Women’s Executive Coach: Narrowing the Leadership Gap

We talked about business coaching for women and its ability to narrow the gender gap among entrepreneurs in the business world.

Now let’s take a closer look at the need for executive coaching for women in order to close the awesome leadership gap between all industries.

The glaring lack of women’s leadership

Although women make up 50.8% of the US population and 52.5% of the working population, they hold only 24% of management positions and only 4% of CEO positions.

The numbers are even darker for women of color. Women of color make up 18% of the US workforce, and yet more than two-thirds of companies do not have women of color on the board.

This lack of representation of women in leadership positions is found in the private sector, art, science and politics.

Companies Win When Women Lead

Money rules the world, and studies now show that companies with more women in management positions achieve significantly higher profits than companies with more men in management positions.

A Global study by the Peterson Institute for International Economics found that companies that assign women at the management level ” significantly increase net margins.”

And a study by S & P Global found that companies run by women perform superior on the stock market than companies run by men.

At the College of Management at the University of Arizona, Dean Joe Carella told CNBC that through a study of Fortune 500 companies, “we found that companies that have women in leadership positions experience what we call ‘innovation intensity’ and produce more patents—an average of 20 percent more than teams with male executives.”

In addition to innovation, companies with more women in management positions significantly increase productivity and financial performance, as confirmed by a study by MSCI.

While we still have a long way to go to close the leadership gap in all industries, at least the small advances that companies are making in the inclusion of female leaders justify and underline the value that women bring to leadership positions.

How to Close the leadership gap with Executive Coaching

1.Lack of social capital and sponsorship

The saying:” it’s not about what you know; it’s about who you know ” is a common expression in the business and corporate world; in fact, it is relevant wherever there is a hierarchy of positions—from schools to the church to small businesses.

Revealing research by the Harvard Business Review found that a lack of sponsorship and social ties is a key factor that prevents women from taking on leadership roles.

The study states: “A godfather is someone who has power and will use it for you.”

2.Lack of awareness and knowledge

In a comprehensive study, Working Mother Media and the National Association for Female Executives found that another key component that prevents women from achieving leadership positions at work is the “awareness/knowledge gap” between men and women.

The study found that women are significantly undereducated in the steps required to climb the ladder; they do not have a clear idea of their professional roadmap and are unfamiliar with the training, development and mentoring programs offered to them.

According to the study, “” 48% of men say they have received detailed information about career paths to P&L jobs in the last 24 months, compared to only 15% of women.”

It is important to visualize yourself at the top to achieve it, but if you do not know exactly how to reach the top and you do not see other women in these roles, it becomes almost impossible to visualize yourself there.

3. Dominant Gender gender roles

Certain gender roles and lifestyle choices widen the gender gap in leadership.

According to the Working Mother study, breadwinner/caregiver roles prevent women from climbing the leadership ladder higher than men.

The study found that when a woman is the main breadwinner, she always takes on the role of the main caregiver; on the other hand, when men are the main breadwinner, they are rarely the main caregiver.

If a woman has to take another full-time job (nursing) at home, it is difficult to find an optimal work-life balance to provide upward mobility in her work, while men usually have the opportunity to focus on their progress.