Building a New Leadership Ladder

Strategies for transforming workplace cultures to support a new generation of women leaders.

When it comes to the gender gap, it is not enough to ask women to “lean in” and demand promotions and raises. Organizations have an obligation to level up and provide women with more opportunities for advancement. In this book, leadership and governance expert Carol Geffner makes a strong case that for women to reach their full potential, workplaces and their leaders must take a more proactive role in combating gender discrimination.

Based on over 200 hours of interviews with women leaders in the United States and abroad, Building a New Leadership Ladder demonstrates that even when women are promoted to leadership positions, they are rarely given access to the same support networks as their male colleagues. Covering sectors as diverse as higher education, health care, law enforcement, and the military, the book identifies common strategies that all organizations can use to remove obstacles for women’s advancement.

More than a how-to guide on how women can ascend to the top, Building a New Leadership Ladder is a bold call to action for organizations and their leaders to proactively foster the conditions under which women’s efforts to rise up are consistently recognized and rewarded.

Interviewer:
Dr. Carol Geffner, Director of the Executive Master of Leadership Program at the USC’s Sol Price School of Public Policy

Interviewees:
Alma Burke, former LAPD, currently head of security at USC
Yasmin Beers, former City Manager, Glendale, CA
RaShall Brackney, Chief of Police, Charlottesville, VA
Coco Brown, CEO Athena Alliance (SaaS company for HR)
Mary Sue Coleman, chemist, interim president of University of Michigan (she previously served as president from 2002-2014)
France Cordova, director of National Science Foundation
Tiffany Felix, Senior Vice President, Environmental Health and Safety, Paramount
Jennifer Grasso, LAPD’s first female SWAT officer
Heidi Hammel, Executive Vice President of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy
Stephanie Jarvis, (couldn’t immediately confirm her current role)
Nannerl Keohane, former president of Wellesley College and Duke University
Fiona Ma, California State Treasurer
Anni Mu, Deputy Group Commander, CA Air National Guard
Laura Mosqueda, Professor of Family Medicine and Geriatrics at USC Keck School of Medicine
Janet Napolitano, former Arizona governor, former Secretary of Homeland Security
Sharon Papa, Chief of Police, Hermosa Beach, CA
Ellen Stofan, Under Secretary for Science and Research, The Smithsonian
Mirtha Villereal-Younger, multiple leadership roles within CA military, currently President/CEO of Agile Construction
Hiltrud Werner, Volkswagen Board member
Joy White, Executive Director of the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center
Maria Zuber, Vice President of Research, MIT

In addition, three women were interviewed who, due to the nature of their positions and sectors, asked that they not be identified in this book.Preface ix
1 A Status Update on Women's Leadership 1
2 Mindset versus Organizational Culture 21
3 The Preparation Paradox 37
4 Entrenched Scripts and Double Standards 59
5 Building an Ecosystem of Support 93
6 Succession Planning and Legacies 113
7 Roundtable on the Future of Women's Leadership 125
Conclusion: Five Pillars of Change 139
Notes 147
Bibliography 165
Index 179Included in The Next Big Idea Club’s February 2023 Must-Read Books“My head was nodding in agreement the entire time I was reading this book. As women have faced major setbacks in the labor market in the last several years, this book provides timely solutions for organizations seeking to make their workplaces more welcoming to women. It is time for leaders to take action, and this book shows us how.”
—Laura Yeager, Major General, United States Army National Guard, retired
 
“In this book, we hear directly from women leaders who have bumped up against the glass ceiling and who have helped other women climb up the ladder. Their lessons are essential for us to create the workplaces of the future—and the present!”
—Julie Castro Abrams, Managing Partner, How Women Invest; CEO, How Women Lead
 
“Building a New Leadership Ladder recognizes that even as more women break through the glass ceiling, reaching the top of most organizations remains challenging. Carol Geffner explores why existing diversity initiatives often fail or only work to elevate certain women in the workplace and how to implement more inclusive and sustainable solutions. Hearing from all these successful women offers deep insight and inspires self-reflection. For women seeking fulfillment in climbing the ladder and achieving their expectations, it is a view into subtle barriers that continue to exist, and it provides tips on how to navigate the tightrope that lies ahead. To maximize the potential of their star female talent, corporate leaders need to understand institutional bias and offer opportunities that rise above the noise. This book is a must-read for every corporate leader.”
—Mary Gardner, CEO and Founder, DelNova, Inc.Carol J. Geffner is Professor of the Practice of Governance and Management at the University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy, where she directs the Executive Master of Leadership Program. Prior to joining USC, Geffner was a member of the C-Suite for Freedom Communications and was the founder and president of Newpoint Healthcare Advisors, LLC.