Below, is a wonderful update from AIIR executive coach Harvey Floyd. He raises some interesting perspectives for improving success for women in leadership.

If you are interested and haven’t read “How Women Rise” by Sally Helgesen and Marshall Goldsmith, you must!

Insights on 12 Habits and their roots (Chapter 20):

• Habit 1: Reluctance to claim achievements, as rooted in genuine modesty and a generous willingness to acknowledge the achievements of others.
  
• Habit 2: Expecting others to spontaneously notice and reward contributions, is rooted in a reluctance to showboat or behave like a self-promoting jerk – along with the perception that because you notice what others contribute, other people will (or should) notice what you contribute.

• Habit 3: Overvaluing expertise, is rooted in a healthy respect for all the skills your job requires and the willingness to work hard to master them.

• Habit 4: Building rather than leveraging relationships, is rooted in the conviction that you should value others for who they are rather than how they can be of use to you.

• Habit 5: Failing to enlist allies from day one, is rooted in the belief that you should not call on others for help until you’ve done your homework and know the  parameters of your job.

• Habit 6: Putting your job before your career, is rooted in the desire to demonstrate loyalty and commitment, as well as the sensible belief that you should take life one step at a time instead of getting all wrapped up in the future.

• Habit 7: The perfection trap, is rooted in the desire not to disappoint others (including and perhaps especially, your family of origin), along with a commitment to making the world a better place.

• Habit 8: The disease to please, is rooted in an unselfish passion for making other people happy.
  
• Habit 9: Minimizing, is rooted in an awareness of other people’s needs and the wish to show them that you value their presence and insights.

• Habit 10: Too much, is rooted in the quest to be authentic and connect with others based on shared experience.

• Habit 11: Ruminating, is rooted in the capacity for thinking deeply about what matters most to you instead of skimming along the surface of your life.

• Habit 12: Letting your radar distract you, is rooted in the ability to understand what others are feeling and a broad-scale capacity of awareness that makes you intuitive and empathic.

Will you take a moment to reflect on these habits and commit to helping women rise?

After all, if we don’t, we leave out 50% of our future talent pool, reflecting the values less identified by men, and ………………

If we expect to build bold futures, it is based on the diversity of our better leadership CULTure, or we become a CULT!

Jim