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100 It’s Not a Glass Ceiling, It’s a Sticky Floor

This chapter is about building relationships. I don’t mean manip-
ulative, impersonal, or self-serving relationships, but mutually bene-
ficial ones that provide both people with opportunities to learn,
grow, advance in their careers, and bring greater value to others
around them. Such good, strategic relationships allow leaders to bet-
ter contribute on important initiatives for their team, organization,
and the world. That might sound hyperbolic, but I really do believe
that once you enter the executive suite you have the opportunity to
do big things, and it is all about relationships.
A lot of women have advanced in their careers by capitalizing on
a strong command of a particular technical skill and keeping their
nose to the grindstone to get results from their team and meet their
functional objectives. All well and good, however, I find that one of
the biggest hurdles to overcome in moving beyond functional roles,
to senior levels of leadership, is learning to deal with an organization’s
more strategic issues. Many leaders and executives find that when
transitioning to these broader roles they need fewer analytical, task-
oriented skills and more relationship-building skills.
Regina Sommors, a colleague of mine and woman executive,
points out that among people competing for the most senior jobs,
knowledge is something of a commodity. Everyone has an impecca-
ble and impressive set of skills and credentials, so having the right
relationships becomes even more important for meeting your goals
and getting your name out there to the right people. Additionally,
the CEO of a major healthcare organization once told me that when
he looks for good people for his team, he assumes competence in
everyone he talks to. Instead of focusing on skills or experience, he
looks for people he knows, trusts, likes, and believes will have good
chemistry with the rest of his team.
There are several distinct and interdependent relationships that
bring unique support and value at different times based on one’s
goals, challenges, and opportunities that leaders deal with on a daily