The question to ask before you say yes to the bigger role

You’ve got the bigger job. Your name is on the organisational chart. People introduce you as the person in charge.

So why does getting anything done still require three favours, two workarounds and a quiet word with someone who actually controls the budget?

With the recent release of my book Beyond Visibility: From Profile to Power, I’m particularly attuned to the gap between a senior title and the power to deliver. So when I came across new research published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior, it grabbed my attention.

The researchers are Sonya Mishra and Julia Melin from Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business, and Laura J. Kray and Cameron Anderson from the University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. Across four studies, they asked whether men and women experience organisational power in the same way.

The gender power gap hiding behind the title

They found that as men gained structural power, they were more likely to believe their organisation rewarded people fairly for their effort and ability. 

For women, that relationship was much weaker.

One reason was perceived resource sufficiency. In plain English: do you feel you have what you need to do the job? That might mean a capable team, a workable budget, the right information, a sponsor who opens doors, or senior leaders who back your decisions when things get uncomfortable.

The research also found a twist. Feeling well resourced increased people’s intentions to invest in their careers, but reduced their support for an equity initiative. If the system has given you what you need, it may be rather easy to assume it does the same for everyone else.

Which means the gender power gap may be quietly maintaining itself. The people with the power to change the system are the least likely to think it needs changing.

I want to be careful here. The researchers studied people’s perceptions of their resources. They didn’t audit every participant’s budget and conclude that every senior woman was given less than a man in a comparable role. But their findings put a name to something I see regularly in my coaching work.

When the job gets bigger but the power doesn’t

A woman lands an executive role and everyone is thrilled. She’s capable, credible and ready. Then she discovers that she’s accountable for a transformation involving teams she doesn’t lead, decisions she can only recommend, and priorities that change depending on who was in the last meeting.

She works harder. Of course she does.

She builds relationships, influences sideways, coaches the team and finds clever ways around obstacles. She may even deliver extraordinary results, but doing it all without sufficient authority or support comes at a cost.

Eventually, the questions turn inwards. Am I being strategic enough? Do I need more confidence? Why does this seem easier for everyone else?

Sometimes there’s a skill to develop. I’m a coach; I’m hardly going to argue against developing your skills. But before we prescribe another dose of executive presence, could we check whether she has the actual means to do the job?

Because you can’t brand yourself out of a systemic problem. And you can’t self-belief your way into a budget.

This is the territory I explore in Beyond Visibility. Visibility matters, and so does being recognised as leadership material and getting the opportunity in the first place. But visibility and appointment aren’t the finish line. The real question is whether your authority is usable.

Ask what comes with the title

If you’re weighing up a bigger role, please don’t limit yourself to asking, Can I do this? You probably can. Ask what you’ll have to work with.

Which decisions will genuinely be yours? What people, funding and information can you direct? Who will sponsor the work when it competes with someone else’s priorities? And if the brief expands, what extra support comes with it?

If you’re already in the role, those questions still apply. Put the outcomes you’re accountable for alongside the resources and decision rights you’ve been given. Where there’s a gap, make the business case for closing it. Making that case isn’t complaining; it’s leading.

And organisations? By all means, celebrate the number of women you’ve appointed to senior roles. Then look beyond the photograph. If you’re serious about closing the gender power gap, check what’s attached to the title as well as who gets it. Compare the demands, authority and support attached to those roles. Ask your leaders what they need to deliver, and listen especially carefully when their answers differ.

More women at the top is progress. But a seat at the table is only useful if you can influence what happens there.

“Congratulations, you’re in charge” is a lovely sentence. It’s not a resourcing strategy.

Read more 

The Gendered Returns to Power: How Gender, Structural Power, and Perceived Resource Sufficiency Shape Meritocracy Perceptions in Organizations