Get real
Randy White, co-author of Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Can Women Reach the Top of America's Largest Corporations? is as concerned as many professional women about their slow progress to the top. But, he says, "There are still very real issues in the way." He cites a comment attributed to Jack Welch a few years ago. Welch reportedly said, "If someone is worried about work-life balance, I don't have to worry about that person taking my job."
Welch has taken heat for his remarks, but White says, "He's telling the truth. If you have to worry about work-life balance, you're not in the running for top positions in most large organizations today."
White asserts that the job of CEO is like that of a concert pianist or Olympic athlete: It is an all-out commitment. "At the top of fast-moving organizations, there's a tournament model of leadership. You've got to be world-class to play and it's naive to expect an organization to want anything less."
Many structural, social, and organizational issues must be resolved before this situation changes, says White. "Organizations aren't going to become less demanding or less complex," he explains. He credits Slaughter for telling the truth about what organizations need to do to support the advancement of women.
White also credits women in organizations with encouraging men to get in touch with their own lives. "I see it in the MBA and corporate classes I teach. Men have permission to question assumptions about leadership behavior because women are talking about them." White sees the biggest changes in support for women in companies run by CEOs who have daughters.
Though realistic about the challenges facing women in organizations, White also is irked that they exist. "We waste so much talent," he says.