Take action and empower female leadership in your organization to increase retention and profit in your organization. Empower yourself and your colleagues by embarking upon these 5 simple, actionable steps to improve your leadership and career trajectory.
Original July 2017; Updated November 2017
RSA Conference Exhibitor List 2024 - Exhibitors Data
UPDATED: 5 steps for Empowering Female Leadership
1. Karuana Gatimu
Chair, Women of Color Leadership Community
Principle Program Manager, Microsoft Teams Engineering
5 Steps for Empowering Female
Leadership
A co-ed initiative
November, 2017
2.
3. Tech industry struggles to create & retain diversity
of women of color say an
unfair environment was an
influencing reason for
leaving their job
36%
women experience unwanted
sexual attention at work
is the cost of technology
industry investment to attract
and retain diverse talent
of women experience other’s
taking credit for their work
$16B 27%1 in 10
17. Diverse organizations are more profitable
more likely to have returns
above industry norm
35%
For every 10% increase in racial
& ethnic diversity on SLT, EBIT
rises .08% in the US, 3.5% in UK
Is the percent of a diverse
workforce where increases in
employee satisfaction can be
measured
represents the percentage of
purchasing decisions women are
involved in.
15% 80%+10%
22. Passion
Confidence
Community
Determination
Mentors
Authenticity
Your Leadership Story
What makes leadership
meaningful to you?
Build over time. Small acts
equal large gains.
Where is your community?
Who sees you as a leader already?
How do you recover from perceived setbacks?
Who do you go to for guidance?
Do you have formal mentors?
Be yourself! Finding your voice is
essential to your journey!
Hinweis der Redaktion
Citations:
2017 Tech Leavers Study
http://www.kaporcenter.org/tech-leavers/
Kapor Center for Social Impact and Harris Poll by Allison Scott (study author and Chief Research Officer at Kapor Center
These words have been a part of my identity for as long as I can remember. Who would I be if I had never heard any of them? Who would any of us be? We can stop allowing these words to be used to describe us and our female colleagues but it won’t help unless we stop using them to describe ourselves. Our own internal biases must be identified and removed for us to truly rise up to the leadership challenge.
Male dominated environments have a way of reducing every initiative to a unfamiliar analogies or impersonal metrics. People need meaning in their work.
Your unique story is what makes you a powerful leader. Define your own word cloud. Ask other trusted advisors for input on what word’s they’d include. Then use your personal and professional story to inspire others.
Own your brand and decide what you’d like to be remembered for. You can craft this vision by investing time in those activities and sharing them with others.
Many of the women who want to leave tech are middle managers like me. They are exhausted with trying to be heard and all that goes with working in a male dominated environment. We must reach out to each other to provide a support network that can inspire these women to stay, lead and share their innumerable talents with the rest of us!
Reject the judgement that what you are doing is “not enough”. Pick one monthly or quarterly activity to consistently give your time to. Select people around you who are your peers or leaders to support. They are the ones most at risk to leave our industry. Yes, we should also mentor the next generation of leaders, but if we aren’t here what will that say about their chances?
Many of the women who want to leave tech are middle managers like me. They are exhausted with trying to be heard and all that goes with working in a male dominated environment
Most people are trying to do something about this situation every day in their own ways. Often they do not know they are engaging in positive behavior. When you see something, say something! Those who are our allies in creating a diverse workplace often are not rewarded. Call out this positive behavior to change the narrative and allow that to be an attracting force to your organization.
Engage men in the dialog as allies. Many men are interested in the topic but don’t know who to engage and are fearful of offending anyone with their questions. Open the dialog and your events (at least part of the time) to this co-ed dialog. We will not solve this issue alone.
Many of the women who want to leave tech are middle managers like me. They are exhausted with trying to be heard and all that goes with working in a male dominated environment. It is important to feel valued for what you do however that won’t happen unless you take a proactive stance and remove your own inhibitions about financial and promotion conversations.
How is it we earn less than our male counterparts? Because we still don’t talk about money with each other. Silence with each other kills our ability to negotiate appropriately for our role. Do not tolerate ambiguous answers about your career future. Most men do not do this.
Citations:
Why Diversity Matters
http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/why-diversity-matters
McKinsey & Company, Vivian Hung, Dennis Layton & Sara Prince, January 2015
Full Report Download: http://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/business%20functions/organization/our%20insights/why%20diversity%20matters/diversity%20matters.ashx
“Analysis of the data from the group of 366 companies revealed a statistically significant connection between diversity and financial performance. The companies in the top quartile for gender diversity were 15 percent more likely to have financial returns that were above their national industry median, and the companies in the top quartile for racial/ethnic diversity were 35 percent more likely to have financial returns above their national industry median.”
The show I co-produce with Zulna Heriscar to both drive adoption of O365 & Azure and train other women on how to produce their own stories.