Managers Hold the Key to Closing the Leadership Gender Gap

September 18, 2021 Mira Brancu

In Part 1 of this series on myths and answers for addressing the leadership gender gap, I shared 7 erroneous myths we all believe about why women might not pursue or succeed in leadership roles (e.g., “not having enough ambition,” “it’s hard to juggle with kids,” “lack of confidence,” or “not having strong enough negotiation skills”). In Part 2, I described associated biases (e.g., motherhood, performance, leadership styles, overprotection of women) that interfere with the advancement and support of women in leadership roles.

That leaves us with the question of what to do about it.

There are many great recommendations out there for how to address these disparities at organizational and societal levels.

For example, McKinsey’s 2017 Women Matter Report notes that companies with the highest gender diversity have used a multi-pronged approach, including de-biasing HR hiring and promotion efforts, making gender diversity a top strategic priority (with appropriate time, resources, and expected benchmarks), and direct support such as mentorship, coaching, and sponsorship.

The Global Women 4 Wellbeing (GW4W), a non-profit organization that works to identify and address the health, wellbeing, and unconscious bias issues that uniquely impact women’s leadership success outcomes, found in their most recent research report that focusing on the intersection of caregiving, managing a competitive career, and achieving (and maintaining) financial wellbeing are critical to these outcomes.

Who Can Best Execute That Vision?

Direct supervisors, managers, and team leads.

These are the company’s direct influencers and greatest “human capital” assets to supporting any diversity, equity, and inclusion effort.

They have a direct impact on employees’ careers.
Their messages to their employees carry weight—often greater importance than the higher-level leaders.
They have the potential to even bypass some of the gender bias inherent in current organizational culture.

Let’s compare outcomes for two women at the same level of the same company who have two different managers:

Manager Ken is perceived by the company as someone who achieves results—an image he wants to retain. Recently, Manager Ken hears through backroom discussions about a career opportunity that could fit some of his employees’ interests and strengths. He knows Krystal has been facing some recent stressful childcare issues, so he decides she isn’t really going to be able to take it on. In fact, he worries if she takes it on, she won’t meet the job expectations because of the childcare issues, and that will ultimately make him look bad, so he offers it to Billy. In reality, Billy is also personally managing similar stressful childcare issues, but he has not said anything to the group about it. Billy wonders if he could really handle this opportunity right now but feels a lot of pressure to take it on and not disappoint his boss. Billy’s partner is not happy that Billy is considering taking this opportunity right now, given their circumstance.

Consider the underlying assumptions and messages being sent in this scenario.

Both Krystal and Billy might be negatively affected.

Billy might choose to ultimately leave the department or organization because of current pressures that may lead to too much stress and burnout. He might think, “All my company cares about is me producing as many widgets as possible. But what if I can’t? They don’t seem to care much about me as a person.” He feels only conditionally wanted.

Krystal might choose to leave because she feels that she is overlooked each time she is ready for a new challenge. She also doesn’t appreciate the benevolent sexism at play (see Part 2 of this blog series). She might think, “If I stay with this company, it will be a long, steep uphill climb with little support.” She feels unsupported and undervalued.

Now consider the following scenario:

Krystal has now moved on to a different department, under Manager Joe. Manager Joe is also seen by the company as someone who achieves strong results. But his style is different from Ken’s. Joe takes the time to get to know how his employees work as a team and as individuals because he knows that getting the best out of them will ultimately bring him even better results. He finds out about an opportunity that several of them would likely be good at. And he realizes that while the opportunity might expand their workload, he also knows that the skills they will gain from the opportunity would also benefit his department by having even more skilled, connected employees and may potentially bring in more resources or partnerships. An opportunity for them is an opportunity for him.

So, he sends the announcement about the opportunity to all team members who would be qualified and asks them to talk with him if they are interested. Those who step forward with interest have the chance to receive support and mentorship around making the right decision for them and for the department. Both Billy and Krystal express interest. Billy ultimately realizes it’s the wrong timing for him but appreciates being considered and supported and knows he will have other opportunities. Krystal chooses to take on the assignment knowing she can figure out her childcare issue and has plenty of support at home. Manager Joe also talks with her about how they can structure the workload and flexible work options to ensure all the work is done.

In this scenario, both Krystal and Billy receive messages (through words AND action) of being supported and valued. These messages have the potential to bypass some gender biases.

This creates a more likely path to retention and leadership opportunity for women like Krystal—not by giving her "special treatment," but by giving her the same opportunities. She can now continue building her resume knowing her company supports her interest in broader responsibility and job scope.

Direct managers can also work with HR partners to support their employees in other ways, such as with accommodations for people with disabilities or providing more flexible work options for people who are caregivers of dependent family members.

These needs and benefits are not specific to women, but more significant disparities and adverse career effects are experienced by women than men. Offering these to all employees helps all employees, not just a few.

Now imagine all managers, supervisors, and team leads doing this at all levels of the organization.

The organization benefits AND individuals access increased opportunities in the company, causing them to be more likely to stay. (Imagine the cost savings alone with strong employee retention rates!). Organizational results are higher across the board.

While the actions of first-line managers should not be the only way to advance, their role is more important than ever. It’s time we shifted the middle manager role from “information-keeper” to leaders who develop individuals and teams.

First-Line Managers Matter

First-line managers hold the key to pulling the right levers for employee engagement, retention, promotion, and even burnout minimization.

Indeed, according to a recent Gallup article, managers can even help minimize burnout in their “responsibility to protect against unfair treatment in the workplace, communicate clearly, provide support [and serve as an] advocate and ally of their team members when it comes to prioritization, workload management and setting reasonable expectations with internal partners.”

In sum: Leaders support future leaders.

To read the other parts of the series:

Part 1: 7 Myths About Why Women Don’t Seek Leadership Roles
Part 2: 7 Gender Biases That Impede Progress

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