In the Classroom
 Women in Leadership

There are more women in management ranks than ever before, but just a small fraction ever reach the executive suite. Only 11 companies in the Fortune 1000 had women CEOs in 2002. What would it take for more women to make it up the corporate ladder? Some of the same things it takes for a man: vision, strategy, an action plan. But there often are different obstacles and opportunities along the way for women.

In June, Wharton is launching an executive education program — Women in Leadership: Legacies, Opportunities, and Challenges — designed specifically to help women identify and achieve their personal and organizational leadership goals. Anne Cummings, the academic director of the program, recently discussed the origins and design of the program with Robert Mittelstaedt, Jr., Vice Dean and Director of Wharton's Aresty Institute of Executive Education.

Q: Why was there a need for a program specifically for women? How will it be different from leadership programs typically offered by Wharton?

Cummings: In many ways, the program will be similar to Wharton's other highly successful leadership programs in that it will include strategic thinking, leadership vision, and opportunity identification. What's different is that it will also address the specific challenges and opportunities that women face in the work force. The course content will focus on business issues and leadership challenges, while the approach will help each participant identify and work toward the legacy she wants to leave as a leader in her own life.

Mittelstaedt: For whatever reason, we have noticed a difficulty in attracting women to our existing executive programs. Whether it has to do with content or attitudes about taking courses, we don't know. So we felt it was appropriate to develop a course specifically for women, one that would directly address the issues and challenges they face.

Q: Are leadership challenges different for men and women?

Cummings: The difference is not a function of sex, per se, but relates to real-life experience. Most senior-level women managers rarely get the chance in their average work day to interact with a group of women colleagues. Is that important for getting daily business done? No. But discussing business with a group of women sets a different tone and allows for a freer exchange in sharing experiences and solutions to particular challenges — best practices that may assist them in the longer term. Wharton has always been good at offering executive programs for particular like-minded communities facing similar challenges. In this case, it will be a community of women.

Q: It sounds like there's a good opportunity to begin building a support network with other women. Is this more important than mentoring?

Cummings: Both networking and mentoring are important, whether you are a man or a woman. With formal mentoring, a junior manager is typically paired with a senior executive; if they have similar styles and backgrounds, they may click immediately, and the relationship takes off. The catch for women is that they have fewer senior women to choose as mentors, so they may need to go outside the company for that resource. In our sessions, we'll discuss strategies for engaging other women leaders in challenging and supporting relationships. And natural mentorships may develop during the course of the course. When you put several women executives in a room, they come away with valuable insights just from talking to one another. With our program, we're going several steps further by adding academic content to the exchange. We'll incorporate current research and theory, strategic practices, active learning, and "live" case studies, with successful women invited into the classroom for open discussion to share what worked for them, what didn't, and why.

Q: What's the value of a program like this for the organizations who send managers?

Mittelstaedt: Virtually every corporation we talk to these days says they have a real need to develop more leaders. It's obvious that there are more women in the management ranks, so are corporations doing what they need to do to develop women leaders? Or do they need something that addresses the slightly different but unique aspects that these women face? The bottom line is, in a rapidly changing world, corporations need effective leaders who are ready, willing, and able to change — to receive input that they may not want to hear and take action on it.

An investment in a course like this is relatively modest, and its value can be far-reaching in terms of the impact women leaders can have within an organization — whether it's in motivating or retaining or qualifying even a couple of people to do higher-level work. Leadership skills are not learned by osmosis; there needs to be a process in place. We can accelerate that learning, which helps organizations to benefit from those improved skills for a longer period of time — with less trial and error. And that translates into a positive return on investment.

Cummings: At the completion of the Women in Leadership program, each participant will leave with an individualized, specific plan — charting her own legacy as a leader with actionable steps — that will help her and her company. She'll also leave with strategies her company might use to help retain and develop the leadership potential of other women in the firm. And because we will be bringing in women from a variety of firms, we'll be able to leverage and learn from a real diversity of experiences.

Q: Who should attend this program?

Cummings: This course may not be the right one for all women, but if high-potential women are looking for strategies to become more effective leaders, if they want to exchange feedback and best practices with other successful women, and if they want to leave with a clearer leadership vision and specific plan to achieve it, then this is the place.

Mittelstaedt: The pathways are open for women to get to more senior places in the corporate world. It takes some soul-searching to know whether they are prepared and have the necessary tools to make that next big step. This course was designed specifically to help them — both in understanding their unique strengths and in determining a plan of action to help them get there.

    

This month's articles:

  • Thought Leaders
    What can Larry King and Ben Franklin teach us about successful career negotiations?

  • In the Classroom
    What are the challenges facing women in leadership?

  • Career Profile
    Unisys Vice President Curt Girod credits good mentors and continuous education with advancing his career.

  • The Last Word
    Vice Dean Robert Mittelstaedt on how negotiations have become central to work.