Women Are Different.
Seems obvious. If organizations can work from this assumption, they can help life at work will be more effective for all women.
I met with one of my clients today and we had a discussion about women and how they are different. We talked about her work and her life and we talked about a friend of hers who she thinks is having real difficulties at work. I will share three stories. First there is the story of this woman. Second, I'll tell her friend's story. The last story is another client of mine.
My client has never agonized over work/life balance. She loves her kids. She loves her work. She travels quite a bit and works long hours. On the weekends she doesn't work and she enjoys her husband and family. She has continued to move up but not agressively. She recently made a decision to go for the "big job".
The second woman (her friend) just had a baby. This woman does not apear to be motivated by work right now. She is becoming impatient with her staff. She is not on top of her work. In the past, she has been outstanding with staff and her work has always been exceptional.
The third story is about a woman in her 50s. Not married. No kids. She questioning if she really still enjoys what she does. She has held many "big jobs". She is quite successful but is considering a complete career change.
What ties all of this together? Two things.
One, each woman is unique. Even though their stories may be familiar to you. You have to be struck by how different they all are. These are all accomplished women. They are all successful.
The second thing is that their careers are not linear, even progressions. Their career paths have peaks and valleys and take different roads. In some cases, there are quite big diversions along the way (this often happens whether or not they have kids -- Read "On Ramps and Off Ramps", in Harvard Business Review for more on this).
Solving women's issues is not a simple thing. Large programatic solutions have limited impact. Really being helpful to women means taking a customized approach to each situation and taking the time to ride the peaks and valleys. Organizations that are prepared to dedicate time and effort into working with all of their talented women in a customized way will keep and develop the largest number of talented women. Period. There is no other more simple solution.
