women – leaders for tomorrow? julie o’neill, 15 april, 2003

Women – Leaders for tomorrow?

Julie O’Neill, 15 April, 2003

Why women make great leaders

A bit about meWhat is changing in the world of

organisations?What about women?

What about leadership?

MeCurrently the only female Secretary General of a

Government Department3rd female Secretary General in the history of the

StateVariously described as “hugely ambitious”, “tough as nails”, “always determined to break through the

glass ceiling”, and “always immaculately turned out”

Married, two childrenBComm. & MSc in Public Sector Analysis

CareerCareer civil servant since age of 17

Served in Office of the Revenue Commissioners, Departments of Public Service, Department Finance

and Social Welfare

Defining stint in Management Training & Development in 1980s

Assistant Secretary in the Office of the Tanaiste, Department of Tourism, Sport & Recreation

Secretary General Department of Marine & Natural Resources and now Department of Transport

“If you don’t like change, you’re going to like

irrelevance even less.” —General Eric Shinseki, Chief

of Staff, U. S. Army

“We are in a

brawl with no rules.”

Paul Allaire

“The period 2000-2002 will bring the single greatest change in

worldwide economic and business conditions since we came down from the trees.”

David Schneider & Grady Means, MetaCapitalism

“The corporation as we know it, which is now 120 years old, is not likely to survive the next 25 years. Legally and

financially, yes, but not structurally and economically.”

Peter Drucker, Business 2.0 (08.00)

The New Economy …

Shout goodbye to “command and control”!

Shout goodbye to hierarchy!Shout goodbye to “knowing

one’s place”!

2010 “Demographics”:

By 2010, full-time workers will be in the

minoritySource: MIT study (28-08-00)

“Strategy meetings held once or twice a year” to “Strategy meetings

needed several times a week.” –Meg Whitman, CEO, eBay

Forget>“Learn”

“The problem is never how to get new, innovative

thoughts into your mind, but how to get the old

ones out.”Dee Hock

“It is generally much easier to kill an

organization than change it

substantially.” Kevin Kelly, Out of Control

“There’s no use trying,” said Alice. “One can’t believe impossible things.”

“I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was

your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve

believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

Lewis Carroll

The greatest dangerfor most of us

is not that our aim istoo high

and we miss it,but that it is

too lowand we reach it.

Michelangelo

Message: Everything is up for grabs. Chaos = Opportunity. Always has. This is the ideal

moment for the next Giant Step for women.

“Greater opportunity for women is probably the

most significant gain for human freedom in

the last century.”Andrew Sullivan, The New Republic

“Tomorrow belongs to women.”

Helen Fisher, The First Sex: The Natural Talents of Women and How They Are

Changing the World

And …What a Future!

Still: The No.1 Untapped Source

of Leadership Talent

“On average, women and men possess a number of different innate skills. And current trends suggest that many sectors of the twenty-

first-century economic community are going to need the natural

talents of women.”Helen Fisher, The First Sex: The Natural Talents of

Women and How They Are Changing the World

Women’s Strengths Match New Economy Imperatives: Link [rather than rank] workers;

favor interactive-collaborative leadership style [empowerment beats top-down decision making]; sustain fruitful collaborations; comfortable with sharing information; see redistribution of power

as victory, not surrender; favor multi-dimensional feedback; value technical & interpersonal skills, individual & group contributions equally; readily accept ambiguity; honor intuition as well as pure

“rationality”; inherently flexible; appreciate cultural diversity.

Source: Judy B. Rosener, America’s Competitive Secret

“Women have many exceptional faculties bred in deep history: a talent with words; a

capacity to read non-verbal cues; emotional sensitivity; empathy; patience; an ability to do and think several things

simultaneously; a gift for networking and negotiating; an ability to take the long

view; and a gift for cooperating, reaching consensus and leading via egalitarian

teams.”Helen Fisher, The First Sex

Women’s Natural Talents and the New World of Work

Interactive style of managementProclivity to share information

Need to strive for group consensusDesire to empower workers

Comfort with ambiguitySeek win-win solutions to thorny

problemsSource: Helen Fisher, The First Sex

“The ‘Connection Proclivity’ in women starts early. When asked,

‘How was school today?’ a girl usually tells her mother every

detail of what happened, while a boy might grunt, ‘Fine.’ ”

EVEolution

“TAKE THIS QUICK QUIZ: Who manages more things at once? Who puts more effort into their appearance? Who usually takes care of the details? Who finds it

easier to meet new people? Who asks more questions in a conversation? Who is a better

listener? Who has more interest in communication skills? Who is more inclined to get involved?

Who encourages harmony and agreement? Who has better intuition? Who works with a longer ‘to do’ list? Who enjoys a recap to the day’s events? Who is

better at keeping in touch with others?”

Source: Selling Is a Woman’s Game: 15 Powerful Reasons Why Women Can Outsell Men, Nicki Joy & Susan Kane-Benson

For light relief read: Barbara & Allan Pease’s

Why Men Don’t Listen & Women Can’t Read Maps

“It is obvious to a woman when another woman is upset, while a man generally has to physically witness

tears or a temper tantrum or be slapped in the face before he even has a clue that anything is going on. Like most female mammals, women are equipped with far more finely tuned

sensory skills than men.” Barbara & Allan Pease, Why Men Don’t Listen & Women Can’t Read Maps

“A woman knows her children’s friends, hopes, dreams, romances,

secret fears, what they are thinking, how they are feeling. Men

are vaguely aware of some short people also living in the house.”

Barbara & Allan Pease, Why Men Don’t Listen & Women Can’t Read Maps

“As a hunter, a man needed vision that would allow him to zero in on targets in the distance … whereas a woman needed eyes

to allow a wide arc of vision so that she could monitor any predators sneaking up on the nest. This is why modern men can find their way effortlessly to a distant pub,

but can never find things in fridges, cupboards or drawers.”

Barbara & Allan Pease, Why Men Don’t Listen & Women Can’t Read Maps

“Female hearing advantage contributes significantly to what is

called ‘women’s intuition’ and is one of the reasons why a woman can read between the lines of what people say. Men, however, shouldn’t despair.

They are excellent at imitating animal sounds.”

Barbara & Allan Pease, Why Men Don’t Listen & Women Can’t Read Maps

“When a woman is upset, she talks emotionally to her friends; but an upset man rebuilds a motor or

fixes a leaking tap.”Barbara & Allan Pease, Why Men Don’t Listen &

Women Can’t Read Maps

“Women speak and hear a language of connection and intimacy, and men

speak and hear a language of status and independence. Men communicate to obtain information, establish their

status, and show independence. Women communicate to create

relationships, encourage interaction, and exchange feelings.”

Judy Rosener, America’s Competitive Secret

“I only really understand myself, what I’m really thinking and feeling, when I’ve talked it over with my circle of female

friends. When days go by without that connection, I feel

like a radio playing in an empty room.”

Anna Quindlen

“AS LEADERS, WOMEN RULE: New Studies find that female managers

outshine their male counterparts in almost

every measure”Title, Special Report, Business Week, 20.11.00

Opportunity! U.S. G.B. E.U. Ja. M.Mgt. 41% 29% 18% 6% T.Mgt. 4% 3% 2% <1% Peak Partic. Age 45 22 27 19 % Coll. Stud. 52% 50% 48% 26%

Source: Judy Rosener, America’s Competitive Secret

Top Management: the “rule of three”

Source: Judy Rosener, America’s Competitive Secret

My Leadership 25

1. Leadership Is a … Mutual

Discovery Process.

“I don’t know.”

Leaders-Teachers Do Not “Transform People”!

Instead leaders-mentors-teachers (1) provide a context which is marked by (2) access to a luxuriant portfolio of meaningful opportunities (projects) which

(3) allow people to fully (and safely, mostly—caveat: “they” don’t engage unless they’re “mad about something”) express

their innate curiosity and (4) engage in a vigorous discovery voyage (alone and in small teams, assisted by an extensive self-constructed network) by which those people (5) go to-create places they (and their mentors-teachers-

leaders) had never dreamed existed—and then the leaders-mentors-teachers (6) applaud like hell, stage

“photo-ops,” and ring the church bells 100 times to commemorate the bravery of their

“followers’ ” explorations!

Joe J. Jones Joe J. Jones 1942 – 2002 1942 – 2002

HE WOULDA DONE SOME HE WOULDA DONE SOME REALLY COOL STUFF REALLY COOL STUFF

BUT …BUT … HIS BOSS WOULDN’T LET HIM! HIS BOSS WOULDN’T LET HIM!

“A leader is a dealer in hope.”

Napoleon

2. Great Leaders on Snorting Steeds Are Important – but

Great Talent Developers

are the Bedrock of Organizations that Perform Over the Long Haul.

Boss Job One: The Talent Obsession.

The Top 5 “Revelations”

Better talent wins.Talent management is my job as leader.

Talented leaders are looking for the moon and stars.

Over-deliver on people’s dreams – they are volunteers.

Pump talent in at all levels, from all conceivable sources, all the time.

Source: Ed Michaels et al., The War for Talent

3. The Leader Is Rarely/Never the Best Performer.

4. Leaders … SHOW UP!

“The first and greatest imperative of command

is to be present in person. Those who

impose risk must be seen to share it.” —John

Keegan, The Mask of Command

5. Leaders … LOVE the

MESS!

“If things seem under control, you’re just not

going fast enough.”

Mario Andretti

6. Leaders Are …

Optimists.

7. Leaders … DELIVER!

“Leaders don’t ‘want to’ win.

Leaders ‘need to’ win.”

“When assessing candidates, the first thing I looked for was energy and

enthusiasm for execution. Does she talk about the thrill of getting things

done, the obstacles overcome, the role her people played—or does she keep

wandering back to strategy or philosophy?” —Larry Bossidy,

Honeywell/AlliedSignal, in Execution

8. Leaders FOCUS!

9. Leaders … Set CLEAR DESIGN

SPECS.

Danger: S.I.O. (Strategic Initiative Overload)

10. Leaders …

Send V-E-R-Y Clear Signals About

Design Specs!

11. Leaders Trust in

TRUST!

12. Leaders Make [Lotsa] Mistakes

– and MAKE NO BONES ABOUT IT!

“Success is the ability to go from failure to

failure without losing your enthusiasm.”

Winston Churchill (as quoted by John Peterman)

13. Leaders Make …

BIG MISTAKES!

14. Leaders … Out Their

PASSION!

15. Leaders Know: ENTHUSIASM

BEGETS ENTHUSIASM!

Brand Leadership:ENTHUSIASM RULES!

“I am a dispenser of enthusiasm.”/ Ben

Zander

16. Leaders Are … in a Hurry

17. But … Leaders Also

Break a Lot of China

Top-performing Companies

“Extremely contentious boards that regard

dissent as an obligation and that treat no subject as undiscussable” —Jeffrey

Sonnenfeld, Yale School of Management

18. Leaders Give …

RESPECT!

19. Leaders Say

“Thank You.”

“The two most powerful things

in existence: a kind word and a thoughtful gesture.”

Ken Langone, CEO, Invemed Associates [from Ronna Lichtenberg, It’s Not Business, It’s Personal]

“The deepest human need is the need to be appreciated.”

William James

20. Leaders Are …

Curious.

21. Leadership Is a …

Performance.

“Leadership is a performance. You have to be

conscious of your behavior, because everybody else is.”

Carly Fiorina

22. Leaders … Are The Brand

“Warren, I know you want to ‘be’

president. But do you want to ‘do’

president?”

Individuals (would-be leaders) cannot engage in a

liberating mutual discovery process unless they are comfortable with their own skin. (“Leaders” who are not comfortable with themselves become petty

control freaks.)

23. But … Leaders have MENTORS.

The Gospel According to TP: Upon having the Leadership

Mantle placed upon thine head, thou shalt never hear the unvarnished

truth again!* (*Therefore, thy needs one faithful compatriot to lay it on with no jelly.)

24. Leaders … Take Breaks.

25. Leaders Know WHEN TO LEAVE!

“You are the storyteller of your own life, and you can create your own

legend or not.”Isabel Allende

Thank You!