Play to your strengths

Women can gain influence when they take a piece of the PIE—performance, image, and exposure, says Jeffery Tobias Halter.

Halter spoke about men and women working together for team success during a breakout session at the CUNA America’s Credit Union Conference.

As you move up, performance is not what gets you ahead, he said. In fact, performance accounts for only 10% of advancement indicators. “Meritocracy is not why you get ahead,” Halter says. A third of your “upward influence” is image. If you chose three words to describe yourself, Halter asks, would they be accurate?

“Is this what you aspire to be known for? Are these the words you would use to describe someone in a job you aspire to hold?”

At 60%, exposure is the largest platform for success. Eighty-three percent of men say it’s who you know, who you are, and what you do, that gets you to the next level. Seventy-seven percent of women believe in meritocracies.

Clinging to the meritocracy myth while not managing the relationship/networking game combine to keep women bunched up in the upper-middle sections of the power pipeline, Halter says.

Halter believes 30% of men are ready to be part of this dialogue for women in leadership.

What can men do?

• Listen. Seek to understand.
• Learn. Deepen your knowledge.
• Lead. Ask tough questions.
• Have the will. Take personal accountability.

What can women do?

• Provide a collective voice of women in the organization.
• Support other women.
• Be inclusive of women of color.

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