It’s the elephant in the boardroom we need to keep talking about: gender equity.
It’s not a new issue, of course, but it’s one that continues to plague the corporate pipeline, especially when it comes to women in leadership. The latest research from McKinsey shows that a mere 28% of senior management positions are held by women, and only one in four C-suite leaders is a woman.1 For women in tech and women of color, the numbers are even lower.2
The good news is that forward-thinking companies – like Nestlé, Colgate-Palmolive, Medtronic, and Intuit – are catching on and being more intentional about not just promoting more women, but also investing in their future success.4,5,6
As a women-owned company, we know a thing or two about raising up female leaders. We believe that equity isn’t a siloed HR exercise based on closing the gender gap (an exercise that continues to fail in corporate America1), but a holistic set of core values that infuses a company culture with day-to-day practices that get everyone speaking the same language, and even more so, giving everyone a voice. In a nutshell, the fundamentals of great storytelling.
For TPC, this includes the core values of Clarity, Inclusivity, Accountability, and Empathy. By embracing discomfort, walking in our audience’s shoes, soliciting input from everyone (while encouraging healthy debate), and being cognizant of people’s communication styles… it forces meaningful teamwork and collaboration. And when we successfully collaborate, biases and barriers are broken and a sense of purposeful belonging increases. Isn’t that what we ALL want at the end of the day?
So – what could this culture shift look like within your organization? We’re so glad you asked!
It all starts with establishing a culture built on equity and empowerment. The key is putting tools and training opportunities in place that better equip women leaders, set the stage for their career advancement, and give them a reason to pay it forward with future mentoring opportunities.
Storytelling as a Cultural Equalizer
Like any DEI initiative, real change requires organizations to take a hard look at their company culture. Gender equity needs to become the rule, not the exception, and that means creating an environment where mutual respect, empowerment, and equal opportunity are standard operating procedures.
Equipping all aspiring leaders with strong communication skills gives everyone the tools they need to be successful, whether that means learning how to craft a killer slide deck for a prospective client or creating compelling data visualizations for a financial update for the C-suite.
Storytelling also sets a tone of mutual understanding across the organization. The entire storytelling framework is built around putting your audience’s needs first and coming up with a resolution that benefits all stakeholders. Both female and male leaders learn how to empathize with each other while also understanding that the focus needs to stay on the BIG Idea.
Not only does this create a more collaborative work environment, it can also help break down the communication barriers women often feel when they’re sitting in a room full of men. When everyone is operating from the same framework, it’s less about who is speaking and more about what’s being said. This puts everyone on an equal communication field, increases meeting productivity, and creates an overall sense of teamwork and alignment.
Storytelling as an Empowerment Tool
Perhaps the real benefit of business storytelling is how it can be used to support women’s career growth and representation in leadership ranks.
Here are just a few ways storytelling can both equip and empower women—and future leaders—within your organization:
- Storytelling provides a clear, concise, and compelling way to share ideas, which helps elevate women’s voices and gives them more power and influence over the messages they send and the outcomes they hope to achieve
- Storytelling can help provide women with the confidence, executive presence, and persuasion skills they need for senior leadership roles
- Storytelling can improve data literacy—a critical skill for women who want to lead in more technical roles like product management and solutions engineering
- Storytelling helps develop trust and establish personal credibility with co-workers, which sets women up for future leadership success
- Storytelling helps women gain recognition as impactful, strategic communicators—the type of people executives want to put in front of key stakeholders and are more likely to promote
Storytelling as a Mentorship Opportunity
One of the roadblocks that many female professionals run into is a small pool of mentors—a disadvantage that stems from the lack of women in upper management. Companies that want to better support their female employees need to be intentional about creating an environment where women can encourage each other, learn from each other, and teach each other.
Because storytelling is driven and reinforced by ongoing, internal coaching, it offers women the perfect scenario for both peer-to-peer interaction and mentorship. It gives female leaders the opportunity to model storytelling and offer feedback to up-and-coming talent, and it gives peers the opportunity to practice their skills and hold each other accountable in a safe environment.
Setting a More Equitable Table
After decades of fighting for a seat at the decision-making table, women are done waiting for companies to see their potential. Today’s female leaders know their worth, and they are seeking out employers that are taking measurable steps to support women and close the gender gaps at the top of the ladder.
If we want to evolve DEI in the workplace, we need to transform how we work together. By creating an even playing field through storytelling for everyone, all boats rise with the tide, and we begin to solve what to-date has seemed unsolvable… giving all women the chance to be seen, heard, and valued in the workplace.
References:
1McKinsey, Women in the Workplace 2022
2CIO.com, 7 challenges women face in getting ahead in IT
3Forbes, A ‘Great Breakup’— Female Leaders Switching Jobs In Unprecedented Numbers, Survey Shows
4Colgate-Palmolive, Celebrating Women in Science
5Nestlé press release, Nestlé recognized in 2022 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index for fourth consecutive year
6Medtronic, Diversity, Inclusion & Equity Initiatives Elevating Women Leaders
7Intuit, Four Ways to Empower Women in Tech