RALEIGH – How do I get a seat at the C-Suite table?
Sadly, it’s an all-too-familiar question for many women and people of color rising through today’s corporate ranks, still struggling to get recognized.
Well, according to global work force expert Dr. Shirley Davis, the answer is twofold: The seat and the table have to change.
“Companies have to change their culture to bring about a sense of inclusion,” said the author of The Seat: How to Get Invited to the Table When You are Over-Performing and Undervalued.
The Seat
“But there is work that we have to do as individuals if we want to get those opportunities.”
That was her takeaway message to a packed audience on hand for North Carolina Chamber’s Women > A Force in Business conference on Tuesday.
A year after the #MeToo movement erupted, there were a number of breakout sessions that focused on the gender divide and combating sexual harassment. “It’s definitely been a part of it, but it hasn’t consumed the conversation,” said Kate Payne, NC Chamber’s vice president of Communications.
More than 1,000 professionals and business leaders – mostly women – filed into the Raleigh Convention Center for the all-day event, featuring a range of programming, from popup strategy sessions to book signings to panels, keynotes and exhibitor tables.
It’s third year running, topics included everything from work-life balance, combating sexual harassment, leveraging the differences between men and women, to building resiliency and wealth management.
“We’ve sold out every year. We’ve been thrilled with the response,” said Payne. “There’s so much to talk about as it relates to women in the workplace.”
The proverbial glass ceiling
Giving women strategies for the workplace … Dr. Shirley Davis, global work force expert author of The Seat: How to Get Invited to the Table When You are Over-Performing and Undervalued.
Though women make up around 51 percent of the workforce – and are now more likely than men to be college educated, according to research studies – they remain underrepresented at every level in corporate America.
Scan down the latest Fortune 500 list, and only 24 companies are led by women – a drop from 32 companies the year before, due mostly to recent resignations.
One in five C-Suite execs are women, and fewer than one in 30 is a woman of color.
“It’s going to be a long time [before we break the proverbial glass ceiling],” said Davis.
“It’s not a sprint; it’s a marathon because we are trying to unravel corporate cultures that have been around for years – hundreds of years in some companies. It doesn’t change that easily.”
As part of that effort, she offered a number of strategies to those present not just “get a seat” but to “earn a seat” at the C-suite table.
Among them: defining your purpose, knowing the business, becoming an expert in a subject and getting out of the office to network – even if it means accepting an offer to play golf as the lone woman among a group of male executives.
“I didn’t want to play golf and ride in a cart for five hours in the heat. But I did say yes,” Davis recounted her personal story, “and that was one of the best decisions of my career. I learned some of the programs they were working on and new initiatives that were coming up, and they learned me. Before then, nobody was calling me. After that, my career took off. They were calling me. And I could call them too, simply because I got out of the office and did something I would not have normally done.”
Another plus, she joked, “I actually ended up liking golf.”
Women find support, inspiration
Laura Briscoe, a delivery manager at Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina
Laura Briscoe, a delivery manager at Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, was among those in the audience. She said her company had sponsored for her to attend the conference.
“I leaped at the chance,” said the 43-year-old. “Having conferences [like this] and helping women understand that [they] can be a leader, too, here are some strategies on how to get there, will help us equal out the playing field.”
Stephanie Herrera, a product specialist with medical device company Teleflex Incorporated, agreed.
“I feel like I have a seat at the table, but I just wanted to work on some strategic ways to voice my opinions and convey what I’m thinking [in an way that is] effective and concise. These are some great tips to have as takeaways.”
