Page 125 - Free Yourself From

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

deep and close relationships are important, we sometimes limit
ourselves in getting the support we need by keeping relationships
close and sometimes too personal.

You know the guys in your organization who seem to always go out
for lunch no matter what’s going on—and you wonder how they can
blow off their jobs to schmooze? They see lunch as part of their job.
They’re making a conscious effort to spend part of their day connect-
ing with others and if you look closely you’ll see that, one way or
another, the work gets done. They’re getting the work done and build-
ing the relationships. This might be why they seem to have an easier
time getting the good assignments, promotions, or job offers. That’s
why you see them leaving work early to go to a baseball game or to play
a round of golf. Getting out of the office and spending time with cus-
tomers, partners, and other important colleagues can sometimes be a
more effective and productive way to learn about someone. Anne Reed
says she started to spend time—during the business day—playing golf
with people because she found that you can learn a lot about people
and they can learn a lot about you this way. After a round of golf, you
can learn whether they are team players or too competitive, what’s
important to them, and their strongest characteristics. It may help you
to decide if you want to do business with them. Anne said jokingly,
“When I see someone who keeps picking up his or her ball and mov-
ing it to a better position, beware—that is a warning about their inter-
nal motivations.”
What I have found is that men who are in executive-level jobs,
tend to reinvent themselves and land a new job sometimes sooner
than women. Much of this is due to the fact that men already have
an outside and supportive network that they can tap into. In gen-
eral, women have lacked the broader and more strategic networks
which can make it difficult or prolongs the time it takes to make a
successful career transition.