deborah kolb – The Leadership Professor

Evidence mounts on the importance of a good sponsor. MBAs entering the work force with the recommendation of a strong advocate benefitted when negotiating compensation for starting salaries, a recent Catalyst study found.

Sadly, the research also demonstrates that the glass ceiling hurts – and is increasingly costly for women over the course of their career.

Catalyst, a nonprofit focused on equity and fairness for women in the business world, surveyed more than 4,000 MBA who graduated between 1996 and 2007 from different programs around the world. Women MBAs, on average, earned $4,600 less initially than their male counterparts. The data holds across industries.

Women start with lower salaries and have fewer opportunities to increase their earnings. Statistics for 2008, for example, saw promotions resulting in an extra 21 percent in compensation for men. Promotions for women during the same period netted them an additional 2 percent. Calculations conclude that over the course of a 40-year career, women lose more than $400,000 in salary.

That’s huge for the women and for their families.

"A lot of people just suggest that if we just give it time, the gender gap will go away, but we see if you give it time the gap gets wider," says Christine Silva, a research director at Catalyst.[1]

The Catalyst study also found that having a sponsor widens the gender pay gap: strong sponsors who advocated during the job search benefitted male students more. The men’s mentors were collectively higher up the corporate ladder. As a result, their sponsors had more clout and impact on decisions like hiring and compensation. Men with strong mentors earned on average $9,260 more in starting salary than women with the same.

So what can you do?

Be tough. Be informed. Approach any salary negotiation with compensation information about the organization you’re talking with and about similar positions at other firms, advises Susan McTiernan, associate dean for graduate programs at Quinnipiac University School of Business.

Be realistic. Be savvy. Understand salary expectations before you begin negotiating so you’ll know when you’re being low-balled, advises Diana Bilimoria, Professor at Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management.

Believe that you’re worth it. This is particularly important for women. Research by Deborah Kolb, Professor Emerita at Simmons College School of Management and author of Her Place at the Table: A Woman’s Guide to Negotiating the Five Key Challenges to Leadership Success, finds women less willing than men to negotiate for their own success. If you don’t ask for what you want, I guarantee you reduce the odds dramatically of getting it.

Try on new behaviors. Work with a coach to develop new skills if salary negotiations are new or hard for you. Enhance your capacities to present yourself with confidence and strong executive presence. Learn to present arguments persuasively – and role play with a trusted other to prepare for a range of responses from the individual you’ll face across the table. Develop skills in asking clearly and directly for what you need. Recognize a win-win is possible for all parties involved.

You’ll help yourself and your career by improving your skills in negotiation. You’ll also demonstrate the kind of leadership skills in doing so that warrant the salary you request.

[1] Brian Burnsed (2011). Business Schools Hope to Shatter Sturdy Glass Ceiling. U.S. News & World Report Online. June 15, 10:06 am ET.

Oprah Winfrey retires with from her long-running daytime talk show today – and with plans for her next big challenge.

After taping more than 5,000 episodes, she’s relieved to be moving on. In good Oprah fashion, however, she’s down-playing the pleasure out of respect for her show’s staff of 464 people (many of whom are now out of a job) and for the fans who adore her current venue.

“I literally curb my enthusiasm for the end, because I realize that for the other people that are part of this experience, the end is a different experience than it is for me,” Oprah noted in a recent New York Times interview.[1]

Oprah is saying good-bye to a talk show, but not heading into the sunset or out of the industry. She’s moving to her next career phase: building her fledgling five month-old cable channel, OWN.

We can all learn something from Oprah about career self-management. She’s a self-made billionaire; a legend known to millions by her first name alone; a woman who understood the importance of creating and managing her own life, brand, and enterprise; and probably the most influential African American women in the United States.

Here are the lessons I’m taking from Oprah as she leaves network TV after 25 years.

Run your own race. No matter how good you are at something or how many people want you to continue doing what you do, when it’s no longer fun, have the courage to move on to something that is.

Be authentic. Oprah’s success has been attributed to her empathy, warmth, genuine curiosity, and humor. She morphed her talk show format over the years as it fit her interests and those of her evolving audience. She found ways to bring others along as she tackled tough issues that were deeply important to her, like racism, literacy, AIDs, women’s empowerment, sexual abuse, and more. Oprah wasn’t afraid to preach, confront, learn, or cry – and she transformed television and the lives of millions of viewers by some combination of all four.

Be smart, not beholding. Gender scholar Deborah Kolb has published widely on the topics of how poorly women negotiate for themselves and for the conditions to assure their success – and on what to do about that. Her book, Her Place at the Table: A Woman’s Guide to Negotiating Five Key Challenges to Leadership Success, is a classic. Oprah was a master at negotiating for her success. She understood the importance of artistic control – and wasn’t afraid to demand it at a time when women worried about losing media opportunities by rocking the boat (or gaining a few pounds).

Believe in yourself – but stay grounded. Oprah demonstrated confidence in herself and her vision from the get go – even in the early days when she described herself as “just producing by the seat of my pantyhose.” [2] More important, she never let that confidence blind her to the work that needed to be done or what she still needed to learn. Star that she is, Oprah has always been a savvy business woman wed to the consummate student. That combination has served her well.

Take risks. Early ratings for Oprah’s OWN channel have been disappointing. What if she’s now lost the Midas touch? Undeterred, Oprah’s going to give it a try and give it her all. That’s all anyone can do.

Leave at the top of your game if you plan to continue in the sport. Oprah is a sensation on network TV. Her fans adore her. What a boost to spirit and creative juices to know that others love what you do – and want more.

[1] Brian Stelter (2011). Oprah Moves on to Her Next Best Life. New York Times. May 23, 2011, p. B1.

[2] Brian Stelter (2011). Oprah Moves on to Her Next Best Life. New York Times. May 23, 2011, p. B2.