{"id":12340,"date":"2023-09-05T07:50:57","date_gmt":"2023-09-05T07:50:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/leadership\/this-is-how-to-thrive-in-your-first-100-days-as-a-female-ceo\/"},"modified":"2023-09-05T07:50:58","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T07:50:58","slug":"this-is-how-to-thrive-in-your-first-100-days-as-a-female-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=12340","title":{"rendered":"This Is How To Thrive In Your First 100 Days As A Female CEO"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When it comes to female CEOs, there is progress to be celebrated. Women now steer the ships of more than 10% of Fortune 500 companies – a first for 2023 – with one of those companies being in the top 10. And whilst a third of those appointments happened in the last year alone (signaling real momentum in the push for parity) we need to acknowledge the hurdles these leaders still face – namely, that they\u2019re still more likely to be \u2018pushed out\u2019 of the role than men.<\/p>\n

We know this thanks to Exechange\u2019s trademarked Push-out Scoring System, which stems from academic research on executive turnover. This is a metric, ranging from 0 to 10, that serves as a gauge to determine the likelihood of a chief executive leaving voluntarily (0) or being forcibly removed (10), with anything above 5 indicating potential external pressures. Most of the time when a C-Suite executive leaves a role, we\u2019re fed the line that they \u2018stepped down,\u2019 but this doesn\u2019t explain the full story. The amount of choice in the matter is up for debate, as they usually choose to jump before being pushed and are rarely openly fired.<\/p>\n

This pattern is consistent with the recent findings for women. Notably, over the last year, outgoing female CEOs received an average score of 6.5, surpassing the 6.1 average for their male counterparts and meaning they were more likely to be pushed out. Female CEOs also tend to have a notably shorter tenure\u20144.7 years on average\u2014compared to the 8.1 years of male CEOs. A 2018 study published in the Journal of Management<\/em> corroborated these findings, stating that female CEOs were 45% more likely to be fired than their male counterparts.<\/p>\n

But why is this?<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no \u2018one size fits all\u2019 answer, but the research suggests that stereotypes and unconscious biases play a part in shaping the perception of women\u2019s leadership capabilities and that women are far more likely to face higher levels of scrutiny and pressure from shareholders. What this means is that female CEOs can find themselves navigating a narrower margin for error.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhilst [I believe] we need more discussion about the joys of women in leadership, not least because research is starting to show that the focus on the negative is discouraging younger women from aspiring to [these roles], for the women I work with, the biggest issue is exhaustion,\u201d says Libby Vincent, a \u2018Chief Special Adviser\u2019 as her clients call her, for new female CEOs. \u201cI think of Indra Nooyi, the former CEO of Pepsi Co, who said, \u2018if I had not gotten tired after about 10\u201311 years, I would have done it for 25\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vincent believes this is often due to the double-edged sword of their \u201cprofessional persona\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the one hand, it\u2019s an armor necessary for resilience. On the other, the constant vigilance it takes to uphold this persona can be incredibly taxing. There is also the frustration of matters irrelevant to their core mission consuming their time and energy and the pressures they pile on themselves to defy stereotypes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having spent 15 years in organizational change and leadership development in FTSE 50 companies such as Barclays and Just Eat, Vincent has garnered a unique perspective on what it takes to survive and thrive during times of change, which is what led her in 2021 to found Hodology – a collective of specialists on a mission to extend the tenure of C-Suite women. They put the focus on women in particular because of the very inequality this article has already described. And although she doesn\u2019t believe female leaders need more support than men or can only benefit from being advised by other women, she does believe that receiving advice from people who understand the \u201cbehavioral science and gender politics\u201d elements that affect C-Suite women in particular will serve them well. \u201cOtherwise, it\u2019s like watching a football match without understanding the rules. Generally speaking, you can follow what\u2019s happening, but figuring out why they were sent off will be difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first priority for Vincent and her team is to help them make good decisions and impressions, particularly within the first 100 days. This is because, much like a new movie\u2019s success is usually decided based on how well it does in its opening weekend, a woman\u2019s success as a CEO is often \u2018decided\u2019 within the first three months.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis time can be challenging for women since we are navigating biases that most of our male counterparts don\u2019t face,\u201d explains Vincent, who typically sees these biases surfacing in three ways – confirmation bias (\u201cwe all hold prescriptive beliefs about how women behave\u201d), in-group bias (\u201cpeople are more likely to support or believe someone within their social group than outsiders, hence, the credibility curve of the first 100 days is steeper as a woman joining a majority male team\u201d) and stereotype threat (\u201cthe fear that others judge us through the lens of preconception\u201d).<\/p>\n

\u201cReputations are quick to form and hard to change and the credibility curve is steeper as a woman joining a majority male team. [That\u2019s why] in the first 100 days, the goal is to build a reputation and establish relevance \u2013 making well-informed strategic decisions with people who can implement them.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is Vincent\u2019s advice on what to prioritize in those first crucial months.<\/p>\n

Get creative with your personal brand <\/strong><\/p>\n

It might be tempting to share everything about your career, passions, values and personality straight away, but Vincent recommends opting for the \u2018less is more\u2019 route.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo accelerate trust, don\u2019t tell people everything; tell them the same thing consistently and repeatedly. Over time you can add complexity. In the first 100 days, use multiple channels to reinforce three things you want them to say about you.\u201d<\/p>\n

These might include rehearsing your anecdotes and icebreakers, thinking about whether to use professional or candid photos as your profile images, ensuring you stage the backdrop of your video calls to include curated messages through books, certificates, art and photos (\u201cJacinda Ardhern did this beautifully,\u201d) and getting creative with your personal styling, whether that be an eye-catching manicure or a particular color palette for your wardrobe<\/p>\n

Have a networking strategy<\/strong><\/p>\n

With so much to do in that initial period, delegating is important but Vincent says you should avoid doing this with your schedule: \u201cThe order in which you meet people says something about the relative importance of each person, which says something about you. In your first 100 days, don\u2019t let others speak for you by taking control of your calendar.\u201d<\/p>\n

She recommends carefully considering whether to give priority to engaging with horizontal or vertical reporting lines and to decide whether to engage with internal and external stakeholders. You\u2019ll also need to decide whether to conduct meetings in groups or one-on-one settings, as well as what an invitation to a formal or casual environment says about the type of leader you are.<\/p>\n

Establish a feedback channel <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOver the mid to long term, you will create the psychological safety that allows your people to bring problems to you, especially when you are the problem,\u201d says Vincent, \u201cbut in your first 100 days, you need specific, constructive guidance.\u201d<\/p>\n

A good place to start, she says, is by accelerating one relationship. \u201cFind someone you respect in your organization and be as vulnerable as you dare in asking for feedback. It\u2019s a risk but a game-changer when it pays off.\u201d<\/p>\n

If this seems too daunting, you can ask someone else to gather the feedback on your behalf – you just need to make sure they\u2019re an objective third party who has the skill set and respect to elicit and amalgamate what they receive and challenge those who share incomplete feedback.<\/p>\n

Vincent also suggests journaling \u201clike a pro – and when I say pro, I mean a listening professional who has building and maintaining self-awareness baked into their code of conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n

Establish flexible boundaries<\/strong><\/p>\n

While the notion of flexible boundaries might seem contradictory, the initial 100 days entail balancing ambition with practices that can be upheld over the long term. \u201cYou need boundaries that bend rather than break.\u201d<\/p>\n

The way to do this, Vicent advises, is with \u201cRAG boundaries\u201d:<\/p>\n