Tonight I published an article on how C-level executives can be like-able on social media and I want to address the issue of like-ability for women. I was recently appalled when I saw Glassdoor's list of top rated CEOs. The list of the highest rated CEOs (both for large companies and SMBs) did not have one woman topping the list. Glassdoor noticed this too, and they wrote this article about some of the highest rated female CEOs, who basically have a low "B" score. Actually a lot of people were surprised by this such as the New York Times, Vocativ.com, and even readers in the comments section of this article on Fast Company.
What is going on that we have literally zero female well-liked leaders of large corporations? It's weird, isn't it? Well maybe not just looking at the language we use in the media to talk about women (and what story we tell women).
For example, over on Fox news author Sylvia Ann Hewlitt (Executive Presence) gave advice to women that they should avoid talking too much, keep their voice low and wear clothes that make them "feel invincible." While I love Nordstrom just as much as the next woman, I'm pretty sure wearing a "colorful top" and the perfect pair of dark denim Joe's Jeans isn't going to help any woman score points. This was actual advice given to women in Silicon Valley by this author. The perfect skinny jean can't hide a woman who doesn't know who she is (and doesn't make good decisions). Studies show so many biases about how people listen to men more than women, even on social media. While women make up most of social media users, they are retweeted far less than men. Even in the hospital-sphere, a recent study by the University of California, Santa Cruz showed patients are more apt to interrupt women than men. It happens here in Silicon Valley too.
Remember when Eric Schmidt, chairman of Google, interrupted U.S. Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith, the sole female panelist on stage with him during a talk on diversity? Schmidt's own global diversity manager at Google was the audience member in the crowd reminding him of what he was doing. She said, "Given that unconscious bias research tells us that women are interrupted a lot more than men, I’m wondering if you are aware that you have interrupted Megan many more times.” The audience burst into applause, and the internet followed suit (noted the NYTimes).
ThinkProgress.org had some good points when they wrote about the lack of women on Glassdoor's list.
...Americans still like to see a man in charge. Both men and women say they prefer men as a senior executives at Fortune 500 companies. When asked, more Americans say they’d prefer to work for a man than for a woman. Women also face a backlash when they try to act like bosses. They are penalized at work both personally and financially when they act assertively. Female leaders are more likely to be called abrasive, aggressive, strident, and emotional. Women are also more likely than men to get negative feedback on their work performance. Women CEOs may come in set up to fail. A number of studies have found that they get a shot at leadership during tough times, while men are likely to be given the jobs when company performance is stable. That’s likely part of why women are more likely than men to be pushed out of chief executive jobs.
If you are a female executive, doesn't that make you want to just get out there and raise your hand in meetings more often? Probably not. With so many inherent biases already against women it's hard to think these biases don't throw women off their game. So what do women in leadership roles need? Well for one they need the support of their boards, their peers and their employees. Employees (especially senior employees) need to understand the harm they cause by spreading gossip about female leaders, or judging them more harshly on their looks and the sound of their voice. By being more aware of these unconscious biases people will easily recognize when they are being unfair to female leaders.
At the end of the day women need more support, from both men and women. There are one million benefits to having women at the top of your company. My husband Jacob writes about it here and created this infograph below. Men need to talk about this stuff too, not just women talking to each other about what we already know we're grappling with.
The cards are stacked against women for many reasons. It's confusing enough being a woman. However being a female CEO, you have to rise above so many biases and conflicting pieces of information. Amy Poehler says it best here when she tells this reporter about the many juxtapositions that women go through every day. Watch her quick interview below.
Sometimes you just need to have a sense of humor and learn to laugh. Look at Hillary Clinton. Here is Hillary Clinton's first Instagram post, entitled "Hard Choices."
Also on Forbes:
