Last semester, I had to a TED talk for RCL. In preparation for the talk, we watched Ann Cuddy’s talk about body language and how important it is when presenting yourself. Cuddy talked about the concept of doing a “power pose.” I recently came across an article that discussed the capabilities that this has on helping women advance in the work place- particularly on those with their eyes set on CEO positions.
A power pose is basically standing up straight, feet apart, and chin up. This pose leads to a drop in cortisol levels and a rise in testosterone levels (for both men and women.) If a women does this power-pose, she will feel more confident and be a more assertive leader; because of this confidence, she would be more likely to be taken seriously (of course, so would a man.)
Today women can and do reach top positions, but in surprisingly low numbers. It’s perplexing that while women graduate high school in higher numbers than men and get placed in jobs after college/grad school in higher number than men; when it comes to holding high positions in major corporations, women are lagging behind. Only 26% of vice president positions are held by women and they head only 4% of the Fortune 500 companies (Forbes).
There have been many reasons put forth to explain why this is the case, namely motherhood and women earning less in general. Another explanation is that women start making less and at lower positions, hence the gap (Business Week). However, new research has also found that it’s not that women don’t have the desire to have high, well-paying leadership positions, it is just that some women do not even feel adequate to take the opportunity. The ambition simply is not there or was lost along the way (Forbes).
Just has Ann Cuddy mentioned in her talk, women are much more likely to doubt that they belong in the positions that they do. This has been referred to as Impostor Syndrome, the nagging feeling that the success you have achieved happened by some luck and that you are a “fake”/impostor (NBC). Also, women are much more likely to underestimate their performance while men tend to overestimate theirs.
Female leaders in the business community are also treated differently as opposed to male leaders. Women are interrupted more and are treated in a more biased manner if they try to negotiate for a raise (Business Week). When negotiating for a raise, women are more likely to be seen as pushy and unlikeable, thus making them less likely to actually get the raise. Women in power at corporations tend to be “hard-charging” and “ambitious”. As a result, they tend to be disliked by co-workers and peers. Men in power are also often described as “hard-charging” and “ambitious.” However, women are more likely to care what others think of them and be upset by this (NBC News).
Workshops that give women skills to help them navigate the business world have been set up through executive leadership training programs at business schools. Carnegie Mellon was the first to do this. Among many techniques, these workshops specifically help women learn how to negotiate for a pay raise without making them feel like they’re being too aggressive. When negotiating for a raise (or leading in general), women should be confident and assertive but also “relentlessly pleasant”. By having “an air of warmth” women can combat the perception that female leaders in business are pushy. Women also learn to own their skills and have confidence in them, this combats the “Impostor Syndrome”. The point of these workshops, regardless of what business school they are offered at, aim to make women more confident and secure in their skills and ambition. Power posing and learning negotiation techniques are useless if the person doing them is seriously unsure of themselves. As Ann Cuddy said, “”I’m not telling women to be like men or to be different from who they are now; I’m recommending they should be their best, most effective selves,” says Cuddy. “Why would anyone not strive for that?” (NBC News.)
While it may be unfair that there is a bias toward women in the business field at all, these workshops have helped many women regain their ambition. By tackling an esteem issue that has previously kept women away from reaching the top, perhaps in the future there will be significantly more female CEOs leading Fortune 500 companies.
Sources:
1.http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/how-close-gender-gap-work-strike-power-pose-n9636
2.http://www.forbes.com/sites/peggydrexler/2013/07/15/women-need-more-than-confidence-to-succeed-they-need-ambition/
3. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-08-13/how-much-is-the-ceo-worth-for-women-it-s-17-percent-less