Female entrepreneurs on how women can work together to smash that glass ceiling
Summers McKay, CEO The Optimist Daily
To break this glass ceiling, we have to move out of the “building” of traditional business structures. At The Optimist Daily, my partner Kristy Jansen, our Chief Content Officer, and I focus on building and embodying a Partnership Model instead of the archaic and soon to be dead Dominance Model.
It has been said that women often bring higher levels of emotional intelligence to the workforce. While many men also demonstrate emotional intelligence at the office, we know it is a skillset that gives women an edge. Kristy and I believe that this is one surefire ticket to breaking that glass ceiling and building a new structure. The following are three strategies we employ.
Find a partner you can trust - In order to show up on a daily basis as the best leader you can and elevate others, you have to get into a mindset of tactical, practical, and purpose driven growth. You also must release the emotional hindrances of fear, frustration, insecurity, and anger. In finding a partner to collaborate with, have real conversations, and express those emotional challenges prior to embarking on the business opportunities. You will also show up better for your team. We’ve all been in the meeting where a boss exploded at a team member, and at TOD we are committed to ending that cycle of “dressing down” or dominating any team member.
Kristy and I have a daily check-in where we work through any our own concerns before we ever bring them to the team. We address those emotions that can be a distraction from success, acknowledge their place, and identify solutions for the business challenges. We work through the fiery reactions and separate them from the practical and tactical requirements to get the job done. Setting clear high expectations for yourself as a leader, and then your team, offers growth opportunities for everyone and makes a glass ceiling a thing of the past.
Lean into the sisterhood - Acknowledgement that there is a sisterhood in business is required. Don’t try to play into the corporate competitive world of “the boys club.” It’s not where business is headed. Instead, look to work for companies and initiatives that recognize the value of a loose, collaborative structure. Sisterhood itself is about lifting one-another up and generating ideas and opportunities to raise everyone’s game. If you are a leader in your company, change the model to one of building cooperative relationships at all levels. If you are just starting in the workforce, find those people who want to help you grow and give them all you’ve got. Invite people at all levels in the company into project discussions. Be open to running dialogues and tangential ideas and discussions on Skype, Whatsapp, or Slack. Solutions and sisterhood aren’t siloed and ideas will come from everyone’s experiences. Leverage collaboration, open communication, and a sense of sisterhood into helping everyone achieve their greatest success. This expansive and collaborative nature of business is one of the reasons women are doing well in the expanding business world.
Be the role model you wish you had - Over the course of my career, I’ve had some exceptional mentors who helped guide my next steps. What I lacked however were REAL role-models to explain exactly how a woman could do it all. There was a sense that the women I worked for, and with, had a very clear boundary between how they could be mothers and leaders. The notion of “doing it all” became an absurdly terrifying high bar. I stared down my own first pregnancy at 41 and simultaneous promotion to CEO with some serious anxiety.
Here’s the thing. The idea of the perfect mother/wife/leader is hogwash. It’s a messy, disorganized, chaotic, dog barking in the background, working on your laptop from your closet while the baby plays on the other side of the door, wearing sweats and this morning’s oatmeal world! The pandemic has given us all the opportunity to abandon the notion of the perfect role-model and instead accept the reality of life. By showing up as the real you, abandoning the facade of the perfectly polished executive, and demonstrating emotional intelligence to your team, you will meet the very real challenge of being a parent, a leader, and a collaborator to lift everyone up.
As a role-model, you no longer have to pretend you aren’t dealing with utter chaos and kicking ass while doing it. Work life balance is a silly notion. Instead, accept the joy in the overlap, share stories with your colleagues about your family and your family about your work. We’d recommend this not just for women, but for men too. Let’s all be more human role-models and get everyone through that damn old ceiling.