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Dealing with glass ceilingWali Zahid | ceo, Skill City BahrainConference on Framework of Respectful Workplace

Karachi Marriott: 3 July 2013


Who’s Wali?

Asian businesses have known Wali for 20-year work on

business leadership and executive coaching

Wali leads the longest-running Train-The-Trainer workshop |

13th year | 16+ Asian locations | 1,000+ trainers trained

Taught MBA courses at IBA, ZABIST, CBM, UMT, IIU, Dow

A disruptor and a future-trends watcher

Was called by two ministers-in-waiting to consult on

how to turn around state-owned enterprises in June ‘13


Who’s Wali?...

Our reputation in C-Level leadership and Train

The Trainer has overshadowed our women

leadership work


Who’s Wali?...

Led ‘Women in Leadership’ and ‘Young Women in Leadership’

(WIL, Y-WIL) workshops (both in mix-gender, and all-female

environments) in Pakistan and Afghanistan for British Council,

IRM/NRSP/HRDN, IbnSina Afghanistan, LCWU, Jinnah

Women University and AKDN organisations

Member, BOG @ Pakistan Society for Training & Dev which

runs WIBCON (women in business conference) every year

Member, Advisory, Lahore College Women University (LCWU)


Ministry of Women Development

Conceived, developed and delivered a nine-

month Management Foundation Programme

with Gender Dimension for Pakistan’s

Ministry of Women Development and run it

successfully several times during 2006-2008

on behalf of GIZ, the German foundation


Leads CEO leadership workshop


2050 interview


Women make better laeaders


CEO Summit with CM Shahbaz


Two parts of the talk

1. What is glass ceiling?

2. How you can deal with it in an era of

technology


Two things before that


What do you think of Pakistan 2050?

Think of one word that describes your picture

of Pakistan in 2050


What do you think of women in 2050?

Think of one word that describes your picture

of women’s role in 2050 world


In reality


Pakistan in 2050

Pakistan is one of the top 20 economies in the

world in 2050*

*Goldman Sachs


World in 2010


World in 2050

Goldman Sachs: Jan 2012 report


Women will dominate in 2050

By 2050, an unprecedented number of women

will be in positions of power *

*Alvin Toffler of Future Shock fame


These two pieces will…

…take away the sting of glass ceiling from this

audience’s mind


Two key learnings

1. A world full of opportunities for women to

shine, progress, dominate!

2. A country that is going to be the 20th largest

economy!


What is glass ceiling?

Part 1


What is glass ceiling?

A metaphor for the invisible barrier that

prevents women from reaching the upper

parts of management

Created by invisible (unsaid, unseen) forces

of culture, habit and power that serve to

keep women ‘in their place.’


My contention!

These barriers may not be real!

Only in the mind of women!

There will always be the determined women

who will refuse to accept glass ceiling


US data: Life above glass ceiling

Evidence suggests that life above the glass ceiling is quite

different for men and women (Ryan & Haslam, 2007, AMR).

In particular, women are given

different opportunities (riskier, more precarious)

different rewards (fewer, less contingent on performance)

different reception (their arrival is greeted with skepticism,

and seen as a signal of decline)

These are likely to be a source of stress and disidentification


Two factors may decide

1. Locus of control

Internal

External

2. Cultural context

High-context, e.g. Pakistan, Arab world

Low-context, e.g. Swiss, Germany, Scandinavia


So…

If you are a person operating from

Internal locus of control

In a low-context culture

glass ceiling may not mean much to you!


How to break glass ceiling

Part 2


5 tips


Tips to break glass ceiling…1

Work alone is not enough!


How women are promoted

Ashridge UK Research: What takes you ahead at job?

Learning: What does this tell you?

Performance (work)

Image (reputation)

Exposure (visibility)

10%

30%

60%



Work on your reputation & visibility

Volunteer for roles outside your job

Speak at meetings

Propose solutions, not just problems

Represent team or company at outside events

Seek regular, ongoing 360 feedback



Develop political awareness – become a

360 degree helper (not just self-centric!)

Need to be in ‘Wise’ quadrant (next slide)


4 styles of political behaviour



Demonstrate high EQ behaviours


Your EQ behaviours

High EQ

• Bouncing back

• Listening

• Empathising

• Risking

• Flexing

• Including

Low EQ

• Blaming

• Unforgiving

• Defending

• Stonewalling

• Judging

• Excluding



Watch out career & leadership derailers


Executive derailments

1. Arrogance: you think you’re right and everyone else is wrong

2. Melodrama: you need to be the centre of attention

3. Volatility: you’re subject to mood swings

4. Excessive caution: you’re afraid to make decisions

5. Habitual distrust: you focus on the negatives

6. Aloofness: you’re disengaged and disconnected

7. Mischievousness: you believe that rules are made to be broken

8. Eccentricity: you try to be different just for the sake of it

9. Passive resistance: what you say is not what you really believe

10. Perfectionism: you get the little things right & big things wrong

11. Eagerness to please: you try to win the popularity contestSource: David Dotlitch: Why CEOs Fail?


5 tips to break glass ceiling

In summary:

1. Work alone is not enough!

2. Work on your reputation & visibility

3. Develop political awareness

4. Demonstrate high EQ behaviours

5. Watch out career & leadership derailers


Thank you!

Wali Zahid

[email protected]

www.skillcity.co

+92 300 820 1 88 9

+971 50 2 55 3 88 7

+973 3416 0522