Breaking the glass ceiling: Business and management skills (Part 9 of 10)

Skills usage — the percentage indicating the frequent use of certain skills by gender in current role, for Jenny To illustrates why developing wider business and management skills is so important for leaders.

“When I was promoted to managing director, it was a big challenge to move from finance into management. I now look after the business in Hong Kong and have my own sales and marketing teams.

However, even when I was in a financial role, I wasn’t just looking at the numbers; I was involved with the management team and able to talk about different aspects of the business, for example, the sales strategy or the marketing strategy.”

Sandhya Rajapakse agrees, “Being in the finance field, one is always viewed as a blocker, the one who insists on control and regulations. It’s therefore important to gel well with the team and create solutions and value additions, and also have a thorough knowledge of the business apart from the technicalities of one’s role.”

Irelan Tam explains how it‘s important to fit in with the culture of the organization. “You have to understand about the business objectives and strategic imperatives. For example, our company focuses on credo based decision making, so we have to follow the suggested process in evaluating our investment opportunities.

“Also, we focus on creating value for our customers, so we have to partner with our sales and marketing department to understand the business process in fulfilling our customers’ requirements and not just finance.”

The last word goes to Boonsiri Somchit-Ong, who believes simply that, “being a good leader is being a good human being.”

For Garris Chen, developing people skills is imperative for aspiring leaders. “Management level is the time to develop your technical knowledge; when you get more senior, people skills are what’s important.”

Women’s leadership styles

Several studies have identified that women tend to lead in different ways from most men — and that these differences can have a positive impact on the organization’s success.

Research from McKinsey found that women are more likely than men to demonstrate leadership traits that have a positive impact on corporate performance, including being inspiring, building collaborative teams, defining expectations and rewarding people.

A study by US management consultants Caliper also identified a number of characteristics that distinguish women’s leadership styles from those of men. It found that women leaders:

• are more persuasive — more able to bring others round to their point of view

• are more empathetic and flexible, as well as stronger in interpersonal skills

• learn from adversity and carry on

• demonstrate an inclusive, team-building leadership style of problem solving and decision making.

Similarly, the recent CIMA gender at work survey, below, shows that women tend to use interpersonal skills — such as team working, conflict management, influencing and negotiating skills — more frequently than men in their jobs.

Top tips — raise your profile

• Be assertive and ask for what you deserve.

• Be pro-active — speak up about your career ambitions and keep a log of your successes.

• Network widely to make yourself known.

• Play on your strengths and don’t feel the need to emulate male colleagues.

• Work on communication and presentation skills — for example, via training courses.

• Seize new responsibilities and opportunities.

Top tips — get organized

• Make plans for all eventualities, for example ensuring you have backup childcare.

• Prioritise your daily tasks and delegate where appropriate.

• Make the most of travelling time to catch up on study.

• Keep work and home life separate.

• Find ways to manage stress.

• Take steps to stay physically healthy.

How CIMA’s senior females lead

The women we interviewed mostly agreed that women lead in different ways from men, and certainly none felt they had to be like men in order to lead. When describing their leadership styles, most of the women mentioned their empathy, compassion, and ability to connect with people.

Jasmin Harvey believes women are usually, “More compassionate, have better listening ability and are more intuitive around how others are feeling, for example, through reading body language.”

A person-centered approach does not have to be at the expense of results, as Professor Dr. Suzana Sulaiman explains. “I have to have empathy toward people but at the same time I want them to produce the results. There needs to be a balance.”

Jennice Zhu believes that women’s empathy can be beneficial in business situations, helping them “break down cultural barriers, avoid frictions and provide new perspective to discussions.”

Focusing on individuals can also help women to develop staff effectively, as Rachini Rajapaksa describes, “I try to give guidance rather than be dictatorial; this helps to increase people’s confidence.”

A participative approach to decision making was another common theme. “I like to have the team clued in about what’s happening — no surprises, no blame culture,” Karen O’Duil explains. “Sometimes things go wrong and we just concentrate on fixing it.” Professor Dr. Suzana Sulaiman has a similar style.

“It’s very important to have togetherness when problem solving. I get ‘buy in’ from the team by welcoming suggestions and sharing the responsibility so that I can pass some ownership to the team, and also share successes.”

Garris Chen’s leadership style involves being open and sincere, and encouraging staff at all levels: “Don’t hide things; be very open with people. People will hear your sincerity and know there’s no hidden agenda behind what you say. And don’t be afraid to share; knowledge is abundant everywhere. People will come to you to hear your advice.”

The writer is CIMA research and development manager. For more information about CIMA, please visit www.cimaglobal.com.