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So why aren't more women moving into
the executive suite more quickly?
Our data strongly suggest that basic personality characteristics, combined with management behavior and strategies women have used to succeed at mid-management levels, are now preventing them from breaking through the glass ceiling.
The obstacles women create for themselves fall into three major categories:
Risk
Concern about striking out prevents women from hitting home runs
- Both personality tests and coworker ratings find women are far less action-oriented than their male counterparts.
- Women are more reluctant to take risks without having covered all the bases.
- This hinders women from being given high-risk assignments that offer visibility and opportunities that make careers.
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Rescue
The men in the executive suite are creating the game plan, not worrying about ironing the uniforms
The second obstacle women face is their highly developed sense of responsibility combined with their concern for and loyalty to the team.
- While these characteristics lead to high coworker ratings, the downside is that women can easily get mired in details in attempting to make sure everything is handled correctly.
- Women's orientation toward the group causes them to take on too much responsibility, moving them into a rescuing and mothering mode.
- Because they don't focus time and energy on key leverage points, they work harder and are significantly more tired than male managers, and are probably repeating the same pattern at home.
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Righteousness
Women may be winning battles but losing the war
The third obstacle: how women present their ideas and plead their cases. Women are rated by their coworkers as:
- more blunt
- more forthright
- more transparent
- less objective
- less flexible
- lower in emotional control
Because they have done their homework, women may dig in their heels when challenged by less informed coworkers.
They may present issues in terms of right or wrong.
They tend to move from presenting a case for action to defending a cause they believe in.
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