Women are redefining power

March 15 2005 - The conventional belief is that women are often ambivalent about power, but a recent survey finds that the vast majority of businesswomen like power and actively pursue it.

The study, conducted by the Simmons School of Management and HP, found that 80% of the businesswomen surveyed said they were comfortable with power and liked what they could accomplish with it. 62% said they enjoyed the visibility that came with power.

The survey also showed that women are redefining power. Rather than measuring power by traditional means such as having more people reporting to them, or competing successfully for plum assignments, the respondents favored other meanings, including:

• harnessing the support of co-workers and subordinates
• empowering teams
• building networks of allies to change their organizations

"This survey is a call to action for senior executives," said Deborah Merrill-Sands, dean of the Simmons School of Management in Boston.

"Smart organizations should look with fresh eyes at their female managers," she said. "Many women are exercising power that results in significant benefits to their organization, but often it's in less visible ways--through and with others, rather than over others."

Main findings of the study include:

• Women are pursuing power, not shunning it: 80% of respondents said they were comfortable with power and liked what they could accomplish with it. 62% said they enjoy the visibility that comes with power.
• The majority of women were not pursuing power out of personal gain or self interest: 70% said they wanted power to make positive changes to their organizations; 84% said they want power to ensure business operations are socially responsible. Fewer than half (45%) said they wanted power to move up the organizational ladder.
• The most important way the women say they pursue power is through producing results (95%), or by forming critical relationships through such means as empowering or obtaining support from teams and co-workers (92%), or building networks of allies (90%).
• A majority also say they acquire power by taking risks others would not (88%) and making innovations in incremental ways (85%).
• The least important ways the women said they acquire power is through traditional strategies such as direct competition for plum assignments (52%), expanding the number of direct reports (35%), or working long hours (35%).

Amongst the other findings: women under 35 were most adamant that they wanted to use their power for socially minded organizational change (92%); and women of color were most determined to use power for social improvement (88%, versus 80% of white women).

The findings are from a computer survey of 421 middle and senior-level businesswomen with extensive work experience from around the nation who attended the 2004 Simmons School of Management Leadership Conference in Boston. Conducted by the Simmons School of Management and HP, a lead conference sponsor, the survey examined how businesswomen feel about power and how they acquire it.

The Simmons School of Management (www.simmons.edu/som) claims to be the only business school in the world designed specifically for women.

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