In the late 1990s, with several decades working full-time in corporate America under my belt, I was introduced to my new boss at a small scientific company in Research Triangle Park, NC. Serving as desktop publisher (from secretary to technical information specialist) I managed the company’s proposal production department. If you were a secretary in the ’60s and stayed in the field through century end, you had to go through all iterations of word processing, magnetic card readers, MTST a huge machine with a tape on both sides, and more. Without display with the MTST (magnetic tape Selectric typewriter), you would transfer a document from the right tape to the left one having to ‘catch’ where the changes had to be made in between, on the keyboard. All the way through to the TRS 80 (Tandy Radio Shack) … the computer that stored information on an 8″ floppy disk, smaller floppy discs, floppy discs that were no longer floppy, and more. They got small and weren’t flexible. You by this time had to be a master of the craft of being a ‘secretary.’ I say craft as I also learned to write DOS batch files, teach computer-aided drafting systems (CADD) to architects, and more.
About five feet three inches tall and dressed in a well-fitted pantsuit, my new boss smiled and extended her hand which I took and shook. We talked freely and in a very short time, I recognized something very familiar about her. Her conversation included certain words that were ‘coined’ by a transformational technology — one which I had studied in great depth over time. When I asked if she had done ‘the work,’ she said yes, and that “the technology changed her life.” The best part was that since we spoke the same language, I could always be straight with her and not worry about being judged or evaluated on a personal level. We both had done Landmark Education programs.
Over the next few months, I marveled as I watched her fit right in with all the male directors and c-level executives sans one woman director in statistics. She seemed relaxed and confident no matter what she was doing.
One day as we caught up on activities and I sat across from her in her office, I had been itching to ask her something and because of our relationship at this point, I did. “How do you get along with all the men managers so well?” Her answer changed my entire perspective on women in business and became an important milestone in my career. She said with a smile, “I do what they do.”
She was right … she did. I watched her closely from then on and she seemed to interact as they did. They all had short bullet-point dialogues with one another. They shook hands coming and going and they all stood rather still while they talked. I never saw them socializing like their direct reports. They were short, cordial, and to the point. And she ‘fit in’ like a glove.
When I first learned the cold, hard statistics about the gender wage gap — how much more men earn than women for doing the same job, and by when the gap would close — I was in shock.
I began to think of my granddaughters and great-granddaughters to be, waiting to be paid what they deserve while being integral in the financial responsibility of their families. I realized there was not only something I could do to crush that gap … I was fired up about it! I have just the right training, experience, and skills to start teaching women what to do to begin crushing and squeezing the life out of the gender wage gap right now.
And if I didn’t, then who would? Our mothers and grandmothers … and theirs … took their risks on our behalf, stepped out in the face of adversity, and made a difference one woman at a time. It has to be done that way to make steady inroads in more promotions and better pay for women. That is precisely how we crush the gap early and turn the tables in our favor in short order — stepping out, taking action, and taking a stand! Being a Champion for others.
As you read further, see if any of the behavioral business skills mentioned could be affecting your own opportunities for growth in business. Few women have mastered them all, however. It’s about learning, mastering, then habitualizing one skill at a time, at your own pace, which ultimately keeps you inspired and engaged, bringing you one step closer to success. You may feel the laughter of recognition swelling in your smile as things begin to get very clear for you … and you know what to do next.
After 45 years in corporate and 20 years in professional development, it was very clear to me that most women are invisible — not seen or heard by business leaders, both men and women. Being invisible yields lack of credibility. And not being seen or heard gives us almost no opportunity for advancement.
When I held the position of document production supervisor for a company in the healthcare industry, I noticed two small things over the 5 years I worked there.
- While our department was the last pair of eyes on huge proposals (thousands of pages) that had to arrive picture-perfect by a certain time or date (or would end up in the trash), and I ran it effectively, there was no ‘step up’ for me in the organization — no place for me to ‘go.’ No path to director or executive level. I was stuck there or I could choose to leave.
- Small yet telling … after securing an 8 figure contract, the company did ample expansion with window offices around the whole floor. Every single person that had direct reports was assigned a window office, except … you guessed it … me. I had 4 direct reports and was not even considered. When I brought this up to my supervisor, I did get the window office. The point here for me was that it wasn’t even a ‘thought’ in anyone’s mind. That’s invisibility.
During the dot.com era while working for a small tech startup, a coup ensued (not atypical then) during a Board meeting which I attended by phone. When an attendee in the meeting asked about my position, the board member in charge told them all “her services are no longer needed.” For about 10 seconds my blood began to boil and then something magical happened. I did a 180 in my thinking and said to myself, “I don’t want to be where I am not wanted. I have excellent skills and I want to be working with people who appreciate what I bring to the table.”
Women are invisible in business, therefore not credible, and passed over for deserved opportunities for advancement.
Isn’t it time for you to be visible, credible, and enjoy opportunities for advancement? I say YES, it is time!
Were you at all surprised that women are earning far less than men? No? I didn’t think so.
It has been this way since I can remember when my mother’s part-time job for ‘pin’ or ‘mad’ money in the late ’50s and early ’60s, turned into a full-time job in the ’70s, and by the ’80s, all her wages were required to support the household. Earning less is frustrating for you — today’s working woman. You are challenged to make ends meet, you may well be ‘doing it all’ on your own, and you live longer, paying more for insurance.
Business success today has its own personality .. and you likely guessed that — it is male. It made perfect sense to me when I realized for the past 200 generations or so since we began recording history, that history was recorded and read by men, and then the virtues and timeless principles recorded were practiced by men in business, consistently and repeatedly over time, until their way of doing things effectively, simply set the landscape for success in business. It became automatic — a habit.
During that same 200 generations of course women were developing their own unique skills including leadership, collaboration, and peacemaking.
If we had had the luxury of declaring ‘in 5 years we’ll go into business,’ between now and then, we could learn the skills required to be as successful as our male counterparts before we even started! No. We’re already in the thick of it. And most of us are like fish out of water in business
I suspect men becoming ‘house husbands’ while their wives work, experience the same fish-out-of-water experience, as their inherent skills are not very useful in successful home management.
Men are unaware of the source of their own influence in business as they are a collection of inherent and hidden habits.
