When I left corporate for entrepreneurship, my father in law asked me, So what do you do? In the simplest terms, I explained to him that I coach women to develop their leadership skills, advance their careers, and teach leadership training.
To this he replied, Oh! I learned about leadership from conversations with my boss at the bar after work!
Several years ago, this wasn't all that uncommon. Men held the majority of leadership roles so coaching and mentoring happened informally - in the meeting rooms, at work check-ins, or even at the bar.
The good news, according to a new Harvard Business Review article is that women's leadership development programs have risen and they produce results including higher promotion rates, higher retention, increased sponsorship, broader networks, increased knowledge and confidence, and better understanding of organizational structure and processes.
This is important because there has traditionally been a gender leadership development gap. A DDI report, which featured input from more than 15,000 leaders, found men are 13% more likely to receive leadership skills training than women. Men are also 22% more likely than women to be paired up with a formal mentor or coach.
However, the article called attention to the downside of the rise in these programs. What they've found is that organizations can attempt to use training alone to solve the lack of advancement of women. As a former corporate training leader, I can tell you that training alone won't solve problems. Training coupled with changes in performance, people and processes delivers results.
The article recommends that when a talented woman is offered the chance to attend leadership training, make it a requirement that her managers to sponsor her for new — and appropriately compensated — opportunities upon her return.
This should include promoting her potential and performance when she's not in the room, nominating her for stretch assignments, publicly supporting women in senior leadership roles, and voicing support for her in promotion decisions.
PUT THIS IDEA INTO ACTION
Remember that advocating for yourself is important because we can't develop others to a higher level than we've developed ourselves. So, what can you do to advocate for the learning, coaching and support you need while also making the most of the experience? Try this:
WHAT EMPLOYERS CAN DO:
It's time to close the leadership development gap for women, and employers can take the lead.
Offer a standard onboarding track for newly hired leaders and promoted leaders including a mix of coaching, training, and mentoring.
Offer reimbursement if internal resources aren't available. When this is the case, an effective option I've seen employers choose is to offer a stipend to newly hired leaders so they can invest their development through outside coaching or training.
If you know your employee has enrolled in training, ask them about it in your next 1-1! Great coaching questions include: What was your key takeaway? What did you learn that could help us here? What will you stop/start/continue doing? How can I support your learnings?
WHAT WOMEN CAN DO:
Women can play a part in closing the gap by proactively asking for support and investing in themselves:
Inquire about internal programs or ask for a reimbursement to cover your investment in personal leadership development resources
Create support networks or advocate for programs in their organization to help foster leadership development and mentoring needed for new leaders, especially women and minorities, who may not have benefitted from as much leadership development training.
Communicate what you are learning with your leader and use this information to ask for future opportunities and promotions.
TRY THIS NEXT: What is one specific ask or action you will take to invest in your development this year?
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