Tag: IBM

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For Shame, Forbes: Tarnishing a Gem in the Crown of Social Progress and Gender Equity

As I write, 104,778 people have viewed the Forbes article on the “10 Worst Stereotypes about Powerful Women.”

I’m curious. What did people learn from reading this? And what will they do with this information so that we never have to see another article about this topic again?

If you have been reading my blog this week, you know about mounting evidence of the links among gender, career success, and professional confidence. A quick summary for new readers: you need confidence to succeed!

I fear women will read this article and – tacitly or explicitly – find reasons to doubt that they have the right stuff for leadership and lose more of the confidence they need to craft careers of success and significance. Who wouldn’t if you thought that half the folks around you (and most of the folks in power above you) were still projecting all this old negativity on you?

Men who read the piece can have seeds of doubt planted – or reinforced – about their female co-workers.

In a week when men and women should celebrate another symbolic gem in the crown of social progress and gender equity as IBM appoints its first woman as CEO – Virginia Rometty joins the growing ranks of mega-corporation leaders that now include Ellen Kullman at DuPont, Meg Whitman at Hewlett-Packard, Ursula Burns at Xerox, Indra Nooyi at PepsiCo – 104,778 (and counting) people are having a refresher course on how to dismiss half the world’s population – and hold back progress on a host of fronts for us all.

All the traditional stereotypes are on the Forbes list – and Forbes Online kindly provides a slide show for those who don’t want to read the full article. The slides are a mix of actresses in their portrayal of fictional characters from movies and TV (e.g., Meryl Streep as the “frigid magazine editor” in The Devil Wears Prada and Glenn Close as the “back-stabbing boss” in Damages) with real women who are doing really important work. Each picture represents one of the negative gender stereotypes. Here’s where my blood began to boil.

It includes an unattractive photo of our successful, current Secretary of State (emotional), as well as associations of negativity with the photo of our First Lady (angry), the Head of the International Monetary Fund (masculine), our former Secretary of State (token), the President of Costa Rican (weak), a former Vice Presidential candidate (cheerleader), and the list goes on.

If I thought people were reading this article and standing in outrage that these associations were still happening in the year 2011, I’d feel better. But why do I fear snickers as the pictures of Hillary Clinton and others are passed around the water cooler instead?  And I am not going to even touch the racial issues in all this.

Enough Forbes! Enough media!  Seriously. We need stories that build the confidence and capacities of men and women so that they can bring their full talents to the range of contributions needed to succeed – and for our economy to rebound – in a fast-paced, global world.

Planting seeds of doubt reinforces the very thing this article hoped to counter! 

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What Do You Know about India? Four Stupid Western Misconceptions

An article by Patrick French (“The Truth About India: Four Stupid Misconceptions the West Needs to Shake”) reminded me how little I know about the country on track to become one of the world’s largest economies of the future and the most populous nation by 2025. Conversations with colleagues and friends confirmed I am not alone.

I’ve put Patrick French’s new book, India: A Portrait, on my end-of-summer reading list. I recommend you add it to yours.

To whet your appetite, here’s information about India to counter some major Western misunderstandings:

India has a thriving, growing economy with benefits for many. Like China, India’s economic boom has made it a nation of rich and poor – and some of the rich are very, very rich. For example, take the case of Sunil Mittal. He left his job running a bicycle parts factory in Punjab in 1995 to start a telecom company. Airtel now has 223 million subscribers across 19 countries– and Mittal an estimated net worth of $8 billion dollars. His story is one of many.

India’s economic rise is not at the expense of American jobs. Despite the ranting of conservative pundits, trade and out-sourcing go in both directions. Mittal, for example, grew Airtel quickly by reverse-outsourcing to the benefit of foreign companies like Nokia, IBM, and Ericsson.

India comfortably embraces the paradoxes of its economic transformation. Ancient religious and cultural traditions mix easily with technological advancements and the trappings of rising affluence. French sees India as an adaptive, flexible society – and nothing “Western” about India’s embracing of new technologies and lifestyles.

Indian women are on the rise. Yes, many women in India are poor and oppressed. Others have opportunities they wouldn’t have elsewhere. Women in India lead major financial institutions, like HSBC, RBS, JPMorgan Chase, ICICI, and UBS. Women hold major political posts, and their power and numbers grow. Mayawati Kumari, for example, grew up as one of nine children in a poor, “untouchables” family near Delhi. Today she is the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, a state with a population the size of Brazil.

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In the Age of Uncertainty: Creativity Trumps Traditional Leadership Talents

IBM recently interviewed senior executives about their work, talking with more than 6,600 in 75 countries across 60 industries for the company’s newly-released C-Suite Studies research series. Three findings are of particular note:

  • 80% of the CEOs saw their world becoming increasingly complex
  • 51% of those in the C-Suite – CEOs, CFOs, CIOs – felt unprepared for the rising uncertainty
  • 60% of those interviewed identified creativity as the most important leadership trait for top leaders over the next five year, trumping traditional managerial skills like influence, global thinking, and integrity.

What did creativity mean to the executives interviewed? It translated into traits and talents like “operational dexterity,” speed in understanding and taking action, a willingness to experiment, the capacity to create flexible and responsive organizations, resourcefulness, innovative outreach and customer service, imaginative problem solving, and more. Are you ready for the challenge?

You can enhance your leadership creativity with some diagnosis and scenario building: get a handle on your possible futures and anticipate how your organization (and your competitors) might get ahead of the crowd. Here are five key questions to launch the process:

  1. 1. What are the major challenges or changes you see coming down the pike in the next five years for your organization? For your industry? In your key markets?
  1. 2.  How do you anticipate your competitors will respond?
  1. 3.  What could your organization do to respond more effectively?
  1. 4.  How easy would that be given your organization’s history and current culture?
  1. 5.  What can you do to help your organization turn the potential threat of change into a positive business opportunity?

Play out different ways that your organization could respond and how you might facilitate that and see what the consequences of each strategy might be. It’s easier to manage uncertainty and make good executive judgments when you’re feeling confident that you’ve already thought deeply about your options.