Sheryl Sandberg’s powerful “Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders” TED talk shone a light on some startling realities. Our foremothers fought tooth and nail to gain a seat at the table, yet this generation of women continues to hold back, lulled into dormancy or complacency. While women make up nearly 52 percent of management, professional, and other related positions, the number of women reaching the top has ceased its growth. At most, women comprise 13 percent of C-level jobs or board seats, a number that has decreased from 15 to 16 percent in 2002. Only 18 of the Fortune 500 companies have women as their CEOs, which is a miniscule 3.6 percent.
Landing the position of CEO is challenging regardless of gender, as there only a few titles to go around at the top. Few men and even fewer women find themselves in a position to even vie for the role. But there are women grabbing that coveted brass ring of becoming a CEO, many of which are high-profile positions.
Sheryl Sandberg. Image courtesy of World Economic Forum / Wikipedia.org
How are these women breaking through that resilient glass ceiling? Here are a few factors that have played a role in how some of these female CEOs have successfully earned a spot in the corner office–and how you might be able to follow in their footsteps.
Obtain higher education. While Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg famously dropped out of school and went on to be wildly successful CEOs of their companies, they are anomalies and not the norm. Most CEOs, regardless of gender, have at least a four-year degree under their belt. All top 25 most powerful women CEOs graduated from a four-year college, and many went on to complete an MBA or other graduate degree. For example, Hewlett Packard’s Meg Whitman received an undergraduate degree in economics from Princeton, and continued her education at Harvard Business School, where she earned an MBA.
Diversify your work experience and learn new skills. After the education comes the work experience. Instead of being the master of one thing, the women who became CEOs diversified their skills, changing jobs after they’ve mastered the one. Almost all executives served in multiple roles within their companies or industries as they climbed the ladder to the top. And the step doesn’t always have to be upward–lateral moves, or even a step backward, to pick up expertise that will assist the end goal is a worthwhile endeavor. Always be on the lookout for new skills to learn.
Build a strategy for your career plan. Many successful women CEOs, like Stephanie Burns of Chic CEO, set forth an end goal for their career and then proceeded to build a path towards it. They identified skills that needed to be learned and honed, took on positions that would allow them to gain necessary experience, and looked for coaching, mentoring or networking opportunities that would add to any on-the-job leadership and management training.
Martha Stewart. Image courtesy of David Shankbone / Wikipedia.org
Brush up on business or finance. There’s a reason so many CEOs have an MBA from top business schools–a solid understanding of business and finance principles is necessary for success for anyone driving a business. Most top women CEOs gain their experience either in school, or during their ascent to the executive suites. For example, Martha Stewart’s six-year stint in a stock brokerage helped establish the groundwork upon which she built her current empire.
Be willing to take on the hard jobs. In order to stand out above the rest of the ambitious future executives, and to acquire necessary skills, aspiring CEOs need to take on the tough, risky assignments that no one else wants. This doesn’t mean taking on grunt jobs (unless it leads to a skill set that needs to be learned)–it just means that CEOs have been willing to take on leadership and management roles and increasing responsibility. Developing leadership skills are crucial in a path to that top office.
Be willing to have the hard conversations. Rather than shirking from the negative in performance reviews, women who make it to the top ask for clear, constructively critical feedback. Performance reviews are a good time to find areas that need improvement and potentially get the mentoring needed in order to move ahead.
Also, women who have become CEOs have learned to take credit for the good work that they did instead of waiting for it to be handed to them. They didn’t wait to be heard, even if it was something as simple as pointing out that they made the same point a few minutes before another colleague.
Aspiring CEOs should take note of how current executives have broken through the glass ceiling. Education, diverse experience, and progressive responsibility are some rungs on that long ladder to the top. Start strategizing now for that corner office.
Dave Landry is a personal finance adviser and motivational speaker from Southern California. Dave frequently contributes to National Debt Relief, where people in dire financial situations can seek help and assistance.