Blog XVI: Executive Women’s Case Study

Case 15.1 – The “Glass Ceiling”

Lisa Weber never doubted that she would be a partner in her Wall Street firm. A graduate of a prestigious business school with a doctorate in economics, she had taught briefly at a major university. She was the first woman hired as a market analyst in her well-regarded firm. Within two years, she has become one of four senior portfolio managers reporting directly to a senior partner. Her clients give her the highest commendations for her outstanding performance; over the past two years, she has brought in the largest number of new accounts to the firm.

Despite the admiration of her colleagues and their seeming acceptance of her, there is a disturbing, if flattering, aspect to her job. Most of her peers and some of the partners visit her office during the day to discuss in private her opinions on market performance and financial projections. She enjoys these private sessions but is dismayed that at the weekly staff meetings the CEO, Michael Breyer, usually says something like, “OK, let’s get started and bring Lisa up to date on some of the trouble spots.” None of her peers or the partners mention that Lisa knows as much as they do about what’s going on in the firm. She never protests this slight to her competence and knowledge of firm business, nor does she mention the almost-daily private meetings where her advice is sought. As the only woman on the executive level, she prefers to be considered a team player and one of the boys.

In the past year, one of her peers has been promoted to partner, although Lisa’s performance clearly surpassed his, as measured by the success of her accounts and the amount of new business she brought to the firm. Having heard no mention of partnership for herself, she approached her boss, one of the partners, and asked about the path to a partnership. He replied, “You’re doing great, Lisa, but professors do not partners make. What happens if you are a partner and you make a huge mistake? How would you take it? And what about our clients? There’s never been a female partner in the 103 years of our firm.”

Shortly thereafter, another woman, Pamela Tobias, was hired as a marketing analyst. Once, when the CEO saw Lisa and Pamela together, he called out to the men, “Hey, guys, two women in one room. That’s scary.”

During the next six months, Lisa meets several times with the CEO to make her case for a partnership on the basis of her performance. She finally realizes that there is no possibility of change in the foreseeable future and decides to leave and form her own investment firm. (Northouse, 2016, pp. 412-413)

    In the case study of Lisa Weber desiring a promotion from her strong preformance as a portfolio manager for a Wall Street firm, her boss refuses to make her a partner of the firm because “there’s never been a female partner in the 103 years of our firm” (Northouse, 2016, p. 412). It’s obvious from the audience’s perspective that her boss does not have a valid reason to withhold a possible promotion since her preformance far exceeded her colleagues. One of the reasons for this is because her boss, Michael Breyer, has a stereotype towards women being unable to handle the responsibilities of a partner and is closed off from seeing change in the firm. He also has a stereotype towards professors not making good partners and doesn’t believe Lisa can handle the pressure that comes with being a partner. Neither of Michael’s stereotypes however present any logical evidence against either a woman or a professor’s ability to carry out the responsibilities of a partner.

Another factor preventing Lisa from advancing is the lack of credit she gets when her colleagues succeed from her advice. As Northouse stated: “Empirical research also shows that women are less likely to promote themselves as a leader” (Northouse, 2016, p. 403). Because Lisa didn’t confront her colleagues about them taking the credit from her advice, her boss was unaware of the positive influence she had within the overall firm, besides her strong preformance. Lisa’s tendency to conform with her colleagues is what sets her back rather than trying to actively outperform them. She complies with the social expectations towards women to display nurturing, sensitive and communal qualities even when they detriment her reputation by not claiming the credit she deserves. Many women face these similar challenges but are afraid to overstep the social boundaries that society places on them. Women have to balance taking on male qualities in order to advance in a male-dominated world and also be aware of negative perceptions that can be placed on them if they lead too similarly to how males would (Northouse, 2016).

As a result from the firm’s lack of respect for Lisa’s abilities, she left to start her own which costed the firm a very valuable asset to their company. I don’t think Lisa would have left if the company had properly acknowledged her efforts due to her strong efforts to benefit the team. It’s very difficult for women in leadership positions to change the stereotype that their organization may have towards working women if the top-level management team isn’t aware or concerned of these stereotypes. One approach I would have recommended Lisa was to approach her boss using fact-based evidence as to why she should be promoted and help him unravel the unconscious biases that he has towards women. She should convince him that a lot of her colleagues’ success was slightly attributed to her and if Michael doesn’t believe her, she should decrease the amount of advice she gives out until it becomes apparent to him about the magnitude of her contributions. Lisa could benefit from acting more selfishly since she has nothing to lose from the firm’s upper management being so blinded by their biases. Lisa could then leverage her skills and negotiate with Michael again in order to succeed in her goal before deciding to start her own firm.

Lisa could also ask her colleagues for support and ask them to give her credit during the weekly staff meetings. I believe this approach may have been more effective in helping her boss to realize the value of her contributions if she had the support of the team. Either way, levelling the gender gap has to start from the firm’s top management for there to be significant changes throughout the company. Lisa’s individual actions can help spur the change, her team’s support maty also change Michael’s mind about gender equality, or perhaps he gains a sudden notion of insight from an external source that raises his awareness to this inequality. Whatever the case may be, managers and executives must have a mindset of openness and change in order to advance social inclusivity and the potential within their organizations.

References

Coors Healthcare Solutions. (n.d.). Coors to Sponsor Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference. [Digital Image]. Retrieved from http://coorshealthcaresolutions.com/coors-to-sponsor-women-leaders-in-healthcare-conference/

Northouse, P. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th eds). Los Angeles: Sage Publications.