How will we women ever implement change if we’re not willing to take a seat at the top? Women repeatedly tell me they will do “whatever it takes” to create more equality in the workplace. Yet they are not willing to pay the appropriate dues required to reach the highest echelons in corporate America. Catalyst, a leading research organization, reported that women occupy only 9.4 percent of the “clout” positions, those higher than vice president and 75 percent of Fortune 500 companies reported no women as top earners.
These are perplexing statistics. But who is really to blame?
Men will tell you that women are opting for motherhood over their careers. Women will tell you that it is men who won’t create a flexible work environment so women can juggle motherhood and careers.
If more women rallied together and supported each other in their climb up the corporate ladder, maybe they wouldn’t be so easy to dismiss. I used to believe it was men who held us back, but I now wonder if we women hold ourselves back. Most women who claim to want it all are simply not willing to pay the price to have it all. It takes an ironclad constitution and an unwavering determination to succeed, coupled with total confidence, knowing there is never any need to apologize for ambition.
Oftentimes when I speak to women about their ambitious desires, they tell me they do want it all as long as they can work part time, take their kids to the park two days a week, work out with their personal trainer, and go to lunch with the ladies on Thursdays. Let’s face it: men who are climbing to the top don’t have those luxuries until they get there.
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Nothing comes without a price, including success. When men are climbing the ladder they have the support of their wives. Most women on the other hand have to support themselves, their husbands and their children. Women many times carry more weight but this shouldn't be detrimental to your success. It just takes a smart women to call in the troops, gather and build what Saundra calls a 'cavalry'. And not be afraid to ask, or demand from some (husbands or partners), help when needed. We can all reach the top.
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