Women represent 50 percent of middle management and professional positions, but the percentages of women at the top of organizations represent not even a third of that number. So some people hear that statistic and they ask, why do we have so few women leaders? But I look at that statistic and, if you, like me, believe that leadership manifests at every level, you would see that there's a tremendous, awesome resource of leaders who are leading in middle management, which raises a different question: Why are there so many women mired in the middle and what has to happen to take them to the top?
女性佔了 50% 的中階主管和專業職缺, 但在組織頂端的女性比例, 根本不到 17%。 聽到這個統計的人會問, 為什麼女性領導者那麼少? 但我看到這個數據, 或是你們如果知道, 各個層級的領導人才概況, 你會發現一群為數眾多、 傑出的女性領導者, 位在中階管理的位置。 所以你反而會問: 為什麼那麼多女性 卡在中階主管? 她們若想再升遷, 要付出什麼代價?
So some of you might be some of those women who are in middle management and seeking to move up in your organization. Well, Tonya is a great example of one of these women. I met her two years ago. She was a vice president in a Fortune 50 company, and she said to me with a sense of deep frustration, "I've worked really hard to improve my confidence and my assertiveness and develop a great brand, I get terrific performance evals from my boss, my 360s in the organization let me know that my teams love working for me, I've taken every management course that I can here, I am working with a terrific mentor, and yet I've been passed over twice for advancement opportunities, even when my manager knows that I'm committed to moving up and even interested in an international assignment. I don't understand why I'm being passed over."
在座可能就有女性朋友 正面臨這樣的情況, 想辦法要往上爬。 「童雅」就是這樣的一名女性。 我兩年前認識她時, 她是全球 50 大企業的副總。 那時她充滿挫折地跟我說: 「我真的很努力想要增進自信、 決斷力和個人風格。 老闆對我的評價也很高, 『 360 度考績』也顯示 我的團隊很喜歡與我共事。 我去進修所有的管理課程, 我還有一個很棒的企業導師, 但我已經和兩次升遷的機會 擦身而過。 儘管我的主管知道 我很想往上升, 而且有意接下海外任務, 我真的搞不懂為什麼 最後升的人都不是我?」
So what Tonya doesn't realize is that there's a missing 33 percent of the career success equation for women, and it's understanding what this missing 33 percent is that's required to close the gender gap at the top.
童雅不知道的是, 對女性有所謂的 「消失的 33% 」職場方程式。 去了解這「消失的 33%」的原因, 才會消除組織高層的性別差異。
In order to move up in organizations, you have to be known for your leadership skills, and this would apply to any of you, women or men. It means that you have to be recognized for using the greatness in you to achieve and sustain extraordinary outcomes by engaging the greatness in others. Put in other language, it means you have to use your skills and talents and abilities to help the organization achieve its strategic financial goals and do that by working effectively with others inside of the organization and outside. And although all three of these elements of leadership are important, when it comes to moving up in organizations, they aren't equally important. So pay attention to the green box as I move forward.
若想要在組織內升遷, 就必須展現你的領導才能, 無論男女都是這樣的。 也就是你必須被認可, 有能力運用你的優勢, 再讓別人發揮長處, 創造或維持非凡的成果。 換句話說, 你要運用你的技巧、天賦、能力, 去幫助組織達成 策略性的財務目標, 藉由有效率的團隊合作, 無論是組織的內部或外部皆同。 雖然這三項關於領導的要素 都很重要, 當說到組織內的升遷時, 之間的重要性就不同了。 所以接下來請大家 注意綠色的部分。
In seeking and identifying employees with high potential, the potential to go to the top of organizations, the skills and competencies that relate to that green box are rated twice as heavily as those in the other two elements of leadership. These skills and competencies can be summarized as business, strategic, and financial acumen. In other words, this skill set has to do with understanding where the organization is going, what its strategy is, what financial targets it has in place, and understanding your role in moving the organization forward. This is that missing 33 percent of the career success equation for women, not because it's missing in our capabilities or abilities, but because it's missing in the advice that we're given.
在尋找、挑選有潛力的員工時, 可以爬到頂端的那種潛力, 和綠色框框相關的技巧和能力, 會比另外兩項領導特質 受到兩倍的重視。 這些技巧和能力 可以被歸納為 商業、策略性、金融的敏銳度。 換句話說,這套技能和 了解組織的前景、 組織的策略、 組織的財務目標, 還有了解自己在組織進步 過程中的定位有關係。 這就是消失的 33% , 中高階女性比例的落差。 不是因為我們的能力或意願不足, 而是職場建議裡根本沒這一條。 舉個例子給你們聽。
Here's what I mean by that. Five years ago, I was asked to moderate a panel of executives, and the topic for the evening was "What do you look for in high-potential employees?" So think about the three elements of leadership as I summarize for you what they told me.
5 年前,我被邀去主持一場 行政主管的會議。 那晚的主題是: 「如何挑選有潛力的員工?」 回想一下剛剛講過的, 總結出的 3 個領導特質; 他們說:「我們想找的人,
They said, "We look for people who are smart and hard working and committed and trustworthy and resilient." So which element of leadership does that relate to? Personal greatness.
是聰明、認真、投入、 值得信任而且抗壓性高。」 所以這是哪一項特質? 個人才能。 他們又說:「我們要的員工
They said, "We look for employees who are great with our customers, who empower their teams, who negotiate effectively, who are able to manage conflict well, and are overall great communicators." Which element of leadership does that equate to? Engaging the greatness in others.
要跟客戶處得好、 對公司團隊有幫助、 能有效協調、 可以順利解決紛爭, 整體來說要善於溝通。」 這又是哪一項特質呢? 和別人的長處互相配合。 他們就講到這,
And then they pretty much stopped. So I asked, "Well, what about people who understand your business, where it's going, and their role in taking it there? And what about people who are able to scan the external environment, identify risks and opportunities, make strategy or make strategic recommendations? And what about people who are able to look at the financials of your business, understand the story that the financials tell, and either take appropriate action or make appropriate recommendations?"
所以我接著問: 「嗯...那你們覺得那些 了解企業的發展走向, 然後知道自己能貢獻什麼的人呢? 或著是那些能夠 觀察外在環境, 找出風險和機會後 擬定策略或提供建言的人呢? 又或者是那些可以 看著公司的財務報表, 了解財報透露出的訊息, 然後直接做出適當的處置, 或是提出適當的建議?」 如果應徵者是男性,大家都說:
And to a man, they said, "That's a given."
「這是基本要求啊!」 所以我問當時台下的
So I turned to the audience of 150 women and I asked, "How many of you have ever been told that the door-opener for career advancement is your business, strategic and financial acumen, and that all the other important stuff is what differentiates you in the talent pool?" Three women raised their hand, and I've asked this question of women all around the globe in the five years since, and the percentage is never much different.
150 名女性與會者: 「在座有多少人聽到過, 要升遷的墊腳石就是 商業、策略性、金融的敏銳度。 然後其他的那些能力, 都只是加分用的?」 只有 3 個人舉手。 然後我這 5 年間, 問過全球各地的女性, 知道的人少得可憐。 大家都不知道?
So this is obvious, right? But how can it be? Well, there are primarily three reasons that there's this missing 33 percent in the career success advice given to women? When organizations direct women toward resources that focus on the conventional advice that we've been hearing for over 40 years, there's a notable absence of advice that relates to business, strategic and financial acumen. Much of the advice is emphasizing personal actions that we need to take, like become more assertive, become more confident, develop your personal brand, things that Tonya's been working on, and advice about working with other people, things like learn to self-promote, get a mentor, enhance your network, and virtually nothing said about the importance of business, strategic and financial acumen. This doesn't mean that this advice is unimportant. What it means is that this is advice that's absolutely essential for breaking through from career start to middle management, but it's not the advice that gets women to break through from the middle, where we're 50 percent, to senior and executive positions. And this is why conventional advice to women in 40 years hasn't closed the gender gap at the top and won't close it.
但怎麼會這樣呢? 主要有 3 個原因, 想成功的女性不知道 有所謂的「消失的 33%」。 當組織要提供女性指導時, 聽到的都是一些古板的建議, 講超過 40 年的那種。 非常明顯地很少提到 商業、策略性、金融的敏銳度。 大多數的建議都強調 個人特質的加強改進, 比方說要更果斷、更有自信, 要發展出個人特色, 就是童雅之前想努力的部分。 或是教你怎麼和別人共事, 比方說要會推銷自己、 去找人指導、加強人際網路。 很明顯沒人說過 商業、策略性、金融的敏銳度 有多重要。 不代表上述的努力不重要。 因為上述的建議 讓我們能夠從 菜鳥晉身到中階主管。 但這些不足以 讓女性往上突破, 從 50% 的女性所在的中階, 升到高階或行政的位置。 這就是為什麼這些古板的建議, 被講了 40 年但性別差異還是在, 一點也沒變。
Now, the second reason relates to Tonya's comments about having had excellent performance evals, great feedback from her teams, and having taken every management training program she can lay her hands on. So you would think that she's getting messages from her organization through the talent development systems and performance management systems that let her know how important it is to develop business, strategic and financial acumen, but here again, that green square is quite small. On average, talent and performance management systems in the organizations that I've worked with focus three to one on the other two elements of leadership compared to the importance of business, strategic and financial acumen, which is why typical talent and performance systems haven't closed and won't close the gender gap at the top.
第 2 個原因, 是關於童雅提到的, 主管很高的評價 和團隊給的好評, 還有她努力去上的所有進修課。 你可能會覺得 她獲得公司那邊的 人才發展系統 和績效管理系統建議, 讓她知道發展 商業、策略性、金融的敏銳度有多重要。 但是你看,綠色的框框還是很小。 平均來說, 人才和績效管理系統 在我共事過的組織裡面, 以三比一的程度 強調另外的兩項領導特質, 而較不著重在 商業、策略性、金融敏銳度的重要性。 也就是為什麼之前的 人才和績效管理系統 不曾也不會縮小 高階人才的性別差異。 童雅也提到了「企業導師」,
Now, Tonya also talked about working with a mentor, and this is really important to talk about, because if organizations, talent and performance systems aren't giving people in general information about the importance of business, strategic and financial acumen, how are men getting to the top? Well, there are primarily two ways. One is because of the positions they're guided into, and the other is because of informal mentoring and sponsorship.
講到這個很重要。 因為如果公司的 人才和績效管理系統, 不能普遍提供 商業、策略性、金融的敏銳度 有多重要的資訊, 男性是怎麼升上去的? 主要有兩個方式: 一個是他們被訓練 要接下的位置。 另一個是私底下的指導 和支持。 所以女性的指導經驗
So what's women's experience as it relates to mentoring? Well, this comment from an executive that I worked with recently illustrates that experience. He was very proud of the fact that last year, he had two protégés: a man and a woman. And he said, "I helped the woman build confidence, I helped the man learn the business, and I didn't realize that I was treating them any differently." And he was sincere about that.
又是怎麼樣呢? 最近和我共事的 一個行政主管 和我分享了他的經驗。 他很驕傲他去年, 收了一男一女兩個學生。 他說:「我幫女的建立自信心, 幫男的學做事。 我沒有意識到 我教的是不同的東西。」 他說的是實話。 所以這個意思就是,
So what this illustrates is that as managers, whether we're women or men, we have mindsets about women and men, about careers in leadership, and these unexamined mindsets won't close the gender gap at the top. So how do we take this idea of the missing 33 percent and turn it into action? Well, for women, the answer is obvious: we have to begin to focus more on developing and demonstrating the skills we have that show that we're people who understand our businesses, where they're headed, and our role in taking it there. That's what enables that breakthrough from middle management to leadership at the top. But you don't have to be a middle manager to do this. One young scientist that works in a biotech firm used her insight about the missing 33 percent to weave financial impact data into a project update she did and got tremendous positive feedback from the managers in the room.
身為主管,無論男女, 我們有既定的性別印象, 關於職場領導能力。 這些沒來由的印象, 無益於減少高階的性別差異。 所以我們怎麼看待 「消失的 33% 」, 並且付諸行動? 對女人來說,答案很明顯, 我們要開始更加重視 發揮和展現已有的技能, 顯示我們了解自己的工作、 企業的走向、 和自己的定位。 這樣才會讓我們 從中階主管 突破到高階領導。 但不只是中階主管要這樣。 一名在生技公司的年輕科學家, 因為知道「消失的 33% 」的原因, 在將受財務影響的資料 納入她的研究計畫之後, 得到主管們普遍的正面回饋。 所以我們不必把 100%
So we don't want to put 100 percent of the responsibility on women's shoulders, nor would it be wise to do so, and here's why: In order for companies to achieve their strategic financial goals, executives understand that they have to have everyone pulling in the same direction. In other words, the term we use in business is, we have to have strategic alignment. And executives know this very well, and yet only 37 percent, according to a recent Conference Board report, believe that they have that strategic alignment in place. So for 63 percent of organizations, achieving their strategic financial goals is questionable. And if you think about what I've just shared, that you have situations where at least 50 percent of your middle managers haven't received clear messaging that they have to become focused on the business, where it's headed, and their role in taking it there, it's not surprising that that percentage of executives who are confident about alignment is so low, which is why there are other people who have a role to play in this. It's important for directors on boards to expect from their executives proportional pools of women when they sit down once a year for their succession discussions. Why? Because if they aren't seeing that, it could be a red flag that their organization isn't as aligned as it could potentially be. It's important for CEOs to also expect these proportional pools, and if they hear comments like, "Well, she doesn't have enough business experience," ask the question, "What are we going to do about that?" It's important for H.R. executives to make sure that the missing 33 percent is appropriately emphasized, and it's important for women and men who are in management positions to examine the mindsets we hold about women and men, about careers and success, to make sure we are creating a level playing field for everybody.
的責任都交給女人。 這樣也不是明智之舉, 理由如下: 若公司想要達到 策略性的財務目標, 行政主管也知道必須 要讓大家有一致的目標。 也就是說,用商業的術語講, 必須要有「戰略一致性」。 雖然嘴巴上這樣說, 根據最新的經濟諮商局報告, 只有 37% 的主管 相信他們有 「戰略一致性」。 所以對剩下 63% 的主管, 能不能達成策略性財務目標, 還是個問題。 回想一下我剛說的, 如果有 50% 的中階主管 不知道這些訊息, 不知道要專注在公司的業務、 未來發展和自我定位, 難怪行政主管對於一致性的信心 會這麼低。 這也是為什麼 他們會需要別人幫忙。 對董事會來說, 會期待每年看到 一定比例的女性主管 坐在會議桌上開會。 為什麼呢?因為若不這樣, 這可能是一個警訊, 代表公司的一致性 表現不如預期。 對總裁來說, 性別比也很重要, 如果聽到類似: 「她的經驗可能還不夠。」 就要問: 「那我們怎麼解決?」 對人資主管來說, 確定「消失的 33% 」被適當強調 也很重要。 另一點很重要的是, 任職管理階層的男性女性, 時時檢驗那些關於性別、 職業和成就的既定印象, 確保為所有人創造公平的環境。 最後讓我以童雅的近況作結。
So let me close with the latest chapter in Tonya's story. Tonya emailed me two months ago, and she said that she had been interviewed for a new position, and during the interview, they probed about her business acumen and her strategic insights into the industry, and she said that she was so happy to report that now she has a new position reporting directly to the chief information officer at her company. So for some of you, the missing 33 percent is an idea for you to put into action, and I hope that for all of you, you will see it as an idea worth spreading in order to help organizations be more effective, to help women create careers that soar, and to help close the gender gap at the top.
童雅兩周前寄 e-mail 給我。 她當時正在面試新的職位。 在面試當下, 他們考驗了她的商業敏銳度 還有對產業的策略認知, 她很高興地向我報告, 她現在的新職務 以後都直接向首席資訊長報告。 所以對某些人來說,「消失的 33% 」 是一個可以付諸行動的概念, 也希望所有人 覺得這是個值得傳播的概念。 能讓組織更有效率, 幫助職業女性合理升遷, 並且拉近組織高層的性別差異。 謝謝!
Thank you.
(掌聲)
(Applause)