Why are Women in Tech Acclaimed not to be Strategic?

Recently, Francoise Brougher, former Pinterest COO wrote about "rampant discrimination, hostile ecosystem, and misogyny" at the company she led for two years. It got attention of many women in tech. Brougher was fired in April when she spoke out about gender discrimination at the male-dominated social media giant. However, she has filed suit against it.

Brougher said, "Pinterest's female executives, even at the highest levels, are marginalised, excluded, and silenced." Even though operationally excellent, women are often seen as lacking the capability to be strategic, lead their function, and influence the broader business beyond their role. Such perception is made clear to women when it's too late, or they have passed over for a promotion. It's a primary reason why women are not getting ahead in tech, and I call it "She is not strategic" (SNS) syndrome, said Brougher.

There are two ways to prevent SNS: leaders (men and women) identifying if they are not giving promising women a fair opportunity, and women in the SNS trap navigating it.

What does it mean by "She is not strategic"?

Both women and men in leadership are likely to unfair judging a woman's potential to have a massive impact. Tech companies are often prone to structural biases that refrain women from getting ahead.

Even if a talented woman is highly valued and well-deserving for her operational excellence, she gets passed over, getting a question raised if "she is strategic". As this woman never gets the promotion at her current role, she gets stigmatised when she applies to another company. When the new company notices that she was never promoted to leadership, she gets a lateral offer. They say, "We will put you on a leadership path."

How do leaders spot SNS?

Has she been able to recruit and sustain a high-performance team? There's a lot to be revealed about someone who can sell the company and recruit strong performers successfully. It requires nothing but inspiring people with strong verbal communication and the ability to share the company's vision. People don't continue working if the manager doesn't inspire them. If she can successfully do this, she has potential to build a team.

Has she presented new ideas to the table that impacted business positively? Leaders are not concerned about problems and do not complain. Instead, they come up with practical solutions. If this individual came across a problem and suggested a solution that was good enough to be implemented, and it made a positive change, re-think about her potential. If her contribution is not apparent, ask her. Perhaps she came up with something, but the manager stole the credit.

Does she understand all functions of the business? Ensure that she understands all the functions such as attract, sell, serve, and retain customers. Whilst executing, women and men often become so tunnel-versioned on the function that they forget to choose their heads up and how it impacts other functions. This can sometimes result in short-sighted behaviour. For example, although a woman has a lead goal and celebrates reaching it, unfortunately, the sales team missed its number.

How can Women Navigate through SNS?

Here are some ways to get through SNS:

You need to ensure that your strategic contributions are clear. If you create a solution to a problem and nobody knows about it, you're supposed to solve this problem. Your contribution needs to be clear to everybody or else it doesn't exist.

You have to contribute to the overall health of the business. Executives focus on building the business as they are concerned about people, growth and retention strategy, and financial health. If you're not contributing ideas up front yet, start now. You should be open to contribute to everything, including new recruitment strategy, customer success, finding ways to make money for the company.

You are expected to learn the difference between management and leadership. Proving yourself as a manager is more important than becoming a leader. However, being a good manager doesn't qualify you to become a strong leader. We, at some point in career, deal with difficult team members that are tough to motivate and manage. At worst they seek to undermine you, and at best they continuously challenge you. Leaders should be capable of dealing with such team members, either cutting them off or inspiring them to do their best work.

You have to make yourself visible to all.  If you want to move up, better start making yourself visible. You need champions who are higher than you if you are focused on building your visibility upwards. There are several ways to do this by always participating in company-sponsored activities, spotting problems and suggesting solutions, and asking smart questions in front of a large audience.

These are effective ways to increase your visibility and positive impressions. People will remember that you have spoken up, participated, and contributed.