Choice Post #4: Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders Video

TED.com is a site where you can hear great presentations and participate in idea sharing.  I recommend it to everyone.  The TED talk I want to recommend now is by Sheryl Sandberg and is entitled “Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders”.  In this TED talk, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg looks at why a smaller percentage of women than men reach the top of their professions and she has 3 suggestions for women aiming for the C-suite.

She starts out by saying that American business women are lucky these days – we have basic civil rights and some don’t.  We also have much more opportunities than our mothers.  However, the percentage of women in top jobs (at the Corporate Level) is still very low.  Out of 190 heads of state, 9 are women.  Only 13% of British Parliament members are women.  In the Corporate world, 15-16% of the Corporate Level jobs are held by women.  Even in non-profit sector where it is thought to be a greater percentage of women, the top jobs that women hold represents 20% of total.  Women also have a harder time balancing professional success and personal fulfillment. Of the top leadership jobs, 2/3 of the married men have children and only 1/2 of the married women have children.

She believes that the biggest issue is that more women need to stay in the workforce.  She then goes on to talk about what can we focus on as individuals – what we need to tell ourselves and our daughters.

#1 - Sit at the table – she tells the story about how women don’t push to get the Corporate level jobs.  They systematically underestimate their worth.  Men attribute their success to themselves, women tend to give the credit to others.  Men reach for opportunities more than women.  Women must believe in themselves, own their own success.  But we must fight the perception that women are not liked as much as men when they act in this way - competing for the top jobs.

#2 - Make your partner a real partner – women have made more progress in the working world than in the home when it comes to balancing career and family.  When both spouses work, women do twice the amount of the housework and 3 times the child care. We put more pressure on our boys to succeed than our girls. We must make working in the home more respected and help men to feel more comfortable in the child care world.  Couples who have equal earning and equal responsibility have less of a divorce rate and are happier.

#3 - Don’t leave before you really leave.  Don’t give up on the promotion or the new project just because you are planning to have children. Keep your foot on the gas pedal. You can come back to a better job.

I think these 3 ideas are right on target.  My mother told me about this TED talk and we listened to this together.  My mother is a manager in a Technology industry and she is always struggling to move up in her own profession. Women have to work so much harder for it. She thinks that Sheryl Sandberg addressed some very real issues and perceptions and had great suggestions for working women. I believe women need to be more ambitious. Women can have a career and a family if they want to and be fulfilled in both. They just need to have the help and backing at home and keep going after the job they want – including the really interesting, challenging, high level jobs. It is hard to leave your kids so you need to have a job that makes it worth it.  Women should have as much of an opportunity to have the top jobs.  They just need to take their success into their own hands (make it work), believe they are worth it, and find their own right balance of work goals and personal fulfillment. With confidence and belief in oneself, women can achieve great things.