Women leaders, it’s time to own our part of the problem

I am humbled and honored to take the stage this week to give my keynote address at our Women in Leadership Institute^™. Those of you who know me know that the work I do at Linkage is very near and dear to me and my personal mission to help leaders step in to lead their best life.

I look forward to a time when there is no need to differentially invest in the development of women. A time when organizational leadership and the makeup of all leaders in an organization roughly matches the percentage of women and men in the world. I don’t want this to take until my great-, great-, great-granddaughters wonder what the “women’s leadership fuss” was all about. But it will.

Unless we do two things: 1) fearlessly address the people and processes inside our organizations that keep women from advancing, and 2) own our part of the problem.

If we own our part, here is what we will do. We will:

• Believe that we provide unique value
• Find our own personal narrative
• Share responsibility by letting others do the work too
• Clarify what we want and ask for it
• Make relationship building a priority
• Own the barriers that we create for ourselves

We have the unique opportunity to influence the future generations that will follow us. And, we need to get started right away.

To do our part, we need education, inspiration from those who have learned how, and continuous support to make these practices a natural part of how we show up every day. I would be happy if I never heard these real quotes again from women who work at the best organizations in the world: “Why did they select me? I’m nothing special…” “I have no idea what people say about me.” “I don’t have time to delegate.” “I don’t know what my next professional step is.” “I can’t ask for that!” “It’s the system, and there is absolutely nothing I can do.”

Unfortunately, I hear them all the time. Through our work with over 3,000 leaders responsible for talent in half of the Fortune 500, and data from 1,500 Women in Leadership Assessments, we’ve found seven common hurdles that women face as they ascend the leadership ranks. They include: Confidence, Branding & Presence, Ambivalence, Networking, Making the Ask, Proving Our Value, and Bias.

The good news is, with practice and purposeful intention, these hurdles can be crossed skillfully and even triumphantly. The first step is understanding and awareness. I join you as a fellow traveler on this journey. In this short video clip, we share the seven hurdles and how you can shift your thinking—starting now.

By sharing my own stories and some practical exercises that have helped shape my thinking along the way, my hope is that you will: 1) feel like you are not alone on this journey, and 2) use the information that I provide to build a better future. Together, we can (and will) make a difference.

If you can’t join us at the Institute in Dallas this week, take a minute to follow the action on Twitter (#LinkageWIL).