Successful female executives used to be seen as loners who shunned helping other women and dutifully stuck to entrenched rules to succeed.
Today, executive women networks are emerging in the corporate world that work to counter the old boy's club. Women are mentoring other women to help one another advance and succeed.
How much should successful female executives do to help other women?
The Harvard Business Review (Sept. 2007) reports that the scarcity of women at the top reflects "the sum of discrimination that has operated at all ranks," and not any particular obstacle to advancement as women approach the executive suite.
Most efforts aimed at increasing the presence of women in the upper echelons of U.S. business focus solely on bridging the final step between the middle tiers and the top ranks.
Women need to seek mentors. "One of the mistakes I made earlier in my career was not building those relationships" with the people who say when positions are being filled, 'Well, what about her for that,'" said Billie Williamson, director of flexibility and gender equity at Ernst & Young LLP.
Source: In the Lead by Carol Hymowitz, The Wall Street Journal, November 19, 2007
If you know women executives in your organization who need to become better leaders, suggest you point them toward: www.executivewoman.info
