The Broken Rung of Leadership

Leadership

Nov 7

Episode 427 | Author: Emilie Aries

Many of us are familiar with “the glass ceiling” posing a barrier to women ascending to the highest ranks of leadership. But the latest research points to a more significant contributor to the persistent gender leadership gap - the “broken rung” of leadership.

WHAT IS “THE BROKEN RUNG” OF LEADERSHIP?

Gaps between men and women in leadership start much earlier on in women’s career journeys than previously thought.

McKinsey and Company’s latest Women in the Workplace report finds that, “women face their biggest hurdle at the ﬁrst critical step up to manager. This year, for every 100 men promoted from entry level to manager, 87 women were promoted. And this gap is trending the wrong way for women of color: this year, 73 women of color were promoted to manager for every 100 men, down from 82 women of color last year. As a result of this ‘broken rung,’ women fall behind and can’t catch up.”

WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT THE BROKEN RUNG?

Since 2020, with the launch of our Level Up Leadership Accelerator, we’ve focused on closing the broken rung of leadership by supporting emerging women leaders who aspire to become first-time managers as well as current managers who feel like they’ve been thrown into the management deep end without training or support.

Of the over 100 women who’ve been through our public Level Up cohorts, 67% have recieved promotions and 87% have recveived raises since completing our program. While only 47% of participants were in management prior to Level Up, 77% of alums are now.

We’ve also supported hundreds more through our in-house, custom Level Up Leadership Accelerators for teams, deisgned to help companies retain and develop women and under-represented leaders on the rise.

Here are some of the key take-aways we’ve learned thus far about effectively overcoming the broken rung of leadership:

Invest in Women Early in Their Careers

It’s critical that organizations start early by identifying high-potential women within the first 5 years of their careers, invest in their leadership development, and actively recruit them into pathways to promotions.

We know women have the ambition - they simply crave the tools, pathway, and community support to actualize them. According to the latest Mckinsey & Company Women in the Workplace report:

At every stage of the pipeline, women are as committed to their careers and as interested in being promoted as men. Women and men at the director level—when the C-suite is in closer view—are also equally interested in senior-leadership roles. And young women are especially ambitious. Nine in ten women under the age of 30 want to be promoted to the next level, and three in four aspire to become senior leaders.
Moreover, the pandemic and increased ﬂexibility did not dampen women’s ambitions. Roughly 80 percent of women want to be promoted to the next level, compared with 70 percent in 2019. And the same holds true for men. Women of color are even more ambitious than White women: 88 percent want to be promoted to the next level.

To be clear, the notion that women are lacking confidence to get to the next level is their careers is a myth. The reality is more nuanced, but one thing is clear: women tend to value following the rules. So if the “rules of the game” for getting on the pathway to promotion within your organization is unclear, that’s a critical place to start. Early career development program, internal mobility initiatives, and providing performance management support are key to retaining and developing all talent - and that’s especially true for those who are underrepresented in leadership.

As for ambitious women ourselves, we cannot take a passive role in our own career advancement, either. Remember: you are the boss of your career, so seek out leadership development opportunities, whether they exist within your organization or you need to find them elsewhere through communities like Bossed Up!

ADVOCATE FOR SYSTEMIC solutIONs

One thing I know to be true is that women alone cannot solve for the gender leaderhship gap. That’s why it’s so important we pair our own self-advocacy in the workplace alongside more systemic solutions - both when it comes to public policy and organizational initiatives.

My report for organizations on the 7 Best Practices to Retain and Develop Women Leaders is a helpful place to start for organizations who want to solve for the “broken rung,” including:

How to create a “safe identity workspace” to nurture women’s learning, experimentation, and community;
How to invest in women’s leadership skills - not just the tactical expertise require in individual contributor roles;
How to meaningfully engage allies to mentor, sponsor, and champion women and under-represented leaders on the rise;
How to clarify the pathway to promotion for all members of your workforce;
How to specifically support women of color in the workplace, who face additional challenges;
How to identify, nurture, and develop high-potential women;
And finally, how to create workplace policies that support the full lives of women leaders - and truly, all workers.

Dive into the report here or download it for further reading later.

At the end of the day, we must practice “lifting as we climb,” meaning that we must pair of our own individual career development with advocating for more systemic change.

SEEK OUT SUPPORT

None of us get where we’re going faster by going it alone. If our team at Bossed Up can help serve as thought partners with your HR, People Operations, Learning & Development, or DEI team, my door is always open! Email me at emilie@bossedup.org and let’s explore how we can support your succession planning goals and close the gender leadership gap for good.