Many organisations provide women aspiring to senior leadership positions with targeted training and support. Article by Rehena Harilall, Evolve Ltd.

The flaw in most programmes is not that they try to make women adapt to fit into a dominant male culture, but that they ignore the problem’s root cause : they fail to challenge the wider, often deeply-entrenched mindsets that inhibit the progress of women. Addressing this would make all the difference to the success and sustainability of the ‘gender agenda’ in progressive organisations. Pivotal to many organisations’ gender initiatives are targeted, women-only development programmes. These wide-ranging, often innovative efforts can bring immense value and benefits to both women and the organisations themselves. I believe, however, that many have neglected to address key elements that are crucial for real, long-term impact and sustainability.

Firstly, the usual focus of these programmes is to equip women with the required skills, behaviours, appearances, abilities and contacts to make them fit into the dominant work culture. Behaviours, say psychologists, are the visible tip of an emotional iceberg and are driven by underlying mindsets, beliefs and values. We create beliefs to help us survive and succeed, and they are reinforced and shaped by the society we live in. I recently started coaching a very successful senior woman leader. She told me, that, despite the significant amount of women-focused leadership training and development courses she has undertaken, she still sits in meetings with men feeling “like a fraud who is going to be caught out” or fatigued that “I have to prove what I can do over and over again”.

Many programmes neglect to address the underlying, often self-limiting beliefs that women have about themselves; beliefs often revealed in their behaviours. The negative effects of how such beliefs shape feelings of self-worth and behaviours has been widely studied and written about. In my opinion, changing behaviours but disregarding the underlying beliefs and mindsets is like tackling a garden’s weed problem by removing a few leaves from the weeds and sticking on heads of preferred flowers. Focusing only on changing behaviours creates psychological dissonance, according to psychologists, resulting in emotional states such as depression, anxiety or emotional stress, and coping behaviours like denial or disengagement. Could this explain why women decide to step away from senior positions? The cost to fit in becomes too high a price to pay!

For me, changing these mindsets and beliefs is crucial, not only for psychological well-being or sustaining behavioural change, but because it supports women to start developing their own unique leadership style and voice. The value and benefit of doing this has been recognised by a few companies such as Schneider Electric and L’Oreal, which have incorporated this approach into their existing women leadership initiatives. Secondly, there is a significant and critical stakeholder group that is glaringly excluded. Only focusing efforts on making male leaders aware of the benefits of having more women in their ranks, or actively engaging them as sponsors and mentors, are both insufficient. There are many men who, despite being advocates for change, are reluctant to be seen favouring women because of how they may be perceived. There are also many whose actions belie their supportive words. And then there are those who are vociferously hostile against having women in leadership teams. It’s true that most of us are more comfortable surrounded by those who think and behave as we do; but this must be changed if we want to capitalise on the proven innovation and other benefits that real diversity brings.

Why is it so rare to find organisational initiatives designed to address the deeply-entrenched mindsets of men? I believe that well-designed programmes, enabling men to recognise how their ’hidden’ beliefs, those of women and the implicit rules within business impede gender progress will produce better leaders, managers and mentors for all employees. This may well liberate men in developing their own unique leadership voice, style and way of working. By doing this, senior leaders could not only create authentic, adaptive leadership teams but also make all the difference to the success and sustainability of their organisations’s gender agenda. Those who transform their culture from one which makes others change to fit in to one that actively celebrates difference and leverages diverse talent have much to gain. Not only will they attract the best people from a much wider talent pool, they will also accelerate ahead of competitors in achieving the performance and financial benefits linked to diversity. Such trail-blazing organisations will shape the future of the society we live in.