Part 1 – Why We Need AWL

Sheri Lynn Fella

I often get asked by executives – of both genders – “Sheri, why do we need AWL?” And then after we explore that inquiry, the next question asked is what is AWL and how does it work? Why is it different? Let’s first explore the business case for investing in women and all diversity, and in part two we will explore what, how, and why it is different – per the leaders who experience it.  

This question: why a women’s leadership experience is needed is something I don’t often answer for others.  I have them answer it for themselves with a few questions: “Look around you… do you have the diversity of voices you want in your leadership levels? In your leadership circle? In your organization? In your life? Are you and your entire system of leaders attracting, developing and retaining as many female leaders as you are male? Do you see and feel the diversity of faces and voices you want around you? On your teams? If the answer to any of those questions is: “No”, then you need experiences like AWL.  That is the business case.

Here is what and how leadership is… own your own stuff (OYOS), clear the path for everyone you touch and hold them accountable for owning their own stuff. 

That’s it in a nutshell. If you don’t want to own your own stuff, don’t lead. If you don’t want to clear the path for others, don’t lead. If you don’t want to hold others accountable, don’t lead. Do NOT lead, I beg you, if you don’t want to do these things. If don’t feel compelled and impassioned to commit to these three hard and simple things, please – do NOT lead, do NOT accept a seat of power. Because if you don’t commit to these things and you accept that seat of power, you will be destined to hold everyone around you back… most certainly yourself.

That is specifically why AWL was born and why it is a women-only experience. This space for learning is not only needed, it is desperately needed in corporate America because we have too many leaders leading that don’t commit to those three things. And because they don’t commit to those three things, we have a tiny, tiny percentage of women in seats of power ANYWHERE. In business, a single-digit percent representation that hasn’t changed in decades, and for black and brown women that percentage is even more dismal… today, post-pandemic, I doubt they are even a percentage. I mean we lost almost a million women from the workforce in September alone. 1 freaking million. And in December, when employers cut 140,000 jobs. Men gained 16,000 jobs – women lost 156,000. IN ONE MONTH. Women in the workforce are an endangered species. Going through the same old activities that don’t produce impact are not going to get us there. We have to take hard truthful looks at ourselves and our organizations, and we must take bold actions to retain and develop the women we still have – AND find creative and innovative ways to open up opportunities for women to come into the workforce again.

And listen, nothing is supposed to be easy. No leader I know – man, woman, black or white – is asking for easy. They are merely asking for EASE, for opportunity to disagree, to voice, to be valued and heard, to work, and to LEAD. That is why we need opportunities like AWL for women leaders and we know AWL isn’t the only answer. We need broad ranges of development opportunities for women. While we are proud that AWL is launching its 20th cohort this spring – it isn’t enough. We need 20 cohorts every year to even begin to make a dent in the inclusion and equity markers of corporate America. The statistical number of women leaders in business is so low that even when we bring research forth, there aren’t enough of us to be a valid indicator in many of the research parameters.

THINK about that. Let that sink in. I am a research junky. I love reading research. I love science – particularly neuroscience. The research has shown us for decades and decades that more diversity and inclusion results in more prosperity, more profit, more innovation, more whatever.  The business case – despite our infinitesimally low percentage of representation – is clear, irrefutable evidence that women consistently make every company they lead perform better.

Imagine… IMAGINE… how powerful that business case would be if we women were represented as 50% in leadership positions, instead of 5%?! Think what indicators would be available then? The innovation that would be unleashed if we had no more need for DEI or AWL… doesn’t that fuel you? It fuels me. The vision of that possibility is catalytic for me. 

In the mid-90’s, studies showed that too much diversity was expensive because it created "too much conflict." That always bewildered me. Conflict isn’t an expense. Conflict is a gift.  It is a sign of a healthy team that has built trust and safe space. Conflict is NOT negative, nor does it need to be resolved. Conflict is a lever for transformation… a required bridge to the land of innovation. 

Group cohesion is something to strive for, not stay comfortable in.  f you don’t have conflict, you are getting left behind whether you are aware of it or not. Conflict is an opportunity to be explored, not silenced. The conflict in most organizations and teams is fueled by ego and territory and power and not enough leaders know how to turn that tide – they just stay stuck in it creating one toxic team after another. To emotionally and strategically navigate hard spaces like conflict in order to reach higher ground is a skill ALL leaders need. That is the business case for Bloombase, and in an immersive way – that is the business case for AWL.

Group cohesion is something to strive for, not stay comfortable in. 

The business world NEEDS the voices and minds of women leaders, and those leaders must be able to navigate, create, explore and transform conflict. Conflict stuck in ego is death to a team, a company, and community and, yes, your families. If power is how you resolve conflict as a leader, you are already in trouble. The trouble is underground – maybe it’s inside you or inside your team or both, but that underground current will erupt in time, and when it does, it will be painful and inflict harm to many.

The more I write, the angrier I become… because the more cohorts of AWL I get to experience, the larger the need for this experience grows. My intention has been to work our way to a point in time that AWL was no longer needed – that is our vision. That we have so many leaders – no matter how they gender identify - leading in ways that open up possibility and include all voices that AWL is no longer needed. But cohort after cohort, my anger gets confirmed because the need is so great. Women don’t have enough safe spaces to grow in ways they need. And thankfully, what matches the capacity of my anger is the courage and inspiration the leaders I touch provide. 

So, as a community of leaders whose voices are essential, we are NOT waiting for a seat at the table any longer. Our male clients aren’t asking us to wait. They also aren’t inviting us to the table as it exists today – instead the male leaders I get to partner with are listening, and they are learning how to dismantle the table that they have eaten at for so long and they are letting all the diversity around them create new tables - or no tables at all. 

And men, white men specifically, those of you leading in an inclusive, power TO kind of way. I know this inequity angers you, too. In my experience, you are woefully under-represented as well… not in seats of power, but those of you in the seats of change. In the seats of fairness. I see you, too. I have the privilege and honor of being on your whole leader journeys and you give me hope. 

Hope because you are embracing your seats of power as seats of change and demanding accountability for a more diverse, inclusive tomorrow. Hope because you are having the hard conversations with other men who look like you and who share those power seats and you are demanding more change of them. Hope because you are owning your own stuff, clearing the path for others, and holding everyone accountable. Hope because you are leading, and you aren’t waiting for the law or your companies or your systems or your power structures to be ready for your demands of change. Gary Bunson, CEO of Korn Ferry is one of those leaders – if you aren’t on his email list, get on it. 

Gary shared in his latest post regarding empathic leadership, that leaders should “reveal a deep mindset of humility and accountability… we also need to make sure we don’t lose anyone. Think shepherd: occasionally in front, sometimes beside, but mostly behind.”

In front of you, opening the doors; beside you, learning and listening; behind you, advocating for you with others when you aren’t in the room. Be THAT shepherd.

And to the black and brown women who are so woefully underrepresented at most anywhere in corporate America – I see you. I feel your absence. And I am committed to building a table for you that feeds your soul starting with my own team and business. 2021 you better suit up… we aren’t waiting for an invitation, or more research, or for permission. We will dismantle this system that is holding all of us back and we will turn the tide of these dismal numbers, and the negative impact that accompanies them.

And finally, why AWL? Here it is… confidence does not equal competence, and competence without confidence often gets stifled.  Confidence without competence gets promoted – most men have experienced that. This is the business case for AWL. Women are consistently more competent and consistently less confident than men, and AWL changes that. Our leaders leave us with vastly deeper and broader confidence and they continue that trend by learning together as alums.

In 1964, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act made it illegal for organizations to engage in employment practices that discriminate against employees on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. This act mandates that employers provide equal employment opportunities to people with similar qualifications and accomplishments. By the late 1970s and into the 1980s, there was growing recognition within the private sector that these legal mandates, although necessary, were insufficient to effectively manage organizational diversity. And 50 years later, there is more evidence… and little progress. We cannot wait for laws to change this or for corporate systems to change themselves.  The change must happen one leader at a time. And we are here for that change.

Isn’t that the essence of innovation? Creating a path where there wasn’t one before by letting others with new ideas and perspectives be in front? We all have choice in front of us. We all have a path to clear for ourselves and others. I challenge you to choose the hard choices now that will bring more ease later – that will result in equity for all. I challenge you to clear the way for others – ALL others. 

When I hear the word “boss” or “leader” what image pops into your head? Man? Woman? Black? White? Let’s build a tomorrow that illuminates an ever-changing image for that answer – there is room for everyone.  We just need a new table.