These perceptions can hold women back. We cannot just tell women that if they want to take their place at the top of their organizations they need to follow the patterns of their male colleagues says coauthor Kolb. And without women in high places younger women lack the role models and mentors to help them succeed. It seems the organization is signaling that being female is a liability discouraging talented women.
Second generation gender bias also manifests itself in organizational practices that fail to take women s lives into account hinder their ability to develop powerful networks and create excessive performance pressure on women. A Fresh Approach The solution offered by traditional leadership development programs for women has been to teach them the established rules so they could be effective Brazil Phone Number List players in a masculine culture. By contrast Ely Ibarra and Kolb propose a new set of principles to drive women s leadership programs WLPs Situate topics and tools in an analysis of second generation gender bias. Participants receive a nuanced understanding of second generation bias and how it may impact their own career development and the career development of other women in their firms. Create a holding environment to support women s identity work. and peer networks that support participants in understanding and shaping who they are and who they can become. Anchor participants on their leadership purpose.
WLPs redirect the participants away from a single minded focus on career advancement and managing other people s perceptions of them as leaders and toward identifying larger leadership purposes and the actions they need to undertake to accomplish them. These programs help participants build skills around networking negotiation leading change and managing career transitions.