SUPPORTING WOMEN AT WORK: After Surviving 5 Historic Gunshots, Jackie Speier Has No Fear When Facing The Country's Inequality Issues

By Dr. Brian Harman

How are you supporting women and under-represented groups in the workplace?

And I'm sick of hearing, "we shouldn't treat anyone differently," because research shows that it's not working and it isn't fair. Women and minorities continue to be mistreated and underpaid at work. And men, facts are facts. Did you know:

People on the receiving end of biases are less likely to receive credit for their work, are interrupted far more frequently, and have less influence on teams.

As someone who grew up with a single mom that raised four sons, I have seen the great and daring courage of women my whole life. But not even that could prepare me for the strength and unity that I felt while sitting among 7,000 females at the Unstoppable Conference hosted by the Professional Businesswomen of California (PBWC).

You could see and feel how powerful women are changing the course of leadership and igniting positive change toward equality in the workplace. It was a strong reminder to me of the importance of treating others fairly. We have all witnessed unfairness at work but don’t always know what to do about it.

Back in 1978, California Congresswomen Jackie Speier survived the Jonestown Massacre and barely returned home (along with 5 bullet wounds).

When she founded the PBWC shortly after that, she aimed high. She wanted equality for women, especially in the workplace. The problem is, organizations can't even build trust! How could they possibly create equality without trust?

And the ultimate symptom of a high-trust organization? EQUALITY.

NOT A SINGLE publicly-traded company has ever achieved that level of trust. Companies that don't invest in trust should know that studies have found high-trust organizations outperform their low-trust peers by 286% on average (measured by financial returns to shareholders).

My job as a coach is to help leaders enhance workplace culture by generating high-TRUST in their organizations. Not with empty words, but with real strategies and leadership development systems.

The sad truth? Trust is at an all-time low and gender inequality still exists in a BIG way.

I began interviewing influential women to see what they had to say about it. This only led to more questions. I decided to run an independent research study in 2019 and I was SHOCKED at the results. We surveyed 100 women and compiled the following results from the data that illustrate the unique challenges (struggles) that women face at work. We even wrote an eBook about it.

The Background

According to a 2018 report by Pew Research, among all Fortune 500 companies, there were ZERO female CEOs in 1995, while in 2018, the percentage of female CEOs in the Fortune 500 was still under 5% despite the fact women are now more likely to earn college degrees than men.

But a lack of female leadership is not only underscored by executive roles in business. For example, though a record number of women are serving in the U.S. Congress, women still only account for roughly 23% of voting members in the House of Representatives and 25% of voting members in the Senate.

In education, approximately 30% of university presidents were women in 2016, which is triple the number it was in the mid-1980s.

Although progress has been made, there's more everyone can be doing to take strides toward equality.

There is no top-down solution to inequality, such as regulations, rules or ultimatums. In my opinion, gender equality in your business requires a bottom-up approach where we, as a society, decide to start supporting female leaders around us in a MUCH bigger way.

Here are 5 ways you can support your colleagues:

1. Don’t interrupt. Unfortunately, it isn't uncommon for women to be interrupted in the workplace. Although this type of bias isn't something you can always control when it's displayed by someone else, speak up when it occurs. For example, if a female colleague is interrupted in a meeting, politely say, “Can we wait a second? I want to hear what was being said.” Stand up for each other, men and women alike.

2. Offer support and encouragement. I believe it's important to remember that as leaders, you are not in competition with one another.

3. Recognize your biases. Gender bias can be displayed in a number of ways, so if you find yourself jumping to a conclusion about one of your female peers, ask yourself if you would have the same reaction to your male counterparts. Consider how you want to contribute to compassion and equality in your workplace. This will help keep you from judging others, especially when you don't know their stories.

4. Give the gift of feedback. According to the Harvard Business Review, women are less likely to receive feedback — both positive and constructive — when related to business outcomes. And as the article points out, this lack of feedback can hold women back. So as a leader, be clear when offering feedback. Give praise when a team member does something positive, and be specific on how they can improve when necessary.

5. Discuss salary. The National Labor Relations Act protects employees' rights to discuss conditions of employment, such as pay, so it’s OK to have these conversations with each other to make sure everyone is being treated fairly.

Years from now when you look back on your career, it will be nice to know you made a serious effort to help change the unequal world we live in today.

These efforts don't require a lot of resources; it’s simply the sum of all the little things we can do on a daily basis to promote fairness and equality for the people around us.

Originally published by Forbes here.

Here's another article on a related topic: FAIRNESS IN THE WORKPLACE.