NEW YORK, Jan. 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- What traits make a
good leader? It depends on who you ask according to a new report
from Oliver Wyman. Men and women
across all industries have different views on what a "good" leader
is – agreeing on only one key trait in their top three.
Men rank being direct, decisive and confident as the top three
traits, while women rank empowers teams, confident and
collaborative.
"Women in senior leadership positions remain elusive in
corporate America with less than 6 percent of female CEOs in the
US," said Terry Stone, a partner
with Oliver Wyman. "A major reason
is because women's leadership readiness is most often judged by
senior men who put weight on traits they find important, which
differ from women."
Given men dominate the C-Suite, only 40 percent of women said
their leadership style was reflected in their company's leadership,
compared with nearly 70 percent of men. However, the leadership
traits women cite are essential to a more inclusive culture.
The report titled, "Making the Invisible Visible," also
found:
- Results don't speak for themselves – Being
"results-driven" matters more to women than men. Women rank the
importance of results as third compared to men who rank results at
tenth.
- Qualified women are unintentionally left on the sidelines
– Women are not top of mind for new roles because they are less
likely to self-advocate, underestimate their own readiness and face
bias on whether they are willing to take on more work.
- Implicit biases and microaggressions are
exhausting – It's a tiring road, and many women
choose to stop fighting and opt out.
The report includes insight from some of the senior women
interviewed including:
- "Women begin their careers with a mindset if we do the best job
we can, keep our heads down, and have the right answers, someone
will notice." – Vice President, Healthcare
- "There was a regional opening and I said, 'What about me?' My
boss asked, 'You would travel?' And I said, 'Of course. Why would
you think I wouldn't?'" – Senior Vice President, CHRO, Financial
Services
- "If you're a man and you raise your voice or have a strong
opinion, you're assertive. If you're a woman, you're
over-passionate and aggressive." – Senior Vice President,
Healthcare
- "You need a reason to get up in the morning, believe your voice
is heard, and your opinions matter." -- CEO, Aviation
Over Mentored and Under Sponsored
What does help women breakthrough is sponsorship. In fact, 95
percent of the women interviewed mentioned having a sponsor was
critical to their success. Sponsors go beyond mentorship and lend
their personal credibility to advocate for women. Sponsors see the
big picture, recognize readiness and push candidates forward. They
also play a big role in helping women expand their networks while
building up the confidence gap women often face.
But a good sponsor is not enough. Based on the interviews, women
leaders who broke through had two distinct personality traits –
they are curious problem solvers and are extremely resilient.
"The business world defaults to a White male norm in terms of
perceptions and biases," concluded Stone. "This is not conscious,
but a result of one group dominating the culture for so long. It's
time to change the culture."
The report offers insight into what companies can do to change
their corporate culture including making sure inclusive leadership
starts at the top, treating inclusion and diversity like a
business, and investing heavily in sponsorship.
Methodology
This report is based on over 160 in-depth conversations with
senior women executives from the United
States and Canada, across a
broad range of industries, including healthcare, financial
services, procurement, and more over the last five years. It also
leveraged a national survey of 300 male and female senior level
executives.
About Oliver Wyman
Oliver Wyman is a global leader
in management consulting. With offices in 60 cities across 29
countries, Oliver Wyman combines
deep industry knowledge with specialized expertise in strategy,
operations, risk management, and organization transformation. The
firm has more than 5,000 professionals around the world who work
with clients to optimize their business, improve their operations
and risk profile, and accelerate their organizational performance
to seize the most attractive opportunities. Oliver Wyman is a business of Marsh &
McLennan Companies [NYSE: MMC]. For more information, visit
www.oliverwyman.com. Follow Oliver
Wyman on Twitter @OliverWyman.
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/opening-the-c-suite-to-women--oliver-wyman-identifies-four-key-barriers-to-overcome-301206973.html
SOURCE Oliver Wyman