The secret to success is failure.
Agnes Callard | Glass Ceiling, Glass Cliff | Elsewhere | Factoids
The Quote of the Moment
When asked how I juggle so many different roles, I explain that each time I add a new one, I do all the others a bit worse. The secret to success is failure. I try to keep the failure at a manageable level, but one day I might fail at that, too.
| Agnes Callard, Aspiration: The Agency of Becoming
Glass Ceiling, Glass Cliff
I read an essay by Keith Dorsey, giving advice to women after his decades in executive search.
The bottom line: women are disadvantaged from the top -- the glass ceiling, where women and other minorities are blocked from advancement to senior roles -- to the bottom: the glass cliff, where risky opportunities open in a time of crisis. Women and minorities are often asked to step in during crises, because they are (likely) to be seen as different from the former leader (often white and male), and are viewed as expendable if they fail. Dorsey says you shouldn’t take it on unless you can come up with a plan that trusted advisors and the company will support.
He suggests that at least these questions should be asked, and answered:
Some facts from his essay:
‘Researchers from McKinsey and Lean In found that in 2022, only 26% of C-suite roles were held by women and only a tiny fraction — 5% — by women of color’.
He cites evidence that women are often pulled into leadership roles in crises1
I found the ‘savior effect’ especially creepy: ‘In times of crisis, leaders — no matter who they are — tend to be seen as ineffective and part of the problem. When the leader is an occupational minority, any failure or lack of improvement tends to be blamed on their personal failings rather than on the situation. In a phenomenon called the savior effect, the minority leader is then replaced by a more demographically typical leader who “saves the day.” This both perpetuates leadership stereotypes in the organization and constricts diverse candidates’ future opportunities.’2
‘The third reason is that women and other minorities may be selected because these positions are precarious, and the failure and subsequent departure of the candidate is highly likely. In such cases, these individuals may be seen as necessary but acceptable casualties of the crisis if things continue to go wrong.’ Yes, it’s precarious, so pick someone expendable.
…
Coincidentally, Peter Coy wrote about The recently installed central bank governor of Turkey, a woman taking over during a crisis:
When all hope is lost, hire a woman to take over (and take blame),” I wrote in June, referring to the hiring of Hafize Gaye Erkan, a former Wall Street banker, as the new central bank governor of Turkey. Some observers were saying that Turkey was headed for a financial crisis. (Studies have found that companies tend to bring women on as leaders when business is struggling.) Luckily for her, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president, has backed away from the crank notion that cutting interest rates will cure inflation. He allowed Erkan to raise the central bank’s key interest rate to 40 percent in November, from 8.5 percent when she took office. Inflation is still high, though. Erkan has moved her family in with her parents to save money.
Elsewhere
The Key to Effective Workplace Transparency? Privacy | Stowe Boyd
Engagement at work is the center of the relationship between a company and employee and is reflected in employee retention, motivation and positive business culture. In this article, we will explore the balancing act between open communication — the information shared publicly between employers and their employees — and what might be better kept outside the glaring floodlights of total transparency.
…
In the recent Clutter is Process, I asked about how readers were gaining access to Work Futures. The results are these:
Assuming that half of the ‘some of one and some of the other’ group relied on email half of the time, approximately 80% of the time, email is involved.
That’s not definitive, but I’m certain that even those 13% who principally or exclusively rely on the Substack app might be coaxed to read it the old-fashioned way, via email.
Factoids
Urban sprawl is expensive. Compact development costs, on average, 38 percent less in up-front infrastructure than ‘conventional suburban development’ for things like roads, sewers and water lines. It costs 10 percent less in ongoing service delivery by reducing the distances law enforcement or garbage trucks must travel to serve residents. And compact development produces, on average, about 10 times more tax revenue per acre. | Dense Discovery
…
Over 55% of the U.S. population has private health insurance. In 2017, the average insurance premium for employer-sponsored health coverage for a family of four was $18,764, and between 2007 and 2017, premiums increased by about 55% (Kaiser Family Foundation 2017). However, because of data availability, most of our understanding of health care spending comes from the analysis of the Medicare program, which covers less than 15% of the population | Zack Cooper, et al
…
Over 55% of the U.S. population has private health insurance. In 2017, the average insurance premium for employer-sponsored health coverage for a family of four was $18,764, and between 2007 and 2017, premiums increased by about 55% (Kaiser Family Foundation 2017). However, because of data availability, most of our understanding of health care spending comes from the analysis of the Medicare program, which covers less than 15% of the population | Zack Cooper, et al
M.K. Ryan and S.A. Haslam, The Glass Cliff: Evidence That Women Are Over-Represented in Precarious Leadership Positions, British Journal of Management 16, no. 2 (June 2005): 81-90.
A.D. Galinsky, E.V. Hall, and A.J.C. Cuddy, “Gendered Races: Implications for Interracial Marriage, Leadership Selection, and Athletic Participation,” Psychological Science 24, no. 4 (April 2013): 498-506.