The proverbial glass ceiling (a term introduced by two Wall Street Reporters) exists for many reasons within our corporations. However, has the path of self-made female entrepreneurs created an environment where there are no ceilings at all?
Many women have experienced pitfalls when it comes to growing within their company. Women only occupy less than 3% of CEO roles, but occupy over 51% of management roles (Northouse 2013). That statistic shows what has been known as a leadership labyrinth for many women. The labyrinth not only represents the glass ceiling, but many obstacles that women face when trying to move up the ranks. Some of the items brought up in the leadership labyrinth were:
- Human Capital – Women don’t always have the same education or work experience that would warrant putting them in a role about their male counterpart
- Gender Differences – Women who have Transformational Leadership styles tend to not be viewed as effective as men because they will succumb to pressures outside of work
- Prejudice – Gender Stereotypes that women should be masculine to be leaders, but not too manly.
To overcome these issues to move within and out of the labyrinth, women have created their own paths. Trailblazing self-made paths that have the recognition from Forbes magazine, these women are ultimate leaders. Billionaires such as Oprah Winfrey created a television empire that included T.V. and organic brands, as well as an academy for girls (Forbes.com) That all-girl academy will help spawn future self-made women to continue to move past that glass ceiling. Although Oprah was the only Billionaire female to crack the list, there have been 25 others since then making their mark in the areas of retail, construction, real estate and healthcare. Billionaires such as Spanx creator, Sarah Blakely, became the youngest self-made female billionaire in 2012 when her reinvention of the girdle reached unprecedented success (Kroll 2013).
There is an obvious gap between women and men when it comes to positions of leadership and the glass ceilings still remain. There is no limit to the ability of the entrepreneurs who can create organizations where more women can hold leadership positions in order to open up the pipeline for promotions and opportunities. The gap is slowly moving in a positive direction just as it is for diversity in the workplace (Northouse 2013). Therefore, women will continue to work hard to obtain the positions they deserve.
Kroll, Lisa (2013), Self-Made Female Billionaires, Forbes.com, Retrieved on July 4, 2013 from http://www.forbes.com/sites/luisakroll/2013/03/06/the-rarer-sex-the-self-made-women-billionaries-of-2013/
2010 Forbes.com LLC: Forbes 400 Richest Americans: Retrieved on July 4, 2013 from http://www.forbes.com/profile/oprah-winfrey/
Northouse, Peter G. – Leadership: Theory and Practice Sixth Edition (2013) Sage Publications
This is a great post and an excellent point you make about women breaking the glass ceiling by becoming entrepreneurs. In Fortune 500 companies, woman are seriously underrepresented in high leadership positions. The leadership labyrinth does explain some of the reasons why this is. To simplify, I think that high leadership positions require a significant amount of experience and education; a proven track record. With women entering the workforce later or taking time from the workforce to spend on family, has put them at a disadvantage of developing that track record.
Entrepreneurship allows them a path to enter back in the workforce and grow in leadership positions that firmly establish that track record. Here, the leadership labyrinth may actually help explain their success, rather than obstacles. They are creative in using their human capital. Having to work around family and other obligations, women have found creative ways to optimize their human capital be it in partnerships with others or developing business ideas that arise out of their own needs. For example, there are two soccer moms in my community. Five years ago, they got together to make candy as a fund-raising event for their children’s team. The candy was so successful, that they parlayed it into a side business, eventually growing it to a very successful, million dollar business that employs about 30 workers. All this in less than five years. They partnered with each other and capitalized on an idea that arose out of their desire to help support their children’s actives.
As far as leadership effectiveness, the leadership labyrinth suggests that relationships on the individual, organizational and societal level also create a disadvantage for woman. In an entrepreneurship situation, women get to design many of the relationships, rather than stepping into roles pre-assigned to them. Since they are the organization, they can create an environment where their leadership is firmly in place from the onset of development. For gender differences, in an entrepreneur situation, in terms of commitment and motivation and style and effectiveness, no one would question women are very strong in this area. The traits of negotiation and self promotion, may be still be behind men, but the necessity of women having to do this to grow their own businesses, is closing the gap
References:
Northouse, P.G. (2013) Leadership: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks, California, Sage Publications