Don’t underestimate the power of women connecting and supporting each other at work. As my experiences from being a rookie accountant to a managing director at an investment bank have taught me, conversations between women have massive benefits for the individual and the organization. When I graduated college in the 1970s, I believed that women would quickly achieve parity at all levels of professional life now that we had “arrived” — I viewed the lack of women at the top as more of a “pipeline” problem, not a cultural one. But the support I expected to find from female colleagues — the feeling of sisterhood in this mission — rarely survived first contact within the workplace.
Don’t Underestimate the Power of Women Supporting Each Other at Work
Some senior-level women tend to distance themselves from junior women, often to be more accepted by their male peers. Trying to separate oneself from a marginalized group is, sadly, a strategy that’s frequently employed. It’s easy to believe that there’s limited space for people who look like you at the top when you can see it with your own eyes. So, what are women in the workplace to do, when research shows that we’re penalized for trying to lift each other up? The antidote to being penalized for sponsoring women may just be to do it more — and to do it vocally, loudly, and proudly — until perceptions change. There are massive benefits for the individual and the organization when women support each other. It reduces the feeling of competition for an imaginary quota at the top. It helps other women realize, “Oh, it’s not just me” – a revelation that can change the course of a women’s career. It’s also an indispensable way of identifying bad actors and systemic problems within the company.