Many well-intended people are compelled to ask why aren't there more women running Fortune 1000 companies, or getting VC funding, or taking our companies public? Surely, ambitious women would want to do these things, yes?
Of course women have something to offer companies. Of course we can add diversity to small businesses. Of course we can add perspective.Sally Helgesen and Julie Johnson point out that we often ask this question under the assumption that women in corporations want the same things as men do. And this isn't likely the case. In researching the reason for why women aren't well-represented in high corporate positions:
Our conversation kept returning to a phrase that each of us had heard from women who had either left high positions or were considering doing so: “I decided it just wasn’t worth it.” ... What does this mean? It means the women we spoke with did not perceive the tradeoffs their companies were asking them to make—in terms of time, stress, lifestyle, relationships—to be adequately compensated by the rewards offered in return. It does not mean that the women were unwilling to sacrifice their time or live with the adrenaline rush we all experience when we’re over-extended (or thrillingly involved). It does mean that they did not find their company’s traditional reward system sufficiently compelling."
I've stopped asking where are the women in these various "corporate" roles. While I'd like to hear about how any high-achieving woman broke through the glass ceiling, I've become more interested in hearing stories of women who don't have a ceiling. These women don't all run companies, or even work for themselves, though many of them do. Some of them maintain a thriving yoga practice while building their consulting business. Some work around carpool hours. Some quit their corporate jobs and are feeling their way around work that moves them. Some reserve an hour to bake cookies during business hours. Some don't have "jobs" in the traditional sense, but are creating empires of influence. They have managed to circumvent what we once thought was the only way to professional relevance.
You may think that the je ne sais quoi that impresses me is an ability within these women to multitask or take risks, but it actually goes deeper than that. These women have identified certain "must have" aspects of their lives and have built their work around them. These women are autonomous.
While there are women who reach the upper echelons of (typically) male dominated industries, far more reach the OUTER echelons of "corporate" work, finding our own unique niches for ourselves and then marketing back into these companies as consultants, suppliers, coaches, etc. What they want is not a space at the top so much as a space of their own.
Yvonne Divita recently wrote a spot-on piece about business media's obsession with addressing women in business via their proximity to the glass ceiling, and power lists like this one that focus solely on women in corporate roles.
The Women of the Fortune 500 are women of worth. There is no disputing that. They deserve our appreciation. They’ve proven that the glass ceiling is a window into tomorrow, not a limiting factor to success. Their hard work is worth congratulating, and yet… I can’t help but wonder what the average woman business owner has in common with them? I skim articles about these women and sometimes catch their TV interviews and other than the fact that they represent an ideal to work towards, I do not find their experiences or their advice helpful. They are as far removed from me and my needs as a college professor is from a kindergarten teacher. Both are educators, but in vastly different classrooms.
I would never turn away an opportunity to be recognized as a powerful woman, but I do question the value of these "Power" lists. At best, I can learn from them how women maneuvered in male-centric industries. What I'd really like to know is how women discovered their unique niche in the world and built lives that sustained their vision.
In his book Drive Daniel Pink identifies AUTONOMY as a primary motivator in the workplace. We don't all need to be starting our own businesses, or not working for others, to be happy, but we do need to be self-directed in our efforts. This is why we hate micromanagers, and why we glorify flex time (though even flex time does not guarantee autonomy if we cannot dictate how we use our flex time to complete a job). And while money is a factor in deciding to take a job or project, all things being equal, we prefer work that allows us to do a job on our terms.
Autonomy is really the key to unlocking the potential of women in business, whether they be in a board room or in their home office. Where are the women in business? Ask instead, how may we promote autonomy?
