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My previous post focused on what companies can do from a strategic perspective to break the visible and invisible barriers that hold women back. These initiatives range from changing work policies and practices to shifting existing mindsets. In this post, I’ll explore the issue raised by Sheryl Sandberg in her book “Lean In” about how women block their own progress with self-limiting beliefs, and what can be done using integral coaching to help them develop effective leadership styles. After coaching dozens of women formally and informally over the last 20 years, I agree with Sandberg that women at times exhibit leadership styles that can be obstacles to their success. I will describe three primary leadership styles below that I have encountered in my practice, followed by the real issues behind each style and the integral coaching approach I use to successfully deal with each style.

There is a growing trend related to the changing roles of men. In recent years, a lot has been written about this topic.  Studies by Families and Work Institute have shown that “young women and men alike are challenging traditional roles and expecting to share paid work, as well as tending the house and children. Working fathers are spending more time with their children than three decades ago, and men in general are taking more responsibility for their children’s childcare, which includes managing the childcare arrangements. More men are taking care of house chores and house cleaning too.”

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has evolved a lot in the last 10 years; it has gone from being a peripheral function to becoming an important pillar in a company’s strategy.  Although this is very good news for CSR managers, it also brings new responsibilities and challenges. Senior leaders now expect CSR initiatives to add value to the business and any CSR achievement has to be measured according to a set of agreed upon indicators. It is critically important to begin to measure CSR results because it is a way to gain understanding and acceptance from other proponents within the company.

Effective measurement systems for CSR initiatives follow specific methodologies. To start, we will review some lessons from a couple of past measurement studies that are worthwhile mentioning.  

When we hear about the sustainability innovations that companies are embarking on, we may wonder how did it happen?  What did they do to unleash the creativity of their employees? According to a recent MIT Sloan Management Review article, the CSR manager has a key role in helping employees gain social and environmental intelligence and translating the gathered intelligence into some business insights and innovations.

How can the CSR manager help incubate sustainability projects that benefit the stakeholders and the company? The article points to four processes that the CSR manager can follow.

1)Relate

Relate is a process through which employees gather social and environmental intelligence.  The CSR manager can have an active role here and guide employees through experiences that help them accumulate this type of intelligence.