There’s No Battle of the Sexes in Leadership. Only Leaders!

With all the talk of diversity and inclusion in the workplace, here’s something to think about. The number of women running Fortune 500 companies in 2020 is at an all-time high.

That number is 37! If you’re more of a percentage-type person, that’s a little over 7% percent. Those are paltry numbers if you asked me.

If you’re looking for women in the top five c-suite jobs, the numbers are slightly better. Women hold a quarter of the leadership roles in our nation’s largest corporations, according to a Korn Ferry survey.

While the upward trend is encouraging, there are also sobering news for women in the workplace.

More than 860,000 women dropped out of the workforce in September 2020 alone.

Do you hear that?

It’s the sound of an Olympic-sized talent pool draining. The next leader in your company, at any level, might be out of the workforce right now, and we’re all hurting because of it.

Why is this happening?

For answers, I went to an expert.

Kathleen Caldwell is not only the CEO of Caldwell Consulting Group. She leads the C-Suite Network’s Women’s Leadership Council, a group dedicated to helping women “get in, stay in, and thrive in the c-suite.”

I had the pleasure of interviewing Kathleen during a recent episode of my podcast, All Business with Jeffrey Hayzlett. We jumped right into why women are dropping out of the economy.

“It’s alarming,” Kathleen exclaimed. “COVID certainly has had a lot to do with it, with women boxed in between health care for themselves and childcare for their children. They’re in the sandwich generation trying to do it all, and they’re opting out.”

She adds, “Women are making choices, and they’re opting out of the career track to get them into the c-suite. Many of them are choosing alternative careers, starting their own businesses, opting for companies that perhaps have some more flexibility for them.”

That led me to a follow-up question — is this mass exodus all COVID-19 related or is there something else at play? Kathleen says that while the pandemic is playing a key role in the migration of women out of the workforce, there are some underlying trends we may not be seeing.

“The bigger trend is (women) are leaving the workforce that are in their 50s and 60s,” Kathleen said. “We’ve got this generation of women that are saying ‘Hey, you know, I’ve had enough of this. I want to start working on my own dream. My own business. My own career.’”

“It’s women in their 20s with young children. It’s women in their 30s and 40s when they’re starting to get traction in their careers and then, of course, 40s, 50s, 60s when they’re saying maybe I want to do something different.”

Kathleen says attracting and retaining women at all professional levels is something managers and workers should start working towards. For the sixth year in a row, women continued to lose ground at the first step up to manager, according to a McKinsey report.  It also details that women remain outnumbered in entry-level management at the beginning of the year – only holding 38 percent of manager-level positions, compared to 62 percent of men.

“I think it’s the responsibility of the companies they work for, but also the women themselves (to) build up more engagement for themselves and more excitement about their careers,” Kathleen said. “Women have to be driving the conversation. Find your way in the corporation that you’re in and find what excites you. (Be) your own unique participant in your own growth plan. Don’t rely on HR to do it for you.”

All these workforce vacancies can also create headaches for HR departments. The pipeline of talented women is drying up, and that hurts everyone.

“This is not a blame game. This is more of an empowerment opportunity conversation. It’s women looking at their careers as what they want,” Kathleen said. “Do they want to be in leadership? What’s available for them to be on boards and what’s available for them in the c-suite.”

She continued, “I think it’s a marketing job within corporations and it’s women raising their hands to say ‘Hey, I want more. I’m ready for more and give me more.’”

Part of being ready to take on more responsibility is knowing yourself. Kathleen says you have to know your strengths, weaknesses, and where you add value to the organization. It’s also about building relationships with leaders inside and outside your company. One way to accomplish that is by finding sponsors and mentors. While the two terms sound similar, they are different concepts. A mentor is someone who gives more career or skills-oriented advice. A sponsor is someone who stands by you when things get tougher within a corporation once you’re in a leadership position.

How do you even begin to find a good mentor or sponsor? Kathleen has some advice.

“Think about building those relationships with people that are at higher levels in the organization and actively reaching out to that person,” Kathleen said. “(Think of) who you’d like to be in a relationship with and have that sponsorship, allyship with. (You’re) taking the initiative out there and not overthinking it.”

She added, “Asking ‘Hey, what do you know? I’m looking to do this in my career, my business. Here are some things that I need. Would you help me?’ Making the ask that someone can say yes to, or no to, or propose something different.”

Throughout my career, I’ve encountered many great leaders in the c-suite and other leadership roles that happen to be female. Leadership doesn’t have a gender and even today, I continue to champion women. One of my business partners is a great leader in her own right. We share a mission, vision, and values, while operating from completely different perspectives. I even joked that I think I’ve become nicer. While may have been said in jest, Kathleen says it’s a proven benefit from working with women.

“I think you’re demonstrating one of the great things with women leaders, the pause aspect,” Kathleen said. “One thing I’ve noticed about you is you have a tendency to maybe sit back and then let other women jump in, move in, and have their point of view. Not always (be) the first to rush in or always be right.”

This can be a difficult for most men, including myself. We want to solve the problem. It’s just a part of our personalities. I’m continually learning from the women in our company, especially Tricia Benn, Chief Community Officer of C-Suite Network, and General Manager of The Hero Club. Admittedly, she does some things much better than I do.

“That’s a perfect example of what men can learn from women in the workplace,” Kathleen said. “Taking the time to understand what are those differences? And really strengthening women’s strengths and giving us visibility in the workplace.”

“Maybe she needs a little bit of a pep talk, or maybe she needs some air cover or visibility. It doesn’t have to be rough and tumble all the time because there’s power in the things that are not said. It doesn’t always have to be aggressive.”

Kathleen gave us all a great pep talk, and I’m consider myself lucky she’s one of our most prominent leaders here in the C-Suite.

If you’d like to hear our complete conversation, click here.