{"id":48161,"date":"2025-01-09T12:52:52","date_gmt":"2025-01-09T17:52:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ccl.org\/?post_type=articles&p=48161"},"modified":"2025-05-08T06:55:07","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T10:55:07","slug":"heres-how-propel-women-in-c-suite","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/www.ccl.org\/articles\/leading-effectively-articles\/heres-how-propel-women-in-c-suite\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s How to Propel More Women Into the C-Suite"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/h2>\n

The proportion of women in the C-suite seems to have stalled. Women outnumber men at almost every educational level, and make up about half the workforce in most countries, but hold just 29% of senior management roles<\/a> and represent only 10% of Fortune 500 CEOs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Why are there so few women in the C-suite? Why do so many talented women leaders struggle to advance to the upper tiers of their organizations?<\/p>\n

There isn\u2019t one simple answer to this question.<\/p>\n

There are many factors that have long been holding back women\u2019s advancement to the C-suite \u2014 from gender bias, double standards, and lack of equal opportunities, to inflexible organizational cultures and talent management practices.<\/p>\n

In addition, research has found<\/a> what many of us might intuit: women are often hired based on their experience and accomplishments, while men are frequently hired based on their potential.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Our former President & CEO John Ryan used to tell this story:<\/p>\n

During my days as a higher education administrator, I asked a very talented deputy to develop a list of candidates for a senior executive role that had just opened.<\/p>\n

She came back with excellent recommendations. There was just one problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you put yourself on this list?\u201d I asked her. \u201cYou\u2019re more than qualified.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said she didn\u2019t think she was the right fit. I asked her why.<\/p>\n

She said she didn\u2019t have all the necessary experience for the job. But, in looking at their resumes, it was clear that none of the candidates were perfectly qualified. Almost no one ever is.<\/p>\n

We had several more conversations in the days that followed. And after confirming that this job aligned well with her career goals along with a bit more convincing from colleagues, my deputy ultimately ended up in that senior role, and she has since advanced into even higher ones.<\/p>\n

The truth is, I was looking for both <\/em>experience and <\/em>potential for this role \u2014 and she had the best mix.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

However, not enough stories involving talented women leaders end this way.<\/p>\n

This puts women leaders in the position of constantly having to prove their readiness and ability, while their male colleagues are promoted faster, sometimes despite having fewer qualifications.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not surprising, then, that the deputy who assembled that candidate list in the story above looked at her own experiences and determined they weren\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n

Having different hiring standards for women and men \u2014 whether intentional or the result of unconscious bias \u2014 is a serious problem, both for the women leaders who want and deserve to advance to the executive roles, and also for organizations that, evidence shows, will perform better<\/a> if they have more women in the C-suite, in board seats, and in top management slots.<\/p>\n

How Your Organization Can Get More Women in the C-Suite<\/h2>\n

3 Practical Recommendations<\/h3>\n

Here are 3 practical strategies, drawing on our extensive research on why so many companies struggle to tap the power of women\u2019s leadership<\/a>, for turning the tables and betting on the potential of women in the C-suite and at all levels in our organizations.<\/p>\n

1. Create a culture where senior leaders advocate on behalf of women.<\/h4>\n

Because women are less likely to raise their hands for bigger roles, and <\/em>are more likely to be passed over for men whose potential is perceived to be greater, bosses need to be much more proactive in helping women identify and act on potential promotions <\/strong>\u2014 and in advocating for them throughout the hiring process. Learn more about why talented women leaders need a network of champions<\/a>, including mentors and sponsors.<\/p>\n

Ryan adds, \u201cMore than once in my own career, I\u2019ve nearly talked myself out of pursuing promotions because I didn\u2019t think I had the experience. Fortunately, my bosses thought differently and didn\u2019t let me miss those chances. We need to do the same for all the talent in our organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, this is about changing organizational cultures so that everyone understands allyship<\/a>, particularly in support of gender parity in the workplace<\/a>, and senior executives are best positioned to lead that effort.<\/p>\n

\n

Access Our Webinar!<\/h3>\n

Watch our webinar, Beyond Mentoring: The Critical Need to Sponsor Women in the Workplace<\/a><\/em>, to learn the importance of sponsoring women and elevating them to more prominent leadership roles to leverage their talents and experience.<\/p>\n

Access Webinar<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

2. Offer challenging assignments.<\/h4>\n

Research has found<\/a> that women receive fewer stretch assignments than men. Yet to help women prepare to thrive in bigger leadership roles, we need to be deliberate about providing challenging assignments that broaden perspectives and build new leadership skills.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

These are the roles we call \u201cheat experiences\u201d for development<\/a> \u2014 assignments that are new, uncomfortable, high-profile, and carry some risk. Those types of experiences help us develop playbooks in our heads gained from practical experience that help us process information faster and make good decisions more quickly. The more mental maps we have, the more successful we can be as leaders.<\/p>\n

At the same time, avoid setting aspiring women leaders up for failure.<\/strong> Studies have also found<\/a> that women are more likely to get \u201cglass cliff\u201d positions \u2014 leadership opportunities that are high stakes, precarious, and have a high likelihood of failure. But women leaders, like men, want real<\/em> leadership opportunities to learn and grow.<\/p>\n

Organizations that want more women in the C-suite should track and regulate resources and support for stretch assignments (in the form of time, money, sponsorship opportunities, etc.) to ensure they stay consistent, regardless of gender. Effective leader development experiences need to be challenging, yet obtainable, with clear rewards for efforts and successes. (These are just some of the findings from our extensive research on what women want from work<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

3. Provide feedback, mentoring, and support.<\/h4>\n

Importantly, if you\u2019re going to offer challenging assignments, be sure also to offer support<\/strong> \u2014 through feedback, mentoring, and coaching \u2014 to help women leaders extract learning from their experiences and advance in their careers.<\/p>\n

Feedback needs to be delivered a lot more frequently than just once a year during annual performance reviews, too. Data suggests<\/a> that women tend to receive more vague, personal, and unhelpful feedback than men<\/strong> \u2014 preventing them from getting clear information about their performance that would push them to learn, grow, and improve.<\/p>\n

So be sure your organization is helping bosses understand the aspirations of women leaders as well as the challenges they face, and encourage constructive feedback and ongoing talent conversation.<\/p>\n

To help more women reach the C-suite, organizations must also help women widen their networks<\/strong>. Individual women may want to check out our recommendations for how to reimagine networking in a pandemic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

HR departments can help by setting a clear expectation that senior leaders will mentor talented male and<\/em> female colleagues, and by formally setting up programs for mentoring at work<\/a> to make available mentors and coaches who can offer fresh perspectives and advice. To make this easier, you may want to take advantage of our complimentary resources on sponsoring and mentoring women<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no reason to wait on any of these actions. Organizations need more women in the C-suite. Women need their organizations\u2019 support to advance their careers.<\/p>\n

So take some of the above steps today to help your organization reap the benefits of supporting and retaining more talented women leaders.<\/p>\n

Ready to Take the Next Step?<\/h2>\n

Help more women reach the C-suite at your organization by partnering with us for customized women\u2019s leadership development<\/a> and building an organizational culture that that helps attract and retain more women.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More women than ever are moving into management roles, but there still aren’t very many women in the C-suite. Why, and what can be done? Get specific tips for leaders and organizations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":48162,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48161","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","categories-coaching-mentoring","categories-belonging","categories-womens-leadership","audience-executives","audience-hr-consultants","region-global","article-type-leading-effectively-articles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Get More Women in the C-Suite | CCL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"More women than ever are moving into management roles, but there still aren't very many women in the C-suite. 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