Written by: Simon Haigh, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Women are still comparatively under-represented in the decision-making and therefore, deal-making aspects of business, whether internally or externally. However, for an organisation to really thrive and optimize its chances of having an optimal deal-making culture, all of its people need to be to be empowered. To encourage this, it is essential to create, and maintain, an environment that allows for balance of the masculine and feminine and one in which women can play their part as proficient deal-makers.
So what to do??
Develop suitable organisational policies with objective measures.
Organisations should, of course, be vigilant for gender bias in their recruitment, development, and promotions policies, procedures, and processes. They should also seek to reinforce the positive positioning of accomplished female deal negotiators by matching them with senior executive mentors/sponsors. Without this structured support in place, the immense power of prevailing biases will usually prevent the feminine from advancing as far as it should. Organizations should play their part in correcting the current biases and gender stereotypes by developing and enforcing policies, procedures and processes through objective performance measures. In so doing, it is really important to constantly examine the organization’s culture for hints of bias, gender stereotype nuances and enhancing gender-neutral practices are fully entrenched.
Educate on, and self-check, biases.
We all, men and women, need to reflect on our own biases in terms of viewing aggressive women, or indeed women as a whole, as being unsuitable for deal-negotiation success. Also, when women recognize the extensive nature of second-generation bias, they are usually better armed to navigate more permanent positive results in a more confident manner.
Create a safe place for sharing and communicating.
The comparative underrepresentation of women in senior business positions only serves to reinforce the second generation and other biases and, as a consequence, the unfortunate status quo. Given the numerous layers of “bias glass-ceilings” that women face in business and, as a result, given the relatively lack of senior women in business and deal-negotiation roles, a safe place for sharing, communicating, challenging, learning, and innovating is to be encouraged.
It is, in turn, really important to frame these re-balancing activities in terms of leadership development for all, rather than as a perception re-calibration exercise. Organisations should build sharing and learning communities in which women can safely discuss their situations, compare experiences and support each other in their progress.
Provide impactful deal-making skills-building and mentoring programs.
While we might all be born with an instinct for negotiating deals, providing impactful negotiation and deal-making training that provides the impetus for effective gender-neutral skills enhancement is essential. In addition, providing mentoring programs to women to ensure that they are aware of promotion opportunities or chances to shine in the organization is very important.
Ensure that the organization audits and seeks to constantly improve its full deal and negotiation gender representation activities.
Organisations can do this in a number of meaningful ways, from constantly reviewing their programs to reflecting on who was engaged in which roles during the course of the review period. They can then reflect upon who was engaged, how male and female candidates were each communicated to, and in return how they communicated back to the organization and to one another.
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Simon Haigh, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Simon Haigh, known as The Growth Strategist, helps organizations and leaders unlock, build and sustain business, leadership, brand, and mindset growth through his coaching, consulting, training, publications, speaking, and e-learning programs. Simon’s clients include high-performing leaders, companies, business schools, professional organizations & Government bodies globally. His work is endorsed by world no. 1 leadership thinker Marshall Goldsmith. He is nominated by PeopleHum Top 200 Influential Thought Leaders 2021, Thinkers 360 4 Sales, 9 Entrepreneurship, 10 Legal & IP, 13 Health & Wellness, 33 Mental Health, 37 Management & 47 Emerging Tech, and featured in the PeopleHum Top 100 Thought Leader series for Mindful Negotiation. He has also been featured on numerous global TV and radio outlets, and two of his three Amazon 5 Star books – How to be a Better Dealcloser and Dealmaking for Corporate Growth, are endorsed by Marshall Goldsmith, and he is an associate member of the Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coaching Organisation. Simon is also an acclaimed Keynote Speaker.
