Since co-authoring Breaking The Glass Ceiling: Can Women Reach The Top Of America’s Largest Corporations? in1987 (paperback in 1994), we’ve seen great progress in the advancement of women in business.

Last week Katrin Bennhold noted in International Herald Tribune that breaking the glass ceiling is now happening, somewhat ironically, with the examples and initiatives of men. She writes of an ambiguous landscape in gender equity:

In the early 21st century, women in the developed world find themselves in a peculiar place. With boys failing in school and working-class men losing their jobs to the economic crisis, pundits predict not just The Death of Macho (Foreign Policy, September 2009) but The End of Men (The Atlantic, July/August 2010).

Reality is more nuanced. Women earn more doctorates, but less money. They are overtaking men in the work force, but still do most housework. They make the consumer decisions but run only 3 percent of Fortune 500 companies.

“In theory, we now have equal rights,” sighed one senior female executive at a French multinational, who tellingly requested anonymity for fear of riling the men at her company. “In practice, we still have babies.

In the Western world, motherhood remains the barrier to gender equality…MORE”

Bennhold suggest that the more women-focused adjustments of the first wave of workplace gender equity, such as maternity leave, are vital but also reinforce the role of women as primary caregivers…caregivers who don’t get leadership positions, despite their qualifications.

Some organizations are putting the mantle of nurturer on dads by stressing the importance of paternity leave and by putting more men in charge of gender diversity as a matter of building greater awareness of sexism among the sex that still makes the most money and gets the most promotions. While we’ve seen that blatant sexism is less prevalent than it once was, male leadership still hasn’t completely grasped the fact that high-performing women are often high-performing moms who can’t invest the same levels of extra-curricular time on their careers.

In coaching and learning interventions dealing with diversity, it’s time to marshal men to balance the workplace leadership as they get back in touch with their family responsibilities.

Giving the next generation strong father figures would not only help explode the glass ceiling, it might also be the best hope for those failing boys in school who lack male role models. MORE

Dr. Randall P. White: "It's a good time to be an 'ambiguity leader.'"

We’re crossing the globe—in the last 30 days, India, England, South Africa, France…Upstate New York, Ohio and Texas—and can attest, there is a world-wide glut of talent.

One client tells us there has never had so much good talent to recruit from. The short list of candidates for top management positions looks like a C-level all-star team. Clients who have been searching for months for high level specialists are suddenly discovering ideal candidates eager to move almost anywhere.

On the other side of the desk, organizations are struggling to retain their top talent through bonuses and incentives.

Dr. Sandra L. Shullman: "It's a good time to be a recruiter."

And it’s one of those ambiguity leadership moments…no one has ever been in this position before, so the entire script of talent development is being written right now.

Training-wise, open enrollment executive education is moribund. And it may never return. At least, not as we knew it. Remember, if we can be without you for a week, we can be without you!

Dr. Randall P. White podcast

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Once a company makes a logic-driven decision to downsize, many managers find themselves facing the grief-stricken emotions of the ones who were left behind. The employee “survivor syndrome,” as explained by David Noer in his book, Healing the Wounds, is just what it sounds like: Survivor’s Guilt. Survivors of a downsizing often feel:

Anxious
Ill at ease
Questioning “Why not me,” “Why wasn’t I laid off?”
Guilt
Low morale

The trouble is that some managers prefer that folks simply “soldier up” and go on, business as usual. Some managers want to have a pep rally and cheer everyone up. Some managers want to ignore the whole thing and hope that it will go away. Neither is the best way to operate. Feelings need to be dealt with directly.

Be direct. Get the team together and talk with them. Don’t talk at them, ask them, “How do you feel about this?” “How are you functioning?”
Ask and listen to what they have to say. Use active listening techniques: Paraphrase what you hear, ask questions for understanding, and empathize. That doesn’t mean you have to agree. Let people know you’re listening.
Do what you can. If there are things you can do, some changes you can make, do them. Go forward and let people know that you’re actively involved in searching with them for solutions.

When you’re done listening
Share your vision for how the team might adjust and get better.
Ask for input. You want and need support for plans going forward. You also want their input and coaching for how you could continue forward. What do they need from you, and how you could better provide what they need.

Lastly, keep tabs on the morale. Check in with people individually and as a group. You may be asking for suggestions, for what people are learning, and for how they might approach the short staff issues in better or more efficient ways.

This won’t fix everyone’s feelings. But it will communicate that you care, that you’re interested in helping people be the very best they can be and to perform at the highest level possible.