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January 9 -
January 15
January 16 - Glass ceilings still exist and competencies for the future
January 22 by Peterson, Dawn - Sunday, March 5, 2017, 8:06 PM

January 23 - I wish that this subject came earlier in the semester, but because of its
January 29 content, I felt that I should respond in spite of the fact that Ive already
January 30 - completed six of the required five posts. As this classes only active
February 5 female member, I thought I would give my perspective on this subject.
February 6 -
Women in Leadership
February 12
February 13 I found this weeks reading fascinating because I could really relate to
- February much of the content, which frankly surprised me. I have been aware of
19 the term glass ceiling since my entry into Mary Kay Cosmetics. The first
time I remember hearing that phrase was when I read Mary Kay Ashs
February 20
story. David Gross tells her story like this:
- February
26
 Seventh Mary Kay ultimately rose to the rank of director of national
post - training at World Gift. However, in mid-1963 she returned
almost from a business trip to find that her male assistant had been
finished! promoted to a position above her. The slight was the worst in
Glass a series she had encountered at the company. I was
ceilin constantly being told, Oh, Mary Kay, youre thinking female.
gs And inevitably, no matter how hard I tried, no matter how well
still I did my job, I still found myself reaching the golden door
exist only to find it marked Men Only (Gross, 1996).
and
She left World Gift in 1963, when she realized that although she was
comp
working harder than her male counterparts and breaking sales records,
etenci
she was earning much less than were those male colleagues
es for
(Underwood, 2003, p. 30).
th...
February 27 Unfortunately, according to Ely and Rhode, Mary Kay Ashs story is still a
- March 5 current issue in corporate business today. They state that more than 90
percent of surveyed Americans are willing to vote for a qualified female
March 6 -
presidential candidate, up from a third in the 1930s. Yet only half think
March 12
the country is ready to elect one(Ely & Rhode, 2011, p. 412) and if you
March 13 -
look at the most recent election from 2016, you will see that once again
March 19
a man won the White House.
March 20 -
March 26 Although women are slowly moving into corporate positions of
leadership, they face different struggles than their male counterparts. Ely
March 27 -
and Rhode posit that a fundamental challenge to womens leadership
April 2
arises from the mismatch between the qualities traditionally associated
April 3 -
with leaders and those traditionally associated with women (p. 412).
April 9
Stereotyping is alive and well in corporate business. It takes on many
April 10 - forms but here is a list of a few; Asian women are likely to be
April 16 stereotyped as passive, reserved and lacking in ambition, and Latina
April 17 - women are frequently viewed as overemotional.self-promoting
April 23 behavior that appears self-confident or entrepreneurial in men often
April 24 - looks pushy and unfeminine in women. African American women are
April 30 especially vulnerable to such stereotypes, and risk being seen as overly
May 1 - May aggressive and confrontational (p. 416). The problem is that when
7 women do rise above the expectations and then fail or decide to leave
My courses the workforce for whatever reason, this reinforces the stereotypes that
women are less capable and have less commitment to the organization.
Learner Dashboard
Unfortunately for women, we tend to buy into these stereotypes and take
them personally, which then creates a psychological glass ceiling (p.
418).
$
While we snicker (or at least I did) at how Hillary Clinton dressed for this
ADMINISTRATION
last presidential run, it gives us a window into the difficulties a woman
Forum faces when attempting to be taken seriously. A man just needs to wear a
administration good will-fitting suit and tie that speak to professionalism. But for a
 Optional woman, its a whole different picture. If she looks too feminine, then she
subscription comes over as lacking competence and if she appears more masculine
Subscribe to with masculine traits, then she is ostracized and rejected. This is what
this forum Ely and Rhode call the double bind (or double standard) in the exercise
Subscribe to of authority (p. 416). What this means is that women face a trade-off
this discussion between competence and likability in circumstances where effective
leadership requires both (p. 416).
Course
Interestingly, recent theories of leadership stresses qualities that tend to
administration
be more in a womans wheelhouse. These qualities are collaboration,
cooperation and interpersonal sensitivity that make up what is called
transformational leadership. I believe its this type of leadership that
COURSE Senge talks about in reference to leaders in learning organizations
SEARCH needing to learn new roles (Senge, 2011, pp. 99-103). Meta-analyses of
studies involving thousands of leaders suggest that women are
somewhat more transformational than men, especially in providing
support for subordinates (Ely & Rhode, 2011, p. 416). But how does
Go . affect women wanting to move into leadership?

If women have these propensities toward leadership, then why are they
not in more leadership positions? Because there are ingrained and
unconscious biases that are hard to overcome. In a meta-analysis study
by Swim and Sanna (1996) they found that when women did well on
traditionally masculine tasks, the common explanation was hard work;
when men did well, the assumed reason was generally competence (as
cited by Ely & Rhode, 2011, p. 417). This plays a role in the development
of leadership skills. Lord and Hall state that to develop the deep
cognitive structures associated with leadership expertise, the leadership
role must become a central part of ones sense of self(as cited by Ely &
Rhode, 2011, p. 419). As we start to learn leadership skills, we first start
out as novices that do leadership and in this period we try on many
different styles as we find out who we are as leaders. We then move
from the doing to being a leader and then understand that this is who
I am. We begin to understand that others are important rather than
myself and that the needs of the organization are inherent in all our
business decisions. A personal understanding of identity and core
values is an important source of flexibility in applying leadership skills
(p. 420).

How does this relate to women in leadership? This is where it gets

really interesting. Research into identity development suggests that

among young professionals transitioning to a managerial role,

men relied on imitation strategies, which involved
experimenting with traits and behaviors selected from a
broad array of role models. By contrast women tended to rely
on true-to-self strategies, transferring to the new role
 behaviors that had worked for them in the past. Further
analysis revealed differences in self-preservation styles as
well. Men were more acquisitive, aggressively seeking to
signal credibility by displaying behaviors that conformed to
their firms norms [another good reason for strong company
cultures], even when they felt insecure, while women engaged
in protective self-preservation, modestly asserting more
neutral, uncertain, or qualified images in an effort to avoid
disapproval [remember the double bind women face] (Ely &
Rhode, 2011, p. 421).

During this process, men were able to build broader possible leadership
identities and were more congruent with who they wanted to become,
while women were still searching for the role models to emulate.
Women have fewer role models to help them build a leadership identity.

One last thought on women in leadership training I found interesting

was on how personal goals form the core of whats call self-systems.
There are two different types of goals. One is called performance goals
and the other is learning goals. Ely and Rhode explain them like this,

when people hold performance goals they want to demonstrate

a valued attribute and validate a self-image that includes this
attribute. This is both a private strategy designed for self-
reinforcement and a public impression-management strategy
designed for others. By contrast, when people hold learning
goals, they want to develop a valued attribute(Ely & Rhode,
2011, p. 423).

This becomes interesting when you take into account that those seeking
to validate a self-image will take on tasks that will make them look
better rather than those tasks that will foster learning. These people are
more likely to find new tasks overwhelming and bring anxiety because
their self-image or may I say self-worth is tied into their performance.
When a person with performance goals experiences difficulty or even
failure, it decreases the enjoyment and lowers intrinsic motivation.
Performance goals also lead to a more superficial type of learning, more
rote learning rather than true understanding. The authors state that
ironically enough, on difficult tasks, performance goals undermine
performance. Learning goals enhance it (Ely & Rhode, 2011, p. 423).
This becomes a problem for women because of their desire to appear
competent, they can tend to pursue a performance-oriented strategy, but
this can be difficult for women because seeking external validation for
an image that reflects the perfect blend of seemingly incompatible
attributesthose of a leader and those of a womanis almost sure a
losing proposition (p. 423). This is why for the Christian is it extremely
important that our self-worth is firmly connected to the gift of God in
the salvation of humanity.

The stereotypes are strong and current trends are still difficult for
women. Many of us have felt the sting of disappointment when trying to
return back to the workforce after years of serving our families.
According to a study by Columbia Center for Work-Life Policy, a quarter
of those who wanted to return to work were unable to find jobs, and a
majority failed to obtain full-time professional employment (as cited by
Ely & Rhode, 2011, p. 419). I wish I hadnt experienced this particular
statistic, but in my attempt to re-enter the Adventist education system, it
has been hard to find a teaching position. I was passed over for new
graduates even though I may have had a better scope and sequence of
our core subjects having taught them all at some point in the past. I
think that even within our church the stereotypes are strong and the
unconscious bias that a woman belongs at home plays a role in our
hiring at the top levels of church educational leadership. I think that
women will always have to battle these barriers if they desire to climb
into top management, but if they go in with their eyes open and not
allow the worldviews of others to determine their value and they let God
lead in their choices then they will become the leaders that God has
designed them to be. Not that it will be easy, but if God leads we must
follow even into the boardrooms of America.

Core Competencies

According to Nadler and Tushman the environment in organizational

design structure is changing. Because of the globalization of
corporations and the breakthroughs in technology specifically
communication, companies have to look to different organizational
designs. Moving away from institutionalizing stability and moving
towards institutionalizing change (Nadler & Tushman, 2011, p. 643).
Because of these breakthroughs, the need for change has increased
exponentially. Organizations must learn to adapt quickly if they want to
be relevant in the future.

Because of this need, Nadler and Tushman (2011) have listed what they
believe are six new strategic imperatives that will become important for
the organizations of the future. They are as follows; increase strategic
clock speed, focus portfolios with various business models, abbreviate
strategic life cycles, create go-to-market flexibility, enhance competitive
innovation and manage intra-enterprise cannibalism (Nadler & Tushman,
2011, pp. 643-646). Because these new strategic imperatives create
more challenges for the organizations in the future, they will need to
become proficient in the following eight core competencies; increasing
organizational clock speed, designing structural divergence, promoting
organizational modularity, structure hybrid distribution channels, design
asymmetrical research and development, construct conflict management
processes, maintain organizational coherence and developing executive
teams (Nadler & Tushman, 2011, pp. 647-653).

I think that the two challenges I feel are most important are the two
listed that speak to the organization as a whole rather than to the
strategic imperatives specifically. Because they have an impact on the
whole of the organization rather than a segment, I felt that these were
important to focus on. The first of these is the need for organizational
coherence. In this class Ive written a lot about the need for strong
ethically sound corporate cultures that not only espouse their values, but
actually live by them. According to Nadler and Tushman, this will
become even more important in the future as organizations with
workgroups find themselves loyal to their own groups and they
recommend that having shared values will drive their people to have a
common goals that will include the way people think of themselves and
their organizations (Nadler & Tushman, 2011, p. 652). An example of this
could be what Lockwood refers to as the commitment of the millennial
generation to volunteerism and that they prefer to work for companies
that offer opportunities to volunteer their professional skills (Lockwood,
2011, p. 206). Kanter states that values turn out to be the key
ingredient in the most vibrant and successful of todays multinationals
(Kanter, 2011, p. 695). Nadler and Tushman suggest that the so-called
soft stuff will, over time, become the essential stuff (Nadler &
Tushman, 2011, p. 653)

The second challenge I want to focus on is the concept of executive

teams. Nadler and Tushman suggest that its virtually impossible to
imagine how a single person, in the form of the CEO, could possess the
staggering combination of leadership skills, managerial talent, and
technical knowledge required to meet these assorted strategic and
organizational challenges (p. 653). They speculate that this task will fall
to a group of people who will have a broad understanding and who will
share a commitment to the organization. In order to succeed
organizations will have to develop a competency in the design and
leadership of executive teams, a collective skill that will be just as
important as the ability to design innovative strategies and
organizational architectures (p. 653). This shift in leadership theory
could allow for greater potential for the organizational design. It allows
leaders to surround themselves with those with specific knowledge
skills that complement the areas of weakness in the leader. It also
encourages them to look outside of themselves and draw on the talents
of others (Ely & Rhode, 2011, p. 425)
References

Ely, R. J., & Rhode, D. L. (2011). Women and leadership: Defining the
challenges. In J. S. Osland & M. E. Turner (Eds.), The organizational
behavior reader (Ninth ed., pp. 411-431). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Gross, D. (1996). Mary Kay Ash and her corporate culture for women
Forbes greatest business stories of all time (pp. 232-245). New York: John
Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Kanter, R. M. (2011). Transforming giants. In J. S. Osland & M. E. Turner

(Eds.), The organizational behavior reader (Ninth ed., pp. 694-703). New
Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Lockwood, N. (2011). Business ethics: The role of culture and values for
an ethical workplace. In J. S. Osland & M. E. Turner (Eds.), The
organizational behavior reader (Ninth ed., pp. 202-212). New Jersey:
Prentice Hill.

Nadler, D. A., & Tushman, M. L. (2011). The organization of the future:

Strategic imperatives and core competencies for the 21st century. In J. S.
Osland & M. E. Turner (Eds.), The organizational behavior reader (Ninth ed.,
pp. 640-653). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Senge, P. M. (2011). The leaders new work: Building learning

organizations. In J. S. Osland & M. E. Turner (Eds.), The organizational
behavior reader (Ninth ed., pp. 96-115). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Underwood, J. (2003). More than a pink cadillac: Mary kay inc.s nine
leadership keys to success [Nook edition] (pp. 189).

Sum of ratings:6 (1) Permalink | Reply

Re: Glass ceilings still exist and competencies for the future
by Brand, Jay - Monday, March 6, 2017, 2:20 PM

Dawn,

Well, we wouldn't want to be stereotypical and conclude that because

you're our only female participant, you did a great job with this topic!
However, for whatever reasons, you do provide an outstanding post! I
especially appreciated your contrast between sociological barriers to
women in leadership (e.g, societal norms, societal sex-role
stereotypes) and women's actual competencies and 'natural'
leadership skills (e.g., consensus-building, collaboration, cooperation).
It would seem that if we as a society, nation, company, church, etc., can
focus on the skills and competencies that each individual brings to
their role, rather than on our own biases, preferences and
expectations, we would become comfortable with women as leaders.

Perhaps you reviewed research in this regard as well, but I have read
research indicating that men leaders tend to not be as aware of
developing problems (e.g., within their teams) as women leaders. So,
women leaders act proactively to solve the problems and avert future
difficulties. On the other hand, men leaders 'swoop in' at the last
moment, after problems have surfaced, and 'take charge' - pushing
through decisions and solutions in order to 'save the day'. The general
impression left, then, is that men leaders can solve problems better
than female leaders, but the fact is that female leaders recognized the
issues prior to their becoming a visible problem and averted the
difficulty ahead of time. In a very real sense, women's competencies at
leading interfere with their ability to be perceived as outstanding
leaders - especially in crises. Women leaders avoid the crisis and thus
prevent the very situations that may have solidified their reputation as
effective leaders.

Dr. Brand

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Re: Glass ceilings still exist and competencies for the future
by Nanasi, Erwin - Tuesday, March 7, 2017, 2:24 PM

Response to 7

Id want to add a few comments to Dr. Brands reply. Research does

confirm that, Women are no less effective at leadership, committed
to their work, or motivated to attain leadership roles than men.
However, women are less likely to self-promote than men are, and
they are less likely to initiate negotiation, an important tool all
leaders need in order to access the right opportunities and
resources in both the professional and domestic spheres
(Northouse, 2016). Also, women are more likely to take on informal,
as opposed too official, leadership roles, and use terns such as
facilitator or organizer instead of leader (Andrews, 1992; Fletcher,
2001; Northouse, 2016, p. 403). In America, we certainly do take part
of the culture with stronger masculine values, which means that
Leaders whose actions display humility, compassion, or conciliation
are more likely to be viewed as weak and ineffective in a
masculine culture (Yukl, 2013, p. 366). Sadly, in cultures with
strong masculine values for toughness and assertiveness,
feminine attributes such as compassion, empathy, and intuition are
not viewed as important for effective leadership (Den Hartog,
2004; Den Hartog et al., 1999; Yukl, 2013, p. 367). Furthermore, The
gender gap in leadership is a global phenomenon whereby women
are disproportionally concentrated in lower-level and lower-
authority leadership positions compared to men (Powell & Graves,
2003; Northouse, 2016, p. 399). Perhaps the reason for that may be
that, women have less human capital investment in education,
training, and work experience than men (Eagly & Carli, 2004, 2007;
Northouse, 2016, p. 399). Lastly, Another gender difference that
advantages men in leadership is that men are more likely than
women to ask for what they want (Babcock & Laschever, 2003;
Northouse, 2016, p. 403).

When I am going through the The Essence of Effective Leadership

(Osland & Turner, 2011, pp. 421-422) however, I dont perceive these
qualities to be gender specific - do you?

1. Help interpret the meaning of events.

2. Create alignment on objectives and strategies.
3. Build commitment and optimism.
4. Build mutual trust and cooperation.
5. Strengthen collective identity.
6. Organize and coordinate activities.
7. Encourage and facilitate collective learning.
8. Obtain necessary resources and support.
9. Develop and empower people.
10. Promote social justice and morality.

Here I am, trying to put a brief response together and get all fired
up about this issue as I'm writing very likely due to my emotional
attachment to my sister, an educator (teacher and principal) that is
giving her best and yet still seems to occasionally be hitting the
glass ceiling

References

Andrews, P. H. (1992). Sex and gender differences in group

communication: Impact on the facilitation process. Small Group
Research, 23, 74-94.
Early, A. H., & Carly, L. L. (2007). Through the labyrinth: The truth
about how women become leaders. Boston: Harvard Business School
Press.

Fletcher, J. K. (2001). Disappearing acts: Gender, power, and relational

practice at work. Boston: MIT Press.

Den Hartog, D. (2004). Assertiveness. In R. House, P. Hanges & M.

Javvidan, Culture, Leadership, and Organizations: The GLOBE study
of 62 societies (1st ed., pp. 395-436). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Den Hartog, D., House, R., Hanges, P., Ruiz-Quitanilla, S., & Dorfman,
P. (1999). Culture Specific and Cross-culturally generalizable implicit
leadership theories: Are the Attributes of
Charismatic/transformational Leadership universally endorsed?.
Leadership Quarterly, 10, 219-256.

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los

Angeles, SAGE Publications.

Osland, J. and M. E. Turner (2011). The organizational behavior

reader. Upper Saddle River, NJ, Prentice Hall.

Powell, G. N., & Graves, L. M. (2003). Women and mend in

management (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Yukl, G. A. (2013). Leadership in organizations. Boston, Pearson.

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Re: Glass ceilings still exist and competencies for the future
by Peterson, Dawn - Tuesday, March 7, 2017, 7:45 PM

Erwin,

Well done again! I agree that list you gave was indeed gender
neutral, but you are right about something else. Women do not
ask for what they want as much as men. I'm not sure what
research say's but I would expect it to have something to do with
how asking in the past was received. If their experience was
positive they may be willing to continue, but if they were shut
down, they would tend to be more "protective".

I'm glad you are learning about this. Maybe you can pass on tips
to your sister on what you are learning! Being passionate is
good! It will make you a better leader when you recognize the
struggles of others.

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Re: Glass ceilings still exist and competencies for the future
by Wari, Gilbert - Wednesday, March 22, 2017, 9:07 PM

Reply to Dawn Peterson about her Glass ceilings still exist and
competencies for the future

Thanks a lot, Dawn, for sharing this posting with us even though you
had already completed your required quota. Let me tell you, if you had
not said anything about this topic, I would have felt uncomfortable,
particularly you as a woman and a leader for that matter. Thanks a lot.

I fully agree with you and sympathize with you all concerning the
stereotypes women endure in this human society. I also understand
what Ely and Rhode call double bind (or double standard) in the
exercise of authority, that is women face a trade-off between
competence and likability in circumstances where effective leadership
require both. In fact, Rick Nauert (2013, June 5) says that women
suffer two primary forms of prejudice. Women are viewed as less
qualified or natural in most leadership roles, the research shows, and
secondly, when women adopt culturally masculine behaviors often
required by these roles, they may be viewed as inappropriate or
presumptuous. For instance, according to Neela Bettridge (2013, April
24), late Margaret Thatcher was often accused of being too masculine.
That is probably why many people (Journalists in particular) used to
call her Iron Lady. Indeed, as you rightly said, stereotypes are still
strong and current trends are still difficult for women to endure. My
personal experience when I was in leadership can demonstrate it
clearly. As a matter of fact, before my election, there was only one lady
at leadership position in our organization. When I became president
(CEO as some would say) by the grace of God, I appointed three
women in leadership positions. The news spread all over the place
that the President had filled the positions with women. We were
about twenty in leadership positions (officers, departmental directors
and associates). To have only three women in that group was a
problem. That is something we need to change absolutely. It cannot
carry on like that.

I found very interesting what Nadler and Tushman (2011)said about

moving away from institutionalizing stability and moving towards
institutionalizing change, and that organizations must learn to adapt
quickly if they want to be relevant in the future (with the list of
various business and leadership models.
The idea of leaders not only espousing their values, but actually
living by them in a very fascinating one. That is all about leadership.
All theories may be exposed and multiplied but leadership by living
the vision and the mission cannot be challenged nor can it be
replaced anyhow.

Finally, quoting Nadler and Tushman, it is said that it is virtually

impossible to imagine how a single person, in the form of the CEO,
could possess the staggering combination of leadership skills,
managerial talent, and technical knowledge required to meet these
assorted strategic and organizational challenges. May I suggest that
even if such a person existed and could have all these leadership
capabilities, such a leader would be worn out. Either he/she would die
of too much work to do or he/she would be so much overwhelmed
that she/he would end up doing nothing or little because of the so
many needs pressurizing her/him from every side. We still remember
the most talented, skilled Moses who ended up listening to the piece
of advice his father-in-law, Jethro, and he had to reorganize the nation
of Israel and have associates (leaders of 1,000, 500, 100, 50, 10). ONE
CANT BE IT ALL AND HAVE IT ALL!

Reference

Bettridge, N. Women in Leadership: Breaking Free of Stereotypes.

Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/neela-
bettridge/women-in-leadership-break_b_3139183.html.

Nauert, R.Stereotypes Still Keep Women from Leadership Roles.

Retrieved from
https://psychcentral.com/news/2011/07/14/stereotypes-still-keep-
women-from-leadership-roles/27744.html?fb_xd_fragment.

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Re: Glass ceilings still exist and competencies for the future
by Peterson, Dawn - Thursday, March 23, 2017, 11:52 AM

Gilbert,

Wow I really liked your reference to Jethro's advice to Moses! I

hadn't thought about that in relationship to that statement that a
good leader cannot be the best at all aspects of leadership and that
it takes a well organized team. Thanks for the biblical reference for
that framework!

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 Re: Glass ceilings still exist and competencies for the future
by Wari, Gilbert - Thursday, March 23, 2017, 1:50 PM

Thanks a lot, Dawn. It is nice to belong to our class. Blessings.

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