside of work, where so much socializing and bonding goes on. Most of the guys have traditionally done this at a golf club, or at a ball game. We have to come up with new ways to do this, new approaches that will include women in comfortable ways. And this is going to take some time.

I’ve often sat in a meeting in a conference room, and there’s been one woman at the table. I wonder to myself, “What does it feel like to be her?” And then I ask myself what it would feel like for me if I was the only white guy at the table.

So, increasingly, I’m actually asking the woman at the table how it feels. I’m trying to acknowledge the differences and the disparities.

But I’m still cautious, and I’m still not com-pletely there. Hopefully, though, this will change and get better over time for all of us.

Stephen DelVecchio is a Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). He has held numerous positions in both client service and firm management at PwC. Most recently, he served as the Global Leader of the Systems and Process Assurance practice. The practice has over 6,000 professionals worldwide, many of them industry specialists, and provides services designed to identify, assess and manage complex risk and control issues across the enterprise – whether they are strategic, financial, systems or operational in nature. Prior to this appointment, he ran PwC’s Risk Management practice in the Northeast Region. A graduate of Bentley, he is a Certified Public Accountant and has over 30 years of experience as a consultant and business advisor.

Men Need to Understand How to Include and Advance Women in an Organization By Stephen DelVecchio

“ I’ve often sat in a meeting … and there’s

been one woman at the table. I won-

der to myself, ‘What does it feel like to

be her?’ And then I ask myself what it

would feel like … if I was the only white

guy at the table.”

Unfortunately, most male business leaders are not advocates for including and advanc-ing women in the workplace. For many, it’s just plain uncomfortable. They understand the need to support and develop all employ-ees, yet when it comes to understanding what to do to support women, they just fall short.

I have the utmost respect for senior leader-ship and I believe the challenge that most male business leaders face today is that they have only conceptualized the issue of diversity and fairness, and its relationship to the bottom line; but just a handful of these executives have truly internalized this con-cept and put it into broad action.

There are several ways that male executives can internalize the idea that women leaders are valuable.

First, the customer numbers speak loudly. Women in the United States represent $7 trillion in purchasing power, which is close to the combined economies of China and India. I laugh when people call women a niche. Women buy or influence every major consumer product in this country, including homes, cars and electronics. On a global basis, women spend $20 trillion.

Second, some male executives are just great judges of corporate talent. Today, most successful women in business have had a male leader who saw greatness in a young woman executive and offered her authentic mentorship.

Third, in many cases, a sense of fairness and equity wins out.

And fourth, there’s a personal connection – whether it’s a working spouse, mother or daughter.

I find the connection between male execu-tives and their daughters to be particularly powerful. And, sometimes, I get results when I look a guy in the eye and say, “This is about my daughter, and your daughter – if we don’t advocate for them, who will?”

That’s one of the reasons I think we need to create a national movement of fathers who advocate for their daughters. That would be powerful and progressive.

On many occasions, I’ll be talking to a male executive about including and advancing women in the workplace, and he will turn to me and ask, “Okay, what should I do? How do I make this a reality in my organization?”

I reply with a list of five things that men in corporate leadership roles need to do.

They need to continually talk about the busi-ness case with their teams – the revenues and profits that women in leadership posi-tions drive, plus the strong female engage-ment data.

They need to deepen their teams’ cultural competency in order to understand where women are coming from. I think male executives absolutely should attend female employees’ resource groups. These guys have to be comfortable in their discomfort if they want to grow.

They need to maniacally manage talent; no team can afford to let a gifted woman go. And if women want flex time, for example, that’s what they should get. The female executives I talk to say that if they can get flexibility between 4 and 7 pm, they’ll work twice as hard for their organization.

These male leaders also need to do what leaders do, which is hold teams account-able by asking tough questions. Like “Why wasn’t a woman considered for that senior position?” Or “Why don’t we have more high-potential women on our bench?”

And, finally, these male leaders need to show up and demonstrate to their teams every day that women count and women matter.

That’s what an advocate does.

And that’s what we need to see more of from male executives in companies all across the country if we want to fully realize the poten-tial of our diverse workforce.

How Men in Corporate Leadership Roles Can Become Advocates For Women By Jeffery Tobias Halter

Jeffery Tobias Halter is a consultant, author and gender strategist, as well as the President of YWomen. His 30 years of business experience includes roles at The Coca-Cola Company, Procter & Gamble and Alberto-Culver. For the past 15 years, he has led a series of initiatives focused on senior leadership development, understanding the significant role of women in organizations and creating integrated diversity leadership strategies. He is also author of the book, “Selling to Men, Selling to Women.” A featured keynote speaker and a passionate advocate in the development of women in leadership, he currently sits on the Simmons Business School’s Business Advisory Board.

“ This is about my daughter, and your

daughter – if we don’t advocate for them,

who will?”

Having served as an executive for three Fortune 500 companies and run my own leadership development company for the past 20 years, I’ve worked with many talented executives and profitable organizations that have achieved tremendous success.

Unfortunately, a number of these same clients are suddenly losing market share or, at best, growing at a much slower pace. While many variables are at play, the primary cause for this shift in fortune is that these leaders and organizations continue to rely on the same leadership approach that garnered them success in the past.

While current leadership models aren’t neces-sarily “broken,” the reality is that they won’t drive success in today’s ever changing and always challenging global business environ-ment. The truth is that 20th century leadership models won’t work for 21st century organiza-tions and 21st century problems.

I firmly believe that successful organizations, now and in the future, will be led by fully engaged, balanced teams of men and women working together synergistically to produce extraordinary results. This is what I refer to as Integrated Leadership.

In my new book, “Make Room For Her: Why Companies Need an Integrated Leadership Model to Achieve Extraordinary Results,” I note that today’s leadership teams need strengths in all aspects of creative and analytical thinking to truly gain a competitive advantage. This leadership balance is what enables companies to meet and exceed their business goals.

Despite the benefits of Integrated Leader-ship, organizations are still not balanced at the senior leadership level.

We’ve been talking about gender (and cultural) diversity for years, and these initiatives look im-pressive on paper; but, in practice, we haven’t made the progress we should – even when multiple studies indicate that gender-diverse companies are 69% more profitable, have 48% higher EBIT, 10% higher ROE, and stock growth that is 1.7 times greater than the industry averages.

Building an Integrated Leadership team requires a holistic, integrated and sustain-able approach. It’s not about “fixing” women, women’s leadership development programs or diversity quotas. And it’s not just the responsi-bility of Human Resources, although they will certainly play a key role. Integrated Leadership applies to everyone. As a result, everyone – men, women and the organizations for which they work – must play a role in the solution.

In order to take a seat at the executive leader-ship table and create a truly Integrated Leader-ship team, women must assume responsibility for their own career advancement. They must look within and determine what they are doing or not doing. And they must understand how

they are holding themselves back. I refer to this as the “Sticky Floors.” Finally, women must map out a plan to achieve success in their careers.

Some specific things women can do: Rec-ognize their greatness by identifying and leveraging their value-added leadership style and perspectives that are valued in today’s marketplace; understand what’s important to them, how their career fits into their life goals, and what real success looks like for them; bring to a conscious level the negative assumptions and fears that keep them from moving on when their intuition is telling them it’s time for a change; show up with a level of competence and confidence that exudes their executive presence; and leverage sponsorship for advancement.

I believe many organizations have missed the mark because they haven’t invited men to be co-creators of balanced leadership teams across the enterprise. And, because men have been pushed to the sidelines, they have, perhaps, become apathetic about support-ing women. Yet men, who represent over 80% of senior leadership and corporate boards, are in the best position to mentor and spon-sor women because they have spent the most time in the leadership ranks. We need to tap into their knowledge, experience, insights and mentoring, as well as their goodwill.

That said, there are several things that men must do: Examine their blind-spots about women; coach women off their “Sticky Floors”; be proactive about sponsoring talented women and bringing them into the fold; and give women constructive feedback.

The importance of the organization and its top leadership can’t be underestimated in this pro-cess. Organizations and their executive teams must communicate and reinforce the business case for Integrated Leadership. They must also raise awareness about the different ways that men and women think, make decisions, communicate and resolve conflicts through programs that get to the core of stereotyping and help people explore their unconscious biases. To accomplish this, I recommend a systematic approach that uses the company’s HR strategies as a foundation.

It’s time for a leadership model that reflects the realities of the 21st century. The Integrated Leadership model is the catalyst for men and women to come together and leverage whole-brain thinking and human intelligence for success now and in the future. Better balance means better business results.

A nationally known leadership strategist, Rebecca Shambaugh has over 20 years of experience helping organizations and executives respond to critical leadership challenges and opportunities in the business environment. She founded Women In Leadership and Learning (WILL), the first executive leadership development program of its kind in the country. And, prior to starting Shambaugh Leadership, she worked for such premier organizations as General Motors, Fairchild Industries and Amax Inc. as a senior executive in the leadership and human resources arena. She is the author of three books – “Make Room For Her: Why Companies Need an Integrated Leadership Model to Achieve Extraordinary Results,” “Leadership Secrets of Hillary Clinton” and “It’s Not A Glass Ceiling, It’s A Sticky Floor.” Her company now partners with a cross-section of top-tier clients.

Integrated Leadership – Leveraging Gender Strengths For Better Business Outcomes By Rebecca Shambaugh

“ It’s time for a leadership model that reflects

the realities of the 21st century ... Better

balance means better business results.”

After spending most of my adult life helping companies develop more effective workplaces where rewarding careers are possible, I see a new world of work on the horizon, a more innovative, humane busi-ness world.

And yet, the issue of gender diversity, a key component of a humane business world that values all people, seems to be elusive in some places and progressing at a snail’s pace in others. For example, we still need to use decimal points to show progress in the percent of women on corporate boards and in executive suites.

More than ever before, educated women are entering all fields of work with leadership aspirations. We are also seeing a conver-gence of men’s and women’s attitudes about how work and personal life should co-exist.

The Millennial generation is leading the charge. They are demanding more personal life-friendly cultures, replacing the 24/7 nature of work, exactly what women have been seeking for decades.

While men in previous generations say they wanted more family time, they also felt bound by society’s expectation of them as breadwinners. The Millennials have been raised with the notion of gender equality and the expectation that all dreams are achievable, a powerful combination for igniting change.

If companies and their leadership teams don’t grasp the sweep and flow of these transformations, and the serious and immediate impact they are having on their business, then they soon will.

Companies in all industries simply can’t compete without these realizations. They must come to grips with the fact that the composition of leadership ranks needs to change to be relevant and win in the evolv-ing ecosystem of 21st century commerce.

Without question, women are going to change the culture of the enterprise as they join all levels everywhere.

I see two significant trends that this influx will precipitate.

First, the way of the future is that men and women will work much better together. Business has not fully caught up to this yet, but there won’t be the same kind of gender tension in 2025 that we see in companies today. There is already some evidence of this in more egalitarian societies, such as

Scandinavia, where both men and women are expected to parent their children while building careers. Career paths are changing for men and for women who are increasingly equal or primary breadwinners. Career emphasis can ebb and flow with life stages.

Second, both masculine and feminine role models will be more visible. Manage-ment roles and styles in organizations will blend, thanks to the tide of diversity that is sweeping in.

Feminine leadership styles, based on relationship building and collaboration, are surfacing and may hold the edge as global complexity permeates the walls of organiza-tions everywhere.

And masculine leadership – the traditional command-and-control model – will soften as technology keeps spreading, the amount of information keeps growing, and the speed of knowledge consumption ratchets up relentlessly.

One of the most interesting things that global context tells us is that the future in business plays exceptionally well to the collaborative and empathetic strengths of feminine styles. The business world is more complex so we need people with multiple perspectives working together to solve problems, see opportunities and identify risks to avoid.

But just because the inevitability of greater female leadership is on its way, it doesn’t mean we should sit back and wait.

No, companies simply cannot compete, survive or thrive today, unless they push hard for female inclusion and advancement. The best talent – whether it’s men or women – must be nurtured and given the chance to flourish in leadership roles as the world enters a new era, one of inclusion and civility.

Dr. Susan Adams is Senior Director of the Center for Women and Business and Professor of Management at Bentley University. She publishes regularly in academic and practitioner outlets, focusing on organizational effectiveness and professional advancement. Her current studies concentrate on career barriers that women face and the careers and leadership styles of CEOs. She also continues to co-author the Census of Women Directors and Executive Officers of Massachusetts. Her academic insights are enhanced by her consulting work with over 100 clients. She has served on and chaired boards of companies and non-profit organizations. And she is a former Chair of the Management Consulting and Careers Divisions of the Academy of Management, a member of the American Psychological Association, and a member of the Society of Human Resource Management.

Millennial Men Are Engaged in Ways That Will Advance Women By Susan Adams

“ The Millennial generation is leading

the charge. They are demanding

more personal life-friendly cultures,

replacing the 24/7 nature of work,

exactly what women have been seeking

for decades.”

This Is a Business Issue – Engaging men to advance women in the enterprise is, first and foremost, a business issue. Male leaders are in a unique and influential position to promote talented female executives into the senior ranks of companies. If men can’t – or won’t – make this a business priority, then hard-core success metrics for their companies will erode. These metrics include: future revenues and profits; recruiting and retaining the best talent; and engaging people so they’re productive and contributing to corporate competitiveness. There will continue to be a tremendous (and quantifiable) downside attached to homogeneous corporate leader-ship in the coming decades, because 85 percent of those now entering the workplace are minorities and women. Simply put, membership in the C-Suite must reflect this business reality in order to generate sustained growth in the 21st century.

This Is a Leadership Issue – Engaging men to advance women in the enterprise is a leadership issue, because CEOs are responsible for their companies’ financial success, and organizations cannot flourish without blended and balanced leadership teams that meld the talents of both males and females. CEOs must drive this business necessity across and through all levels of the enterprise. Women cannot succeed, move up and create full value for companies without firm, focused and flexible leadership from the top.

This Is a Commitment Issue – Engaging men to advance women in the enterprise is a commitment issue that requires unwavering corporate dedication. It’s critical that companies define what “Fully Engaged” means when it comes to male business leaders including and advancing women. “Fully Supportive” may not be the same thing as “Fully Engaged.”

This Is a Trust Issue – Engaging men to advance women in the enterprise is a trust issue. Males and females must set aside their respective gender bias and anxiety and find ways to create a safe corporate environment that will facilitate sensitive listening and courageous conversation. A feeling of emotional and professional safety will lead to greater mutual understanding and collaboration; and this, in turn, will lead to more women joining men in the leadership ranks of companies everywhere.

This Is a Management Issue – Engaging men to advance women in the enterprise is a management issue. Managerial teams in companies can take concrete steps now to implement initiatives that will impact the blend and balance of corporate leadership through programs, budget, people and culture.

This Is an Accountability Issue – Engaging men to advance women in the enterprise is an accountability issue. In terms of including and advancing women, companies should measure and track everything that maps back to meeting business goals and objectives. Hard targets should be set and hit. And an integrated scorecard should be developed and transparently distributed on a quar-terly basis. Finally, compensation should be tied to the advancement of female leaders.

This Is a Human Issue – Engaging men to advance women in the enterprise is a human issue. Companies have to be willing to feel comfortable about being uncomfortable as they address the issue of gender and executive leadership. In addition, they must be able to accept that there are different readiness levels within their organizations; and male executives have to be met where they are – whether they’re open to, anxious about, or threatened by rising female leadership. A concerted and self-aware effort must also be made to address blind spots as well as conscious and unconscious bias on the part of male leaders. Finally, organizations must understand that establishing blended and balanced corporate leadership is hard work, and immediate success and transformation is a rarity in this realm.

This Is a Fatigue Issue – Engaging men to advance women in the enterprise is a fatigue issue. Female leadership at the senior levels of American companies has plateaued; and the conversations we are having about gender and work today are the very same conversations we were having in the 1990s. This lack of progress has been draining energy and emotion – and, even worse, engagement – from companies. Organizations need to accelerate their efforts to include and advance senior women leaders before each gender gives in to weariness, and gives up the search for resolution here. When it comes to female leadership issues, men can’t check out, or merely check the box; and women absolutely can’t surrender.

The Importance of Engaging Men

www.bentley.edu/cwb