By Marianne Cooper, Ph.D., Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford University Americans are, compared with populations of other countries, particularly enthusiastic about the idea of meritocracy, a system that rewards merit (ability + effort) with success. Americans are more likely to believe that people are rewarded for their intelligence and skills and are less [...]
By Matt Bronson, Assistant City Manager - City of San Mateo, CA I’ll never forget the moment in July 1999. I was only a few weeks out of graduate school working as a management fellow in the City Manager’s Office in Charlotte, North Carolina. My role included developing agendas for the weekly Leadership Team meetings [...]
By Shannah Hayley, FSMPS, CPSM Director of Marketing and Community Engagement, City of Plano, Texas Before joining local government, I worked for 20 years in the private sector within a male-dominated industry. While there were plenty of women employed within my particular professional services industry, not many held leadership roles. In fact, when I first [...]
What the Girl Scout Cookie Program Can Teach ALL of Us By Julie Underwood, Assistant City Manager - Daly City, CA It’s the best time of year! It’s Girl Scout cookie time! I get so excited when a Girl Scout rings our doorbell or we see a cookie table at our local grocery store. We load [...]
SUCCESS! By Ron Holifield One of the huge challenges for filling your leadership pipeline is defining what distinguishes future superstars from everyone else. Numerous organizations have developed programs to develop emerging leaders. Unfortunately, very few have developed reliable methods for identifying who really has the potential to have a high impact on your organization if [...]
By Ashley Stahl, Contributor, Forbes Leadership We all have enough to worry about in the workplace these days. Unemployment rates are still pretty high. Job growth is sluggish. Women in particular face a number of workplace barriers that can stifle their professional growth. Achieving success can be challenging in this environment, so it’s important to proactively [...]
By Elke Doom My municipal career began with a temporary position in the City Clerk’s office processing absentee ballots. Fast forward through the last twenty plus years, I became a full time employee, department head and elected official, as well as (after years of night school and an MA in Public Administration), a City Manager. [...]
Closing the gender leadership gap is an imperative for organizations that want to perform at the highest levels. Leveraging the full talents of the population provides a competitive advantage; companies with more women in leadership roles perform better, and employees on diverse and inclusive teams put in more effort, stay longer, and demonstrate more commitment. [...]
Here’s why that’s wrong. By Robin Ely, Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School Women and men alike make a lot of assumptions about women. Yet when it comes to women and work, some of the most ubiquitous beliefs are the most mistaken. Women enter the workforce at roughly the same rates as men, yet [...]