Women – please start networking!

On Monday April 26, 2010 Female Navigators hosted the event ”Male Leaders” at CBS in collaboration with The Danish Association of Lawyers and Economists (DJØF). The event sought to present some of the myths and experiences of male leaders with an ambition to promote female leaders in their companies. The invited panel included Asger Aamund, Chairman from Bavarian Nordic, Kim Fournais, CEO from Saxo Bank and Ulrik Sanders, Partner at The Boston Consulting Group.
One of the important key learnings from the event was that women should be sure to use their network in order to position themselves for the long run CEO target.



Following the debate Female Navigators hosted a networking event for the participating audience (both men and women) however it was clear that men by far still understand the value and way of networking – at this event as with many others.
This led us to contemplate within the steering group of Female Navigators whether women network at all – and if so do we network differently from our male peers?

In my personal case I feel that networking comes easy for me, I am a curious person always interested in hearing someone else’s story. But I often find myself trying to network with women – that don’t network back? Make sense ?
Well first of all I know from several of my female friends that they find networking to be a staged and unnatural way of making conversation. The old opportunism seem to lurk around the corner, and women just steer clear of asking favors and getting names from someone they hardly know.
Second, and less fortunate, women tend to let thing become personal very quickly. Perhaps it is an excuse to ask for favors that makes women ask about the networking candidates private life, the number of kids and favorite coffee.
Both of these explanations leave women in a very awkward situation where getting in the “game” has them playing in a whole other ballpark. That is, the game of befriending somebody.

The art and nature of networking must be – first and foremost – a give-and-take set-up where everyone complies with the rule that it is the one with the best abilities to offer and seek networks who wins. Thus, in the very nature of networking, people (and in this case most often men) look to help others without asking for anything in return – as they know that at some other time their needs and ideas will be met due to their prior engagements and networking abilities.

Put very simply, networking is about keeping relations warm. By this I mean that I make sure to please my current network, and I place myself in situation where I find that someone might be of value to me in the future. This has nothing to do with how I hang out with my friends. But for most women I know my way of networking sounds very heartless and with a selfish motif. And they are right. That is just what it is. But – it is also about being helpful and offering the benefits of my network to someone else. And actually doing it, when I say I am going to make that phone call.
Hosting events where many women show up and some stay for the networking part afterwards has become quite frustrating.



Our next event should maybe focus on how women in real life can become better networkers and still feel that they are not using others or becoming best friends with everyone they meet. So -if you can recognize yourself in these words please send me a mail (ss@femalenavigators.com) and tell me about what you find is difficult when networking – hopefully we can all become better networkers and start reaping the benefits of the efficient networks out there!

Sarah-Alice Skade-Rasmussen

A Toolkit for Women Seeking a Raise

A recent study by Harvard professor Hannah Riley Bowles, suggests that part of the unexplained earning gap between men and women may be tied, at least in part, to the pay negotiating process. It may be that some women have lower pay expectations. Men, on the other hand, have been found to be more likely to negotiate higher starting salaries. The work by Ms. Riley Bowles and her peers suggests that women in the work force can use specific advice. Here are some of their suggestions:

BE PROACTIVE

• If you believe you deserve a raise, don’t sit around and wait for someone to notice. “A lot of women, and this is quite commonly found, think, ‘As long as I work really, really hard, someone will notice and they will pay me more,’ ” said Karen J. Pine, a psychology professor at the University of Hertfordshire in Britain and co-author of “Sheconomics” (Headline Publishing Group, 2009). But “people don’t come and notice.”

BE PREPARED

• Doing your research pays, literally. A study found that men and women who recently earned a master’s degree in business negotiated similar salaries when they had clear information about how much to ask for. But in industries where salary standards were ambiguous, women accepted pay that was 10 percent lower, on average, than men. “In our experiments, we found that with ambiguous information, women set less ambitious goals,” said Ms. Riley Bowles, who ran the study. “They asked for less in a competitive negotiation and got less.”

• Part of your preparation may also include talking to peers. But remember that women tend to be less connected to male networks in the workplace and are more likely to compare themselves to people they think are similar, Ms. Riley Bowles said. That means they may be comparing their salaries with other women. “If a woman asks her girlfriends how much they are paid and a guy asks his guy friends, Jane and Jim will come up with different numbers,” Ms. Riley Bowles added.

• Instead of explaining why you deserve a raise directly, for instance, frame it in terms of why it makes sense for the organization or the person you’re trying to persuade. “Make the company the focus,” she said.

ANTICIPATE

• Try to envision what kinds of objections your boss may have and think about what your response might be. There is no single way through this. It’s largely reactive once you start the process.

• If you’re unsuccessful, ask your boss for recommendations on what you could do to move to the next level in your job. That way, you are still in control and are still being constructive. If you trust your own language and your own ability to perceive these potential roadblocks or damaging outcomes, then you will find your way through them.

Source: The New York Times

Mette Mikkelsen, FEMALE NAVIGATORS

Female Navigators are talking about:

• Tillburg Univerity has published a study that shows that women who change their name when they get married will earn less than counterparts who keep their names. A job applicant who took her partner's name, in comparison with one with her own name, is less likely to be hired for a job and her monthly salary is estimated €861,21 lower (calculated to a working life, €361.708,20). Link

• CNN has compiled a list of the 25 best-paying jobs for women in the U.S. One thing to note is that they all earn a fraction of their male counterparts. Pharmacists, CEOs and lawyers top the list. Link

• Solicitor General Elena Kagan is nominated to the Supreme Court. Good on President Obama. If confirmed, she would become the fourth female justice in the Supreme Court's history, and the third on the current bench. Link