Wednesday, July 16, 2014

The Glass Ceiling

“Glass ceiling” refers to the invisible barrier that holds women back from rising in management. I’ve read many opinions on this subject, some sensible and some less so. Recent remarks by Sherry Cooper, outgoing Bank of Montreal chief economist, paint a picture of a corporate environment that differs sharply with my own experience.

Coopers remarks are from an article based on her CBC interview. Here is part of what she had to say:
“No one ever considered I could be in training for a C-suite job in the bank.”

“It’s not that I aspired to be a CEO. It’s just that I was never even considered in that role.”
To me, these remarks paint a picture of many high-level bank employees working hard, doing their best for the bank, and waiting to get noticed. Maybe Cooper didn’t mean them this way, but I know many people who think corporate environments work this way. My experience has been much different.

I’ve spent most of my career in high-tech reporting to high-level management. But I was a technical person and not in management myself. So, I got to observe CEOs interact with their direct reports without getting caught up in the fray very much myself.

I would characterize the climb to the top as a bunch of intelligent psychopaths playing an adult high-stakes version of king-of-the-mountain. I’m not just saying this for effect. Let me explain.

I use the word “psychopath” to mean a personality type I saw frequently. These are people who are indifferent to the happiness or suffering of others. They don’t enjoy hurting people. As a matter of fact, they seem not to notice or understand the feelings of others. They can scream at someone and then be baffled when that person leaves crying. There were others who did seem to understand others’ feelings, but they used this knowledge to manipulate rather than to create a pleasant work environment.

King-of-the-mountain is a child’s game where one child climbs to the top of a mountain of snow and declares loudly that he, usually a boy, is the king of the mountain. Then many other children begin climbing the mountain to first shove the king off and then shove each other off. Hilarity and concussions ensue.

When I hear someone complain about not being considered for promotion, I imagine a child standing beside the mountain of snow waiting to be acclaimed as king while the other children are violently throwing each other down.

Of course, the adult version of king-of-the-mountain is much more subtle than the child’s version. There certainly are frantic periods where executives get fired. But mostly there is relative calm where everyone is lining up their strategies to get each other fired. Some CEOs will fire potential rivals, but mostly they try to keep everyone in line with the promise of excessive bonuses and stock options.

I have some sympathy for low- and middle-level employees who get passed over for promotion for unfair reasons. This can happen due to gender bias, racial bias, or a whole host of reasons that affect both men and women. However, those aspiring to a top-level position need to roll up their sleeves and join the rest of the mostly anti-social executives in their slug-fest.

11 comments:

  1. Early in my career I had aspirations to run my own hotel, or a group of hotels. I spent 10 years in the hospitality industry, including five years running the sales department. I also trained new sales directors at sister properties all across the country.

    When the general manager left, I was named interim manager for three months while they looked for a replacement (I also applied for the permanent position). In those three months I quickly learned that I was not cut out to run a $12M company with over 200 employees. I just wasn't tough enough to hold people accountable for poor performance (some who had been working there 20+ years), and didn't have the stomach to play the "kiss up and kick down" game that so many others seemed to enjoy.

    Psychopath sounds about right.

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    1. @Robb: While I was an observer, it sounds like you were an unwilling participant. I've tried out my psychopath and king-of-the-mountain analogy several times verbally and I got a couple of people who said it was obviously true, but far more who think the top tier of a company couldn't possibly work that way.

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  2. At the bank the mountain-climbing psychopathic behaviour starts well below C-level jobs...anecdotally I'd say somewhere right between Branch Manager and District Vice President.

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    1. @Sandi: Sounds like some more personal experience.

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  3. I've watched relatives and friends have to make the decision of whether to go for the next level of management or not. The ones who decided to stop climbing seem to have "won" in terms of overall life experiences. (e.g. still married; adult children like them; no or low debt; better health; better transitions into retirement.) I'm sure there are some upper executives who have managed to keep it all together, but personally most of the ones I've met have given up and lost an awful lot to get to be "king/queen of the hill."

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    1. @BetCrooks: I've seen my share of workaholic climbers lose out on their family lives as well. But I've also seen a few executives who keep it all together. One in particular made a point of calling his kids at 6:00 pm every day and his wife at 10:00 pm every day no matter what time zone he was in. It's tough for him to get up in the middle of the night while traveling in Europe, and calls aren't as good as being there, but he felt certain that his habits were worth it.

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    2. Yes, the people who work as hard at keeping their family together as at their paid jobs can succeed at both. I'm glad that executive made the effort.

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  4. "You think I am a psychopath, Sherlock? Let me tell you, here we all are" - said a bank CEO in a recent UK Sherlock Holmes series.

    In a book I am reading now author brings attention to a distinction between doing and being. Starting from certain level, doing determines being. This is a choice everybody is making, consciously or not. An informed conscious choice leads to a happy life, whatever 'happy' is for each person.

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    1. @AnatoliN: I'm not exactly sure what point you're making, but certainly people have a right to pursue happiness when it doesn't harm others, and I have a right to avoid ending up as roadkill from being in the way of a psychopath.

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    2. Sorry I was unclear. I intended to make two points:
      - psychopaths at the top of banking industry are so common that this fact has been already depicted in the TV series
      - every one has a choice of what to be. The only sure way to avoid a risk of becoming a roadkill is to avoid roads. imho

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  5. In terms of glass ceilings, the insurance industry is excellent. I've seen no distinction between sexes when it comes to middle management at insurance companies. Upper management, I dunno, but I don't think there's a glass ceiling below that level at insurance companies.

    I also really like the actuarial career for the same reason. The only thing that matters is passing actuarial exams - sex, age, race, almost nothing else matters. If you can pass actuarial exams, your career choices are excellent.

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