Farm Credit Leaning In to Close the Leadership Ambition Gap

 

 

When I was in college, I majored in English in my undergrad years, and there were very few men in my classes. Most of the women in my class were planning careers as teachers, and at one point I was as well. However, after observing the usual discord that happens within a sixth grade English classroom, I promptly marched myself into my advisors office and switched my concentration away from teaching and instead pursued technical communication. Every day, I wake up grateful for this choice, as I do not believe there is enough coffee that exists in the world for me to effectively manage a classroom of sixth-graders. For those who educate our youth- thank you!

When I switched my focus from education to technical communication, I realized that the student population was more evenly distributed between men and women, but as I look up at what lies ahead, I am surprised that men still dominate senior and executive leadership in companies. Why is this surprising? Perhaps because there are now more than a million more college educated women with than men. However, the number of full-time working men, according to the 2011 Census was 58 million, compared to 43.7 million for women. Women are more educated, but not pursuing positions within their potential. Why?

Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and author or Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, identifies this as the Leadership Ambition Gap. Sandberg’s Lean In movement has inspired mentorship programs and small development groups on a global scale, but there is still work to be done to help women actualize their own potential.

Recently, I had an opportunity to connect with some other women in Farm Credit, and when I inquired about what we were doing to make an impact; I learned that presently, there is no official program that exists. Immediately, we acknowledged there was work to be done, and now we are in the process of creating such a program.

In July of this year, I will be presenting at FCC Services’Learning Conference in Charleston, South Carolina, and we will begin dialoging with women and men in Farm Credit to discuss how we can encourage women to advance into leadership roles. As we journey together to find solutions of how we can close the Leadership Ambition Gap at Farm Credit, I would like to invite you to participate in the discussion.

While I am hoping to solicit feedback from my cohorts at Farm Credit, I would invite anyone who is passionate about this matter to share their insights, whether it be on presentation topics, types of groups you would be interested in attending, and your personal interest in joining us in leading this initiative. Please feel free to leave comments, below, send me a private message, or email me directly at wburbridge@agloan.com

I look forward to your feedback!

 

How to Crush It Even When Your Team is in Last Place!

 

Brian Tracy says that “you become what you think about all the time.” When I consider this phrase, I am often filled with thoughts of achievement, goals, planning, and the general sense of where I’d like my future to lead. The desire to be great, to win, to lead, is actually something that I spend a significant amount of time thinking about, and over the last several years I’ve found that the more important winning becomes, the greater I value those who positively impact my performance, and encourage my desire for growth.

Granted, this could go the other way as well. For example, have you ever hung out with a Debbie Downer when you’re in a great mood? Despite your personal enthusiasm, negative energy can really take over. If you are a positive person who continuously surrounds yourself with negativity, then at some point, your personal desires may get side-swiped by someone who’d like to live under a rain cloud.

We have a video on our careers page at my company, where the CEO talks about why we select talented people to work at our company, “winners want to work with winners,” he says. While this is an absolute truth that I have fully embraced, this week I am humbled to have experienced the absolute benefit of working with a winning team.

You see, a year ago I went to a seminar for work. My boss and I sat in the crowd of attendants and as soon as the awards session began, we both lit up. We watched, enviously, as the representatives of visionary companies, walked to the front and crossed the stage to accept their awards. We looked at each other, and she said “next year, that’s gonna’ be us.”

“I know,” I replied.

I am delighted to report that the commitment we made that day, albeit informal, was followed through yesterday as our team accepted the Rave Award for Visionary in Performance Management at the Cornerstone OnDemand Convergence Conference. I share this with you today partly because I am a proud person, but mostly because everyone knows it’s awesome to work on a winning team. Getting acknowledged is an incredible honor; the benefits I experience from working on a winning team are honestly realized every day. People on winning teams not only have a desire to be their best, but they motivate others to also achieve, create accountability for all team members, and drive overall organizational performance.

But what if that’s not you?

What if you are the lone ranger on a team full of people who spend the day painting their nails in white-out (OK, I’m dating myself—spend the day posting their life on Insta)? What if you are the only person who wants to win and you can’t get anyone else on board with your plan for greatness? What if you are awesome, and despite your best efforts to stir enthusiasm in your team, you feel like you’re working in a morgue?

Glad you asked, and here’s what you do: be great anyway. Before you click-away and dismiss me as overly-optimistic, stay with me. Also, I'm not saying to throw out the baby with the bathwater. My first recommendation is to always work with your team, seek support from management, and work collaboratively to solve issues. However, if you continue to hit your head against the wall because you find a general lack of accountability and consistent underperformance in your team, then do not let yourself fall into the pit.

While it is easy to point fingers at people who may be underperforming, if you want to win, you have to do it even in the face of resistance. Fortunately, I’m on a winning team now, but it hasn’t always been that way. In my upcoming book, 30 Reasons You Didn’t Get Hired, I provide loads of stories about times when I’ve actually been in those situations. But, I also share a lot of activities that help people find their passion.  

Why is passion so important? It is important because it is what will drive you to be great even when you aren’t part of a winning team. It will drive you to learn, read, grow, attend workshops, network, and spend your free time improving. People who work hard and love what they do will find that new opportunities will become available. How? I wish I could list them all for you, but to keep things concise I have a brief list of things that can happen when you follow your passion and find yourself without a winning team.

·         Gain recognition within your company as an expert

·         Get promoted at your company for being recognized as an expert

·         Get recruited by another company for being recognized as an expert

·         Gain credibility within your community for writing a blog

·         Start a podcast where you bring on experts in your field

·         Create a video blog, educating other professionals in your field

·         Present at industry conferences about things you’ve improved where you work

·         Write a book on your passion

·         Offer great ideas to other professionals in your same field who struggle with a problem you already solved

·         Take a vacation with all the additional revenue you can make by implementing one of the above-listed ideas J

Implement any of these ideas and you will start building a personal brand at an exponential rate, but more importantly you will be able to continue to push yourself to achieve and grow, even when you’re not on a winning team.