Advancing Women’s Leadership through Coaching

This article was originally published in the newspaper “La Estrella” and is part of a biweekly column from the ICF Panama Chapter to disseminate what Professional Coaching is. It seeks to inform, create more awareness and differentiate professional coaching, in which the Coach is governed by ethical principles and is continually improving his or her skills.

See the original article in this Link.

Advancing Women’s Leadership through Coaching

The 12 habits that hinder female leadership

Leadership culture, organisational practices and individual behaviours are three dimensions identified as important in international studies to achieve change in the development of female leadership internationally.

In this article we focus on the individual behaviours, mentality and behaviours that distinguish executives who have progressed to leadership positions in organisations.

Some of the most distinctive behaviours and beliefs of these professionals are the ability to advocate for themselves, the development of support and influence networks at different levels of the organisation, taking risks and developing new competencies, and a high degree of self-confidence.

In the book “How Women Rise”, Sally Helgesen and Marshall Goldsmith identify the following 12 habits or behaviours that hinder the development of women in organisations:

1. Reluctance to claim achievements.
2. Expect others to spontaneously notice and reward your contributions.
3. Overvaluation of experience.
4. Just build, rather than build and leverage relationships.
5. Do not recruit allies (peers, mentors and sponsors) from day one.
6. Put work before your career.
7. The trap of perfection.
8. The desire to please.
9. Minimization (in words and body language).
10. Too much (too much emotion, words, information).
11. Rumination.
12. Let your radar distract you.

These habits frequently appear together. For example, the habit 1. reluctance to claim achievements often appears accompanied by 2. expecting others to spontaneously notice or praise and reward their contributions, leading to women not developing and assuming the importance of advocating for themselves.

Other behaviours that can be found together are habits 3. overvaluing experience, 6. putting work before your career and 7. the perfection trap, which together can limit the professional’s ability to take risks, open up to strategic projects and develop the competencies and skills necessary to progress in leadership roles.

To still refer to the behaviours 4. only build instead of building and leveraging relationships and 5. not enrolling allies from day one, which when given inhibit the development of support and influence networks at different levels of the organisation.

The behaviours 9. minimization, 10. too much and 12. letting your radar distract you, with absorption of too much information and/or decreased focus, hinder the development of influence in the organisation and for professionals to be perceived as having an executive presence.

In the coaching process, the coach supports the executive to:

• Clarify your purpose and vision of the desired future.
• Recognise your personal power and authenticity, your competencies, experiences and knowledge, that is, what you bring to the table.
• Evaluate how you present and act in different situations, how you empathize and create rapport and relationships of trust, how you communicate with others, how you respond in crisis situations, what are the triggers that can arise and that must be taken care of.
• Map your people of interest and identify potential allies, mentors and sponsors.
• Define what value and impact you want to create, what new perspectives or emotional changes you can provide to enhance solutions in critical situations.

The coach accompanies the professional in her actions to:

• Develop a learning and growth strategy with clear purpose and objectives.
• Structure an active network of relationships and support.
• Simultaneously manage work, career, and personal and family life.
• Create greater impact and value in your communications and interactions.
• Develop self-confidence and assume your personal power.

A professional coach supports the client in their development process, stimulating reflection and creativity, acting as a mirror for the client, encouraging the discovery and implementation of new lines of action. Sometimes, he supports the client with experimentation or role-playing techniques that allow him to visualize different perspectives, actions, and experiment in a safe environment, in a continuous process of reflection, action and learning.

Author: Fatima Ribeiro

The author is a PCC Coach, Coach in professional development, leadership and teams processes, and member of the Board of Directors of ICF Panama.