Professional advancement for women in leadership roles looks different in a hybrid workplace

Lindsay Johnston, the president of POWER: The Power of Professional Women Philadelphia, said the org has noticed a shift in what’s considered to be necessary leadership skills — and how to get them. The leadership development organization invited experts on the subject to speak to HR and development pros at last week’s “Future of Work Summit: Leadership Lessons for a Thriving Hybrid Workforce.”

The panel, moderated by POWER board member Fiona Jamison, discussed the future of leadership and professional development within large companies. It also discussed the hybrid work model that many workplaces are still navigating, and what role it plays in the future of work.

Panelists were Dr. Anna Tavis, clinical professor and academic director of human capital management department at New York University’s School of Professional Studies; Peter Cappelli, George W. Taylor professor of management at The Wharton School and director of Wharton’s Center for Human Resources; and Stacy Bronte, senior learning design manager of professional standards and risk at McKinsey & Company.

What skills do leaders need? First, empathy

Old methods of management and leadership are changing, according to Tavis. Above all, it’s important for leaders to have empathy for their workers.

“This empathy is operationalized into creating the right environment, hiring and including different types of people into the organization, even the kinds of technologies that are being introduced and invested in to be working in a new and more future-looking way,” she said.

Tavis expects technology will be used to assist in supporting employees — say, the introduction of a tool that won’t allow emails to be sent outside of working hours, thus creating empathy for workers who would not like to be reached off the clock. (Taking that idea one step farther, France even legally mandated that employers not require after-work email responses.)

Tavis has also seen AI technology, such as ChatGPT, display empathy as well, and she said she thinks it will get to a point where the tech seems to be so empathetic that people won’t realize at first that they are talking to a robot.

Continuous, and purposeful, learning

McKinsey focuses on learning opportunities and skills development for employees, Bronte said. Part of that strategy is inviting women leaders in the company teach other women employees how to grow in their careers at the company. Offering learning opportunities that people are actually interested in — for instance: the art of having difficult conversations — has also been a good way to get people to come into the office, she said.

“One of the big skills is connectivity. It’s hard to connect with these little square boxes” of Zoom, she said. Employees do want to connect in person “if it’s going to help them create more skills for themselves to move further to learn new things.”

In addition to in-person and digital learning, McKinsey also focuses on coaching and mentorship. These are all old concepts of professional development, Bronte noted, but with the pandemic and increased use of technology, the approach to building these skills is what’s new.

Cappelli said one issue with learning can be that there are plenty of opportunities, but employees don’t always know what direction they want their career to go in. Companies can help by offering more direction for employees as they move up in their careers. Bronte agreed: “I think that’s one of the big things we have to strive for, is to really prioritize what learning we’re doing, and not just learning for the sake of learning.”

Changes for women in leadership roles

Cappelli referenced a study he’s been part of related to the top executives at Fortune 100 companies: In 1980, there were no women in the top positions at Fortune 100 companies. Today, 27% of those positions are held by women — but “what has really expanded is the percentage of women in the executive, senior vice president roles, particularly in support functions,” he said. Women in those top support positions get to them quicker than their male counterparts, according to the academic. Part of the reason why is that women tend to change companies more frequently.

Cappelli said continuing to switch employers every few years seems to be a good strategy for leadership development. Asking managers for more opportunities could also be helpful for someone trying to move up in their career. And for those interested in CEO-type roles, they need to get on a general management track earlier on.